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A moment of silence passed as
I took everything in.
“So …” I said slowly. “Elvena
isn't really any use to them? They'll just … dispose of her?”
Loom looked away, obviously
she didn't want to answer that question, but I didn't need an
answer; I already knew what she would have said.
“Why are we resting then?” I
almost shouted. “We need to get her!”
“Shhh!”
I looked
at my feet feeling like I was ten.
“Listen”, Loom said harshly.
“If we rush out there now we'll get captured then we're all
doomed!”
“And, anyway”, added Kanoko. “If we're exhausted there
won't be the slightest chance of rescuing her. We need clear
minds”
“I suggest we stay here for the night, and catch up with
them in the morning”, Loom sighed, sounding really sleepy.
I
nodded, lay down on the branch, and, despite my worry, fell straight
to sleep.
When I woke Loom and
Kanoko were already awake. I sat up and blinked,
adjusting to the bright light that shone through the gaps
between the bright green leaves.
“Why didn't
you wake me up?!” I demanded.
“You need all the
sleep you can get. There's a long day to come”, Kanoko said, without
looking up from what he was doing. He was packing our supplies into
a bag made out of a leaf.
“You'll need
to track them. So when I bring some other fairies we know where to
go”, said Loom.
“You'll? But you're coming
with me, aren't you?” The sudden thought of being alone worried
me.
“Kanoko is”,
said Loom. “But I have to go and report to the Imperial court”
“Why?” I
unruffled my hair and stood up.
“Because we
cannot possibly hope to get Lux and Elvena from the clutches of the
Abydusses without help.”
I sighed. She was right. She
was always right. Well, most Eventides were right most of the time,
but she just never
seemed to be wrong. I nodded in defeat; she had already won.
“Well, I'd better go”, she
said. “We don't have much time to lose.”
“Right”, I murmured. “So I
have to ... what?”
“Track the Abydusses”, she said, spreading her
wings.
“Of course. Track the Abydusses”, I repeated. She just
raised her eyebrow at me and flew off.
To be continued
...
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PROLOGUE - Reena
I crouched down and hissed at the three
burly men. They were well muscled and armed. One was short (relative
to the others) and almost dwarf-like in the muscles he had compared
to his height. He was in the middle. The one to the left of him was
tall with more flexible looking stringy muscles. The one to his
right was the average knight. They all wore armour and carried
swords. I backed away slowly and unslung my bow, crouching
still.
“Wow!” said the average knight. “Steady
there we don't mean any harm. Just wondering what a little girl is
doing out here alone.”
My eyes flickered. Humans! I thought. Always not meaning any harm.
Almost all of them are a lot of liars, if you ask me. Especially the
knights. I looked at them. What if some others had attacked
camp? Like they had attacked my home. Better go and see. So I
ran. They wouldn't catch me. I could blend into the surroundings as
easily as they could walk. I must have been preoccupied with my
thoughts, and, though it had never happened before, I walked
straight into a trap.
To be continued ... |
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Mr. Nobody
Anon
I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody’s house!
There’s no one ever sees his face,
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.
‘Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar,
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;
That squeaking door will always squeak,
For, prithee, don’t you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.
He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in the mud,
And all the carpets soiled.
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last but he?
There’s no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.
The finger marks upon the door
By none of us are made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade.
The ink we never spill; the boots
That lying you see
Are not our boots – they all belong
To Mr. Nobody. |
The Modern
Hiawatha
Anon
When he killed the Mudjokivis
Of the skin he made him mittens
Made them with the fur side inside
Made them with the skin side outside
He, to get the warm side inside
Put the inside skin side outside
He, to get the cold side outside
Put the warm side fur outside
That’s why he put the fur side inside
Why he put the skin side outside
Why he turned them inside outside
Quote
“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not
love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to
suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be
happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes
one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to
suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting
this down.”
- Woody Allen
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