The Girl of Many Floods- Linh Song

III

A shocked Linh dropped the other half of the bed with a loud thump and ran to Tam.

Tam's eyes were closed and his was taking quick breaths. Linh shook him gently and his eyelids fluttered open.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, just tired," he replied, and gave her a weak smile.

"Honestly Tam, if you were tired you could've just told me."

"Well, I thought since we were down to the last bulky item I would be fine,well, apparently I was wrong. Anyway, I don't think I can go on Linh, you have to move the rest of the bed yourself, sorry," he said apologetically.

"You say that as if I'll let you go on," Linh grumbled,"go sit down," she added.

Linh walked to the bed and closed her eyes, trying to lift the bed up with her mind. She could feel her fatigue getting to her but she carried on. She managed to lift the bed by an inch, but after a few seconds it landed on the floor with another thump. She was about to try again when Tam stopped her.

"Linh,stop or you're going to end up like me."

Linh sighed and sat on the bed.

"What do we do now?" she asked Tam, who was sitting on a nearby chair.

"We push?"he suggested.

"I guess, you okay to push?"

Tam nodded. The two of them then begin to push the bed, however, the bed was heavy and their progress was slow. The bed made squeaking sounds as it's legs scraped against the floor. By the fourth push, footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs.

"What do you think you're doing?" Quan asked furiously.

"Uh moving the bed?" Tam said.

"What are the screeching noises on the floor then?" Mai asked.

"We're pushing the bed," Linh replied.

"Had it never crossed your mind to use telekinesis?" Quan asked.

"Yes,but our telekinesis isn't strong enough and Tam has already collapsed due to fatigue," Linh explained.

"You co-" Quan started, but Mai cut him off.

"Are you okay Tam?"she asked.

"Yes," Tam said through gritted teeth. Mai tried to touch him but he flinched and refused to look at her.

Quan cleared his throat and continued. "The two of you could have just asked for help, rather then push the bed and ruin the floor." He glanced towards the floor and cringed, as if there were horrible scratch marks. But Linh thought the floor looked exactly the same as before.

Quan cleated his throat before continuing,
"anyway, we'll move the bed for you," he glanced at Mai and she nodded.

The two of them proceeded to stand at opposite sides of the bed and slowly lifted the bed with telekinesis to Tam's room. By the time they were done, Linh could see a thin layer of sweat coating her parents' foreheads.

"Now both of you, into your room, quickly, you've caused enough trouble today," Quan said, while Mai ushered them into their room and closed the door.

Tam flopped onto his bed while Linh sat cross-legged beside him.

"So....what do we do now?" Linh asked Tam.

"Nothing I guess, it's too early to sleep," he replied.

A thought suddenly occurred to Linh. "I know let's get started redecorating your room!" she said,grinning and looking way too happy.

Tam groaned,"are you sure there isn't anything else you want to do?"

"Nope I'm sure!"

Tam groaned again,"Well let's get started then," he said reluctantly, then added,"but you'll not be decorating the whole room,"

"That's fine,but anyway great! We can get started!" Linh clapped her hands excitedly. She proceeded to pace the length of the room.

"Where should I start..." Linh wondered aloud, her voice trailing off.

"I suggest you don't," Tam added, but Linh ignored him.

Linh looked around the room. From the balcony around the window, to the walls made of blocks of crystal and garnet and amber, to the golden roofs crowning the square towers that formed the four corners of the outer wall that she could see through the window,it was a beautiful place to live, but somehow Tam's room still felt gloomy. Maybe it was the black and grey coloured posters he pasted around the room or the black paintings he hung around the room, the paintings he personally requested his mother to paint, but the room still somehow managed to look bleak. Linh sighed, and tied her long black hair into a ponytail. She had a lot of work to do.