A Tale of Bubbles & Blooms

Chapter Three

I'd been floating around in the water like an idiot for the last half hour and barely been disturbed, toes sticking up and everything, until Mist bobs over and tells me that we're gonna get out, have some snacks, and then decide what to do with our remaining hour of break time. I flop over and doggy-paddle back to the rocks, eventually collapsing on the shore. A massive shell pokes my stomach.

The group, (Which is Fifi, Lilly, Mist, Ollie's brother Cieran, And today apparently Daisy too. I guess Lilly's made a new friend?) were spreading out blankets to sit on.

Fifi pulls out a container filled with fruit, nuts, snack bars, and bark crisps. 'Just tell Aubrey your cooking and you can have anything you want. Works every time,' She tells us, smirking.

Everyone starts quietly munching on the food, drying off in a warm, comfortable silence.

"Oh yeah, by the way guys... I've written a new poem! Would any of you like to read it?" Cirean says, splitting the quiet.

"Yea, of course!" I say, scooching closer to him as he pulls a little hand-made book out of his bag. Everyone else nods and crowds around to read it - Cireans little poems were always awesome.

"I call it 'Wicked Roots', it's my version of the Teens of Root River. Basically it's a creepier one." Cirean explains.

Withering willows and prickling pines

Framed the start of our sweet demise

Our foreshadowing future, we were doomed from the start

And yet through the storm

we refused to fall apart

We thought we were safe

And then the vines

Came creeping through

Seeping, weeping

Through the cracks

We tried to hide, we did, we did

Our shelter was weak

By the creek

Icy

Stones

Shards

Bodies

Creatures

Engulfed our little world

Doomed from the start...

The wicked roots trapped us

Wicked

Roots

"Wow! That... That's awesome. Kinda like what I thought happened when I was younger." It's true - I thought the pair had died there.

Cieran laughs. "I did too. That's how I got the inspiration for this. Like, what ACTUALLY happened? The original says that a young woman and man fell deeply in love. They ran away from their town, all the way to Root River, built a little house and spent the rest of their lives here. Some people think they had kids, some say they were the founders of Blooms Corner, others believe the shack was just built by a fisherman. But what if... they died?"

Everybody seems to be quietly pondering over Cireans speech. Was it a tragedy?

But then eventually our friend group starts clapping, telling Cirean how he should be an author, and travel to Doerman Cove City, and how he'll be famous.

Once that all fizzles out, like I knew it would (it happens every time) and we start packing up to head to training, Cirean has an idea.

"Ooh!! Guys. What if... What if in the next week, we all write a story, tale, poem, anything of the sort. Then we all come back with them next Monday and share. Then we can do a vote for the winner and... Oh, what should the prize be? "

"Good idea! Maybe the prize could be... some of my special bubble solution? Or the winner could choose their prize? Ugh, I dunno.... " Daisy says.

"I think the winner should choose their prize, but the group has to agree. Ahh! Now I'm excited! This'll be so fun!!" Fifi says, grinning.

The rest of us agree with her. We finish packing up and then me and the other girls go get changed in the shack, while Cirean is banished to the bushes. We meet up again, in dry clothes, and trudge back through the thicket and to the arena.