Light as a Feather

Chapter Eleven

     Jilah had Annabelle sit down on the grass, and then she sat down across from her. "What exactly are we doing?" she asked.

     "I may sound like a hippie, but we're going to feel the nature around us."

     "What do you mean feel it?"

     "As a nature gift, you need to be able to sense the nature around you. It may take a while, but I know that you can do this. You have the feather." Annabelle touched the silver feather that was always around her slender neck. There wasn't even a clasp. It would always be a part of her.

     Jilah continued. "Shut your eyes, and try to clear your head." Annabelle obeyed and closed her eyes. She only saw black. But clearing her head was harder than she thought. Little thoughts would pop into her head and she didn't know what to do. Her eyes snapped open.

     "Jilah, I can't stop thinking."

     "When a thought enters your head, acknowledge it, and then pretend you are waving it away. It's like I told you. This takes practice."

     Annabelle shut her eyes again. She did just as Jilah had said. She didn't know this, but they sat for an hour trying it. After the hour had passed, Jilah stopped. "I want you to practice on your own. And once you have been able to clear your head, tell me."

     Annabelle kept sitting like that, just trying to clear her head. After another half hour of sitting, she finally did it. There was nothing. No thoughts, anything. There was only the blackness. She opened her eyes. "I did it."

     Jilah grinned. "You are going to come a long way, my dear." Annabelle beamed. "Now for the next step."

     After clearing her head again, Annabelle was told to try to feel the nature around her, which didn't have a set definition. It was whatever she interpreted it as. So, she shut her eyes, and cleared her mind. Then, she imagined plants. Fairies, and trees, and flowers. Forests and lakes. She imagined tiny, invisible hands radiating away from her body and touching them.

     Jilah said, "Open your eyes."

     Annabelle did so, and she found that everything she had imagined had come true. She could see more fairies, and there was a grand forest off to their left. A sparkling lake was in front of the two girls. Annabelle looked up at Jilah. "Is this all in my backyard?" she asked, dumbfounded.

     Jilah smiled. "Yes. However, this backyard is charmed. Nobody else can see it, unless they have the nature gift." Jilah crouched down next to her. "You are ready to really train, now."

                                  *****

     There were many weeks of training. But after many days and exercises, Annabelle knew how to control her powers. And around that time, it was time for the summer to be over and for her to go to school. She hadn't exactly accepted the fact that it was a new school, but she learned to live with it.

      And over those few weeks, she didn't put on nearly as much black eyeliner.