Ancient of Days on :
As always, very well written. It's clear that you yourself have "walked further than [you] ever wanted to walk".
Monday, February 26. 2007The Nature of Things, Part 7
Cloaked by cool darkness, we gazed out at our apartment complex. In spite of the late hour, the lights were blazing. Police scurried around, some questioning our neighbors, others carrying our belongings to a waiting truck.
David's whisper startled me. It was the first time he had spoken since I told him my story. "Well, I guess we better get on our way. They'll know by now that we're not dead." We started to retreat into the gloom. I paused for a moment, looking back over my shoulder, and saw the girl from the police station. She was talking to a policeman near a cruiser outside the apartment complex. Straining my ears, I picked up bits of the conversation. "Not from D'arville. . . " "A witch is a witch." " . . . just learning . . ." ". . . lizard grow into a dragon . . ." I turned away, looking for David. He was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, I panicked. I was wanted, hunted by the law. Police were rifling through my belongings, questioning my neighbors, discussing me on the street, and I was alone. Something pale moved in the darkness. It glided toward me. I gasped, gathering my breath to scream, but a hand clamped over my mouth. "Sssh. Come on. We've got to get moving." David's hoarse whisper cut through my panic. "They'll be combing the city for us tomorrow. We can't be here when they do."
I wanted to protest. In the last day, I had walked further than I ever wanted to walk. Earlier in the day, I'd had blisters on my heels and the balls of my feet. Now, I was sure, I had blisters on my blisters. My legs ached, but at least the pain in my head was beginning to subside. As David crept away, I swallowed my protests. The outlaw life somehow seemed less glamorous all of a sudden. Stifling my sigh, I scrambled after him, wondering how he could be so quiet in the dark. We reached the outskirts of town just as the sun began inching over the eastern horizon. "Where are we going?" "I don't know. Right now, we're just going away. After that, I'm not sure. I think we'll have to go to D'arville." "That's halfway across the country." "I know, but it's the only place where there are enough questor's for us to be safe." "Questors?" "Yeah. That's what we call ourselves. We don't call ourselves witches. That's what you call us. Witches are something else entirely. They deserve the fear. Questors are, well, questors are respectable." "Respectable like truth and respect?" "Yeah. That same kind of thing. Come on. We're still not safe." We angled northeast, roughly in the direction of D'arville, but also in the direction of the most rugged terrain in the area. I leaned forward as I walked, hoping that the lean of my body would make walking easier. We were passing through beautiful country, but for the most part, the only thing that I saw were David's feet. Mile after mile, I plodded after him, wondering if we'd ever stop. Around noon, we collapsed in a copse near a small stream. Lying on my back, I watched the clouds and the fluttering leaves above me. I blinked, and the blink seemed to last for several seconds. I felt myself sliding quickly toward sleep. Just before I drifted off, I heard David murmur to himself, "what have I done?" Trackbacks
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Radar on :
Alright, it is killing me. How did the police know that he was a questor? Did they know that the two of them were in doing magic stuff? If you don't tell us soon*, then I shall make my inappropriate comments even more risque.
*soon = in the next 3-5 posts. The Mad Giggler on :
I'm glad that Pete's girlfriend got a cameo in this episode. I'm curious about what will happen the next time Jonathon asks something of the elements.
I also find it interesting that you have chosen the names Jonathon and David for this story. Will there be a Saul? How about a Nathaniel? Johnny Elbows on :
I wondered who would be the first to mention that :)
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