HYBRID (Now a draft)

Thirteen

Twyla waited by a blue gelatinous tree. 

She just loved the waterfall jump. Exhilarating and exciting as always. She was always first.

She poked the tree beside her. It wobbled. A few creatures swimming inside the transparent bark quickly propelled themselves away. 

She was standing in a clearing with trees surrounding a pool in the middle.The pool rippled every time a person appeared. 

She watched the air shimmer above the pool and Scotch materialized. He was frozen, then he flailed all fours and dropped onto the pool. 

The glittering sand from  the pebble rushed to the lake, covering its surface. His velocity gradually slowed as he sank into the jelly-like structure the pool had become. Then Scotch gave the jelly a small kick .

The jelly released him with a single sigh. Scotch  shot out from the pool. Into the air he went. He flipped in the air and landed standing with him arms raised like a gymnastist .

Twyla applauded. 

Then came Ted. Then Jay.

The three of them waited by the pool, chatting away.

Scotch went first. " Ev is giving that poor kid a pretty hard time, eq?

Twyla answered." Sure is. Probably giving him a great scare right now."

" I hope she doesn't go too far." Said Jay. He frowned. His deep voice was full of concern.

" What about you Ted? No comment?"

Ted was quiet. He was in zone-out-mode again. He suddenly looked up. " That Max kid looks familiar.  I think."

Scotch gave him a slap on the back. "Ya think?"

Twyla laughed. " One of those child prodigy painters you follow?"

Ted shook his head. His brow furrowed. " No. Not painting..."

The air above the pool shimmered and Max plunged face first into the protective jelly. He gasped a loud gasp and was flung out of its grasp like a rag doll. He tumbled through the air and landed on the ground with a hard thump.

He lay on the ground, panting.

Twyla glanced at him. " Nice landing, Max." She pulled him up from the ground. His fingers were long and slender.

Twyla studied him. She eyed Ted. " So, Max. Do you paint?"

Max looked at Twyla. "Paint?" His face suddenly turned red. " Don't you study me all the time?  Shouldn't you already know?"

Twyla folded her hands behind her back and skipped in a circle around Max. " I was supposed to study an animal. So I chose a human!" " I only study you when you leave your nest or burrow or whatever. Or when you leave your window open. You were an interesting assignment. People rarely move in to Lazuli Falls. Evellyn said I should choose you because you seemed suspicious."

"Suspicious?"

"Yea, sneaking around and stuff. So, do you paint? Ted here says you look familiar."

Max scratched his head. He laughed awkwardly. "Um. No. I don't paint." His eyes slowly moved to rest on Ted." I...I... Umm, I play the violin?"

Ted's eyes widened. He leapt into the air. " It's him! I mean you! You're Max Enllovar. The violinist. " He shook Max's hand up and down furiously. Twyla laughed. His enthusiasm for art was passionate as always. "I am a big fan. The Iridescent Minnow is my favorite. Wonderful boy you are."

Max's eyes bulged. He smiled. He flushed with pride.

Then Evellyn appeared. " What are you people dwadling about? We haven't got all day."

And they started their walk into the blue forest.