The Silver Owl

19

The sunlight is blinding.

"Ah, man, the sun hurts!" I say. I block the sun with my hand. I think of how I miss clouds.

And my dog. I miss Cadet. I miss her.

"Lizzie, are you okay?"

"What? Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"You were just standing there. Why don't we go into the shade?" Zac offers. I wonder how long I stood there. Hands up against the sun, like a dork. I am a dork anyways, so it doesn't matter.

We walk over to the shade, which may I say, is a lot less painful than the sun.

"So..." I say, trying to strike up a conversation.

"What-?" Zac looks totally dazed, "Sorry. I was just thinking about what Chris said."

I suppose that would probably be smart, and that that's what I should be doing right now, but I can't. My brain is running around in circles.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Zac wonders.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"With the fire and all? I just don't know what to expect and I don't want anything unexpected to happen."

"Yeah." I don't know if I will. Therefore, I will leave that question unanswered for now.

As we watch the sun dip below the horizon, a thousand tiny lights blink on and off.

"Fireflies." I gasp.

"My mom and I always called them lightning bugs," Zac laughs, "but I never knew they had such a silly name like that."

"How is that silly?"

"Are they really on fire?"

"I see your point." I admit, now looking at it "fireflies" doesn't make much sense... But neither does lightning bugs! They weren't struck by lighting!

"Well lightning bugs aren't much better. They didn't get struck by lighting, now did they?" I object.

Zac looks at me, I can see they fireflies' light reflecting off his eyes, "Well, to me it does."

I ask the obvious, "Why?"

"Well," Zac starts, drawing in a deep breath, "my brothers used to tell me the tale of how the Lightning bug got it's light. And with that came it's name."

"Would you mind sharing it with me?"

"No, not at all. Many, many years ago, centuries in fact, when the humans and animals could talk, a couple of kids were playing in the rain. They got really lost, and it started thundering and lightning. And they asked all the animals that were out in the rain how to get home, but no one knew.

"The children were so tired and about to give up when a bug that lit up helped them. The bug said he and his friends would light up during the storms to help children find their way home.

"Since then the people have called them lightning bugs because of how they used to help children on stormy nights. Or at least that's what my brothers told me."

I let out an 'aww' and continued watching the bugs light up the vibrant orange and gold sky, "I guess that's a good reason."

I lean back against the tree and close my eyes, thinking about the compass, Ray, Ron, the children and the lightning bugs, and everything feels heavy and light all at once. I feel like I am swaying, even though I know I'm not.

"-Lizzie? Are you awake?" Zac shakes my shoulder gently.

"What?! Huh?!" I scramble, "Sorry..."

Zac's green eyes reveal a shard of sadness, that is quickly swept away, "I was saying that maybe we should go back to Kevin's. You know, like, get some- much needed- rest, get organized, think things over."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Let's-" I yawn, "do that." I can barely see, it's still night. My throat hurts, my head is pounding.

With every beat of my heart, my head throbs, and someone shakes my skull. With every heart beat, my eyes throb, making the world blurry.

I don't want to speak. It feels like to much work. I actually debate if I want to ask for water or keep my mouth closed and be less uncomfortable, "Zac? Water?"

"Huh- oh- here," He tosses me a bottle of water from my backpack. I struggle and remove the cap. I gulp the water down, trying desperately to convince myself that the more I drink the less my throat will hurt, but the pain doesn't let up.

I put the bottle down, and it falls over and rolls away from me. Ugh, not enough energy. I clutch my head.

Thub thub... Thub thub... Thub thub...

I clutch my head tightly. Maybe if I clutch it tight enough the throbbing will stop.

"Lizzie, are you alright? What happened?" I hear Zac's voice. It's fuzzy through the pounding.

I nod, "Leave in morning?"

"Get some rest. Don't worry about tomorrow. Get some sleep." Zac's disembodied voice tells me. The last thing I hear is a soft voice, one I've never heard before. Softly singing.

"-want to live, where soul meets body."

A/N: Song used in reference is Soul Meets Body by Death Cab For Cutie.

Once again (just a refresher) I don't own any songs I make reference too. All rights belong to   the artist (or frankly whomever owns the rights to that song.)

For FUTURE reference songs referenced in the book will be acknowledged by the format:

Name of song by artist

Have a great day! :)