Imagination, Faith And Magic (Part Seven)

Part One Here
Part Two Here
Part Three Here
Part Four Here
Part Five Here
Part Six Here

Slowly the blindness lifted, sight confirming what her brain could not grasp. The rough-cut stone wall of the room in the basement of the library should be right in front of her.

But it wasn't.

And she should have her hand on an plastic electrical switch attached to the wall that should be there.

But she didn't.

A world of green and blue was forming around her. It was as if several things were happening at once. Dawn was growing on the land. Her sight was being restored. And the blurry, indistinct shapes were exploding - a bit like fireworks - into trees and water and grass.

She couldn't believe it. Somehow, someway, she was hovering in a forest of tall, still trees. The ground was soft and grassy and there were small pools of water dotting the land as far as she could see. She looked up. The sky above was a perfect, cloudless blue - motionless, but like it had been frozen a moment before movement. It reminded Andi of a prima ballarina performing a jete. Having lept into the air, the sky was now defying gravity and motion, waiting for some unknown musical cue to release it from its pose.

A peculiar sensation was slowly overtaking her; it reminded her of the way she felt when standing on the observation deck of the Sears Tower. Like she was suspended tiptoes, slowly tilting towards the fall...

And suddenly she was on her knees, her hands out in front of her.

And it was in this moment, when her hands touched the grass and smelt the earth and felt the warmth, that it all became real. Her breath came back to her - at least it seemed she had been holding her breath until that moment. Taking great gasps of air, her mind began to clear and the disorientation slipped away. After a moment, she struggled back to her feet. Her face brushed a branch hanging quite near. She looked at it and noticed that the tip of the slender branch seemed to be broken, as though someone had snapped it upward. But even as she was registering this, the branch began to mend - rapid time, right before her eyes! The woody splinters reached out to one another and began to twist around each another until they were one again; while the light grey bark that covered the tree suddenly ran like water over the newly formed wood. Yet the branch remained bent, awkwardly turned upward.

Tearing her eyes away from this, she looked about, seeking some direction, some sign of civilization. But as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but trees and grass and small ponds. There just wasn't much for it, so she took a resolute step forward.

"Wait!"

She jumped sky high.

"OH MY GOD!", she yelled clutching her chest, whirling around and staring a the two young boys who had appeared from apparently nowhere.

They looked with raised eyebrows at one another in amusement.

Then the older boy said, "You'll want to mark your spot."

Her face showed no signs of comprehension, so the younger boy spoke.

"So you know where you started. Just basic exploration skills."

"Plus, you might need the switch again" said the older boy and motioned to the unbroken branch.

"That's a switch?" she said, looking at the thin branch with the skyward tip.

The younger boy suddenly looked at with great suspection. Frowning slightly he said, "Yeah, it is. I ought to get rid of it..." and trailed off with some mumbling.

The older boy looked slightly amused at the younger, and then spoke to Andi.

"Yes, it's the switch you flipped to get here. Here, let me mark this spot for you."

And he pulled out another switch, about a foot long, and swished it through the air, pointing at a spot just near Andi's feet. Suddenly a bouquet of deep purple crocuses popped out of the ground and a wonderful, fragrent scent filled the air.

"Now if you ever get lost, you can follow the scent. It will be strong enough."

A moment of silence, and then...

"Thank you."

And she stared at them and they beamed back, the younger one no longer concerned about switches. A long pause, and then...

"Where am I?"

The two boys just stared back, but she could see in the face of the older one that he was struggling. Finally he said, "It goes by a few names, and as far as place...well, there are many places here..." He bit his lip while his eyes darted downward and then quickly added with a lighthearted air, "...as there are everywhere, of course."

He flashed a charming smile and Andi noticed for the first time he was quite good looking. He had an open, honest, intelligent face and an air of integrity about him, though she thought he couldn't be much out of highschool. Though shaken, she suddenly felt as though she could trust this boy.

"I'm Andi Arthur, and you are...?" she said.

"Diggory" they both answered.

Ah, the moment she thought she had found stability... She waited a few seconds, and then said, "You're...both Diggory?"

"Yes."

"But I'm the oldest", the younger one said.

"Shh!" said the older one.

She stared at the younger one with humored disbelief. She had never cared much for younger children and prefered dealing with the older one. Glancing back at him, she waited for this childishness to be patronized, but the older one was looked at her with the air of one forced to explain something he had rather not and said, "Well, it is true, but I know that doesn't make sense."

"And if that doesn't make sense, he's the founder!" exclaimed the younger one.

She really wished the good looking guy would get his kid brother under control. Even though she trusted him, it didn't change the fact that she had just had some unexplainable experience and had no idea where she was or how to get home and the more this little boy shouted nonsensacles into the air, the more agitated she felt.

"Hush, Kirk!" chided the annoyed older, but now proclaimed younger Diggory. "I'm not really the founder" he said quickly, while the younger made to protest "but I am named Founder as a tribute to...well, him..." (At this the younger boy grinned a proud little arrogant smile.) "when he's older, anyway..." finished the older, but younger Diggory.

"Ah-hah..." said Andi.

To be continued...

posted by Headless-in-GR @ 10/18/2006 07:25:00 PM