Headmistress Nina walked in, her scraggly gray hair barely contained by her old brown scrunchy. She was holding a bundle of books and papers, and her hazel eyes drooped a bit.
"Cally! Cally, where are you, dear girl?" Her voice was old-womanly, wavering and thin, but warm.
"I'm here, ma'am," came Cally's voice from behind the open door. "What is it you need?"
She glanced back and saw Cally by the door. Her face and neck were shadowed. "Oh, there you are dear. I came to give you your schoolwork, sweet." She set the bundle down on the desk and paused. She turned back to face the girl. "We heard a noise up here, Cal. Is everything alright?" Headmistress Nina looked at Cally with concern and took a tentative step towards her.
"Yes ma'am. I'm fine. Thank you for your consideration." A forced smile. "Is that all?"
Nina looked to the floor and thought. Something was different. Something was different about the room. Something was different about Cally. Something was different with... the way Cally spoke. It was tense, but also much too formal. It didn't sound like words that Cally would say.
"You don't sound alright, dear." There was a quick intake of breath, cut off. Headmistress looked up at the girl.
Cally had her hand clenched on the handle of the door, and she was breathing quickly. But her voice was calm. "It must be the stress of all this homework. It's difficult for me."
"Are you sure?" She asked, a crease appearing on her brow. "You can tell me anything, you know that."
"Yes, I am well aware." Cally paused. "Thank you for your concern. You are very kind to me."
Nina smiled. The last part sounded more like Cally. "Okay, girly." The headmistress took a deep breath. "I'll be right downstairs if you need me." She smiled and nodded, still feeling odd.
The vague light reflected in Cally's bright eyes followed Headmistress Nina to the door.
"I wonder what that noise was," Headmistress Nina muttered as she walked away from the room. "Something is odd tonight..."
The door shut with a soft click.
YOU ARE READING
Shards and Feathers
RandomThis is a collection of short stories. Other words for what may be contained in this collection: fragments, segments, excerpts, bits, pieces, shorts, extracts, and shreds. (Redundancy is fun.) This is the place where puzzles and snippets are kept an...
