Wings of Trust

Chapter 5: Worries

Chapter 5: Worries

(Abaddon)

      I paced back and forth, wondering what was taking so long. Surely they should have contacted me by now? Perhaps my message had been lost in the transmission office, or worse, intercepted. Cringing at the thought, i continued my pacing, now wearing a path in the carpet.

     The process of sending a message between realms is a tricky one. First, you place a call (or whatever is the accepted mode of communication in your realm) to the local transmission office. The closest one was Beijing, China of course. We couldn't waste more than one office in a realm with so few life-sustaining locations. The transmission office then opens a portal to the next realm, a risky business as you tear a rent in a worm hole and basically hope it's the right one. After that, it's simple. The translated message lands on a desk in the transmission office closest to your target and is sent through to their fire.

     This system, quite obviously, was not fool proof, and this worried me. I had kept a candle burning in case they wanted to talk immediately, but obviously they had not. I sat down, realizing that time fluctuated slightly in the portals and could have simply made the message arrive a little later. Pouring a glass of lemonade, i laid back, calculating the longest time it could have taken the letter to be sent and have a reply in return.

     The portal equations were quite complex, and it took me all of twenty minutes to figure it out. I had a couple more hours yet. Finally deciding that i could quit worrying, I transfered to the  music room. There, i picked up a lyre made by elves. I strung one of the golden cords, marveling once again at the gift from King Midas.

                                                                        ~~~

 (Driana)

     "Ooh! Look at this one!" Ester squealed, holding up a purple scarf.

     "Cute, but do you have anything that you would wear it with?" I asked, being the ever reasonable one.

     "No, but--"

     "So is there any reason you should get it?"

     "No, but i could get something to wear it with!"

     "Scarves are an accessory!"

     "So?"

     "So, you buy them to wear with something, not the other way around!"

     "Uh-huh, ok," she said, already paying for it at the counter. I rolled my eyes, giving up. We had gone to the mall after the second day of school, since Ester decided i needed cheering up after my fiasco the first day. At least, that's what she told me. I think she just wanted an excuse to go riding in my car and to go shopping. 

     "You got everything?"

     "Yeah, i guess."

     "Okay, you wanna get something to eat?"

     "Sure."

     We stopped at Hogieville, getting cheeseburgers and cheesy fries. I of course got my usual combo of Sprite mixed with Fanta Orange. Following the usual pattern, Ester turned her nose up at it.

     "Why dont you just get one or the other? It's like mixing Jell-O and potato chips. Each one it delicious by itself, but together? Nasty!"

     "Says she who eats pickles and peanut butter." i said, rolling my eyes.

     "Yeah, but other people do it too..." the rest of her voice faded from my focus as my attention focused on a little object hovering near the door. The gargoyle! I couldnt belive it. Was i getting another migraine?

     "I gotta go to the bathroom." i said, cutting Ester off and hurriedly getting up.

     "Uh, okay, i guess." she was obviously put out at being interupted, but i barely noticed. I dashed to the bathroom, looking at my face in the mirror. I was really pale, and the minimal amount of blush i had put on that morning stood out like roses in snow.

     This is a dream, just a dream. I kept telling myself, praying this wasn't real. Or maybe aftereffects of the migraine. Halucinations brought on by hunger. I knew i was grasping at absurdidies, but i desperately needed this to fit into my grounded basis of logic. It was the foundation of everything i believed in, everything i trusted. I couldnt lose that now. There's nothing logical about gargoyle in Hoagieville. said the snide little voice in my head.  Shut up. I told it. I know, not very clever, but i was kind of having an emotional break down, okay?  Shut up, Shut up SHUT UP!

     I wanted to scream. Voices in my head, hallucinations, dreaming about teachers poisoning me? Was I Crazy? Wait, i could see a therapist. Yeah! That could work! They could just give me some meds and make all of this just go away. I took a couple deep breaths, calming myself.  I can do this.

I stepped out of the bathroom. The gargoyle was gone, and my resolution held, at least for the moment.