Abyss

Chapter 4

Cool, afternoon daylight trickled through the loft window as Sierra sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the canvas she'd uncovered. Another unfinished painting of the world that may be on the other side of the abyss remained on the easel. The cherry-kissed girl sighed, lifting herself off of the floor to scrap the painting—she had a different idea now.

Sierra had spent half of the night just trying to fall asleep, but there had been too many thoughts in her head for her to focus on relaxing. Sunrise had already begun to show its bleak orange light over the horizon by the time she fell asleep, and only recently to the bright middle day had she awakened.

A frustrated scowl adorned the petite girl's face as she mounted another, smaller canvas onto the easel. She looked down at the smudged black remnants of paint on her arm, unable to make out what it had once been.

You won't get in my way this time, Mikah.

Sierra laid her brush down on the paper, beginning to recreate the layout of her town. It was sloppy and rather lacking in detail, but she was getting her point across.

South of the village, close enough to be back in an hour...

She left an "X" where the chasm should be, and as she did, she sat herself a small distance away onto her futon, just looking at the bare-bones map she had created. Unsatisfied with it, she covered it up again, pulling the fabric over the still wet canvas.

It's too bleak. I need to add something else to it...

As soon as the thought entered her mind, Sierra's minty eyes opened just a little wider—she just needed to hear more stories. Unfortunately, the thought faded as quick as it came, as she wouldn't be able to go to work today, if she knew what was good for her. Blatantly lying to her boss wasn't the greatest idea, and coming into work just fine after taking a day off would be even worse. There was no way for her to hear stories from people if she couldn't go to the place in town that held the majority of them.

Sierra dipped the paintbrush she still held in a little pool of acrylic paint, and drew it over her smudged skin, painting a layer of orange over the black that was there previously. It was a painfully bright orange, and she let it dry on before a thought came to mind.

Lysander.

With new energy, Sierra dried her paintbrush off, and tucked it behind her ear as she slid down the ladder to her loft gracefully. She didn't bother to check the temperature this afternoon, just rushed right out the door.

Trying not to be seen by any of the other citizens, she weaved through the village without much conflict. Here and there she would have to wait behind a building for a person or two to pass, but the boardwalks were always relatively calm, given the small population of people. She finally allowed herself to breathe again once she began to climb the same hill she fell down yesterday. The only difference was this time she had a purpose.

The determined girl searched around frantically for the old man, hoping to find him in the same place she had yesterday. There was no sign of him outside the cottage, so Sierra could only hope he was resting in his home. She went up to the front door and tapped anxiously on it, hardly able to keep her thoughts intact. A few moments passed without an answer, so Sierra knocked on the door again, with a little more force this time. Eventually, after another painfully long pause, the familiar, wrinkled face showed himself behind the slowly opening, creaky door.

"Oh, Sierra. I wasn't expecting visitors today. Is something wrong?" Lysander inquired to the petite girl, who immediately spoke over his benevolent words.

"Could you tell me more stories? You've been in the forest a lot, right? Tell me about it." Sierra blurted out. A serious, determined glint in her eyes resembled the flame that began to spark up again. She pointed to the orange lines that she painted over the black smudges, continuing to look her former caretaker in the eyes. "I'm drawing a map at home, and I don't know enough about the outside world to make it as detailed as I would like to."