Autumn's Fire

Autumn's Fire: Chapter 5

I awoke, nestled in the willow branches, to a gentle scratching at my arm. I swiped gently at my arm at first, my mind still trapped in the depths of sleep, but when the scratching continued, I opened my eyes slowly. Squinting against the sunlight, I froze, wide-eyed as a Golden Eagle sat perched on a branch right next to me. Golden Eagles tended to stay in the mountains or the Heinthral, and I had only seen one once before flying over the fields. But now one reached out to scratch at my arm gently once more with one of its large talons; and then, seeing that I was awake, tilted its head and stared at me. Its yellow eye gazed into the depths of my soul, and I dared not move. Images of illustrations flashed into my mind of exactly the type of damage a Golden Eagle could do if threatened or if you were unlucky enough to be chosen as its prey.

Involuntarily, I shivered in fear and color drained from my face, terrified as to what it would do. The creature flapped its massive wings slightly and hopped sideways on its branch, moving closer to me. I swallowed hard, trying not to panic as hundreds of scenarios of a gruesome death ran through my head. But just as I thought it was about to attack, it suddenly flew away, disappearing behind the shroud of the willow's branches. I gasped and breathed heavily, my panicked mind struggling to understand that I was no longer in danger. When the tightness in my chest relaxed and I managed to catch my breath, I climbed down from the tree and plopped onto the ground. My dress was horribly wrinkled and my hair had matted, likely from getting caught in the bark of the tree. I sighed, not awake enough to deal with my mess; and, stretching, tried to shake the soreness from my bones. I grabbed the basket full of small cakes, expecting them to have been eaten by animals during the night, but surprisingly, they remained untouched.

The walk home felt much longer that morning; my bones creaking, I felt like I had been run over by a carriage. A bit clearer-headed, I made a mental note to never sleep in the willow again, and to avoid Golden Eagles for the rest of my life. Luckily, I didn't run into anyone on the way, and when I got in the house, I closed the door heavily behind me, leaning my back against it. Knowing my parents had likely already left for work, I let myself sink to floor, not yet ready to deal with the day ahead of me. I sighed, resting my head against the door, and, blinking slowly, I looked around the kitchen. It took a moment for my mind to grasp what I was seeing, but eventually I noticed a small parcel wrapped in paper sitting on the counter. I stared at it blankly for a moment, but I soon realized that it was the present my parents got me that I had forgotten about yesterday. Groaning tiredly, I stood up and walked over to the counter, setting the cakes basket down and picking up the parcel. It was heavy and rectangular, and had my brain been alive, it would've been easy to guess as to what was inside. I untied the twine and carefully unwrapped the brown paper to find five new books; two fiction stories, two scientific journals, and one history book. I smiled to myself, running my fingers over the cover of the top book, before tucking them all into my satchel and wandering to my room.

I set my satchel down next to my bed and plopped down face first onto the bed. I had originally intended to just take a breather, but before I knew it, I had fallen fast asleep and was waking up several hours later to a knocking on the front door. I jerked awake, drool and hair clinging to my face, and forced myself to get out of bed. I was about to move to go answer the door when it occurred to me that it was probably Chriol here to pick me up. Realizing this, I pushed through the tiredness and got changed as quickly as I could. In doing so, I realized that sleeping in the willow had gotten my exposed skin caked in a thin layer of dirt, and while I did my best to clean it off quickly with a wash rag, I also made a mental note to visit the bath house whenever I got back. We had a bath, of course, but filling it up with water was a chore that we generally didn't bother with unless someone was sick.

Hair fixed, dress on, and boots laced up, I ran to the front door and peered out. Chriol stood on the other side a few feet away, hands in his trouser pockets, looking up at the sky as he waited. The door had opened quietly, so he didn't notice me right away. Seeing this as an opportunity for shenanigans, I snuck up as quietly as I could until I was right behind him, and then cleared my throat loudly. He visibly jumped and spun around, hands up as though he was ready to defend himself.