"Today was the day, my parents had finally given up on me, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that."
Ever feel like your own mind, your own body, is keeping secrets from you?
My name is Eden Moore, and I'm not scared of spiders, or snakes, I'm sca...
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Horace's hands graced along the piano keys, his eyes locked on the sheet music. As the notes rang out, the girl everyone was waiting to watch appeared. Her twinkling blue dress made her appear to glow. Raven black hair tied neatly with sparkling pins and movements quiet but firm.
To her left and right, were basins of shining clear water. As she spun softly, each step and hand motion timed to perfection, she positioned herself center-stage. Wide eyes gawked from the crowd, not allowing themselves to miss a second, for fear that they might cause the girl some misfortune.
A pause in the music rang out, and with an almost unnoticed flex of each wrist, every last droplet of liquid rose up from both basins. The orbs shimmered and swirled ever so gently, reflecting the lights around the stage. The glow of the music upped its tempo slightly, and suddenly the real performance seemed to begin.
As she spun, as did the water. As she leapt and stretched, as did the water. She told a silent story with her limbs, the liquid only an illustration. It swirled around her leg with every step, it gathered by her hands and swirled around her head. Yet with the complexity of the performance, her delicate face lay almost without emotion, no sign of strain or even concentration. As if she would be doing the same if an audience was not observing.
The crowd dared not express their feelings of awe and wonder, as they were captivated and under the spell of the motion. The piano continued and the tune matched the dance, rather than the dance matching the tune.
Every spectacular bend or twirl, raised the question of whether or not this girl had earthly limitations. Diamonds of water hung in the air like shards of broken glass frozen in time. It could not be told how long the performance had lasted, but be it a minute or an hour, no one would look away.
It was as if her very being was made of water, how fluidly she moved and how flexible her flesh, created a natural yet alien experience. She leapt higher that waterfalls and spun faster that whirlpools, moved as gently as the tides but with the power of mighty waves.
She was the water, and the water was her.
Sprays of mist spread through the air like gentle explosions, and as the music faded to a close, so did the show. As she drew invisible patterns in the air with both hands, the water joined together as it had in the beginning. When the two liquid spheres finally relaxed into their basins, there was a second of stillness.
The girl on the stage, looked up to acknowledge the crowd, the effortlessly let herself fall into a modest bow.
And there was an eruption. Cheers and whistles and shouts of praise rang out. Everyone stood, Miss Peregrine included, clapping their hearts out. The small children were giddy with excitement, and the older children were relentlessly cheering, some even with shiny beads of emotion in their eyes.
She did it. Eden Moore, the girl I loved, had given those who questioned her an answer.
Eden's P.O.V
I could barely breath. I could barely think. But the tremendous weight of joy that fell on my all at once was enough to suppress any train of thought. Exasperated, I looked around the room. Everyone was standing, but there was only one person on his feet that mattered.
I stepped down from from the stage and let myself do what I needed to do. I ran to him and he met me in the middle. Suddenly, my feet left the ground and he spun me around. Looking directly into his eyes, every other person in the room vanished.
What happened next would've scared me to death if it had happened at any point previously, but now I welcomed it. His lips pressed to mine and I smiled.
The room was quiet, yet no one was frowning. Then the cheering resumed among the children, followed by whistles and joyous giggles. We broke apart after what seemed like somewhere between an hour and a few seconds.
Miss Peregrines gaze held uncertainty and surprise, but the gentle tug at the corner of her lips showed a trace of happiness in her reaction.
As the buzz settled, everyone's focus turned to Miss Avocet, who was yet to comment or show any sort of emotion whatsoever.
She rose from her chair, a small stack of papers in hand, and murmured something into Miss P's ear. After a moment of conferring, something was finally said.
"Now children, I would like you all to go and wash up for lunch, while Miss Avocet and I discuss private matters in the parlor."
With a universal nod, everyone hurried out of the dining room, conversing as they went. Suddenly, Olive appeared in front of me with the biggest smile across her cheeks.
"Oh my Bird, you did it! I knew you would be amazing!" She gushed, before reaching with her gloves hands to give me a tight hug. I still felt like I had yet to take a breath and clear my mind.
"I'm off to get changed, then." She said hurriedly after giving Enoch a glance, who standing quite close behind me. I gave her a knowing nod and she responded with her signature kind smile.
When we were the final people left in the room, I let out the most deep and relieved sigh I've ever had in my life.
"You did it, they can't send you away now, it's clear as day." Enoch said, his voice was laced with pure warmth and it's honey tone calmed me immediately.
"I'd love to believe that." I responded, still barely able to speak, so I simply gazed back at him. "But all there is to do is wait."
He nodded, reaching to take both my hands in his and tracing his thumbs over the skin. I smiled, I had hope, in the form of a person.
...
It had been twenty minutes. I was sitting on my own in the armchair outside of the parlor. The others were busy preparing lunch but I simply couldn't eat. I'd given up on trying to make sense of the muffled voices I could hear in the next room, and had taken to steadily moving a drop of water from the flower vase up and down.
The door to the parlor clicked. And the hinges creaked. Miss Avocet and Miss Peregrine were now standing in front of me. Miss Avocet Stood rigidly, and examined my face with her calculating eyes. Miss P however, was standing slightly out of view behind her.
My heart pounded relentlessly in my mouth, almost making it hard to hear. Miss Avocet brought her hands together and held them by her midsection before speaking.
