Eternal Ember

Chapter 5: A Shocking Surprise . . .

Day 2 - Days Left 3

The next morning on Monday when I wake up, I am comforted by all the sweet dreams that I had the night before. I hold on to the sweetness for as long as I can until they all slip away. When they do I sit up straight then I lean forward and scratch Jax on the top of his head. "Good morning buddy, did you have a nice sleep? I know I did." Bark, bark, bark. I laugh lightly. "Like every time you have barked so far I will take that as a yes." Jax jumps off my bed and walks out my door. I scoff "Well goodbye and good morning to you too." When I get out of bed the first thing my foot lands on is something sharp. "Ouch," I say to myself even though it does not really hurt. With a roll of my eyes, I say, "Pick up your toys Jax. You silly little puppy."

When I lift my foot to see what I stepped on, a single drop of blood falls onto the sharp end of Jax's chew toy. I bend down and pick it up and set it on my bed and since I don't have my carpet under my bed since it is being washed. I just get out of bed not bothering to let my foot stop bleeding.

After I get changed and I have made my bed I go downstairs to get breakfast. But the second I get to the middle of the steps I notice the voice for the first time. It is the unforgettable voice of old man Luke's granddaughter River and as funny as this sounds her last name is Bank. Ms. River Bank has bright blue eyes and long white-blond hair with blue streaks. Although they don't admit it, I am pretty sure that my brother and River are going to get married to each other sometime in their lives. They have been dating for at least a year or so now so one can only assume. In addition to that, I really like her so I don't care if they get married or not. Because she is basically like the sister I never had.

"Good morning River. How are you?" I say with a smile when I get to the living room.

She and Noah are seated on the couch, their hands intertwined, and both of them wear a look of concern. I am certain that Noah just told her that he is leaving in four days. Regardless of my conjecture she stands up and gives me a warm smile,

"Oh Emmy, how I have missed you. How have you been?" She steps to me and gives me a hug and a smile like only she can give. A hug that makes you feel safe and warm. "I am wonderful despite recent events." She says with a sigh as she pulls away.

She looks back at Noah and raises a single eyebrow, Noah almost unnoticeably nods his head yes. He then stands up and walks over to us.

"Ember don't scream or squeal but I . . . no, we have something to tell you." He pauses for what I can only assume to be a dramatic effect. I roll my eyes and nod my head then mumble okay.

River raises her hand delicately as she does this the sun shines perfectly onto the deep blue of the precious stone on the ring on her ring finger. But that is not just any ring . . .

"I asked River to marry me," Noah says as I put two and two together. This is such a shocking surprise. Okay well not really, I mean I kind of saw it coming but still.

So despite my nodding yes I squeal anyway, "Yay! You two are getting married." I jump up and down like a little kid, then fire off questions a mile a minute. "When is the wedding going to be? Where is it going to be? Do you have a dress picked yet River? How many people will be there? Will it be a big or small wedding? What does your dress look like? Will there be cake? There has to be cake, will it be . . ." Then it hits me like a winter storm in the dead of a snowless winter "Oh wait, the war . . ." I let my sentence die there.

I now know why they looked concerned but now I think that I had the emotion wrong. Maybe they looked sad, or maybe even though it basically means the same thing, maybe they looked melancholy, or maybe they did look concerned. River and Noah both grab one of my hands and secure it tightly in both of theirs.