05-20-2015, 10:30 PM
She was so excited she thought her chest might explode with the way her heart beat against it. In reality it had only been a few weeks of walking with mother, but it had felt like an entire eternity of skittish boredom. But now, now she had a friend. Maybe mother would make him walk forever too and they could play games and fill the silence and mother wouldn’t be able to follow so closely if there were two of them, right? And maybe he wouldn’t look at her all furrow-browed and concerned every time she thought she saw something that didn’t make sense. Like the world tipping upside down so they were swimming through the clouds instead of trekking through worn dirt paths.
Elanor flinched when the static leapt from his stone skin to hers, not hurt or frightened, but entirely surprised. She hadn’t met anyone on their journey that could do something like this – and she had seen someone who could make plants do whatever he wanted. Some even had stars on their skin. She chanced a quick look at her mother and was pleased to find the quiet mare looking just as equally startled as her daughter. Elanor didn’t like it when she saw something Else hadn’t. She didn’t like the way doubt crept over to eat away at the softness of her expression.
“Woaaaah.” She said looking back at the boy, her ears tipped so far forward they could’ve fallen right off the top of her head. “How did you do that! Can you do it again?” She peered closely at him as though it might be possible for her to learn the same trick so long as she didn’t miss it if it happened again.
He climbs to his feet and she stumbles back quickly to give him room, those achingly blue eyes so wide they seemed to capture the entire sky and storm within them. “My name is Elanor, do you live under that tree?” She introduced herself quickly, excitedly, falling right into the question as though the two thoughts were remotely connected. They weren’t. “I live in the Desert, mom says there’s a lot of sand and sky and that I’ll have friends there.” She broke off abruptly, her young face softening with something much more vulnerable. “My dad is there too. I don’t know him yet but I love him because mom does.” She says this with as much enthusiasm as anything else, but the blue of her eyes darken and the smile tightens, and she feels a nervous pang clenching in her tiny chest.
Elanor flinched when the static leapt from his stone skin to hers, not hurt or frightened, but entirely surprised. She hadn’t met anyone on their journey that could do something like this – and she had seen someone who could make plants do whatever he wanted. Some even had stars on their skin. She chanced a quick look at her mother and was pleased to find the quiet mare looking just as equally startled as her daughter. Elanor didn’t like it when she saw something Else hadn’t. She didn’t like the way doubt crept over to eat away at the softness of her expression.
“Woaaaah.” She said looking back at the boy, her ears tipped so far forward they could’ve fallen right off the top of her head. “How did you do that! Can you do it again?” She peered closely at him as though it might be possible for her to learn the same trick so long as she didn’t miss it if it happened again.
He climbs to his feet and she stumbles back quickly to give him room, those achingly blue eyes so wide they seemed to capture the entire sky and storm within them. “My name is Elanor, do you live under that tree?” She introduced herself quickly, excitedly, falling right into the question as though the two thoughts were remotely connected. They weren’t. “I live in the Desert, mom says there’s a lot of sand and sky and that I’ll have friends there.” She broke off abruptly, her young face softening with something much more vulnerable. “My dad is there too. I don’t know him yet but I love him because mom does.” She says this with as much enthusiasm as anything else, but the blue of her eyes darken and the smile tightens, and she feels a nervous pang clenching in her tiny chest.