Tremble

Chapter 5: The Tainted Stream

Simple memories rush in my mind like a raging river after a dam breaks. Every time I subconsciously named something I did not call it that name publicly. This is especially true for The Tainted Stream.

Long walks in the woods have brought me to the valley on the other side of the mountain just to the west of my back porch. Every time I reached the valley a larger than average stream twisted between the trees. The stream was a sickly green, not like contaminated green, but a tint of dark green that is barley noticeable. I had never said the name out load, just in my mind where I gave more interesting names to otherwise dull things. No one, not one person can be capable of knowing that other than myself, and what was with that convenient earthquake that unshifted that book from the floor boards?

Strolling through the winding streets back to my home just at sunset I dwelled on these subjects constantly. Why, what, who, and how? I let out a sigh and listened to the clicking of my legs after each step on the warm asphalt. Before I knew it my feet had carried me to an unexpected destination not on my normal route home. I stood and watched the tinted water shift in the setting suns light. The Tainted Stream. I stood for a few minutes and listened to the cicadas chatter away. Just as I was turning away a twig snapped.

My heart skipped a beat and I slowly and silently turned around. Nothing. Everything was exactly as it was, every twig, every fleck of dirt, even the water seemed stilled just as it was. I turned around, convinced I was paranoid.

"Hey!" A voice echoed from directly behind me.

I jumped a few feet in the air terrified and spun around.

"Who are you!" I screamed directly in the strangers face.

His features were pointy and mischievous resembling a college student who just finished setting up an epic prank. A round chin, a plump body, and dull blueish eyes, not the best looking , but seemed harmless. My heart beat slowed.

" What are you doing here?" I asked more clam than before.

"What is this stream's name?" He asked blatantly

"It has no name." I said, partially true.

"What is this stream's name?" He said again with little emotion.

"I said It has no name." I repeated with the same tone.

" What is this stream's name?" He said once again but with a slight bit of curiosity in his normally nasally voice.

The Tainted Stream." I finally said annoyed and defeated.

Then he did the unexpected and darted past me.

" Hey wait up, who are you?" I yelled chasing after him

My feet pounded hard against loose dirt that was crumbling off the hill sides slope. I kept sight of him,  and he made significant progress of keeping ahead of me despite his apperance. Tree branches became more clustered and more thorns were around my feet tearing the skin on my ankles. I pushed back the low hanging branches and often retaliated and returned swinging into the back of my head. Yet I ignored all this and centered my vision on him. He sure packed quite some speed. I didn't even know where we were, I had never been this way.

"Hey, hey stop, why did you ask that?" I hollered once more.

He didn't slow, but I picked up some speed when I broke through the densely packed branches of a young Dogwood tree and entered an unfamiliar clearing. The clearing was larger than most and wielded tall switch blade grass that rubbed unpleasantly against ones exposed leg. I hopped onto a small rock that jutted out of the ground. He made one more bound across the grass and stopped. He turned. I stared at him silently awaiting an explanation. He stared back.

" Why did you ask that." I repeated between short, gasping gulps for air.

"Why did you know that?" He asked with his usual blatant, tasteless tone.

Touché

"Listen I really need to know how you know I have a name for that stream." I said.

"No, you really don't need to know." He said seriously.

I stood straight and took a few steps forward.

"Yes I do." I said through clenched teeth.

My anger started to boil. Who was this kid, and what the heck does he want. My fists were balled and my temper felt like a teapot that was screaming throughout the kitchen. I didn't know why, but this kid made me seriously wonder if he had been the one to leave that stupid note.

" Were you the one who left that stupid note in the library!" I screamed. I rarely got angry, but all of a sudden I became biter and felt pranked.

He backed away. The ground began to move and the trees rocked back and forth in an non-rhythmic style. The kid fell on the ground and crawled away , his eyes wide with absolute terror.

" WHY DID YOU ASK THAT!" I screamed over the sound of what must be crumbling rocks.

The ground shook more and more violently, and the sky took a dark gray tone that swirled into a spiral.

"STOP!" He yelled "PLEASE STOP!"

What was I doing there was nothing to stop. Then I focused on the destruction around me.

Was I doing this? No I can't be.

Then the magnitude hit me, and I unclenched my fists and my body relaxed. The ground slowed to a churning stop. The kid stared up at me.

"What have you done!" He said his voice quivering.

"What did I do?" I asked confused.

"The whole thing, tell me how you did that, and I will tell you how I knew that the stream had a name." He said shaking upturned dirt off his sleeve .

"I don't know, just tell me" I said calm and afraid.

Silence followed and I lifted my eyes away from his. Huge oaks that were standing tall and rooted were now torn away from the ground. The rocks on the hillside had collapsed and broken apart into millions of pieces. The stranger had moved several feet away into a ditch. I looked down and saw my feet perched atop the same rock they had been just moments ago.

"Dude I really need to know how you did that." He said sounding afraid to anger me.

"I seriously don't know." I said " I need to leave."

Before I let him finish I darted back through the trees and landed back on the now moonlit road. I jogged all the way back home stopping for nothing, despite the suddenly bad weather. When I made it home I burst through the door exhausted. I laid on the couch trying over and over to forget everything. The library, The Tainted Stream, the stranger, the meadow, everything. But that didn't happen and as the thoughts lingered for what seemed like forever I heard a knock at the door.