AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, I don’t know. Because something came very close to making us its dinner?” I said.
“It was just curious.” She waved a hand dismissively.
“Sure it was. Giant predators are always ‘just curious’ about smaller edible things.” I pointed out the enormous paw-prints in the soft earth around the tent, easily twice the size of my hand. Lina could have taken one of her cozy naps in the indentation of the thing’s pinky toe.
“Then why didn’t it eat us?” She smiled up at me like she had won the argument.
Well, she might have been chipper this early in the morning, but that only made one of us. I let out a frustrated growl.
“I’m serious, Lina. Have you considered that finding this tiny world won’t do you much good if you’re dead?”
Finally, her skin faded from the bright rose-gold to something more muted, and some immature part of me was glad to see her show some reasonable reaction.
“Have you considered,” she asked, quietly, “that being alive won’t do me much good with the kind of life I have now?”
Whatever response I had been crafting died on my lips. Suddenly, there was no part of me that was happy to have gotten a reaction from her.
“You can’t mean that,” I said, kneeling down to be closer to her.
She got to her feet, bridging the gap between us by another inch.
“I don’t know, Edrich.” She shook her head sadly, her color turning the palest blue, looking even more muted against her bright yellow nightgown. “What is there in my life back there? Trying to keep the farm running, alone?”
“You’re not—” I started to argue with her, but she cut me off.
“How could you possibly know that when you’re never around?” She shot me an incredulous look, but didn’t wait for my response before she continued. “Yes, I am alone. And I will always be alone, as long as I stay there. You—you can get married.” Her voice broke on that word. “You can have a family. You can get ahugfrom your friends.” Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she stared at the ground. “It’s not about the everyday mechanics of getting around, as frustrating as those can be. It’s about my life. It’s about myfuture.”
Had she always been this miserable, and I had just been too blind to see it? It stung in an unexpected way I couldn’t quite explain to myself. I could hardly argue if that was how she felt, though, so I said nothing.
That seems to be my specialty, after all.
13
Lina
It had been hours since we spoke. Edrich's jaw twitched on and off, and his breathing hitched a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.
Perhaps it’s better this way.
Edrich made us a small breakfast while I hid behind a large, purple mushroom to change. Once I was in a simple cotton tunic with hand-stitched roses embroidered on the hem and matching trousers, I folded up my blankets and nightgown, nestling them back into my pack. Edrich had taken no time at all to pack his gear. It was an efficiency one could only expect from a soldier who was used to traveling.
Few words were communicated before breakfast was finished and he picked me up, but allowed Maggie to travel on the ground this time. I asked why she got to walk when I couldn’t, and his response was pointed.
“Because she can walk and run faster than you. And she’s covered in spikes. Do you have spikes?” The matter-of-fact tone he used was almost worse than if he had been intentionally mean.
I bit back a childish response about his own spiky demeanor and kept silent, instead. Checking my map, and his compass, I gave him some basic directions, and then we were off.
My skin tingled with agitation, and sitting in his pocket wasn’t helping the feeling to subside. His heartbeat raced beneath the fabric of his shirt. His skin may not have given away his feelings like mine did, but he had his own tells.
Rubbing my face, I stifled a groan. I needed to pace; to walk, to run, to be doing anything but stay still and allow this feeling to build. Our conversation played on a loop in my mind, my last statement ringing out louder than the rest.
How long have I felt this way?
My words to Edrich rang too true as I spoke them. It was something that had crossed my mind from time to time, but I’d never lent much weight to it until this morning. Until I’d spoken it into the air, making it somehow truer than before.
I wasn’t in the practice of wanting or longing for things I couldn’t have.What was the point in that?While Mama was alive, I’d been happy—content even—with the life she’d built us. With her gone, what was left was an emptiness that had likely been there all along in some small part of my heart. Something I hadn’t noticed or allowed myself to focus on before.
I was somewhere between being proud of myself for being so blunt with Edrich, and regretting every word that put this ogre-sized issue between us again. There was no taking the words back, though. I’d said them, and I’d meant them… even if I wished I hadn’t.
