Starfall (FJ)

Far to Go

   In the middle of the night, Zïâ sat up in bed, remembering something Karin had said. He was found in the river. He must have been in the river......found at the Awful Spot, most probably. She slipped out of bed, careful to not wake Moçi as she went, and out the door. Once she reached Hans's house, she picked up a pebble and threw it at his window. She picked up another one, and threw it. After the third pebble, Hans poked his head out, then dropped down a rope they had tied to his windowsill when they were little. Zïâ had one tied to her windowsill, too. She climbed up the rope, and swung herself into the room. Hans dropped back into his bed.

   "I still feel sick. But not as bad, so I guess I'm fine. Besides the fact that I'm dying."

    "You won't die if you go to the Ruins. And why in the first place would you go in the river? Or near it? Didn't we decide to stay away from it for a while?" she didn't mean to sound so angry. But she was,"It reveals bad news. And it used you twice now to reveal it. But that has me thinking-what is it revealing? When you were a baby, you couldn't tell us what happened, but now.....what happened?" Hans shook his head and shrugged.

   "I don't even have a clue. And I couldn't avoid it. It was the magic of fate. You felt it. And it was magic. So it's either your fault, or one of the other winners. Or the magic of the Ruins. I don't know which."

    Zïâ was quiet for a while, at loss for words," I don't know. I don't feel like sleeping. Do you?" Hans shook his head. They just sat there on the bed for a while looking at the quilt.

      "You still don't know how to braid, right?"

      "No." 

      "I'll teach you."

     In the morning, when Hans's father went out to garden, he noticed the rope. Calling to his wife, he said,"Zeezee is here!" Zeezee was his pet name for her. Hans thought that he would be embarassed to have that as a pet name. But Zïâ said she liked it. Anastasia nodded, smiling.

    When she walked into Hans's room, he was demonstrating on a strand oh Zïâ's long hair. Zïâ was fumbling with another strand of her hair, trying to copy the neat braid that Hans had showed her.

    "This is pointless. I can't braid," she sighed, "I give up."

    Hans looked up and smiled at his mother, "Good morning, Mother." 

   Anastasia laughed,"Did you even sleep, Hans?" Hans grinned. Looking at Zïâ, she said,"Would you like to stay for breakfast? We have muffins."

    "You're going to have to go to the Ruins. Those are really far from here. Karin says you have about a week left to live, and we need two weeks to get there. This is really bad, Hans, and everyone needs to stop being so happy just because you feel better, because your condition is just as bad." Hans scowled at Zïâ.

   "Everyone needs to stop being so happy? Jeez, Zïâ, someone's in a bad mood."

   "I just don't want you to die." Hans shrugged, trying to act like he didn't care if lived or died. But he was a bad liar. And Zïâ told him so.

   Hans winced,"Some people call that honest, Zïâ."

  Zïâ shook her head. Biting her lip, she mumbled,"I don't think we can make it. We have so far to go."

 "Then let's go right now. Let me get some things, you get yours, meet you at the lake  in twenty minutes." He put emphasus on the word "lake", like he was going out of his way to avoid the river. And he probably was.

 "Right now? Take me with you," begged Moçi. Zïâ firmly shook her head. Angrily, Moçi stormed away. A few seconds later, she came back, smiling brightly, "Okay, I decided to forgive you. Have fun! Good luck! Good bye! So long! Get out! Get lost! Go awa-"

   "Moçi, please be quiet. If you have nothing nice to say-" Moçi groaned," -say nothing at all," finished Hannah. Then, turning to Zïâ, she smiled, worriedly,"Be safe, and good luck. You have far to go."