Present Drifter

Chapter 2

It's the last day of september, so it's now closer to winter than it is to summer. The leaves have almost all fallen and the darkness of night comes earlier. Snow hasn't fallen yet, but I have to wear a jacket everytime I go outside. The air has an almost crisp feel to it.

No sunlight peeks through my bedroom window as I lay in my bed under the comfort of my quilted blanket. Usually I think about my day as I try to fall asleep, but my thoughts keep zeroing in on the fight I witnessed earlier. It has made me realize that there's a lot more to David than I thought.

The person I thought he was, was an all around loveable guy, so how did that guy end up in a fist fight? The only logical answer I can come up with, is that he has more layers than he's let me seen, because the David I thought I knew, didn't get angered easily.

Another question I've been continuously asking myself is why does it matter? "David's just a friend, but a friend a care about." I argue with myself.

Emma seems to think its more than that, but I don't see it. One, we don't know each other well enough to want something more and Two, guys like him don't fall for girls like me. She says I'm protecting myself from getting hurt by not letting myself fall for someone again. Maybe she's right, but even if she is, it doesn't change the fact that we're from opposite worlds. The only time a popular guy and a girl from the sidelines fall in love, is in the movies.

I turn onto my side and close my eyes in an attempt to dismiss my messy thoughts. My body loosens as I sink into the cushion of the bed. Then I focus on the steady rhythm of my breathing. In and out. In and out. My thoughts begin to blur as I fall into a deep sleep.

My whole body is launched up onto my feet and my eyes open wide in shock. Everything around me is blurry, like a dream, but I'm too aware of everything, unlike a dream. My hands start shaking and it slowly starts to spread through my arms to my chest and continues going until its reached my feet.

I close my eyes as I stand there. Something odd is happening. I wait a few moments until I've stopped shaking to open my eyes and take in my surroundings. I automatically know I'm not in my bedroom.

I'm standing in the middle of an open gravel circle, surrounded by small, one room, cottages, with walls made of stacked logs and some sort of leaves, that look almost shredded, as the roof. There's two rectangular holes in the front walls. One is vertically coming up off the ground and ends about a foot under the roof. It's most likely the door. The other one is a square and resides in the direct middle of the right side of the wall, most likely a window.

On the inside there's more gravel flooring and what looks like furniture, but its not carved well because it has splinters of wood still coming off of it. The only source of light for the small buildings seems to be a fire of some sort, but its not in my view.

In the center, of the basketball court sized gravel circle, is a well. Like the houses, its made of stacked logs that go up to my hips. Two longer and thinner logs are placed vertically on top of the well's walls. On top of them is another plank of wood that has a small bucket hanging from it by a rope. I take a small step so I can look down into it's haunting opening. It's a few dozen feet deep that ends at a dark pool of water.

After I take in my surrounding my gaze goes down to my bare feet and the animal skins that are covering my body. The clothing has thick straps that rest on my shoulders, but they don't continue onto sleeves. They are holding up multiple layers of the hard, brown animal skins, that fall just below my knees. It seems sewn together, but I can't tell by what.

This little village seems to real to be a dream. I'm too aware of everything around me for this to be a figment of my imagination, but it's also not a place from my time. There's no stone or metal, that I can see, so I'm in a time before the discovery of metal and maybe even stone but that fact isn't going to help me get back.