changed directions and soon came across the springs. The waters were very
calm and, without insects, very quiet. I set my clean clothes on a rock by the
water and peeled the bandage off of my arm. There were definite teeth marks,
but they looked months old, with ugly scabs instead of welling blood. I could
see where each cat sunk their teeth, as well as other scratches where they
didn’t have a deep grip, but at least it wasn’t bleeding out and it didn’t look
infected. For the fact that they were only a few days old, that was pretty
amazing.
Next, I stripped my sweaty, bloody clothes off and realized
they did stink quite badly, to the point I considered burning them before
getting into the water. I had nothing to burn them with, though. On the other
hand…
I sat down a few feet in front of my clothes and
concentrated on the energy. I imagined it like a cloud around me that I could
push into the clothes with my mind. Trying to envision the energy in the
clothes becoming hot only made me dizzy. I started to recall memories of fire
and pushed more energy into the clothes, only to become very nauseous and when
I felt a sickening heat growing in my chest, I immediately stopped. The heat
faded within a few minutes but the dizziness took longer to subside.
I didn’t think the best thing to do when I was very
dizzy was get in a large body of hot water, so I waited for a while. The air
had become slightly cool, which was more comfortable, and the sun was low
enough in the sky that I no longer had to worry about getting sunburned. It was
a very good chance to think about everything that had happened to me.
Pretty soon, I wasn’t nauseous anymore, so I got in
the springs, carefully testing my footing.
The water was very hot, and though it stung the
scrapes all over my legs, arms, and palms, it felt great on my sore muscles. In
most places, the water level reached my shoulders, but there were spots that
were deeper or shallower. The bed of the springs was made up of smooth pebbles.
I rubbed the dirt out of my scratches, but then realized they would get dirt in
them again. With a plan in mind, I grabbed my filthy clothes and scrubbed at
them until they smelled more like the water than myself, then rung them out and
set them on rocks to dry.
When I was laying out my shirt, I saw someone from
the corner of my eye. I turned to discover a girl watching me, sitting crisscross
on a very large, flat rock about six feet away. Luckily I was still in the
water. She was seven or eight and wore a white, lacy nightgown. Her hair was
long, white-blond, with very light blue highlights that went well with her very
dark blue eyes. Her skin was inhumanly white and seemed to sparkle slightly in
the sunlight. She frowned with curiosity, but didn’t seem to see me; it was
more like she was deep in thought. I was frozen for at least a minute; neither
of us moved at all.
Then she gazed up at something far behind me and out
of reflex, I followed her gaze. There was only forest. I looked back at her and
she was gone. There’d been no noise nor movement, but she was not there. She’d
disappeared. Or perhaps she was never there at all. “Maybe I’m going crazy from
lack of air pollution,” I said aloud. “I’ve got the ‘talking to myself’ thing
down.”
I stayed as long as I dared without knowing when or
how quickly the sun would set. I would never have been able to find my way back
in the dark, and I didn’t know if Edward would come to find me or make me learn
to fend for myself. I decided he would search for me; I would make a lousy
Guardian if I got lost and went delirious on my first day. I have to hold
out at least until my second day at my new home before I start doing things
like talking to myself and hallucinating little girls. Hallucinating people who
sparkle… in a haunted springs.
I quickly got out and dressed in my clean clothes.
Then I wrapped my dirty clothes, now dry, around my legs and injured arm. It
was
calm and, without insects, very quiet. I set my clean clothes on a rock by the
water and peeled the bandage off of my arm. There were definite teeth marks,
but they looked months old, with ugly scabs instead of welling blood. I could
see where each cat sunk their teeth, as well as other scratches where they
didn’t have a deep grip, but at least it wasn’t bleeding out and it didn’t look
infected. For the fact that they were only a few days old, that was pretty
amazing.
Next, I stripped my sweaty, bloody clothes off and realized
they did stink quite badly, to the point I considered burning them before
getting into the water. I had nothing to burn them with, though. On the other
hand…
I sat down a few feet in front of my clothes and
concentrated on the energy. I imagined it like a cloud around me that I could
push into the clothes with my mind. Trying to envision the energy in the
clothes becoming hot only made me dizzy. I started to recall memories of fire
and pushed more energy into the clothes, only to become very nauseous and when
I felt a sickening heat growing in my chest, I immediately stopped. The heat
faded within a few minutes but the dizziness took longer to subside.
I didn’t think the best thing to do when I was very
dizzy was get in a large body of hot water, so I waited for a while. The air
had become slightly cool, which was more comfortable, and the sun was low
enough in the sky that I no longer had to worry about getting sunburned. It was
a very good chance to think about everything that had happened to me.
Pretty soon, I wasn’t nauseous anymore, so I got in
the springs, carefully testing my footing.
The water was very hot, and though it stung the
scrapes all over my legs, arms, and palms, it felt great on my sore muscles. In
most places, the water level reached my shoulders, but there were spots that
were deeper or shallower. The bed of the springs was made up of smooth pebbles.
I rubbed the dirt out of my scratches, but then realized they would get dirt in
them again. With a plan in mind, I grabbed my filthy clothes and scrubbed at
them until they smelled more like the water than myself, then rung them out and
set them on rocks to dry.
When I was laying out my shirt, I saw someone from
the corner of my eye. I turned to discover a girl watching me, sitting crisscross
on a very large, flat rock about six feet away. Luckily I was still in the
water. She was seven or eight and wore a white, lacy nightgown. Her hair was
long, white-blond, with very light blue highlights that went well with her very
dark blue eyes. Her skin was inhumanly white and seemed to sparkle slightly in
the sunlight. She frowned with curiosity, but didn’t seem to see me; it was
more like she was deep in thought. I was frozen for at least a minute; neither
of us moved at all.
Then she gazed up at something far behind me and out
of reflex, I followed her gaze. There was only forest. I looked back at her and
she was gone. There’d been no noise nor movement, but she was not there. She’d
disappeared. Or perhaps she was never there at all. “Maybe I’m going crazy from
lack of air pollution,” I said aloud. “I’ve got the ‘talking to myself’ thing
down.”
I stayed as long as I dared without knowing when or
how quickly the sun would set. I would never have been able to find my way back
in the dark, and I didn’t know if Edward would come to find me or make me learn
to fend for myself. I decided he would search for me; I would make a lousy
Guardian if I got lost and went delirious on my first day. I have to hold
out at least until my second day at my new home before I start doing things
like talking to myself and hallucinating little girls. Hallucinating people who
sparkle… in a haunted springs.
I quickly got out and dressed in my clean clothes.
Then I wrapped my dirty clothes, now dry, around my legs and injured arm. It
was
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