09-23-2018, 11:28 PM
She clung to her Khari the whole way down the Mountain, Dad taking the lead and picking the easiest path for them to make the long, arduous journey. Khari could have flown, and if she’d thought of it she could’ve too, but Daddy would’ve had to make his way down by himself the slow way. So they walked, slow and steady, and it distracted her enough that she wasn’t quite so shaky, wasn’t quite so locked away deep in her head.
She tucked herself up against his side, hiding in the shadow of his wing, her face pressed against his shoulder, so familiar and warm and lovely. And for the first time since disaster, she whispered a so-soft hi with a shy glance up at his face. It rippled through her like a shock, scratched out rough and gravelly like her voice had after days of disuse. Rough-edged and ragged, like she’d screamed so loud and so long inside her head that she’d burned it out.
Could you burn out a mind-voice? She didn’t think it worked that way, but somehow...the second he’d found her, the screaming had stopped, and numb silence had smothered her mind, engulfed everything inside her and swallowed her back down into horror. Just silent horror and clinging to her Khari.
Are you okay, Khari? she asked softly, her thought voice still breaking even though it shouldn’t be able to. She wasn’t the one of them who did the work, whose mind was so special, who could reach in and curl up and be close in a way nobody else she’d ever known could. She leaned into him, borrowing his steady strength to help balance when the way got precarious.
And it had gotten so very precarious.
She let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her cheek against him again, relaxing into him and letting him wrap around her and cradle her close. Breathing in his love and letting him help her feel like maybe she could be safe again. My Khari. His out loud voice helped too, soothing and gentle, so sweet and melodic, washing over her and helping ground her in the moment instead of flashing back.
They walked together down the mountain and onto the water, straight out onto the sea and then home to Ischia to find Mom and Kylie, and Reilly and Baddie too. Dad offered to carry her, but she needed to be pressed up against her Khari and free to run if she had to. They had to stop a few times, to let her rest, to let her shake and curl up in between them while they held her close and tried to convince her she was safe and everything was going to be okay. But eventually, they made it back to their island home, to its serene beauty, to where they belonged.
She tucked herself up against his side, hiding in the shadow of his wing, her face pressed against his shoulder, so familiar and warm and lovely. And for the first time since disaster, she whispered a so-soft hi with a shy glance up at his face. It rippled through her like a shock, scratched out rough and gravelly like her voice had after days of disuse. Rough-edged and ragged, like she’d screamed so loud and so long inside her head that she’d burned it out.
Could you burn out a mind-voice? She didn’t think it worked that way, but somehow...the second he’d found her, the screaming had stopped, and numb silence had smothered her mind, engulfed everything inside her and swallowed her back down into horror. Just silent horror and clinging to her Khari.
Are you okay, Khari? she asked softly, her thought voice still breaking even though it shouldn’t be able to. She wasn’t the one of them who did the work, whose mind was so special, who could reach in and curl up and be close in a way nobody else she’d ever known could. She leaned into him, borrowing his steady strength to help balance when the way got precarious.
And it had gotten so very precarious.
She let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her cheek against him again, relaxing into him and letting him wrap around her and cradle her close. Breathing in his love and letting him help her feel like maybe she could be safe again. My Khari. His out loud voice helped too, soothing and gentle, so sweet and melodic, washing over her and helping ground her in the moment instead of flashing back.
They walked together down the mountain and onto the water, straight out onto the sea and then home to Ischia to find Mom and Kylie, and Reilly and Baddie too. Dad offered to carry her, but she needed to be pressed up against her Khari and free to run if she had to. They had to stop a few times, to let her rest, to let her shake and curl up in between them while they held her close and tried to convince her she was safe and everything was going to be okay. But eventually, they made it back to their island home, to its serene beauty, to where they belonged.