Starfall (FJ)

The Bad News River

        The roar of the river pounded in her ears, and she let it control her, and for a while she let herself slip in with the rhythm of the water, be the river. Then she felt the magic tug at her again. She knew where the magic came from, too. The Gift. She opened her eyes. And saw a figure, a few yards away. Walking closer, she saw that it was Hans. She recognised the spot. This was the place they avoided, because Hans felt weird and sad there. It was where he was found. He was sitting on the grassy bank, looking at the water. He looked up at her, then returned his gaze to the river.

         "Hi."

         "Hi....Hans, why are you wearing your good clothes? You never wear them to the Ceremony."

        "This Ceremony is special. My only friend is Gifted this year. I just wanted to show I care about this one." Zïâ sat down beside him, frowning at what he said.

         "You just said 'only friend'. I'm not your only friend. What about Ian?"

         "I don't know...I'm not really sure about Ian right now." Zïâ's frown deepened. He wouldn't tell her that about Ian. He never told her personal things about Ian. Something felt strange. It was where they were. The spot didn't feel right.

            "Hans, this place is giving me a bad feeling, let's leave. I can feel it. It's feels like magic. But bad. This isn't right, let's go." He looked, at her suddenly, his eyebrows high. She hesitated, " It's the Gift." 

             That was enough for Hans. He stood up, helped Zïâ up, and quickly speedwalked along the river, away from where they were sitting. Once they were well away from the Awful Spot, he turned to her, "Zïâ, that place always makes us realise bad things. It made me tell you about Ian. It brought me as news to The Glen about the destroyed village. It was where people found out your parents and those other people died., Remeber? Those hundreds of burned up and slashed bodies floating down the-",that was a bad thing to say in front of Zïâ. She clawed at her face, tears streaming down her cheeks, her shoulders shaking. The scratches opened, and her cheeks started bleeding. Hans caught her wrists, keeping her from opening the scratches further. She fell limp, and sobbed into her hands. Her parents, they covered her eyes up too late, her parents, she saw their bodies, barely recognisable, she had collapsed and started crying even before she figured out what happened, what was going on. Her parents. 

               Her face was shining with blood now, coming from the top to the bottom of her cheeks. It looked like she was crying blood. Her salty tears mixed with the blood, stung her cuts. Hans wiped her face clean with his hand. He washed the blood off in the river. He didn't let her bring her hjands near her face until her cheeks stopped bleeding, and her crying quieted.

              "Mama, Papa....Mama, Papa....," she murmured. Hans felt miserable for mentioning her parents. She always did this when her parents came up.

             "I'm sorry, Zïâ. I shouldn't have mentioned it." Zïâ shook her head, her hair coming loose of the braid. Her expression was blank, but she was still crying hard. Hans hugged her, like he did when he saw her crying, on the grassy bank by the river...