Timeweaver

Confessions of a Teenage Murderer

"So how did your mom find out about you sneaking in last night?" Tabitha asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the cottage.

It was a most glorious day outside. There was not a cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze lightened the burden of the Golden Forest's scorching heat. She could hear birds chirping; at least, she assumed they were birds. The song they sang was rich and pleasant, unlike anything she had ever heard. She also could've sworn she saw faeries flitting about, for while they had iridescent wings like dragonflies or marvelous, colorful wings like butterflies, Tabitha could see the petite, human-like bodies floating underneath them. This world never ceased to amaze her.

"Wasting no time, I see?" Griffin asked in response to her question. He had a slight accent that Tabitha couldn't quite place. Well, of course she couldn't because it was of this new world, a place she had never even known to exist before yesterday. She had detected it earlier, but now that he was speaking louder she was even surer of it.

"I'm just curious," she replied. "You and I both heard her snoring. And how is it that she heard you and not me?"

"She probably just heard me walking past her room into the guest room, where I had to spend the night because someone was in mine," he said accusingly. Tabitha was about to argue, but he grinned and she realized he was joking. Then he shrugged. "Here we are," he announced.

Tabitha turned her attention away from him and gazed ahead. In a clearing between the trees, much larger than the one where Lyss's house sat, lay a meadow and in the middle of that, a pond. Faeries skimmed the surface. When Tabitha and Griffin approached, they simply flitted to the opposite end of the pond, lazily, seemingly unafraid of humans. Or maybe they were distracted by their reflections in the water. "Vain little creatures," Griffin muttered, apparently making the same observation as Tabitha.

He walked over to the large rocks bordering the pond and settled on one close to the water's edge. Tabitha noticed he wasn't limping. As she sat down next to him, she said, "It seems you've recovered quickly."

He looked at her, puzzled, and then glanced at his boot. "Oh, right. Well, my mother's a witch. Did you think that I wouldn't have abilities too?" He pulled off his boot and unwrapped the bandages, and Tabitha saw that his foot was perfectly healed. There was no sign of a cut anywhere.

She remembered when he had tried to stand up at breakfast. "But, but earlier-"

"The spell just accelerates the healing process, so it still hurt a bit earlier, but now it's good as new," he finished and put his shoe back on. He handed her one of the fishing poles. It was a very simple rod, made from golden wood, quite unlike the fancy, advanced fishing gear we have in our world. Tabitha had only been fishing once, with her grandpa right before he passed away. He had taught her as much as he could, but that was with a rod that did a lot of the work for you.

"I thought only girls could be witches," she said, trying to look busy adjusting the line even though she had no idea what she was doing.

Griffin laughed loudly and grabbed the pole from her hands. "I never said I was a witch. I can't do half of what my mom can, but I can do simple things like healing small wounds, lighting a fire, stuff like that." He cast the line into the water and handed it to Tabitha then did the same with his.

"Oh," Tabitha said, watching the faeries dance on the water, "Well, what were you up to last night? Teenagers go to parties in my world too. You can just say it." She turned to face him, holding the fishing rod with one hand.