Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

4. GREEN AND BLONDE

Professor Iris Cyan. That was her name. Whenever I saw her during the past week, she was always clothed up to her neck, and gloves seemed to be a regular part of her outfit.

Her classroom only had one desk, or should I say table because of its size. It was oval and it took up majority of the room. There was no separate teacher's desk. Just one chair that was blue while all the others were the color of sand. Opal and I sat next to each other as we did in all our classes.

She entered silently, walked up to the blue chair, and circled us with her gray eyes. Her oval face was rather pale, her lips pressed together as her gaze lingered on me for just a moment. I think that was the first time she actually looked at me. For some reason, it gave me goosebumps.

She gracefully arched her neck when she reached for a book on the table in front of her. She picked it up and turned a few pages slowly, as if she were holding a living creature instead of binded pages. Her eyes returned to us when she said, "Stories have the power to take us to places we have never been, to show us sights we have never seen. That is what is in the very heart of Literature."

In her soft-spoken voice, she clearly pronounced each word. No one made a sound. Everyone seemed to be focused on what she was saying, and I was no exception.

"After exploring children's stories last year, this year we are moving on," she continued. "We will let writers, human writers who let themselves be drawn into our world, tell us their stories. And, miss Azora," her gaze once again fell on me as she said, "I will be expecting a written report about fables and fairytales included in the lesson plan for the first year. Make sure you complete it by the end of next month."

More homework? My intestines tied to a knot at the very thought. Nevertheless, I politely responded, "Yes, Professor Cyan." I even managed to feign a smile.

"And now, let us look inside the mind of an extraordinary man. He once wrote: In a hole in the ground there lived..." Even though I already disliked this cold, reserved person, the natural fluency in her voice mesmerized me. I almost forgot all about the ample homework she assigned me.

Words were like magic. They had the power to take me to another place, just like music.

° ° ° ° ° ° °

Immediately after class, Opal and I visited the library to obtain textbooks needed for my upcoming assignments. As I was skimming through the book shelf labeled Botany, the green-eyed girl appeared beside me.

Lissa, her name was Lissa. I didn't learn much about her during the past four days. I didn't learn much about any of my classmates. Some of them still stayed at a safe distance, as if I might harm them in some way.

I was beginning to think that the headmaster had a conversation with all of them, to warn them that an uncommon student would be a part of their class. If he spoke to Opal, it wasn't unlikely that he spoke with the rest of them as well.

I wanted to tell them not to worry, that I'm completely harmless. I wanted to let them know that, even though I used to live in the water, I wasn't a siren. I never even saw a siren. My race had nothing to do with them. They didn't come to the shallower waters, and my race didn't go to the depths.

Thanks to my parents, I learnt that even humans had stories about the sirens. Some were lovely and tame, but others showed true colors of the race that lacked compassion and enjoyed destruction far too much.

If I were more like Opal, maybe I would have said out loud the words that were in my mind, but that would mean that they would all be looking at me, listening to me, maybe even ask questions. I wasn't ready for that just yet. Perhaps time will make me more courageous.