The creek is just as I left it in its sweet bubbling glory; I drop my towel and sketch pad on the bank and wade in; the first touch of the cool water eliciting an audible sigh from my lips. There hasn’t been any rain in weeks though so my swimming hole is more or less a spot to sit in with the water going just above my belly button when I am seated but it does the trick to cool me down both physically and mentally.
I lie down in the creek, using a big rock as a pillow and let the soft current flow over my shoulders. The waving, whisperingleaves of the willows overhead lull me into deep relaxation, my eyes flutter closed by their own accord. I bask in the quiescence of the moment, audibly sighing.
The squirrels chitter at each other from different trees, proclaiming their territory and the sweet, yellow warblers call, searching for their mates. In the distance, there is the tap tap tap of the woodpecker and the lilting song of the robin. The songs of the forest all meld together in a symphony of balance that puts me into an easeful trance. The weirdness of the morning washes away in the serenity. My consciousness is fading between dream and wakefulness as I soak in the cool tendrils of the creek when, out of nowhere, I hear a crash coming from deeper within the forest.
My eyes snap open, I notice that the sun has lowered significantly in the sky and there are some big clouds rolling in.How long have I been here?I wonder, looking down at my wrinkly hands. In that moment, a chill creeps down my spine as I take in the eerie silence of the forest. The birds have fallen silent and the squirrels seem to all be hiding or staying completely still. All I can hear is the soft bubbling of the creek as it tumbles around the rocks.
There must be something big nearby,I observe with a twinge of panic, scrambling out of the creek and grabbing my towel. I pause, listening closely and looking in the direction I heard the crash but everything is utterly still.Surely a bear wouldn’t come this far down the mountain,I try to reassure myself, I grab my sketchbook and quickly tiptoe back up the deer track, not wanting to find out.
Once I begin to see the houses through the trees the birds start picking up where they left off, giving the illusion of safety again. Whatever that thing was, it must have headed back into the direction of the mountain. I sigh and slow my pace. I stillneed a bit of time before I step into what I know will be uncomfortable scrutiny from my family.
When I get back to the house it feels quiet. I realize with relief that it is only Delia who is home – interrogation avoided.
“Where is everyone?” I ask, putting my sketch pad and towel down on the kitchen counter as I grab one of her famous chocolate chip cookies.
She startles at the sound of my voice. “Oh… Marissa is at her friend’s place and your father will be home late… again. Just you and me, dear.” She sounds far away and it feels like a punch to the heart. Ever since Dad was promoted within the council he is barely home and it’s awful to see the effect it has on her. I often wonder who and what she was before she had me and Marissa in her life. She is an absolute badass when she is in front of people from town, but at home she just feels like an empty shell sometimes.
“That’s ok. Let me help you cook dinner, it will be fun.” I get a little nod and a meek smile in response, a small victory. We end up baking more cookies after dinner as well, cookies always fix things.
The next morningI leave the house early to document the morels but the heat is extraordinarily oppressive today so, before I know it, I find myself daydreaming by the creek instead. Thankfully there are no strange silences or feelings of being watched today. Just the sweet symphony of croaking frogs, chirping grasshoppers, and twittering birds – the soundtrack to my admiration of a spider performing her dance of geometrical magic.
When I return home the air-con is pumping and, while I usually despise the dry, recycled air, today I have to admit it is welcome.Perhaps I will just catch up on my paintings.
The day has well and truly turned into a rot day though, all productivity is fried away by the hot air outside and I find I am just mindlessly flipping through magazines, trying to avoid looking at my phone.
I look up from the new monthly Eco-Quirk magazine to find Marissa’s head peering into my room; I sigh and wave her in.
“Hey Nuri, I brought some nail polish. I thought maybe we could hang.” She plops down on the bed beside me. This feels strange, she never wants to justhang, or at least she hasn’t for many years. We were inseparable when we were little. Puberty ruined everything.
“Okay… why?” I don’t hide my confusion.
“I just… feel like we need some sisterly bonding time, or whatever.” She rolls her eyes and starts flicking through the magazine I had been reading, landing on an article about medicinal weeds for a moment before quickly setting it back down. She probably thought it was an article about marijuana – to her disappointment, it was a spotlight on the resourcefulness and necessity of dandelions in urban gardens.
“Right, well the MarissaI knowwould rather be out with her friends than in here with me, so tell me what’s up? Did something happen with Lucie or Taylor?” I may not spend much time with her these days but I do know when she wants something from me.
“No no nothing like that. It’s just…” She blows a big sigh out through her lips, “it’s just been kind of shitty this past year, okay? I feel like when you were around more we had each other’s backs, you know? And this year, since you didn’t come back foranyof the other school holidays, Dad has been extra hard on me.” Marissa gets up and starts pacing the room. I’ve never seenher like this. She usually has thisI don’t give a damnmask on and nothing fazes her. The assumption I made of her wanting something feels rotten in my stomach.Am I a bad sister?
“I’m sorry Mar… what has he been doing?” I know all too well that Hunt can be a bit of a pompous ass, but it is usually directed at me or his colleagues, never to Mom or Marissa. She comes and sits back down, staring at her hands.
“Nothing I do is good enough for him. Every report card, every fencing match, even every friend I make is not good enough, not that he ever actually attends my matches or takes time to interact with any of my friends.” She aggressively unscrews the lid to the nail polish, which is a startling shade of purple I might add, and grabs my hand. I want to say,at least he pays you any attention as he pretty much just ignores me, but I’m trying a new thing, I’m going to be asupportive,older sister, maybe. I’ll try…
“That does sound shitty. Well I’m here now Mar. I will try to be as annoying and disappointing as possible so he backs off. How does that sound?” This manages to elicit a snort out of her.
I relent to the supposed pampering Marissa is now supplying to my poor nails because the soft smile that has spread on her face reminds me that, despite having different parents, we are family and she is important to me. I want her to be happy.
We sit quietly while she glosses up my short and dirty nails, the pause in her usual chatty self has me feeling a bit awkward so I try to fill the silence.
“So… you seeing anyone?”Is that a normal question to ask a sixteen, almost seventeen, year old?
Judging by her facial expression,it is not. This is the first I think I have ever seen Marissa Piedmont blush. She does one more stroke on my pinky then quickly screws the cap back on the polish.
“There you go, much better. Those scraggly nails were an eye sore.” She hops off the bed then promptly leaves the room, slamming the door as she goes.Back to her normal self.
“So is that a yes?” I call out after her but receive radio silence.Great, I messed that one up.
I look down and grimace at the purple monstrosity that is my finger nails and decide I will have to remove it once they dry.Pfft, sisterly bonding my ass…
I look longingly out the window and decide that the afternoon sun is low enough, I decide to brave the scorching day once again. I know that the fairy circle will disappear soon so I push myself to get out there.
