The Emerald Heart

Saturday- Elaina

I couldn't believe it- I had made Zoe laugh. The girl with the stoic demeanor, who never even smiled! I made her laugh! Could this mean that we're friends? 

 It better be, cause she and Jax are my only friends.

Later that night, I snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and a bowl of microwave popcorn. My mom comes and sits beside me, and we watch Netflix until midnight. 

The next morning, I wake up to birds chirping. No alarm clocks or knocking at my door- I wake up myself, once the sun glares through my window and pokes at my eyelids. And for the first time in a long while, I feel as if I had a good night's sleep.

I go downstairs, ready to start a good day. The sun is shining and my stomach is making strange noises. I need food.

But as I get down the stairs, all I see is mom, standing at the window. Her hand is fingering her chin, and she's watching worriedly out the window across the street.

"Hey," I mumble. "Mom?"

She turns to me. "Yeah? Good morning, sweetie."

"Morning," I walk over to the window beside her. "What are you looking at?"

"Hm?" her eyes widen as if she just snapped out of a zone. "Oh, oh, nothing. Our neighbors seem to be doing something...strange."

I look out the window, and I see what she's talking about. Zoe's parents are outside in the yard, flinging a substance that looks like salt or sugar onto all the flowers, bushes, and trees. They rake it into the grass and blow it into the wind. 

Something clicks in my mind. "Oh!" I say, thinking aloud. "I know what they're doing, Zoe told me about it yesterday!"

Mom looks at me, curiosity filling her gaze. "Yeah?"

I suddenly realize how stupid my thoughts will sound if I say them out loud. "Nevermind," I say. 

Zoe did tell me about this yesterday. She described to me all about elves and their practices, and she knew so much and showed so much pride that if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was one. 

And I don't know any better, so the chances she is one could be anything.

She described to me what elves do for luck. How they spread a crystalized mixture into the roots of plants, and how they believe that this mixture will spread from root to root, prompting the spirits in the plants to protect them at all costs. I wonder why'd they do this?

The more I am getting to know Zoe, the more I am beginning to believe that she's not from the UK....