The stale smell of cow hide and manure permeated the old barn despite years of abandonment. Asha was sure only the timbers above remembered how long it had been. That was one of several errant thoughts that ran through her head as she sat cross-legged on the cold earthen floor. It had been hours since she'd cleared a circle in the brittle hay that made up the pale golden sea around her. She could feel her legs going numb, but she didn't care. She was on hour three....or was it four...of her vigil with a half-burned tallow candle. She blinked heavily over shadow-draped eyes, but she didn't feel the fatigue.
"Izi," she hissed for what seemed like the thousandth time.
The wick sparked between her stardust encrusted fingers then went dark just as fast.
"Come on...izi!"
It merely smoked.
She growled and hurled the candle across the dim expanse. It hit the side of the barn then landed soft in the hay below. Pity, she wanted it to be more satisfying than that. At least break a little, that would have alleviated some of her pent-up anxiety. Valentino stopped his curious chewing to regard her with trepidation, though it didn't take him long to continue his feast of mildew-ridden hay.
"You're going to make yourself sick, you know." All she heard was a muffled bleat as he buried his head further under the mound.
"Fine, fine be my guest. At least one of us is getting something out of this," she stood and stretched out her sore limbs. Her arms gathered underneath her braided hair, pushing it up until it fell in a curtain over her face. The glass beads and shells woven through it clicked and spun in front of her eyes. She let out a long, frustrated, sigh. What was she to do? The tournament was tomorrow, and she couldn't even light a simple candle. Oh, she could hear the gossip now, 'Poor, dim, Asha. Such a shame, born from two talented parents. Sakina must be mortified. I'd imagine Tomás would have died of embarrassment if he hadn't-'
Asha flung her hair back and marched toward the candle. She stood over it as it lay on a bed of hay. She gritted her teeth and reached into the small drawstring purse at her hip. She pinched more stardust from her dwindling supply and brushed it over her hands. Sparkling in the small shafts of light that filtered through the decaying roof above, she closed her eyes. She remembered her father carefully guiding her through simple incantations. She could feel his embrace, his strong hands as they drew her arms up in front of her, she could hear the gentle muttering of the olde language. She breathed in, "Don't over-think it, mija."
"IZI!"
A flash of light exploded beyond her eye lids. They startled open and she looked down to see the ball of fire burning at her feet. The candle was turning into a puddle of fat in the middle of the inferno. Valentino bleated in distress, racing to cower behind the girl's legs. But Asha didn't hear his frenzied cries, she looked down at the growing blaze in disbelief. Then a smile cracked across her face, and she raised her arms above her head and whooped, "I did it Papa! I DID IT!" she jumped and spun, further disgruntling the small goat. She laughed as the flames leapt higher and higher, dancing in the flickering light. That was until the side of the barn caught fire. Asha froze in her victory to see a line of scarlet racing up the rotten walls, "Oh no."
She looked around for a bucket, a trough, anything that might carry water...but she came up short. Holding her breath, her hands grappled for more stardust. She snatched more than her hands could hold, the residual dropping in waste between her fingers. She brought her fist to her mouth, "MU!" she declared to it before throwing it at the growing inferno. The dust glittered gold in the light before falling, harmless, over the fire.
"No!" Asha gasped, her throat starting to constrict as the smoke billowed out black and thick throughout the room. Her eyes watered as she fought with the purse. She pulled and clawed at the strings. Blind, she could hear Valentino's hysterical cries emitting from below. Then the bag tore open, and the rest of the stardust tumbled into the smokey abyss, "No, no, NO!" She dropped to her knees and tried to collect the fallen dust, but it sank further and further into the hay that was fast becoming tinder, "Papa, what do I do...What do I do!"
YOU ARE READING
Of Stardust and Wishes (A Wish Rewrite)
Fiksi Penggemar"Salvē!" The golden specter repeated. She was in shock. That had to be it. All that tossing around in the water must have shaken her insides around enough to make her see things. She blinked a few times, but he was still there, looking even more con...
