Aurora Interval

Conservation

Haze.

Words drift from so far away. Do they mean something? They were a tide that rolled over her. Should she be fighting the current that was pulling her down.

A rough shake.

The realization of the rest of her body as her limbs were jostled, the pain spiked through her. Her eyes shot open.

Light. Too much light.

I blinked lazily. Something was wrong. I groaned, angry that I couldn’t react faster. All I knew was that I was that my life was in danger.

 Move now! Run!

I sprang to my feet only to feel the world spin and my body sag back towards the ground head first. Strong arms held me up.

Something warm.

“Easy there Nirry. If Em knows you were hurt, she’ll gut me.”

Tim…

Wait…

Tim?

I blinked up at his fuzzy features as they slowly came into focus.

Tim…

Panicked Tim.

“You ok?” His breaths were quick as they washed over my face.

Ok? Why wouldn’t I be—the fire!

My hand raced to my right shoulder, waiting for the damp blood to soak my fingers and was shocked when I just felt the holes in my uniform. I looked down to try and see if my hands were hallucinating.

Five rips in the shape of a half moon. My finger tips brushed the raised scars underneath.

What the hell?

My unmoving frame stayed stuck in time. Tim made an awkward noise in his throat as he tried to get my attention without startling me. I snapped back to the here and now.

I let my feet hold my weight and eased away from him, looking around me for the source of my fear.

 No fur. No feathers. No blood. Nothing but scorch marks where the blood had been. All evidence burned. No trace of the monster.

“Nir…”

My eyes found his. I read the questioning thoughts there.

“Yeah… fine… I just…” I couldn’t tell him what had happened. He’d think I’d lost my mind. “I fell.” Even I didn’t believe what I was saying.

I was a crappy liar. Part of why I couldn’t operate in a customer service setting.

Tim made a face. “Well you feel ok though, right?” He looked me over, like he was afraid that he’d find that I was missing an arm. “You look ok.”

“Yeah… Just dizzy.” I spoke slowly, letting my words try to work around my numb nerves.

Was I in shock? I felt really tired. Did I have a concussion?

No… I didn’t hit my head. Or did I? I was knocked down. I might have.

A discomforted laugh broke my thoughts. “Ditzy more like. No wonder Emmy insisted that I follow you out here.”

I coughed a laugh. A quick force of air that I couldn’t commit to a chuckle. Not feeling in the mood for humor. I was too shaken from what had happened... Or what might have.

“Hey.” Tim waved his hand in front of my face to try and get my attention. “Hello? You sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah… I’ll be fine. Shouldn’t have stayed up all night watching TV.” TV? God I was bad at lying. Everyone knew I didn’t watch TV.