A Measure of Disorder by Alan Tucker

were more difficult to figure. Though, now that he thought about it, Marco noticed similarities between Zoe and his mother. Alisha was certainly changing, but it only seemed to make her more of what she was before: beautiful, stuck up, and manipulative. Marco didn’t know what to make of it and just tried to stay away from them.
    Denny was becoming one of Crank’s people, which made sense to Marco considering Denny’s love of machines. The twins, Nate and Ethan, were shrinking rapidly, along with Vic, Rachael, and Faith, likely all turning into Faerstrastenai . And Carrie looked to be Elvorstrastenai like Marco himself.
    Charles, Bonnie, and Matt had stayed the same size, but were having coloration changes that had stumped Crank. Mr. Kain had some Elvorstrastenai features, like the pointed ears, but Marco felt he was something slightly different.
    No one knew what had become of Brandon, but Marco was glad he had chosen to stay away. Marco shuddered remembering the sound Brandon’s spike had made when it had pierced Sara’s shoulder.
    Fortunately, Sara had recovered quickly. Amazingly so. Marco thought of her as some sort of Amazon woman. Crank didn’t know what she was and hadn’t understood the term ‘Amazon’ when Marco had mentioned it a couple of days before. It certainly fit, in Marco’s mind, considering her physique and the fighting ability she had displayed.
    Saddest of all to Marco, was watching Ms. Pap wither before their eyes. She was in good spirits, but her skin was getting more wrinkled and her arms and legs were gnarled and difficult for her to use. She was determined to soldier on, wanting to reach help, and hopefully answers, but it was becoming harder for her with each passing day.
    Possibly the strangest of all of them, however, was Jenni. She had shown no changes whatsoever. None. Marco could tell she was getting self-conscious about it, and he noticed jealousy rising in some of his classmates.
    Marco wiped sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. He checked his mother, still striding beside him. She was focused on their path, such as it was, and not bothered by the heat in the least. He smiled and asked, “Hot enough for you?”
    She turned to him and frowned slightly. “What?” She noticed the sweat on his face. “Are you okay?” She stopped abruptly and felt his forehead. “Do you have a fever?”
    Marco laughed and moved her hand away. “No, Mom, I’m fine. It’s just hot out here.”
    “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
     

* * * *
     
    By the time they camped that evening, they could see the edges of an enormous forest in the distance. The river they followed headed straight into the heart of it. Crank called it the Lodir’naie and thought they would reach the edge some time in the afternoon of the next day.
    “We will have to ask permission to pass through,” Crank said when they sat down to eat. “But I don’t think we will have any trouble.”
    “Permission from who?” Jenni asked.
    “The guardians of the Lodir’naie . Faerstrastenai mostly, though there may be others. I don’t really know.”
    “Where will we go from there?” Marco asked him.
    “We’ll keep following this river, which eventually empties into the Baer’naie river. Then we follow it south to Seren’naie .”
    Marco’s mother looked to Crank. “Do you know how long it will take?”
    He shook his head. “I have never been this far from home. I know the Lodir’naie                  is vast and we will have to travel through a good portion of it to reach Seren’naie . I don’t know how difficult it will be to move through the forest. It will certainly be slower going than out here on the plain.”
    She nodded and said, “Thank you, Crank, for all you’ve done for us. I’m sure it was hard for you to leave your home to help us on this journey.”
    Crank blushed lightly. “As I have told Jenni, I am happy to help you. My hope is much the same as yours really. I want to