Changing Ways

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Ok...so maybe Dad's right. I may be a firecracker of almost never ending energy, but I have to admit, I am tired. Unbelievably tired. As soon as I enter my cozy, warm room, my bed almost seems to talk to me. "Come on, Robin," it seems to whisper, "come sleep..."

Almost without thinking, I pull off my sweater with one hand, and climb onto the bed, not even bothering pull the quilt over me. I'm asleep within seconds....

I don't know what time it is when I wake up, but it's sometime in the middle of the night. I throw my feet over the side of my bed, and walk over to the window. Pulling bak the curtain, I can see almost nothing but black. No...I can see a few horses in fields on the other side of the driveway, walking through the tall grass, that seems to whisper while blowing in the wind. Their eyes are yellow, and round, the only light visible in the paddock. There is no moon tonight.

Squinting my eyes, I reach out with my arm, and stand on my tip toes, while pushing open the window. Leaning my head out the window, I can feel the summer breeze rush over my face, tickling my freckled nose. I breathe in the smell of cedar trees, off in the distant forest, mixed in with the very distinct oder of manure.

"Wren!" I call out softly, then let out a shrill whistle. I see one of the horses pick up their head out of the grass, and snort deftly in my direction, high up in the house. I always felt blessed to have a room with a view into our large paddock. After I call out her name one more time, the mare, or at least I think it's Wren, tosses her head, and trots towards the gate. Resting my chin in my hand, I smile at the figure bellow. She nickers fondly, at the sound of my voice, and for ten minutes, I just stand here, smiling down at the field.

Finally, when it's clear I'm not coming down, she gives her tail a short flick, and then jumps into a buck, taking off to the other side of the field. Two more shadowy figures join in on the game, and as I watch them lope after one another, weaving in and out of trees, I swear it's almost like they're playing tag. For some reason, I feel almost tempted to go down and join them.

Then my stomach kicks in, and I realize that I must have missed dinner. Sneaking out of my room, and I tiptoe down the stairs, hoping that I'll be able to scrounge up some leftovers. Carefully, I pull open the fridge door, and hear the click of the light inside it switch on. I think back to when I used to close It really slowly, trying to watch the light turn out. I'm in the middle of rifling through the crisper, looking for some salad, when a noise stops me cold.

Almost as soon as I hear it, it disappears. What was it? I frown. Like a chair scraping against a hardwood floor or something. Would someone be breaking in? Just as I'm grabbing a knife from the drawer, incase it's some thief, or something, I slowly walk sideways towards the partially open door of the dining room.

It feels like one of those thriller/murder movies where the main character is high on paranoia. Every click leading closer to the room makes me jump. My grip on the knife tightens, and my hair stands on end. Taking a breath, I reach out with my foot, and kick open the door like they do on those cop shows.

"What the hell are you doing, Robin?" I snap my head up, towards the voice, distinctly belonging to Kaya. Breaking in? Ha. More like breaking out, "even more importantly, why do you have a frigging knife in your hand?"

I glance down at the weapon clenched tightly in my hand. "Oh, just self defence."

She looks at me as if I'm stupid. "Against what exactly?"

"Oh I don't know," I say sarcastically, "how about the robber/murder I thought you were."

"So you would have stabbed me?"