In Form

In the Beginning

"Amber, time to get up!" My mother yelled from downstairs.
One eye barely opened, bright light filled my room and my eye. I closed it trying to keeep out the light, but all I saw was an eary red and yellow glow through my eye lids. I closed them tighter to block out the light.
I really didn't want to go to school today. I'm leaving tomarrow anyway, there was no reason to go to school, bring home homework, and then not go to school the next day. Waste of time. So I stayed in bed. My bed was particularly comfortable today.
"Amber?" My mom asked again. I could hear her coming down the hallway to my room. She walked into my room already in her work pansuit that fit her curve perfectly. Her straight dirty blond hair swung gracefully over her shoulders. "Come on now, I'm going to be late for work and you're going to be late for school." My mother said with a smile.
I smiled back and acted like I was going to get out of bed, pulling back the covers and leaning out. Once she was out in the hallway I plopped back on my bed. I tried to relax for a minute. I took in once last breath to take in the scent of my room. One of the last days I'll be in it. Would my new room have the same smell once I was settled?
"Amber...?" My mom called again, testing.
"Yep!" I yelled back, forcing myself up with a groan. "I'm up!" My tired legs creeked as I forced myself to get dressed and ready for school.
School was a pain today. I wasn't going to do that homework, my mom even said it was okay. Waste of time if I didn't have to turn it in the next day.
Mrs. Peck was giving lectures on listening, while I doodled in my notebook.
I doodled about what I'm hoping Concrete would look like, our new home. I pictured somewhere partly cloudy, nice houses, nice people, maybe a few stores. My Mother said that it was a small town a couple hours up north, so I didn't want to expect mansions, beaches and hot guys. I kept drawing till Mrs. Peck confiscated my notebook.
On my way out of class she handed me the homework and my notebook, then at the next class I threw the homework in the trash.
Science, one of my worst feared classes. I couldn't wait to get out of it every time I set foot in the class room. Mr. Harris was our teacher, he loved the idea of "visual science and observation", or what ever he called it. Otherwise known as, plants. They were every where. In the window, on his desk, by the door and one on every table. Even though I loved nature and plants, I grew more distant from them since I began seeing the signs.
My strange attachment with nature was with me for as long as I could remember. I've noticed it becoming more powerful as I get older. If I touched or came anywhere near nature of any kind, it would move, grow, bloom, it drove me crazy. I always sat at the edge of the table, trying to keep my distance from the plant in the center. This thing I have with plants made me shrink into being aloof, shrugging people off, and not keeping a best friend around for long.
Today - of course - we were assigned to observe and draw the plants in front of us. The table I sat at, with two other group members, sat in the corner, which means that this plant gets the least sun. The worst senario. The plant was droopy and had less color than the rest near the windows, which means it would be more noticeable if it changed at my presence.
I took one glance at the plant and started to draw swiftly. A leaf, a stem, another leaf. I couldn't remember what the other half of the plant looked like, so I guessed. I wasn't Picasso, but at least you could tell it was a plant. I think. Then we had to desribe it, so I just discribed the 2D drawing in front of me.
'Has this plant grown a bud, or flower?' The next question asked. I couldn't remember that ethier, I looked over at my tablemates paper, but he hadn't gotton to that question yet, he was talking to his neighbor.
I looked up at the plant and glanced around for a bud or flower, then I finally saw something white, a flower, good. It was closed so was it a bud? As I stared at it, it began to slowly bloom more. I looked away, and wrote it down. 'Flower.'
'Describe the plants position in growth. Is it a fruit barring plant? Explain.' I sighed and groaned mentally.
After 50 long minutes class was over. Even though I didn't have any friends in this school, I was going to miss this place.
Coming home is always the best part of the day after a long day of school. Immediately I plopped down on the couch and switch on the TV.
My favorite show was on usually at 8:00 or 9:00, so I had barely had anything to watch. The traffic outside was loud, so I turned the TV up very loud just to muffle out the honking, beeping outside on the usually backed up freeway just outside. One of the downsides to living here.
     I paused from flipping through the channels, and side-eyed my moms succulent plant on the coffee table. She put it back from when I had moved it a couple days ago.
     I don't like this, this isn't normal. This isn't fun, or comforting. It scares me. Vines have reached out to me seemingly out of nowhere, the gardener can't clip the shrubs outside our door fast enough, I've woken up to the neighbors bean plant wrapped around my arm from outside the window, scaring me half to death. I don't experiment either, not since the one time I did when our grass mysteriously started growing ten times faster than normal. It eventually started to grow normally again, but for the time being I regretted trying.
     I don't know what would happen, if I touched this non-prickly-cactus in front of me. Would it grow, bloom, grow a new kind of fruit? There's no way to tell how I'd put it back to normal when my mom got home, and if I left it how it was after touching it, I'd have to explain to her what this is- and I don't know what this is. The last thing I want is to be prodded at with needles and tested.
     I shivered at the thought. I got up and grabbed the log grips for the fire place. I picked up the succulent with the grips and quickly brought it into the kitchen. I leaned it up against the window sill. At least it would get more sun here.
     As that thought came through my head, the little plant began to slowly grow, the tips of its fronds turning a hot pink against its grey green color. I looked away and went back into the living room. I kept over the couch and snatched the remote from the now succulent-less coffee table.
I was flipping through when the news popped up, I was going to pass it but something caught my eye. A 'Sheep Slaughter', has happened very close to where we are going live. What made it more interesting is that it was live.
The news women was finishing her story, "...and the other half of the flock was gone. The farmer claims in the investigation, he found burnt marks on the field and the fence posts and barb wire nearby as well. Let's see for ourselves" They walked a little ways into the field. "Here is where the incident happened." I was astonished at the scene. Black grass scorched in a long form over twenty feet across the field, including the now broken and burnt fencing. "Do you think that there could be sheep thieves on the loose in this area?" The news lady asked the farmer, who was now standing beside her. He towered over her, which made her have to look up. I couldn't see their feet but I pictured the news lady to be wearing 3 in. heels.
"It could be..." The farmer said. He looked way too excited to be on TV. He kept messing with his hair, and smiled too much, and looked at the camera a lot. He fidgeted for a while and smiled at the camera.
"Well," she said quickly with a sigh. I watched as her hand raised halfway to her head, resisting the urge to fix her earpiece. "Thievery or hoax? Could your animals be next? More on the story tonight at 7, I've been Amy Rhine, on H.E. news." She concluded with a smile.
    There was dried sheep's blood all over the grass, they were killed somehow. With Fire I'm guessing based on the charred grass. Who could be so violent and heartless to go out and blow torch a bunch of sheep, and think it's funny?
My Mother walked in, which almost made me jump. "How was school?" she asked. She set her bag on the bench in front of the door and immediately removed her blazer. She pulled on it like she was too warm.
"Good, I've been watching the news, there's been a murder." I replied
"What?" Hey eyes widened with surprise and curiosity. "Who?" she said walking to my side of the couch, looking at the TV for answers.
"Sheep." I said ghoulish tone.
     "Oh. You scared me there for a second." She said jabbing me in the side with a tickle, then left for the kitchen. "Want a sandwich?" she asked.
     "Yes please!" I said rising off the couch, then started for the kitchen.
      And as in sandwich she meant, whole wheat bread with avocado spread, lettuce, fried eggs, and mayo. My Mom's veggie and egg sandwiches were the best all around, although no one's tried them except for me and her, but besides that, they were good. Being a vegetarian isn't hard, it taste good. I get my protein from certain vegetables and dairy produces. I've eaten meat when I was younger, but my mom has insisted on a better diet ever since we watched a documentary on where our meat products come from.
      Those poor animals.
      I slithered up beside my mom, "So... can you tell me a bit more about Concrete?" I questioned. "Are we living in an apartment? A suburb? Someone's house?" I pressed.
      My Mom looked shocked at that last one, "Goodness no!" she said. "Thankfully I have found a nice cabin home in the woods, and we aren't living exactly in Concrete you know. Haven't I already told you all this?"
    "What, are we going to grow our own food?" I joked.
      My Mother laughed. "No, there's a market a few miles down the road."
      "What about the school?"
      "There is a high school, middle and elementary school." She said.
      "Have you been there before?"
      "Yes. I don't know a whole lot, but I've heard a few things." She started. I sat down on the dining room chair and got comfortable to listen. "The mountains there are very green with fur trees, and there is a bunch of wildlife, like elk and deer. I haven't been around the people much yet but, I have heard a few things." She paused and I chuckled quietly at her repeating herself. "Oh! I can't wait for you to see the house! I just know you'll love it!" my Mom was gushing at the thought. "We're leaving tomorrow afternoon so go get packed, ok." My Mother said handing me my sandwich.
    "Ok" I said as I ran up the stairs to my room.
      As I packed away, I remembered the news. Questions flitted through my mind at different paces.
     I took a few greedy bites of my sandwich.
    I knew that we were going to probably pass the farm on the way there, so maybe I could take a peek.