Post by fiona on Mar 5, 2006 13:52:43 GMT -5
A young Fiona sat at a table in the kitchen, swinging her legs back and forth idily as her mom bustled about attempting to prepare dinner. It was just around dusk; that time of the day when the sun was only just begining to set down over the horizon, and the girl had been called in to dinner not less than five minutes ago. All of her other siblings were busy in other parts of the house, but she wasn't in the mood to play. It was also annoying to have to share toys with eight other siblings, because you never wound up with the one that you really wanted to play with.
"Momma..." She said suddenly, raising her head slightly from the picturebook that she had been reading. "Momma, why did you make us come inside? It's not even four o'clock yet! We could've played for another few hours yet." The seasons were just begining to change- while Africa never experienced real seasons because the climate was tropical all year round, there was a noticable difference in when the sun rose and set. The begining of "winter" was always her least favorite time. Her mother insisted that they be inside before dark, which was occasionally before five in the evening. She'd never thought to question it, but now she wanted to know.
"Well.." Her mother replied, slamming a lid down on the pot that she had been stirring. It smelled sort of like some kind of bean, but around here you could never tell. Some of the natives would sell anything in the marketplace, and Fiona and her siblings had to put up with whatever their mother deemed edible. "It's just the way things are. I know you don't understand it now, but everything that your father and I do for you is just to keep you safe. There's a lot more out there in the wide world than just muggle creatures, and we don't want to see you get hurt."
"I've never seen anything 'cept the occasional grindylow." She replied with a pout, closing her book. "It's so frightfully boring here that I don't see why any magical creatures would actually want to live here." She instinctively took another sniff of the air- no, it definitly wasn't beans in that pot. Obviously they were up for another night of Rigaldi suprise. She was hoping that it wouldn't turn out to be anything like that meat they had eaten the other night... which actually turned out to be hyena meat. Yeck.
Sighing, she slipped off her chair and picked up her book. It was now obvious that her mother wasn't going to give her a direct answer to her question, so there really wasn't much use in trying. But why not decide to slip out for a little stroll? There really didn't seem to be much to worry about, so the worst that could happen would be getting in big trouble. That didn't matter very much to her- well, did it ever matter? Her hand almost gravitated towards the doorknob in an unnatural way, clinging to it a second too long before turning it and looking into a pair of unearthly glowing eyes.
"Hello, child..." The animal hissed into her mind, watching as she was virtually paralyzed with fear. "I was wondering when you were going to find me..." Right after that, a number of things happen in quick sucession. Fiona screamed, the creature pounced, and somewhere in the future, a slumbering teacher suddenly awoke with a start.
Fiona jerked her head up off of her wooden desk, not at all suprised to feel that her brow was covered in sweat. The pile of papers that she had been grading was now a jumbled mess and it was just starting to get dark outside. Granted, she hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep lately, so that might account for the little nap she'd taken. But the dream? It was too weird to just account it to caffine or odd surroundings. Sighing a little, she shook her head and attempted to return to grading papers. Unfortunatly, her mind remained groggy and she was fairly certain that she marked a few of them incorrectly.
She was given a temporary distraction when an owl landed on her desk- not her's, but one from the school. It held a large package in it's beak and looked like it was about ready to fall over from the weight of it. She quickly relieved the bird of the burden and placed a knut in the bag on it's side- a little tip for delivering it to her personally, rather than just leaving it in her room. But now then.. who would be trying to send her anything?
The package looked old and faded, as though it had been sent through the washing machine a few times. There were a few sets of muggle stamps all over it, including ones in languages that she didn't even know. The return address had long since been worn away, and she was suprised to even see that her address had remained intact. Her fingers deftly undid the string that held the entire box together and watched as it unfolded to reveal something wrapped in tissue paper, along with a note.
Fiona,
We all hope you are well. Your father worries about you sometimes and everyone wonders how you are doing. I talked to Derek yesterday and he seems disappointed and worn, like a tired old man who doesn't have anything left to live for. I still don't know what happened between the two of you, but I trust that you're going to tell me someday.
Till then,
Mother
PS- I have enclosed a statue that your father found while out in the desert. I was wondering if maybe someone from your school might be able to figure out where it originated, since it seems oddly heavy and like it might have an interesting history behind it. Take care.
She folded the note back up thoughtfully, forcing her mind to stay concentrated on the bundle of tissue paper rather than Derek. Did her mother really have to mention that little bit of information? Did she only seek to make her feel worse about the choices that she had made? No matter. She wanted to get a good look at this statue. The tissuepaper, unlike the brown packaging it was wrapped in, remained the serenest shade of white. Her fingers gently curled around the edges of it, then ripped it all off as carefully as possible.
It looked like an ancient tribal statue, but it was like nothing she had ever seen before. The pose was like that of a man, but everything about it was beastlike. The face and appendeges looked like that of a leopard, and it even had a tiny tail. The eyes were wrathful looking and the creature bore a staff in one hand, with some weird hanging feathers. Definitly like nothing she had ever seen before. Actually, just looking at it gave her the creeps. She instantly regretted unwrapping it- just the feeling it gave her inside was so wretchedly unnatural. There was something wrong with it.
She shoved back her chair quickly in an effort to get away from it, and then decided that she would go back to her room. Yes. It would be safe there. She would leave the statue there for now, and maybe she'd figure out what to do with it tommorow. But, in the process of grabbing her cloak, she knocked it off the table and sent it spiraling to the ground. Upon impact, it shattered into a million little pieces, much like something that was made from clay might do. But it wasn't clay... well, it didn't feel like clay. It felt more like wood...
Backing away slowly, she could feel a small surge of heat come off the fragments. They slowly began to come together, shifting and stirring as though arranging themselves into a grand plan. Something wicked, something dark, something not meant to be in this world. That something continued to grow bigger, until it was almost the size and shape of an African cat. Fear and adrenaline shot through her veins as she stumbled back another few steps, and looked into the eyes of the fully grown creature that stood before her.
It was deja-vu.
"Momma..." She said suddenly, raising her head slightly from the picturebook that she had been reading. "Momma, why did you make us come inside? It's not even four o'clock yet! We could've played for another few hours yet." The seasons were just begining to change- while Africa never experienced real seasons because the climate was tropical all year round, there was a noticable difference in when the sun rose and set. The begining of "winter" was always her least favorite time. Her mother insisted that they be inside before dark, which was occasionally before five in the evening. She'd never thought to question it, but now she wanted to know.
"Well.." Her mother replied, slamming a lid down on the pot that she had been stirring. It smelled sort of like some kind of bean, but around here you could never tell. Some of the natives would sell anything in the marketplace, and Fiona and her siblings had to put up with whatever their mother deemed edible. "It's just the way things are. I know you don't understand it now, but everything that your father and I do for you is just to keep you safe. There's a lot more out there in the wide world than just muggle creatures, and we don't want to see you get hurt."
"I've never seen anything 'cept the occasional grindylow." She replied with a pout, closing her book. "It's so frightfully boring here that I don't see why any magical creatures would actually want to live here." She instinctively took another sniff of the air- no, it definitly wasn't beans in that pot. Obviously they were up for another night of Rigaldi suprise. She was hoping that it wouldn't turn out to be anything like that meat they had eaten the other night... which actually turned out to be hyena meat. Yeck.
Sighing, she slipped off her chair and picked up her book. It was now obvious that her mother wasn't going to give her a direct answer to her question, so there really wasn't much use in trying. But why not decide to slip out for a little stroll? There really didn't seem to be much to worry about, so the worst that could happen would be getting in big trouble. That didn't matter very much to her- well, did it ever matter? Her hand almost gravitated towards the doorknob in an unnatural way, clinging to it a second too long before turning it and looking into a pair of unearthly glowing eyes.
"Hello, child..." The animal hissed into her mind, watching as she was virtually paralyzed with fear. "I was wondering when you were going to find me..." Right after that, a number of things happen in quick sucession. Fiona screamed, the creature pounced, and somewhere in the future, a slumbering teacher suddenly awoke with a start.
Fiona jerked her head up off of her wooden desk, not at all suprised to feel that her brow was covered in sweat. The pile of papers that she had been grading was now a jumbled mess and it was just starting to get dark outside. Granted, she hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep lately, so that might account for the little nap she'd taken. But the dream? It was too weird to just account it to caffine or odd surroundings. Sighing a little, she shook her head and attempted to return to grading papers. Unfortunatly, her mind remained groggy and she was fairly certain that she marked a few of them incorrectly.
She was given a temporary distraction when an owl landed on her desk- not her's, but one from the school. It held a large package in it's beak and looked like it was about ready to fall over from the weight of it. She quickly relieved the bird of the burden and placed a knut in the bag on it's side- a little tip for delivering it to her personally, rather than just leaving it in her room. But now then.. who would be trying to send her anything?
The package looked old and faded, as though it had been sent through the washing machine a few times. There were a few sets of muggle stamps all over it, including ones in languages that she didn't even know. The return address had long since been worn away, and she was suprised to even see that her address had remained intact. Her fingers deftly undid the string that held the entire box together and watched as it unfolded to reveal something wrapped in tissue paper, along with a note.
Fiona,
We all hope you are well. Your father worries about you sometimes and everyone wonders how you are doing. I talked to Derek yesterday and he seems disappointed and worn, like a tired old man who doesn't have anything left to live for. I still don't know what happened between the two of you, but I trust that you're going to tell me someday.
Till then,
Mother
PS- I have enclosed a statue that your father found while out in the desert. I was wondering if maybe someone from your school might be able to figure out where it originated, since it seems oddly heavy and like it might have an interesting history behind it. Take care.
She folded the note back up thoughtfully, forcing her mind to stay concentrated on the bundle of tissue paper rather than Derek. Did her mother really have to mention that little bit of information? Did she only seek to make her feel worse about the choices that she had made? No matter. She wanted to get a good look at this statue. The tissuepaper, unlike the brown packaging it was wrapped in, remained the serenest shade of white. Her fingers gently curled around the edges of it, then ripped it all off as carefully as possible.
It looked like an ancient tribal statue, but it was like nothing she had ever seen before. The pose was like that of a man, but everything about it was beastlike. The face and appendeges looked like that of a leopard, and it even had a tiny tail. The eyes were wrathful looking and the creature bore a staff in one hand, with some weird hanging feathers. Definitly like nothing she had ever seen before. Actually, just looking at it gave her the creeps. She instantly regretted unwrapping it- just the feeling it gave her inside was so wretchedly unnatural. There was something wrong with it.
She shoved back her chair quickly in an effort to get away from it, and then decided that she would go back to her room. Yes. It would be safe there. She would leave the statue there for now, and maybe she'd figure out what to do with it tommorow. But, in the process of grabbing her cloak, she knocked it off the table and sent it spiraling to the ground. Upon impact, it shattered into a million little pieces, much like something that was made from clay might do. But it wasn't clay... well, it didn't feel like clay. It felt more like wood...
Backing away slowly, she could feel a small surge of heat come off the fragments. They slowly began to come together, shifting and stirring as though arranging themselves into a grand plan. Something wicked, something dark, something not meant to be in this world. That something continued to grow bigger, until it was almost the size and shape of an African cat. Fear and adrenaline shot through her veins as she stumbled back another few steps, and looked into the eyes of the fully grown creature that stood before her.
It was deja-vu.