Tempest [ON HOLD]

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

What was this feeling? Tom and Maya had been gone for several days, and Ling and I had become inseparable.

"Where are your roommates anyway?" Ling asked one day while walking from Central Park. Ling had woken up that morning excited to take pictures of the bustling city. The streets were once again filled with citizens, with the exception of Tom and Maya.  

"Beats me." I said, staring off at the newly-redecorated streets.

Patriotic banners and signs screaming "FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!" fluttered in the cold winter wind. A large poster of Uncle Sam pointing his omnipresent finger called all able-bodied citizens to enlist in the growing armed forces.

"I think they're taking this patriotism thing a little too far." Ling remarked as we passed a cluster of posters that featured Rosie the Riveter. I glanced over at her. Her breath was fogging up her glasses, and I resisted the urge to snicker. 

"I think you need to wipe off your glasses." I retorted, trying to divert the conversation from the topic of the looming war. 

Ling rubbed her glasses furiously, only to have them fog up again. "I'm just saying." Ling began, pocketing her stubborn glasses. "Using historic media images isn't going to make anybody jump up and say 'Hey! Uncle Sam wants ME to join the military and fight for my country! Golly gee!' If anything, it's going to create an uprising because the government is trying to glamorize the war."

When I thought about it, Ling did have a point: Government officials weren't going to war. They were sending their citizens to fight in a mess that they had gotten into themselves, and were trying to make the war with London seem like a glamorous opportunity to display the power and authority New York harbored. The thought made my blood boil.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." I said flatly.  

Ling shrugged, and then punched me lightly on my shoulder. "Lighten up." She said. "Smile." 

She whipped out her camera and began photographing my sullen face. 

"Smile, Lily." Ling crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. 

"Stop it." I said, trying to stifle the smile growing on my lips. 

"Show those pearly whites!" Ling puffed out her cheeks and clicked the camera. 

"C'mon, Ling!" by this time I was laughing, and the camera continued to flash as fat snowflakes fell from the sky. I watched in amusement as the snowflakes landed in Ling's hair, creating a halo of fluff that grew until the top of her head was frosted in snowflakes.

Scooping up a snowball, Ling smashed the freezing mass into my hair. I gasped from the sudden cold. Regaining my composure, I scooped up a snowball and smushed it into her neck. Shrieking, we commenced the biggest snowball fight two people could ever have. After the last blow landed, we both collapsed onto the ground.

We lay in the snow for a moment, staring at the slate gray sky.  

"Lily?" Ling asked. 

"Yeah?" I answered. 

"Do you miss your home?" I could hear a pang of sadness in her voice. 

"I miss my family." I said, turning my head to face her. 

"Yeah," She said. "Me too." 

Suddenly, her hand was in mine. I felt a shock from where our hands met travel across my body and settle, tingling, in my toes.

Hot, then cold.

Well. How about that?

I wondered if I should say something. Anything. Would I sound crazy if I asked her if she felt it too? Quickly glancing over at Ling, I found her also staring in puzzlement at our locked hands.