4: The CLU Hag

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Meanwhile, Ambur and I were trudging along over to Mrs. Durngleflower's house to ask if we could borrow some crop.

Mrs. Durngleflower kindly directed us to the backroom; where she kept her enormous stash of crop. Or so we thought.

The door opened with a creaking, like when you need a midnight snack and open it slowly so no one will know. But as soon as I took a single step; I knew something was wrong.

Suddenly, Mrs. Durngleflower's high-pitched screech came from the front room.

She--well, she'd become a CLU--whisked her feet steadily across the chipped boards of the backroom, black wispy robes being dragged just by her--or its--feet. Then, in a single heartbeat, it took a running start--and pounced--on us!! I saw its teeth grinding and grinding and grinding in circles just over and over and over. Constantly, constantly, crushing, and crunching.

I couldn't look. Then, my wish was granted. I blacked out.

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When I woke, we were in the safehouse being treated with husk-gauze. I shrugged the healers off of me.

"I'm fine." I exclaimed with annoyance.

Ambur agreed "Me too."

The healers watched us go with worry hanging on their eyelids, I could tell.

"Ugh, what's their deal?" Ambur sounded really annoyed, which only happens usually when we play Save the Crop and i win, which happens a lot.

"I dunno, but that was weird." I replied. "Let's just go back to the shack."

"Alright." Ambur seemed in no hurry.

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That night, when everyone but me was asleep, I sat up and looked into my shard, an old piece of a broken mirror my parents had owned. I stared at myself; at my golden carmelly brown hair, tied up into a messy ponytail; at my hazelly brown eyes; at my shredded night clothes (now they were pretty much just rags); I stared at what had become of Autumn, and wondered, What happened while I was blacked out?

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