Mira sat down on the grass. Her nerves built up in anticipation of the results.
“Everyone did a great job today. I’ll turn you lot into fearsome fighters yet! So, finishing in first place is Roselyn!” The students clapped weakly as Roselyn stepped out of the line to join Fortst. “For second place, Vern beat out Aoi by a hair. There you have it, the three captains for the team competition!”
“Wait a second!” Mira burst out. “Aoi is soaked in paint and she couldn’t have finished more than fifteen or twenty seconds ahead of me! And Rowland only had me by ten seconds and he has a lot more paint too. How much paint equals how much time?”
“Ehhh heh heh. That’s a good question,” Fortst said. He looked around sheepishly. “Enough to give you fourth place. Congratulations!”
Trying to get out of this sticky situation as quickly as possible, he promptly dismissed the class. The students, excited about the weekend, ran in all directions as they gathered their things and prepared to leave. Mira, steaming, remained stranded on the ground.
“The least you could do is carry me home!” she shouted. Up on his shoulder, the only thing that could distract her from the pain of her ankle was imagining ways to get back at the man who carried her. If he had to learn to take her seriously too, then so be it.
Jeana met them upon Mira’s return and immediately flew into a raging panic.
“What happened? Where did all this blood come from? How could you let this happen, Mr. Fortst? Of all the irresponsible things!”
“It’s just paint, Mom, not blood. I did hurt my ankle though, and I can’t walk on it.”
The bloodthirsty look that Jeana had made Fortst recoil with more discomfort than he had back at the schoolhouse.
“Just wanted to make sure you got home ok. Great job today,” Fortst muttered, turning tail to run for it and not daring to look back.
***
Mira couldn’t get out of bed the next morning. It didn’t help that the pain prevented her from staying asleep no matter how many times her mother worked her magic on her. Restlessly, she twisted and turned but couldn’t find a comfortable position. She wished for anything, anything that would make the pain go away.
Soon the darkness receded from her room and the sun shone through the window. Jeana said she would run into town, dragging the healer against her will if necessary. While waiting for her mother to return, Kevin kept her company, feeding her breakfast and playing silly games with her.
“Finally!” Mira exclaimed when she heard the front door open. Creaking steps meant they were ascending the stairs, and soon Jeana and another woman entered Mira’s bedroom.
“Hi, I’m Nora the healer,” the other woman said. She only had hair on the left side of her head, the length of which gradually increased the closer it got to her ear.
“Hi,” Mira replied, barely able to look away from her ragged, patchy hair.
“What seems to be the problem?” Nora asked.
“My ankle has transformed into a tomato. Ok, that was a joke. Sorry. It just really hurts and I think it’s broken,” she said.
“Ok, well either way I have just the thing for you,” she said.
“How do you heal, exactly?” Jeana asked.
“It’s pretty simple. She just needs some of my protein.” Nora took a pair of scissors out of her pocket and cut a hunk of hair from her head. She held the clump of scraggly hair in her hand.
“I recommend you cook it in something so it goes down easier.”
“How interesting,” Jeana said.
“Are you saying I need to eat that for my ankle to get better? I don’t think so!”
“Yes, it is interesting,” Nora replied to Jeana. “But you know I heard that with the healer in Darmen all you have to do is get in some water with him to be healed.”
“How far away is Darmen? Let’s go there!” Mira pleaded.
“Oh, it’s much too far,” Jeana said. “This is your best option.”
“You know, the body does heal itself. I could
“Everyone did a great job today. I’ll turn you lot into fearsome fighters yet! So, finishing in first place is Roselyn!” The students clapped weakly as Roselyn stepped out of the line to join Fortst. “For second place, Vern beat out Aoi by a hair. There you have it, the three captains for the team competition!”
“Wait a second!” Mira burst out. “Aoi is soaked in paint and she couldn’t have finished more than fifteen or twenty seconds ahead of me! And Rowland only had me by ten seconds and he has a lot more paint too. How much paint equals how much time?”
“Ehhh heh heh. That’s a good question,” Fortst said. He looked around sheepishly. “Enough to give you fourth place. Congratulations!”
Trying to get out of this sticky situation as quickly as possible, he promptly dismissed the class. The students, excited about the weekend, ran in all directions as they gathered their things and prepared to leave. Mira, steaming, remained stranded on the ground.
“The least you could do is carry me home!” she shouted. Up on his shoulder, the only thing that could distract her from the pain of her ankle was imagining ways to get back at the man who carried her. If he had to learn to take her seriously too, then so be it.
Jeana met them upon Mira’s return and immediately flew into a raging panic.
“What happened? Where did all this blood come from? How could you let this happen, Mr. Fortst? Of all the irresponsible things!”
“It’s just paint, Mom, not blood. I did hurt my ankle though, and I can’t walk on it.”
The bloodthirsty look that Jeana had made Fortst recoil with more discomfort than he had back at the schoolhouse.
“Just wanted to make sure you got home ok. Great job today,” Fortst muttered, turning tail to run for it and not daring to look back.
***
Mira couldn’t get out of bed the next morning. It didn’t help that the pain prevented her from staying asleep no matter how many times her mother worked her magic on her. Restlessly, she twisted and turned but couldn’t find a comfortable position. She wished for anything, anything that would make the pain go away.
Soon the darkness receded from her room and the sun shone through the window. Jeana said she would run into town, dragging the healer against her will if necessary. While waiting for her mother to return, Kevin kept her company, feeding her breakfast and playing silly games with her.
“Finally!” Mira exclaimed when she heard the front door open. Creaking steps meant they were ascending the stairs, and soon Jeana and another woman entered Mira’s bedroom.
“Hi, I’m Nora the healer,” the other woman said. She only had hair on the left side of her head, the length of which gradually increased the closer it got to her ear.
“Hi,” Mira replied, barely able to look away from her ragged, patchy hair.
“What seems to be the problem?” Nora asked.
“My ankle has transformed into a tomato. Ok, that was a joke. Sorry. It just really hurts and I think it’s broken,” she said.
“Ok, well either way I have just the thing for you,” she said.
“How do you heal, exactly?” Jeana asked.
“It’s pretty simple. She just needs some of my protein.” Nora took a pair of scissors out of her pocket and cut a hunk of hair from her head. She held the clump of scraggly hair in her hand.
“I recommend you cook it in something so it goes down easier.”
“How interesting,” Jeana said.
“Are you saying I need to eat that for my ankle to get better? I don’t think so!”
“Yes, it is interesting,” Nora replied to Jeana. “But you know I heard that with the healer in Darmen all you have to do is get in some water with him to be healed.”
“How far away is Darmen? Let’s go there!” Mira pleaded.
“Oh, it’s much too far,” Jeana said. “This is your best option.”
“You know, the body does heal itself. I could
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