and brought
me home. He’d looked so worried. And then I remembered the first
day of school, and my first real exposure to this strange new life.
Could Nathanial have started this by electrocuting me?
“ But what set it off? I
haven’t been near any natural disasters.”
“ I don’t know, baby. I wish
I did.”
I bit my lip, afraid to meet her eyes.
“Could accidental exposure to another Gaia’s power do it?” I asked,
looking up through my now dark lashes.
“ I don’t think so. Why do
you ask?”
With a sigh, I told her about the
first day of school, knowing it would lead to more discussion I
didn’t want to have. But she surprised me when she latched onto
something I didn’t expect. “He said he didn’t know you were so
close?” she asked, her eyes narrowing and her head cocking
thoughtfully. “Well then he definitely didn’t cause it. Did you go
anywhere unusual this summer?”
“ I don’t think so, just the
normal things I do during the summer.”
“ Hmm. Well, it’s a problem
for another day. Today my little girl is all grown up, and she is
stunning!” Mom placed her hand on my cheek and smiled
radiantly.
I blushed, and she returned to
cooking. I was saved more gushing by the emergence of Xander,
shuffling to the coffee pot in, I kid you not, full length fleece
footy pajamas—the kind with the plastic covered feet. He looked
like an overgrown toddler. Making a beeline for the coffee, he
poured a cup and turned towards the counter before he noticed me.
“Hubba, hubba, Amelia!” he said, waggling his eyebrows. I flushed
as he looked at Mom with a knowing look. “Dad out polishing the
guns, preparing for the zombie hoard of hormonal teenagers I’m sure
are already heading this way?”
Mom snorted. “Don’t even joke about
it, or I’ll lock all three of you into a barrel!”
Xander grinned and sat next to me,
silently nudging me with his shoulder and smiling. I smiled back
and leaned my head into him for the briefest moment, grateful for
his humor and his strength.
My father and Sariah had more to add
when they joined us, both gushing over my new looks. We ate
breakfast as family, lingering long after the last crumbs were
gone. I couldn’t remember us doing anything of the sort for a very
long time. Afterward, I allowed myself to be drug to the mall with
my mom and Sariah. They spent the day playing dress up with me, but
I was distracted by a new awareness of the fabrics. Sariah kept
trying, but everything she picked up felt harsh and scratchy to me.
Everything my mom found was fine, and I would grudgingly try them
on for her. Finally, I asked her what was going on, why I was
having so much trouble with the materials.
“ It’s the downside of being
Gaia, Lia. If it’s not natural, you won’t be able to tolerate it.
Synthetic fibers will make you itch, non-organic food won’t sit in
your stomach, and any place without plants and living earth will
feel like a prison. You will learn to deal with it, if you want to
live among humans.” She shrugged, then turned back to the clothes
racks on the hunt again.
I thought about the chemicals I could
taste in the water last night. Mom started buying organic before it
was cool. It always seemed to me that she had a little hippy in
her, but now I understood the real reason. We had a large vegetable
garden that she carefully collected seeds for each fall. Now I
realized that it was so the plants weren’t genetically engineered
and our food wasn’t covered in pesticides and preservatives. I
wondered how much trouble that must have been in the days before
every grocery store had an organic food section. How ordinary the
years past had been, surrounded by so much of the extraordinary,
made me even more in awe of my mother.
Once Sariah caught on to the fabric
issue, the shopping went very quickly. I felt guilty costing so
much money, but mom confessed the same day Dad started my college
fund, she started my post-metamorphosis shopping fund.
me home. He’d looked so worried. And then I remembered the first
day of school, and my first real exposure to this strange new life.
Could Nathanial have started this by electrocuting me?
“ But what set it off? I
haven’t been near any natural disasters.”
“ I don’t know, baby. I wish
I did.”
I bit my lip, afraid to meet her eyes.
“Could accidental exposure to another Gaia’s power do it?” I asked,
looking up through my now dark lashes.
“ I don’t think so. Why do
you ask?”
With a sigh, I told her about the
first day of school, knowing it would lead to more discussion I
didn’t want to have. But she surprised me when she latched onto
something I didn’t expect. “He said he didn’t know you were so
close?” she asked, her eyes narrowing and her head cocking
thoughtfully. “Well then he definitely didn’t cause it. Did you go
anywhere unusual this summer?”
“ I don’t think so, just the
normal things I do during the summer.”
“ Hmm. Well, it’s a problem
for another day. Today my little girl is all grown up, and she is
stunning!” Mom placed her hand on my cheek and smiled
radiantly.
I blushed, and she returned to
cooking. I was saved more gushing by the emergence of Xander,
shuffling to the coffee pot in, I kid you not, full length fleece
footy pajamas—the kind with the plastic covered feet. He looked
like an overgrown toddler. Making a beeline for the coffee, he
poured a cup and turned towards the counter before he noticed me.
“Hubba, hubba, Amelia!” he said, waggling his eyebrows. I flushed
as he looked at Mom with a knowing look. “Dad out polishing the
guns, preparing for the zombie hoard of hormonal teenagers I’m sure
are already heading this way?”
Mom snorted. “Don’t even joke about
it, or I’ll lock all three of you into a barrel!”
Xander grinned and sat next to me,
silently nudging me with his shoulder and smiling. I smiled back
and leaned my head into him for the briefest moment, grateful for
his humor and his strength.
My father and Sariah had more to add
when they joined us, both gushing over my new looks. We ate
breakfast as family, lingering long after the last crumbs were
gone. I couldn’t remember us doing anything of the sort for a very
long time. Afterward, I allowed myself to be drug to the mall with
my mom and Sariah. They spent the day playing dress up with me, but
I was distracted by a new awareness of the fabrics. Sariah kept
trying, but everything she picked up felt harsh and scratchy to me.
Everything my mom found was fine, and I would grudgingly try them
on for her. Finally, I asked her what was going on, why I was
having so much trouble with the materials.
“ It’s the downside of being
Gaia, Lia. If it’s not natural, you won’t be able to tolerate it.
Synthetic fibers will make you itch, non-organic food won’t sit in
your stomach, and any place without plants and living earth will
feel like a prison. You will learn to deal with it, if you want to
live among humans.” She shrugged, then turned back to the clothes
racks on the hunt again.
I thought about the chemicals I could
taste in the water last night. Mom started buying organic before it
was cool. It always seemed to me that she had a little hippy in
her, but now I understood the real reason. We had a large vegetable
garden that she carefully collected seeds for each fall. Now I
realized that it was so the plants weren’t genetically engineered
and our food wasn’t covered in pesticides and preservatives. I
wondered how much trouble that must have been in the days before
every grocery store had an organic food section. How ordinary the
years past had been, surrounded by so much of the extraordinary,
made me even more in awe of my mother.
Once Sariah caught on to the fabric
issue, the shopping went very quickly. I felt guilty costing so
much money, but mom confessed the same day Dad started my college
fund, she started my post-metamorphosis shopping fund.
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