Fabled

Chapter 5- Gossip & Subways

Amerisa's POV

"Come on guys, time to go!" My aunt-Jamie's mom-called. We all exited the house and piled in the car, chip bags and pb & js on hand. It woulda been a quick walk across the street, except for the fact that police had blocked it off and the only way there to see what was happening was the long way. Inconveniently, the neighborhood was built in such a way that the long way meant going around the whole neighborhood, heading onto main street, and back.

For some reason, Jamie's parents were all caught up in any news going around. That's the way they've always been, always will be, and they were passing it on to their kids too.

I sighed.

Why couldn't they just let the world go for a little bit? It's not like there was anything they could do about it- they couldn't go into the woods and see it, it was blocked by a newly put up fence. 

What's the "it" I'm talking about?

Well, you remember when I happened to pass that YouTube video? That one about that- orb, thing? Yeah- that. We were going to spend our day seeing that, instead of doing something fun, like, I don't know, go to the beach that was twenty minutes away?

Yeah, as you can see, I'm not very stoked about it. I mean, I don't know, maybe it'll be fun? Oh, who am I kidding? I thought. Fake optimism isn't gonna save my conscious from boredom today.

Eventually, we got there. In reality, it only took about 5 minutes, but it felt like 20 because Jamie's mom kept jabbering about it. Pretty much useless things, but I did learn a few interesting bits and particles. 

a) It was a considerably good size. It'd fit pretty perfectly into my palms if I held them together.

b) No animal or human had been in that part of the woods for weeks. There were no marks of its coming there, and the weather these past weeks would have made even the straggliest of prints stay in place.

c) It was gone.

The last one is a bit of a bummer, I thought despite myself. 

When we got there, there were a few people crowding by one of those gates you see at school- grey, metallic, with a thousand different diamond-shaped holes. Except this one was tall. Really tall. Above six feet. 

Why are they making such a huge deal about this? I had to wonder. Like, seriously? Sure, it's kinda weird and mysterious, but it shouldn't rile up this much trouble. I shrugged to myself, and walked up to where my family had found a place in the front. I chose a spot close to them, but far enough that I wouldn't hear their gossip-y chatter. I hated gossip, and preferred to stick to facts. 

I gripped the fencing with my right hand and stared into the woods, prompting something to come out- if I was gonna be here, might as well try to make it worth my while.

(You know it's worth while, right? Not worth my while? -Sam)

(Yeah. It just sounds cooler. -Amerisa)

(Okay okay, just wanted to check. Maybe I could've had a chance to bring that up in an argument whenever you get mad at me for writing with bad grammar.)

(Nope, sorry Sam.)

(😔)

(-slight smile-  -Amerisa)

(???  -Sam)

And...after a second, I could swear I could see something. Eyes, looking out from the woods at me. And not in like, a creepy way. Just...kinda kind. Curious. Surprised. Knowing, even. Never mind, I don't know how I'm getting these crazy things, but they're just what's popping into my mind. How I felt, somehow like I could sense it. I don't know. 

I was pretty sure I also saw a bit of white around the eyes-fur, likely-before the entirety of the creature was swallowed by the woods. I'm not sure how ling I stared at that exact spot, but it had to be a while because when I finally broke my gaze was when Copper was coming up to me telling me we were leaving to go to Mc. Donald's. 

After our detour to Mc. Donald's, where I got my favorite strawberry banana smoothie, we arrived back at the house. I spent a few more hours with Jamie up in her room, until her mom called us down.

"I have a surprise for you two," she said. "Train tickets!" She pulled out two yellow tickets. "Well, subway tickets. There's a new subway that's built on a course to take you through rebuilds of historical monuments and events!"

...What?

"Cool!" Jamie exclaimed, true to her excitement. "What's it called?" Apparently she was used to her parents doing things like this for her all the time.

"The White Mare."

I don't know why, but that struck me. The White Mare, I thought, It wasn't familiar, but...something was.

Apparently, it was that day that it was due to happen. And it only went every four weeks, so, it wasn't like we'd-I'd-get to see this again. I wasn't super big on history or anything, but I could appreciate it, so this was a good opportunity to get to visualize what happened.

But I was still confused, with many questions left. Like...why would there be a subway in North Carolina? One for history?  And why only every four weeks? How long was it going to take? Why did we need tickets for it? Did people normally need tickets for a simple subway ride? Then again, it wasn't just a simple subway ride. And what up with the name?

It was around 4:00 pm when we arrived. The station looked pretty much exactly like what I had seen in movies and television. Silver, metallic-y, the occasional map.

 We got on at exactly 4:00. People filed in, though not as much as I would've expected a subway too. There were still multiple seats left, though a few people, like Jamie and myself, chose to stand anyway.

I stood on the right side of the doorway we had entered and I looked over to my left, where a boy with sandy red swishy hair stood on the other side of the door. Pieces of his hair protruded out then curled up, all in sections. He leaned against the door frame, one arm up by his head, resting on the frame while he drank a pink smoothie, the other downwards holding a tablet. He was typing something one-handedly. Pure talent, I'm telling you, to be able to type that fast with only one hand available.

(You never told me about this guy.)

(Oh my heck, we already discovered who this was, remember?)

(OH WAIT- that'sss who it is oookay.  -Sam)

(😂) 

(Don't laugh at my idiocticness. -Sam)

(Okay, I'll try. But no promises. -Amerisa)

(I guess that'll have to do. -Sam)

I couldn't help myself, I had to wonder how he had done that with his hair, and if it was just like that or if he had done it enough himself he just specialized at it. 

I watched him, something sticking out, until Jamie distracted me.