blinding; an e. o'connor short story

chapter ii; horace, robyn and the monkey flowers

ʇɥıs ʇɥıuɓ pǝʌonɹs ɐๅๅ ʇɥıuɓs:
qıɹps, ɐuıɯɐๅs, ʇɹǝǝs, ɟๅoʍǝɹs, ɟɹnıʇs;
ɓuɐʍs ıɹou, qıʇǝs sʇǝǝๅ;
ɓɹıups ɥɐɹp sʇouǝs ʇo ɯǝɐๅ;
sๅɐʎs ǝɯdǝɹoɹs, ɹnıus ʞıuɓpoɯ ɐup
qǝɐʇs ɥıɓɥ ɯonuʇɐıus poʍu.
ʍɥɐʇ ıs ʇɥıs ʇɥıuɓ?
-nuʞuoʍu

Friday, 6th December 1963 | Tuesday, 3rd September 1940

The children had all gathered in the dining room for supper. Miss Peregrine had forbidden me to tell anyone any more about my powers, let alone my vision about Victor's death. And so I had distanced myself from the other children for the past four days but today there would be no chance at ignoring them since it was Saint Nicholas Day, which they liked to celebrate very much. My previous loop had only celebrated the day a few years at a time before eventually stopping as it was 'too much of a hassle' as the headmistresses had put it.

So we sat at the dining table, my avoiding eye-contact did not encourage anyone to speak to me, and the children around me talked in excited voices. All except for Enoch, a boy named Horace and me. Enoch, due to the fact that he wasn't a very talkative person anyway, me, due to the fear of seeing any more visions of a dying Victor or worse and the Horace boy... I guess he wasn't very talkative as well. So I kept quietly eating, minding my own business right until after supper. It was then that Emma decided it would be a good idea to include me in a conversation about their families she was having with Bronwyn, who happened to be Victor's twin sister.

"What do you think, Robyn, would your family recognize you if you came back?"

I was a little startled by the sudden question but answered nonetheless, "In the prospect that all my family that knew me are dead, I have to say no. No offence, but why are you even wondering such things? Are you not content with your family here?" Emma laughed and shook her head in disagreement. "Oh, I'm very much content with my family here. Sometimes I just like to wonder about the people outside. What they're doing, if they still think about me, if they're still alive."

Bronwyn bobbed her head, agreeing to Emma's statement. "I suppose you would do that if you knew you could still have family," I noted.

Miss Peregrine appeared in the door frame and nodded at me, my signal to follow her, but not only I followed but Horace as well. Horace was a well-dressed boy, physically having reached the age of 14, who often had premonitory dreams. The two of us glanced at one another (no eye-contact!), nodded and carried on to follow the headmistress to her study. There she motioned for the two of us to take a seat in the two armchairs placed in front of her desk. She sat on a chair opposite to us.

"I reckon you both know why you are here?"

Horace nodded, while I shook my head in disagreement. I knew why I was there but I did not know why we were both here. She acknowledged my confusion , while lighting her pipe, took a puff and explained, "Horace's recent dreams have confirmed your vision about Victor. It seems we will lose him if we don't take means to stop whatever will try to take him from us."

I turned my head to Horace, whose lips were pressed together in a thin line and looked back at the headmistress who'd refused to address the elephant in the room: Victor would be killed by hollows. So either a wight had to lure him outside the loop or he would decide to go on his own. The first we could stop, but if the second scenario did occur we would not be able to do much else than try to convince him not to go. Or go with him and possibly die as well. Which was not something I was willing to do just yet.

"Do you think Victor would want to leave here? I don't know him very well but he doesn't strike me as a very adventurous person," I guessed and Miss Peregrine took another puff of her pipe before answering my guess.