A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Legacies and Wilanes

Stupidly, I don’t close my eyes.

    The world explodes into color. It looks like a kaleidoscope. Reds, blues, yellows, whites, grays, purples, greens. Every color under the sun flashes before my eyes in the span of seconds.

I try to close my eyes, but the gale whipping past and around me forces them to stay open. Instead, I look around at everyone else. They all have their eyes closed (smart), and look peaceful. Looking to my left, I see Alexis’s emerald eyes stare straight into mine. Her silver dragon tattoo seems to writhe around on her arm, its golden eyes full of hate and pain.

Looking away, another sight catches my eye: Tele, glaring at me in annoyance. I shrug, and flash a smile. The twelve-year old rolls her eyes, her naturally-silver hair whipping around her pale, scarred face.

Suddenly, the world comes to a complete stop. I don’t realize until that moment that if felt like we were moving sideways. The colors disappear, then resolve into towering redwoods, which block out the sunlight with their long, green-leafed arms. The sounds of creatures scuttling away from us in the underbrush make my ears prick, and I feel my wolf form howl in pleasure.

Tele tells everyone to open their eyes, and many languages are spoken immediately out of pure excitement, English being forgotten. My power kicks in, and I feel my ears tingle. Suddenly, two people speaking in Chinese suddenly sound like perfect English. Smiling at my new-found ability, I zero-in on two pretty French girls. Even though they’re across the clearing, my ears pick up their chatter as easily as if they’re right next to me.

“Omigod! That was so nerve-racking!” one says. The other laughs and says,”I know! Oh! Carter’s looking this way! Isn’t he cute?” The two girls laugh, and I flash at smile at them. They looked startled, then start whispering to each other excitedly. I tune them out, and turn to Ally. She’s glaring at me, and I know I’m in trouble.

“I was joking, Ally. Cool down,” I say, but Ally’s eyes are on the two girls, who are now walking over to us. “Hey, Carter,” one says, her English slightly tinted by a French accent. Her lustrous blonde hair sweeps over her shoulder in an elegant way, as if fashioned by God himself to that. Her name is Saira, a.k.a. River, and her pale blue eyes are striking with her azura and periwinkle pupils.

Her friend looks exactly the same, except that her hair is brown instead of blonde. Her pale gray eyes sparkle with their azure and teal pupils. Her name is Chela, a.k.a. Bat, and she looks like a supermodel in training.

Ally glares at the two girls, her green eyes bright with emerald bolts of anger. The two take no notice of her, which seems to anger my friend more. “I suppose you know who we are, don’t you?” River says, smiling nicely. I nod, but my eyes are trained on Ally, who’s clenching and unclenching her fists. I know her temper is fierce when you get her agitated. Just ask Vanessa’s brother.

“River, you can breathe underwater. Bat, you can echolocate.” They both look surprised, but then they smile, and I swear the sun dims a little. Ally’s eyes now resemble hard green diamonds, and I know that I have to get the girls to leave before Ally starts throwing punches.

“Look, girls. I think that you two are very pretty,” I start, and they blush something fierce. “But, you see, I kinda got a girlfriend.” Their blushes turn to red flushes, and their eyes immediately turn to Ally. “Oh,” Bat says, her voice suddenly cold. They whip around, and stalk off towards a group of Iris and Lupa girls.

A sigh escapes me, and I turn towards Ally. Her gaze follows the girls, the emerald color bleeding back into forest green. Her eyes meet mine, and a small smile graces her lips. “Thank you, Carter,” she murmurs, and I nod. Then, a laugh leaves me, and Ally giggles.