Through Magic and Mayhem E-Book

S.D. Pixly

• Herausgeber: Dreaming of Dancing Bubbles
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Two women discover friendship, adventure, and danger in a hidden world full of lost memories and magic.

Eka stays in motion since losing her family, running from one adrenaline rush to the next and away from any connection. Christelle loves her close-knit family, but longs to spread her wings and explore the world away from their protectiveness. When an accident leaves Eka at Christelle’s doorstep, memories of magic, hidden within our everyday world, come flooding back to both of them. As they find themselves awakened to this new world, they also find that no one around them is aware of anything unusual, leaving them to navigate this reality together.
At first, they seem unable to work with each other. Christelle is skeptical and cautious while Eka is ready to dive in blind-folded. But somehow, as they stumble through each new aspect of the magic, Eka finds herself trusting someone for the first time, while Christelle begins to find a strength outside her family. And, as their friendship grows, unique magical abilities grow within them.
But soon a dangerous and destructive force, connected to their lost past, returns, destroying people around them and dredging up the darkest moments of their lives. When this force takes a personal interest in the two, both women will need to draw on their wits and fledgling magic if they have any chance of stopping it. But will their new abilities be strong enough when that moment arrives? Or will their newly discovered fears from the past cause them to fall back on old ways and destroy the friendship they’ll need to save themselves and everyone they love.

If you enjoy light-hearted fantasy adventures with plenty of action and strong friendships, you'll love the Adventures of Eka and Christelle.

Leseprobe

Through Magic and Mayhem

♦

The Adventures of Eka and Christelle 

Book One

Parts One and Two

S.D. Pixley

Published by Dreaming of Dancing Bubbles

An imprint of Shelrie Dawn’s Desk, LLC

Florida, USA

Copyright © 2021 Shelrie Dawn Houlton

www.DreamingOfDancingBubbles.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

Front cover image by Casey Gerber.

Book design by Lorna Reid.

Story Edit by Claire Baldwin

Copyedit by Nick Hodgson

Graphics from the following sources:

freepgnimg.com

openclipart.org

Vector-Images.com

BuySellGraphic.com

ISBN (Paperback): 978-0-9992608-4-5

ISBN (Epub): 978-0-9992608-5-2

Table of Contents

Eka Breaks Down

Christelle Sees the Light

AbbracaBam

Isn’t the Coffee to Die For?

Christelle’s Got It Going On

Magical Hangovers are Killer

The Local Sites are a Blast

Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome

The Amazing Wobblinas

Exploration Galore

Pull Back the Curtain, Please

Ben Shows the Way

Bander’s Place

Where the Nalo Are

Dinner with Devlon

What is Family?

Spirits, Spirits Everywhere

The Unexpected Gift

Adrien Tells It All

What is Up With Her?

Dinner of the Damned Irritating

Where Are You, Janice

I’ll Trade You Three Clues for an Answer

The Darkest Cove

What Were We Thinking?

Am I the Sum or the Parts?

Forgiving is the Greatest Quest

Can You See What I’m Saying?

How Do You Stop Madness?

Epilogue: For Every Door that Closes There’s a Loud Slam

Part One

Eka Breaks Down

Eka brought her left foot up on the cab seat next to her and rested her arm on her knee against the window, the road smooth ahead. Finally, she’d be on time for a job, maybe even early.

“This is the life.” She sighed contentedly, tapping on the steering wheel to a song on the oldies station. Suddenly, bright, rainbow-hued light erupted inside the truck’s cab, blinding Eka and upending her usually innate sense of direction. She swerved right across the rural road, her cheek slamming her knee, and onto what felt like the most uneven bit of grass shoulder in existence.

“Whattt tthhee…” Her rattling voice cut off as her phone flashed a blinding rainbow light again, just as she was starting to make sense of the line between grass and asphalt. She instinctively threw her arm over her eyes and flipped down the visor, which, of course, did nothing to block the blinding light. It did, however, aid in the escape of a box of Tic-Tacs, which bounced off her forehead, followed by a few maps and a butt-load of bills, all of which managed to cartwheel off her face.

“Hey!”

Eka finally managed to pull off the road completely, slamming her truck into park on the grass between the narrow lane and the ditch. Rubbing her forehead, she tentatively reached for her phone on the passenger seat. Just as she made contact, the sneaky little bastard buzzed to life, startling her head into the window with a third burst of color.

“Ow!”

Then, the phone lay suspiciously quiet.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

Still no movement, the screen lit only by icons. Taking a deep breath, Eka closed her eyes and snatched the phone, tensing for fireworks. Nothing. She slid one eyelid open. Still nothing. Then her second eyelid inched warily open, but the phone just lay there, in her palm, innocent and quiet. For now.

“Don’t think I trust you.”

Sighing, she blinked away splotches of rainbow colors floating in her vision blocking parts of the wooded, nondescript, lacking-in-signs area surrounding her.

Shit, I’m lost.

She tossed the paper map of Florida off the passenger seat and onto the floorboard trashpile of empty water and soda bottles. She really needed to figure out where she was, which meant using the phone. Another breath, tension gripping her body, she tapped on a mapping app and…it opened. Without the multi-colored blitz of light.

After a moment of shock she relaxed. Until she saw the screen with a ton of waiting, unread texts. All from the same person.

“It’s so time for a new number,” she muttered as she pulled back onto the road. “Seriously, how many times can she text?”

Her truck creaked and she eyed the dashboard. “What?”

Years of driving alone left her talking to the truck and now she found it to be a better listener than most. Almost as if she were talking to herself. Almost. Because admitting to constant conversations with yourself was definitely that one step too close to the cliffs of crazy.

Just then the truck creaked and she shrugged. “I had to sneak out. I mean she was getting clingy.” Without waiting for another creak, because when would that happen, she switched to talking to the quiet dashboard. “A bedroom window is, too, an exit. Besides, she didn’t have any sense of humor. What?” As if she needed a prompt to continue this very one-sided tale. “It was funny. And, it’s not like I meant for her tires to fall in the molasses when we hid them.” Her right hand came off the stick shift as she animated her story with gestures. “I mean, we got her car off the tracks with almost no damage. You know,” she shook her head, “some people can’t take a joke.”

The next creak seemed to mock her and she narrowed her eyes at the dashboard. “Like you know anything about humor. Or dating.”

Just then, a memory resurfaced, of a midnight swim, clothes left on the shore, skin pressed against skin. Eka smiled. “She had her moments, though.”

She caught the steering wheel with her knee and entered her destination into the map app, blinking at the ETA.

“Eight frickin’ hours? That can’t be right.”

Eka lunged for the fallen map, toppling bottles and swerving along the road. She finally managed to grab the grubby, folded paper and, by some fortune, stay in her lane. Mostly. When she finally checked her route on paper against the app, it showed the same thing. She’d missed her exit by forty-five miles. Tracing and retracing the route ended at the same spot. “Ninety miles of gas and time gone.” And late for her gig.

“Ahhhh!” She threw up her hands, just to slam them back on the wheel as her rig swerved across the road. “Jees!” Eka eyed the dashboard. “What’s your issue?”

Without waiting for an answer, she shifted down and started to maneuver into a U-turn. Just then she caught a glimpse, in the rear-view mirror, of familiar rainbow colors dancing across the sky behind her. She spun around in her seat just in time to watch a palm tree fall across the road. And block her way back to her missed exit.

Eka blinked at the tree spanning the road, then slowly sat forward.

“Great.” Outside, blue skies stretched as far as forever, cloud-free.

She glared at her phone. Had that lightning really been the same color as the weird flash from her phone? Outside, no other rainbow flashes marred the clear sky. What the hell was going on? It was like something was playing with her.

“I’m not a toy!” she yelled at the sky.

Who am I yelling at?

“Get it together. Probably some weird local weather thingy.”

Probably.

“And a phone glitch. With similar color bursts as the weather.”

Right.

Eka stared at the sky, then back at her phone, and finally shook her head to clear out all the weirdness. “Focus on getting to that freakin’ job.”

She inhaled deeply, the air distracting her enough to focus, then blew out and scanned the fold-out map. After a few moments, a long, winding, maze-like route took shape. “Okay.” Leaning out the window, she took a last look at the suddenly inconvenient palm, then the road ahead. “Guess I’m going forward.”

Driving a few uneventful miles relaxed her shoulders, then her back, and finally her mind. The radio came on and ‘That’s Life’ blared in the cab, her voice challenging Frank’s for volume, if not pitch. As she sang along, swaying to the beat, her left hand undulated in the gusty breeze, moving to the rhythm. As the song ended, lightning, this time the standard bright-white variety, flashed across the sky to frame dark clouds rolling towards her from the left.

“A storm? Are you kidding me?”

She eyed the folded map again, which only highlighted the miles of roads before she was back on track, and slumped down the bucket seat. “I’m never gonna make that gig tomorrow.”

Overdue bills, now strewn across the cab, almost shouted their demands at her, while outside, thunder grumbled closer and a few raindrops hit her windshield. Squeezing the steering wheel, she glanced between the clouds and the bills.

“Ugh. Fine, I’ll stop until it passes.”

Deep breath.

Eka sat up, raising her eyebrows at all of it. “I could really use a nap and shower anyway. And Ron will totally see that, late or not, his aerial show can’t live without me, rigger extraordinaire.”

This time, the creak was right on time, a perfect segue.

“Exactly. I’ll just turn on the charm. Always worked before.” She winked at the dashboard then glanced back at the phone. “If I’m gonna find a proper camping spot, I need your help. But if you so much as flash a rainbow emoji, I swear I’ll throw you out the window.” She brought the phone close to her face. “One piece at a time.”

The mapping app continued to move the little car on the original route she’d typed in, no strange flashes lighting up the truck’s cab. Satisfied, she searched for an RV park nearby and hoped there was time to hook up the camper before the storm caught up. “Focus, Eka. Do not get distract—?” A worn wooden sign flashed by, hanging at an angle with the words ‘Hapton’s Place’ painted on it in sun-worn blue.

“Hapton. Huh.”

The name had a faintly, familiar feel. A faded, hazy agitation, swirling in darkness and fear, caught her breath, crawled across her skin, and set off a wave of goosebumps. Before she could suck in any air, a rapid fire of sensations drowned out the fear; a long-ago flash of rainbow light, a memory of trees, the smell of earth and heavy humidity, her grandmother hugging her, a sense of love and connection, belonging.

Belonging.

She shook her head and cracked the memory’s hold on her. “Home is where the heart is, right?” She patted the dashboard. “And my family is with me wherever I go.”

No creak always meant it was implied, because a conversation needs two. So off she went in answer to the unspoken creak.

“Yes, Sema and Win are family too. Speaking of which.” The sensation of her grandmother’s hug, from her memory, flitted back. “Maybe Sema knows something about Hapton’s Place.”

She smiled and tapped her grandmother’s icon on the phone, listening to the few rings.

“Hello Little Bird.” The familiar voice danced out of the phone.

“Hey Sema.” Eka smiled. “How’s Bali?”

“Oh, I left there weeks ago. Win and I are off to New Zealand. How’s your travels?”

“Of course you already left.” Sema could never sit still. “I’m driving down the coast of Florida right now. Hopefully to a gig. Listen, I saw a sign that seemed familiar. You know a Hapton’s Place?”

“Oh.” Sema sucked in a breath. “Are you there at Hapton’s?”

“You know it?”

“Um, yes. It’s a great place. Wonderful people.”

Eka squinted as more rain drops hit the windshield. “Did we go there once? The name seems…familiar.”

The line went quiet and Eka frowned. “You okay?”

“What? Oh, I’m fine. Just memories. Anyway, we went there, right after…” Sema coughed. “Um, when you came to live with us. There’s a farm and a preserve. And the Haptons are wonderful people. You should stop by; maybe you’ll remember more.”

At the mention of that time period, Eka’s chest tightened. She grabbed the twisted vines of her childhood bracelet, turning it around her left wrist to the smooth surface of a lone shell. Rubbing the shell with her thumb, breath expanded and contracted her chest until her heart slowed, and pushed thoughts of her parents and Ke from her mind.

“Eka, I didn’t mean to bring them up.”

“No, no I’m fine. Just distracted by the weird weather. I’m stopping soon at an RV park. Probably should go.”

“I could call Shirley Hapton. She’s an old friend,” Sema almost whispered. “I’m sure you could stay there.”

“Um, the weather just turned. Gotta go!” Eka heard ‘love you’ as she hung up.

Don’t think about them. Focus on the road.

A few, slow heartbeats later she sighed and threw the phone on the seat. Her truck purred down the quiet road and Eka turned up the radio even more, joining back in and drowning out any lingering memories. A few miles farther, the road angled up onto a causeway, a large river flowing languidly below.

Eka gazed across water, sparkling in the few rays of sunlight fighting their way through heavy, dark clouds while pelicans glided inches over the surface. Despite the strangling thoughts of a few moments ago, a laugh bubbled out of her as a dolphin broke the surface of the water and undulated in and out of the waves. A second dolphin jumped straight up, a few rays of sun glinting off its back before it splashed back down. The shimmer off the dolphin’s skin reminded her of something. Another dolphin, a beach, her parents. Images flashed through her thoughts and Eka’s temples erupted in pain as a strange memory played in her mind.

***

“Mama, dolphins!”

Eka pointed to movement in the water as her small legs pulled her to the edge of the ocean. Without a single hesitant step, she plunged into the waves, the sound of her parents’ voices fading as water flowed around her and wrapped her in a liquid blanket. Beneath the surface, the ocean opened up to her and she lost herself in an unending playground. Darting through bluish-green water, Eka searched for the dolphins as warmth rolled in her chest, morphing to heat as it spread out to her finger tips. A giggle of bubbles escaped her at the glowing violet shimmer of her skin and the suddenly swirling water. Her violet light mixed with the pale, greenish-blue glow of the ocean and she was gently pulled forward by a watery caress. Just then a rough surface brushed against her leg. She instinctively grabbed at the dolphin’s fin, which turned and dragged her up, up, up until they broke the surface. She sucked in air as the creature pulled her along, giggles eventually tumbling out of her and mixing together with the dolphin’s chatter as they cut through the waves, then jumping high above the water. A tickle suddenly danced across the back of her neck as the warmth of her mother flowed over her.

Eka, come home! Her mother’s silent call went through her.

She let go of the dolphin with a hug, then relaxed on the ocean’s surface as it glided her to the beach, rolling her ashore. She giggled as she tumbled onto the sand, only stopping when she bumped into her mother’s feet.

“Ekanam Rahasia, what did you think you were doing?” Her mother frowned down at her.

Eka wiped sand from her eyes and smiled up. “I was playing.” She pointed to a disappearing fin and rolling waves.

Her mother helped her up and took her hand, leading her back to their blanket. “You haven’t started your training. You’re not ready to do these things alone.”

“But she is already in tune with water, dolphins, air. Amazing,” her father said, popping up from the sand Ke had buried him under.

“I’m amazing too!” Ke stomped his foot and glared at Eka.

“Of course you are.” Their mother swept him up in a hug and he wrapped his arms around her neck.

“Really?” Ke asked.

“Of course!” Their father laughed as he broke free of the sand, shaking his body and sending sand spraying every where. He picked up Eka, then stumbled into the others and they all fell to the blanket, giggling and hugging.

“See,” Ke stuck his tongue out at Eka, “I’m amazing.”

“I know.” Eka smiled at Ke and squeezed his hand.

The four of them lay on the blanket until the sun started to appear. The pinks and blues of sunrise outlined the few clouds floating by and reflected off the water.

“Look how late it’s getting.” Their father sat up. “We’ve got to get you two home and in bed.” He tousled Ke’s hair. “Don’t want to be tired for the first night of training.”

Her mother ran a hand through Eka’s hair. “I can’t believe my babies are seven already.”

Her father grinned and pulled a bundle from his pocket, untying the cloth to reveal a small, brown clump that crumbled to pieces. Eka squinted closer and touched the pile, dirt moving around under her fingers. From his other pocket, he pulled out a seed and pushed it into the dirt. His body glowed a bright orange that flowed from his hands to the earth and a moment later an a’ali’i sprout popped up from the soil in his hand, exploding in growth. Tiny banches pushed out of the sapling and leaves emerged along with buds that opened into bright red flowers. Eka and Ke watched with wide eyes as the plant slowed it’s growth to about the size of Eka’s arm.

“This a’ali’i plant marks an incredible family moment.” He stood up and spread his arms, as if announcing to a crowd. “The time Eka and Ke started training and changed the world.”

His voice seemed sillier today and Eka giggled but Ke crossed his arms.

“Dad, this is important.” Ke actually stomped his foot and their father put on his more serious face.

“Of course. This is serious for all of us.” He nodded and Ke seemed to relax a bit.

Their mother, smiling slightly, gently took the plant and held it between them. “We’ll plant it at home and it’ll grow with you both. You’ll always remember your first step as a Waker.”

Their father, grinning again, pulled them all, even the plant, into a giant hug. “Okay, first step, training. But then, the world!”

***

A pothole jerked Eka back to the present. She’d barely noticed the road, only vaguely aware of leaving the causeway and river behind. Dense stands of trees now whizzed by on either side, the hint of water sparkling through the trees on her left.

“What the hell?” She shook her head trying to clear out the weird memories. “I am not going crazy.”

Even though there wasn’t even a hint of a creak, she really needed to talk to someone, or something.

“No, I’m not. Just because I remember communing with the ocean and dolphins? Or dad growing a plant in his hand in seconds. Or my family…” Her suddenly shaky hand touched the picture taped to the dashboard, an image of her parents smiling, their arms wrapped around her and Ke. Eka slapped her face. “I’m just tired.”

Yet the memory kept replaying. She could almost feel the cool, fluid blanket of the ocean and the rough skin of the dolphin as it pulled her through the water. Another pothole woke her from this second, shorter trance, but the thought of her family lingered as her chest squeezed the breath out of her. They were gone, lost long ago and a few memories were all she had now.

But she knew for a fact, the movie that had just played in her mind wasn’t one of those memories. Frantically spinning her childhood bracelet, she twisted it until her wobbly fingers found the smoothness of the shell. Her tension eased and Eka scratched at a wet tickle on her cheek, smearing a tear across her face.

“No, no, no. Not going there. No looking back, only forward.” She rubbed at her eyelids, eyeballs flashing light from the assault. “Nothing there but pain and dead-ends.” She patted the dashboard again. “In other words, Crazy Town. So, just you and me, and adventures ahead.”

A dimmer flash of colorful light erupted from within the cab and she looked down to find her phone’s screen pulsing with those frickin rainbow hues. Eka’s brow creased and she shook the phone, then banged it on the dashboard. The pulsing light faded and the map popped back up.

“What is going on with this thing?”

“Turn right in point-five miles.” She jumped at the app’s robotic voice.

“I really need to pick a better voice.” Setting the phone back down, she readjusted in the seat and looked for the turn.

The turn was quick and she eased her truck and camper onto a two-lane road already showing signs of civilization. Old buildings replaced dense woods along the river’s edge. A few men with cold beers sat outside one of the buildings, a small, blue shack with a sign that sighed, more than stated, that this was Salty’s Bait and Beer. Tom’s Orchid and Bonsai sign was much more dignified, and maybe a bit judgmental of Salty’s sign, as it sat on a large plot across the road from the bait and beer. Tom’s plot had an old seafoam green cottage out back, and on the front lawn a large group of people gathered up stuff from picnic benches ahead of the impending storm. Despite these signs of a community, Eka passed nothing that even remotely resembled an RV park or campground. After a few miles, the community ended and the sides of the road became densely wooded again.

Nothing? Not even a rest area?

She flipped the headlights on just past the last street lamp’s fading light in the darkening afternoon. The glowing map display hinted at a route that would take her into a large patch of undeveloped land, not towards an RV park. Apparently the map had been reset.

“Hapton’s Place in two miles.” The robot voice echoed through the cab.

“What?” Eka pulled over onto the grassy shoulder. “Hapton’s Place again?” The strange memories, her family by the ocean and her grandmother hugging her, returned along with the tightness in her chest.

“I’m not going to Hapton’s Place,” she growled at the phone.

She scanned the narrow road and the ditches to the sides, estimating her turning radius, then glared at the map display. Was she being herded to Hapton’s? Her forehead scrunched at that weird possibility. “Ha!” She shook her head. “That would just be crazy.”

Eka grabbed the paper map and traced a route back to a main road through the town she’d just passed.

“Okay, that’s doable.” Thunder grumbled. “Hopefully.” She scanned right and left then pulled forward in a turn, using the entire road. “Just as long as no cars show up in the next twenty minutes.”

Her turn didn’t clear the opposite ditch so she put the truck in reverse just as a flash of colorful light ran across the sky, striking the base of a palm tree just ahead and to her left. The tree wobbled and, in slow motion, toppled across the road, blocking her return route. Her mouth dropped open and she stared at the palm.

“Did I piss off a unicorn?” She looked around for the source of the strange, colorful lightning. “Maybe a leprechaun?”

After moment followed moment without a real answer (seriously, had she expected one?), Eka pushed open the door and got out of the truck. She crept over to the felled palm and lightly tapped it once then jerked back her hand. Nothing happened. “Normal tree.”

For now.

There seemed to be two options. Continue on or move the tree. “Okay, I can move this. No problem.” She arched her back and touched her toes, then grabbed a palm frond and pulled, straining against the truck-sized tree laying casually across her escape.

“I. Am. Not. Going. To. Hapton’s. Place,” she grunted at the immobile hunk of tree. The frond slipped, getting in a few slaps to her face before she tumbled back.

“Oh, you want to make this personal.” She glared at the tree then strode back to the truck. “There’s still a turnoff at the end of the road. Ha!” she yelled.

Eka jumped in the truck and slammed into gear. Singing ‘My Way’, her voice drowned the radio as adrenaline pushed her faster down the road. “I’ll be at an RV park before the rain starts.” She looked at the blackened sky, the few drops not yet turning into rain. “What’s it waiting for? Is luck finally smiling at me?”

She grinned at the strange but hopeful weather, then another multi-colored flash ripped through the sky. Illumination spread across the landscape, a tight curve appearing ahead as a crack exploded beyond the turn.

Her face dropped. “Oh no.”

She held the wheel tight as the truck and camper rushed into the turn and slid around the curve, barely gripping the asphalt. The whole shebang almost two-wheeled it around the curve.

When the road straightened, and her truck finishing bouncing, she exhaled and glanced back.

The vardo’s still attached and in one piece!

But, when she turned forward, the source of the crashing sound lay in front of her. A massive oak branch blocked the road ahead. She gripped the steering wheel for, like, the hundredth time, and swerved left to avoid it. A front tire bounced off the limb and the steering wheel ripped from her hands and spun right. She grabbed it and pulled with everything she had to the left but the back right tire hit the branch and lifted briefly, jolting the cab like a shaking roller coaster. Her phone flew off the passenger seat and out the window.

“Damn, damn, and double damn!” Eka eased up on the brakes and hung on to the steering wheel, managing to pull off to the side of the branch and stop without jackknifing the trailer. When the world, thankfully, stopped moving, Eka finally exhaled and looked out the window.

And sucked in another lungful of air as she stared at a canal that dropped off just inches from her front bumper. Moments later, her lungs screamed for fresh air. She finally exhaled and breathed, then slid out of the cab and walked around to the back of the truck. The thumping in her chest drowned out the sounds around her, even the thunder.

“Crap.”

The camper, still hooked to the truck, sat at a strange angle. Her wobbly legs finally gave way; she fell against the little vardo and slid to the ground.

What was she going to do?

She absently reached up, gently running her fingers across the intricate wood carvings attached to the outside of the wooden camper. Another memory, a familiar one of the smell of used oil and rusty metal, drifted into her mind. That wonderful day, in an Oregon junkyard, she’d nearly stumbled over the broken wheels of the discarded vardo. She’d stood there, falling in love as the minutes went by. Her grandfather just shook his head when she’d dragged it home, later laughing at her plan to bring it back to life. She ran her hands over the decorative white shells and dolphins she and her bemused grandfather had carved, carefully attaching each one to the exterior over a seafoam green coat of paint.

“And he thought I wouldn’t stick around to finish.” She smiled, then sighed. “But now look at you.”

Patting the camper’s jacked-up wheel, she assessed the damage. “What to do, what to do?” Another deep breath, then she hopped up and kissed the camper. “Nothing to do but get help. Now, where is that phone?” She patted her pockets.

“Oh, yeah.” Yet another sigh as the image of her phone flying out the window and disappearing into the dark, flitted through her mind’s eye. “But it has to be here somewhere.”

With no other option, she scanned the ground, crawled under the truck, waded through brush and tall grass. But despite an epic search, the phone remained elusive. After a third pass underneath the truck, she lay on the ground with her legs poking out from under the pickup bed. She stared along the ground, gravel pressing into her cheek as her mind stalled.

Fortunately, the weather jump-started her motivation as raindrops hit her legs and the wind picked up, running across her back.

“Eka, get a hold of yourself.” Crawling out from under the truck was trickier, and less graceful, than getting under it, but she squirmed out and brushed off the dirt and pebbles, then eyed the sky. “Okay Universe, now what?”

As if on cue, colorful light flashed above a house sitting back from the road. Around her the sky dimmed further and the rain fell like little pellets against her skin. The wind blew colder, rushing over her face and yanking her hair straight back.

“Weeellll.” She slowly scanned her surroundings. Her broken truck and camper, the giant branch that blocked her way, her missing psychotic phone. Then there was the stalkery rainbow lightening. “Maybe I’ll take a quick break.” She backed away from the destruction on the road, closed up the truck, and power-walked towards the house. “Yeah, can’t hurt to stop for a minute.” Another flash crossed the sky. “Or longer.” She broke into a run, heading straight for the house, and wondered just what flavor of crazy was taking over her life.

Christelle Sees the Light

Christelle dropped the book, again, and stared at the kitchen walls. When had the paint gotten so dingy? And her grandmother’s bright, colorful clothing clashed hard with the dull, brown-mottled counter tops and nothing-but-scratched stainless-steel sink. Her brain actually hurt taking in the two extremes.

“What happened to the kitchen, Grams?”

Shirley glanced up from the runes on the table.

“Looks the same to me.”

Christelle shook her head. “Didn’t it used to be bright yellow?” She looked quickly around. “And bigger?”

Shirley chuckled. “You’re just growing up, kiddo. Always been blah in here.”

“I guess.” Then Christelle inhaled salty air from the open window, the smell as comforting now as when she was little. It was good to be back here. Still, the kitchen could use some help. “Didn’t you guys ever want to change it?”

Shirley shrugged and pushed the runes around into a seven-stone spread. “Better things to do. Like see what the future has in store.”

Christelle leaned toward the runic spread, forgetting the kitchen for a moment. “What do they say?”

Shirley raised an eyebrow then tilted her head and slowly ran her fingers over the surface of the runes. Her hand stopped and hovered over the stones’ pattern, then she inhaled sharply.

“What is it, Grams?” Christelle asked, moving behind Shirley.

“I think…wait.”

Christelle leaned further over her shoulder.

“There’s something coming.” Her voice just a whisper. “A darkness.”

A chill went through Christelle as she focused on the runes. Christelle hadn’t seen a lot of her grandmother’s readings, but what she had seen was often uncannily spot on, and this time her grandmother looked seriously troubled. “Really? Can you see what it is?”

Shirley sat and stared at nothing for a minute, then looked sideways at Christelle. She waved her hand as if shooing flies. “Don’t worry, I think I just read it wrong.”

Christelle frowned. “Grams, what’s going on?”

At that moment thunder rumbled in a darkening sky.

“Oh, must mean the storm.” Shirley frowned briefly as she glanced out the window, mumbling. “Yep, there it is. Reading’s never wrong.”

“Really?” Christelle sat back across the table from her grandmother. “You seemed so worried just now.”

Shirley turned back from the window, then blinked a few times.

“What’s going on?” Christelle asked again, narrowing her eyes at Shirley.

Shirley shook her head, then absently patted Christelle’s hand. “Nothin, kiddo; you’re reading too much into this.”

Christelle jerked her hand away. “Fine, don’t tell me.”

Why did I even come here, I could be back with Dad, working on my aerials. Appreciated.

Her hands started tingling, a tingling that’d been bothering her since she’d arrived here a week ago. What was up with her skin? And her sudden irritability? Staying here was supposed to be a nice break. Like when she was young and she’d come her with Dad. But it wasn’t the same without him this time.

I’ve got to get out of this slump.

A bolt of lightning shot across the sky in front of the window and Christelle jumped at the thunderous crack.

Shirley, without a flinch, pushed the runes around some more. “Relax, honey.”

Christelle sighed and rubbed her tingling hands. “Sorry. Guess I’m not settled in. And it’s kinda strange being here without Dad. I worry about him.” A rogue tear made a break for it, but she quickly crushed it. “What if he doesn’t understand the accounting software? Or doesn’t remember the show schedule…”

Shirley slapped the table and Christelle jumped, again. “Slow down there. You need to take a breath. Your father can handle all that; he’s a grown adult.”

“I guess,” she nodded. “It’s just…I’ve been doing all that for him for a while.”

Shirley scooped up the runes and dropped them in a bag. “You’ve done an amazing job taking care of your father. And you’ve become a standout performer in those traveling shows. But that’s the life your father chose. You, kiddo, are supposed to be taking a break.” Shirley raised an eyebrow at her. “And trying something new. Figuring yourself out.” She slapped the table again and hopped up. “Now, how about some tea? Good for what ails ya.”

And with that, Shirley sauntered over to the stove and put the kettle on.

“I just…” Christelle sighed, “don’t know what to do? What I want.”

Shirley leaned against the stove and narrowed her gaze at Christelle. “Give yourself some time. Doesn’t happen over night. Look at me.” Shirley raised her arms. “I still don’t know what I’m doing.”

Christelle’s grin escaped her struggle against it and spread across her face. “You’re a bad role model.”

Just then, the kitchen door swung open and a tall woman strode in. “Your grandmother is a horrible role model.” Anise’s arms wrapped around Christelle and she sunk into her aunt’s warm hug.

“Hey, I’m your mother.” Shirley crossed her arms, starring at Anise. But her pursed lips twitched, hinting at the grin waiting to explode.

“Uh huh. Ben still doesn’t know how you got his truck hanging in the tree like that.”

“What?” Christelle stared at Shirley. “You put a truck in a tree?”

Shirley turned toward the kettle. “Just practicing driving. Going for my test next week.”

Anise dropped her arms and stared. “Your what?”

“What is all the noise in here?”

Her uncle Ben stood in the doorway. Anise strode toward him and he absently wrapped his arms around her waist. Christelle noticed, for the millionth time, the contrast between her aunt and uncle; Anise’s dark skin against Ben’s pale skin, her short, tight hair against his red, unruly mop, and her need of solitude pushing up against his love of people. Yet the balance was inescapable. They worked and Christelle loved the energy from their connection.

“Mom wants a driver’s license.” Anise turned from Ben, his arms still around her, narrowed eyes on Shirley. “You are not ready.”

“She really wants to?” Ben whispered.

“I’m doing it,” Shirley stated from the stove.

“Uh huh,” Anise responded, crossing her arms.

“Who’s hungry?” Ben piped up, squeezing Anise around the waist.

“Me!” Christelle jumped in. Grams and Aunt Anise seemed to be fighting more this visit, or maybe she hadn’t noticed before. Why did everything seem so tense and…off?

Ben sighed and grabbed Anise’s hand. “We’ll get some stuff from the garden.”

Anise held her ground, silently, for a moment, then mirrored Ben’s sigh. “Should we have a picnic?”

“In the storm?” Christelle frowned. Why did Aunt Anise always wanted to eat outside? Or hang out outside? Or everything outside?

“No,” Anise shook her head, then smiled at Christelle. “Of course not. Would you mind setting the table?”

Christelle nodded as Ben pulled Anise outside. Christelle crossed to the cabinets, taking the dishes down then stacking them on the counter. “Grams, could you help with…” she turned around to find a missing Grams just as the kitchen door opened and a tall, familiar man walked in.

“Hey, Gramps. Hungry?” Christelle held up a dish.

“Absolutely. Seen Shirley?”

“She was here a minute ago.”

He eyed the dishes and nodded slightly. “I see. Like some help?”

“That’d be great.”

Bu grabbed some plates from the counter and joined her at the table.

She loved her grandfather’s smooth way of moving. Almost as if every movement was part of a dance, graceful and quiet. She rarely got time alone with him, though. “Do you ever miss home?”

He frowned, setting a plate down. “I am home.”

She shook her head. “No. I mean China, when you were a kid. All the things you did there, grew up with, your family.”

He set down the rest of the dishes and patted a seat. “What is going on? I know that look. You aren’t just curious about my childhood.”

Christelle shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe missing Dad.”

“Ahhh.” He patted her hand. “Sometimes leaving what we know is hard. Especially if there isn’t a clear way forward.” He leaned in. “We’re all just making it up as we go. You can change your mind anytime.”

Her heart did ache for her father and their familiar life, but she had agreed to come here. To try something new. Even if it had taken her dad months to convince her to. “I know.”

“And I’m happy you came.”

His smile was contagious and she grinned back at him.

“How about going out on the boat with me tomorrow? Thought I’d get out before the sun came up. Maybe lunch on one of the islands?”

“Before the sun?” She grimaced. “Maybe.”

“Adventure awaits for no one,” he chuckled. “At least that’s the magic words Shirley used to lure me away from home and travel the world with her. Didn’t know her home town was smaller than mine until I got here. The way she talked about Manatee Isles, I thought it was a bustling city.”

“She does tell good stories.”

“The best.”

Anise and Ben walked in with baskets of food.

“Mom disappeared, huh?” Anise asked, to no one really, and Christelle and Bu exchanged glances, laughing.

Soon the meal was ready. Salty air mixed with the scent of Anise’s freshly baked bread. Of course, Shirley popped in just as the work finished and she was the first to dig in, before the rest of the group had even sat down. These were the moments Christelle loved, when everyone gathered around and chatted. She sank deeper into her chair as the sounds of her family washed over her. Ben whispered in Anise’s ear and her face broke into a big grin. Shirley and Bu kept poking each other and stealing food off each other’s plates. The kitchen’s beauty may have been a childhood illusion, but this room still held some magic. The chatter drifted off as everyone finished their meal and sat back.

“Thanks for that food you two.” Bu smiled at Anise and Ben as he patted his stomach.

Shirley nodded. “Agreed! And Christelle and I will clean up.”

“Are you volunteering?” Bu’s eyes twinkled. “I think I’ve witnessed a miracle.”

Shirley swatted him and he leaned over and tickled her knee. Squirming, she tipped sideways off her chair and rolled away from them all.

“So, the gardens are doing nicely this year.” Anise ignored the ruckus as if it happened every night and turned to Christelle. “You ready to start working?” She hadn’t said it, but Christelle heard the words between those lines. Learn how to run this place.

Christelle opened her mouth but Shirley, with lightening speed, pulled herself up off the floor and jumped into the conversation.

“Oh pish. She’s not interested in farming. She’s got art, her performance stuff, maybe classes to teach.” Shirley motioned to Christelle. “Did you get your web-thingy up?”

Christelle froze as she glanced at Anise. “I put a few things up. Nothing big yet. But I can still help here.”

“I thought we had agreed that you would wait until later for that online stuff,” Anise said through pursed lips.

A hush fell over the room. Christelle looked between Anise and Shirley, then pleaded silently with Bu for help. But Bu pushed his chair back and rushed to the door. “Better tie things down; storm might get worse.”

Christelle glanced at Ben with the same desperate look, but Ben hopped up and went after Bu. “You need help?”

“Sure,” Bu replied without looking back. Ben grabbed his hat off a hook on the wall and they both ran out the door as Anise’s glare fell on Christelle.

“I…I thought I could just get started.” Christelle worked to disappear into her chair as she rubbed her clammy hands on her shorts. “It takes a while to get noticed.”

“You have no idea how long it could take to get noticed.” Anise shifted her glare briefly to Shirley, then back to Christelle. “You promised you’d be careful. Not expose yourself.”

“Sorry. I really didn’t think anyone would see it yet.”

Shirley sat back at the table then folded her legs under her and pinched Christelle. “No need to apologize.”

“Ow.” Christelle rubbed her arm, frowning at Shirley. Why did Grams have to pinch so much?

Anise narrowed her eyes on Shirley. “Shirley…Mom, we talked…”

“Shhh,” Shirley’s voice rose. “Not every way is a straight path. She needs to get out, explore the world. Grow a bit.”

Anise rolled her eyes, clearly not buying Shirley’s philosophy.

Christelle opened her mouth to plead for group sanity but decided against it, shrinking frustratedly back from their glares instead. Anise finally looked away from Shirley and sighed. “Honey, you know that we love you. But ever since your mom disappeared,” Anise dragged in a long breath at that moment, as Christelle’s body tightened, but kept going, “we’ve worried about you. Especially your dad.”

Christelle stopped moving. Her fists balled up and her heart beat ramped up.

“The world is a dangerous place and putting yourself out there is risky.” Anise bulldozed onward. “You have to be careful.”

A fuzzy memory surfaced in Christelle’s mind. A memory of her mom and dad running with her, both yelling, acrid smells all around her, blasts as her own screaming engulfed her. “Stop!”

Anise and Shirley froze and the kitchen went silent. Christelle desperately focused on her panting, slowing down the rhythm of her breathing and calming her heart. After a few minutes, the movie in her mind faded. Heat spread from her cheeks and crossed her face as her eyes misted up. “Sorry I yelled.”

Shirley narrowed her eyes at Anise as she patted Christelle’s arm. “Again, no need to apologize, kiddo.”

Anise nearly ran around the table to wrap her arms around Christelle. “I’m so sorry, honey. Really, I’m just worried about your safety. I should never have brought up your mother. I love you.”

Christelle nodded and smeared a tear across her chin, body still tense. “I love you too.”

Anise squeezed Christelle harder, seeming afraid to let her niece go.

“Really, everything’s alright, Aunt Anise.”

“Alright.” Anise straightened up, seeming to hesitate.

“You go on.” Shirley shooed Anise toward the kitchen door then grabbed some plates and dumped them in the sink. “We’ve got this.”

Anise raised her eyebrows at Shirley’s suggestion, but Christelle nodded and, after a moment, Anise left.

Christelle turned and grabbed another stack of dishes. The two of them danced around each other silently as Christelle put the dishes in the sink and turned on the water, while Shirley grabbed a rag and cleaned the table.

Christelle stared out at storm clouds darkening the sky, lightning zipping through them. A few flashes lit up the windowsill and the flowers on it. As she zoned out to the pulses dancing in the clouds, her arms grew warm in the water. Soon the rhythmic motion of washing the dishes soothed the last bit of tension in her body.

“Electrifying, huh?” Shirley’s soft voice broke the silence.

Christelle blinked. “What?”

“The storm. All that energy and potential.”

Christelle’s skin prickled with goosebumps as another flash streaked by. “Does seem like there’s electricity in the air.” She smiled at a memory. “Dad and I used to sit on the stoop of the camper and watch storms roll through. The lightning in the clouds seemed almost magical.”

Shirley finished wiping the table and leaned against the counter near Christelle. “Change is difficult, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“I love you all, just…” She stopped washing and looked at Shirley. “I was putting together a new aerial act and I had finally got the accounting right. And we had finally stayed with a show for longer than a month.” She sighed, her chest tight. “I don’t know why he he thought I needed to leave. Why I agreed.”

Shirley wrapped her arms around Christelle and gave her a squeeze. “Kiddo, it’s way past the time for you to strike out into the world. Even if that world is living with others in your family.”

Christelle shook her head. “Well I’ve done a great job so far, causing everyone to fight.”

Shirley ruffled Christelle’s hair, a bit too much as Christelle flattened it quickly. “You didn’t cause anything. Listen to me. We all want the best for you, we just don’t always agree on what that is. And Anise worries more than the rest of us. Likes things to follow rules.” Shirley glanced out the window, the shadow of a smile on her face. “I remember when we adopted her and went out to Texas to pick her up. She was just a tiny thing, a baby, yet she had the most serious look. Like she was deciding if we were up to her standards.” Shirley chuckled. “She did used to have more fun, but it’s like pulling teeth getting her to relax these days. To stop taking care of everyone and worrying. Probably why everyone here comes to her for guidance and healing. She even manages to sort out community disputes. They all look up to her.” Shirley suddenly sighed, shaking her head. “So don’t be too troubled by her grumbling; she just has a lot of people depending on her. Can make anyone grumpy.”

“Wait, she’s like the local wise woman?”

“Yep. A lot of people ‘round here look to her for advice. Anise is a smart one and has a great instinct for choosing the best course for many things.”

“I had no idea.”

“Of course not.” Shirley raised her eyebrows and smiled. “You haven’t really been part of this community, even when you visited.” She elbowed Christelle. “Here’s your chance now, to learn about your family. And maybe meet some other people who are starting out like yourself.”

Christelle shrugged and refocused on the dishes. Maybe Grams was right. She could stay a while, try selling some of her art or teach some aerial classes. It would be nice to meet some people her age. And what did she really know about her family? Anise a kind of community leader. Wow. And Grams. She looked at her grandmother, a woman who, like the rest of her family, seemed weirdly young yet insightful.

“Grams, what’s up with you and our family looking…so young? I mean, Gramps looks like he could be Dad and Uncle Ben’s brother.”

Shirley shimmied and spun. “We’re young at heart.”

Christelle shook her head and struggled to frown at Shirley’s awkward hip shakes, but a smile escaped and soon they were both giggling and shimmying.

“Well maybe I’ll get your genes,” Christelle giggled.

“No doubt,” Shirley winked. “Can you finish up here? I’ve got somethin’ to check on.” She turned and left the room before Christelle could reply.

She shook her head and yelled at the door. “Okay, Grams. No problem, as usual.”

After a few minutes, an electrical pop went off in the distance and all the lights went out.

What happened?

Christelle fumbled around the darkened kitchen, trying to find a flashlight, candles, anything for a light source. After the fifth empty drawer, she wondered if they ever prepared for anything. Just then more lightning zipped across the window, catching her attention, but she soon forgot it as she noticed another light coming from inside the window.

What is that?

She leaned closer to the windowsill planter and squinted. The surface of the leaves and flowers seemed to be emitting a green, shimmering glow. Mesmerized, she did something she would never, ever do in her cautious, every-day life. Instead of evaluating what a glowing flower could mean before she even thought of a plan of action, she reached slowly over the sink, toward the glowing flower. Somehow, that seemed like the right thing to do. And, as her hand grew close, there seemed to be movement.

Were the petals reaching out to her fingers?

A green light streaked out of the flower and across her hand, igniting a familiar tingling that continued across her body, chased by a surge of green light.

“I’m glowing!” Her own voice seemed so far away.

Then a wave of heat swept over her and a bright flash of lavender light spun out of her skin. It twirled around the green light, flowed across to the plants, and sank into the foliage.

For a moment, the whole world seemed to hold its breath. Then, as the lavender faded, the plants exploded in a burst of growth, twining up and around the entire sill.

A moment later, her skin and the plants went dim in the darkness of the kitchen. Weak and shaking, she fell forward against the sink, her hands barely catching her.

“What the heck? Did those plants just grow?” Plants always grew, but the way they grew seemed…crazy. Christelle’s brain grasped at words and concepts but nothing stuck as she slowly sunk to the floor.

When the kitchen lights came back on a few minutes later, she craned up at the windowsill. The plants were now twice their size, covering the entire window and muting the flashes behind them.

“Christelle?” Anise rushed in. “Honey, are you okay?”

Christelle lifted her hand towards the plants. “The…plants. Big.”

Anise frowned at the window then turned back to Christelle. “Let’s get you to the couch.”

Anise helped her out of the kitchen and to the sofa, then brought some water from the kitchen. She sat down next to Christelle and put her hand on her niece’s forehead. “I think you had a shock.”

Christelle stared toward the kitchen door. “Lightning. Flash. Plants,” she mumbled.

Anise briefly eyed the direction of the kitchen. “The plants are fine.”

“I saw…they were different. Bigger.” She struggled up and pulled herself off the couch, stumbling to the kitchen and pushing open the door. And just stared. All the plants were their normal size. “But…how?”

Anise put her hand on Christelle’s shoulder and guided her back to the sofa. “You’ve had a rough day. Please rest. You’re going to need your strength.”

Christelle’s exhausted brain slowly processed the words. “Need my strength?” Why would she need strength?

Anise shook her head and her mouth seemed to relax. “Just rest. You need a lot of rest.”

Rain started to hit the glass windows just as Christelle’s eyelids closed in exhaustion. She drifted off to images of giant, glowing plants.

AbbracaBam

Rapping twice on the front door, Eka looked back at the road and pulled her jacket tighter. How was she ever going to get the truck and camper fixed?

A loud ‘Hello!’ had her spinning around to face a tall, pale, colorful woman in the doorway. Her scarlet hair tried to escape a lime-green fedora and a vest, covered with embroidered astrological symbols, fought against her lavender capris. “Need some help?”

Eka pulled her gaze up from the outfit.

“Uh, um…hi! I’m Eka.” She threw on a smile through the flash flood running across her face. “I had some trouble with my ride.” She nodded towards the darkened road. “And I can’t find my phone. Wondering if I could use yours?”

“Of course, come in. You must be Eka.” The woman’s green eyes smiled, almost too friendly.

“Wait, what?” Eka took a step back. “How do you know me?”

“Oh, Sema called and said you’d be by. Come in before you drown. Besides, I remember you when you were just a little thing.” She lowered her hand to her knees then cocked her head. “No, maybe here.” She raised her hand to her shoulders. “I’m Shirley Hapton, by the way.”

Eka glanced up at the sky. “Of course, Hapton’s. Where else would I be,” she mumbled to herself, then stepped slowly inside. “Why’d Sema call?”

Shirley waved off the question. “All worked out.” She gestured Eka along as she walked down the hall. “Come on in to the living room.”

What was Sema up too and how did she always seem to know where Eka would be?

She watched Shirley’s form disappear, sauntering down the hallway like a college girl.

“Fine, I need help," Eka mumbled again, following Shirley down the hallway, “but I’m using the phone and that’s it.”

But the moment she walked into the living room, Eka’s thoughts of Sema vanished. Lightning illuminated the room through walls of glass that rose from the floor and arched into a curved glass ceiling. Sheets of rain flowed down the dome and walls, blurring the light and dark clouds gathering outside.

What is this place?

A prick on her arm jerked her attention down to the spine of a bush pressing into her skin. “Ow.” Eka rubbed her arm absently as she traced the bush into a mix of small trees and shrubs jostling for space. What kind of living room was this?

Ahead, small lights lined a narrow walking path that disappeared into more greenery, dotted with flowers and fruit. Faint illumination came from within the plants, the only other lighting on this dreary day.

“Would you like a towel?”

Eka, startled, bumped into Shirley. “Where’d you come from?” Eka could’ve sworn she’d been out of sight.

“Just know my way around.”

“Uh huh.” Strange place, strange people. “So, you live in a giant greenhouse?”

Shirley shrugged. “Well, it is a ‘living room’.”

Really? A bad pun?

Shirley spun and strode down the path, Eka trying to match her pace and keep her in sight. As they walked, a small alcove emerged from the dense foliage. A young woman, with pale blue eyes and a shock of white hair, lay on a couch within it, another woman next to her in a white and aqua dress, bright against her brown skin that mirrored Eka’s.

Shirley gestured at the blonde. “This is my niece, Christelle. And that’s my daughter Anise.”

Shirley raised her eyebrows at Anise, in what felt like a challenge to Eka. “You remember my friend Sema. This is her granddaughter, Eka.”

Anise’s blank face dropped into a frown, her gaze narrowed on Eka, and her hand moved to Christelle’s shoulder.

Okay, what did Sema tell these people?

Shirley, seemingly ignorant of Anise’s reaction, gestured to a hanging chair. “Eka, relax, and I’ll be back with that towel.” Then she trotted off, leaving Eka to fend for herself.

Anise clearly hoped to expel Eka with a truly impressive glare.

Eka shook her head.

This should be fun.

Eka, ignoring the glare, gracefully walked to the hanging chair and plopped effortlessly down. Just to have it swing back, with her shuffling feet chasing its trajectory as her hands hung on, keeping her somewhat upright. Across from her, Christelle giggle. Eka smiled back at her. At least someone had a sense of humor.

“So great of Shirley to open our home to you,” Anise continued glaring at Eka and her smile sulked away.

Christelle’s giggle morphed to a quick inhale as red spread across her face and she bolted up. “Aunt Anise, maybe you could help Grams.”

Anise sat still for a long moment, still glaring that obvious glare, then finally stood. “I think I’d like to have a word with her.”

Eka pasted on a smile, waving. “Nice to meet you.”

There’s always one.

She steadied herself on the swinging chair and scooted all the way up on it, finally settling in. Across, Christelle just stared at her, but in a this-is-something-new-and-interesting kind of way. As Eka met the woman’s gaze, a dizzying sense of something lost hit her. Something about this space, these people, seemed uncomfortably familiar and she rolled her bracelet back and forth. At the same moment, Christelle frowned at Eka, her blue eyes briefly unfocused. “Do I know you?”

“Maybe,” Eka shrugged. “Apparently I was here once when I was young.”

“Huh. You just…seem super familiar.”

Eka shook her head, wondering what she had stumbled into. Was getting help from old friends the only reason Sema had suggested Eka stop here? And why did she feel as though some forgotten door in her mind was being cracked open? She rubbed her arms.

“So, did you miss your turn, back in Manatee Isles?” Christelle asked.

“What?” Eka refocused on Christelle.

“Not many people make it out to our farm. Our motto is ‘try and find us’.”

Eka laughed despite her discomfort. “Yeah, I wasn’t aiming for here, but the weather seemed to have other ideas.”

Her laugh petered out and silence settled in the space, scratching at her nerves. She pushed the chair in a circle and pulled at her wet, clingy shirt.

Where’s that towel?

After an eternity of increasing silence, she hoped up and started checking out the foliage.

“So, uh, weather suggested you stop here?” Christelle broke the smothering quiet.

“Huh?” Eka asked absently as she caught sight of a tiny streak of blue light zipping in and out of the foliage, forgetting Christelle’s question. She darted after the curious light, absently pushing aside branches and leaves in the chase.

“Are you okay?” Christelle called out.

Eka hopped across some short flowers. “Not sure. Maybe shock from the accident!” she shouted back.

“Accident?”

Eka stopped abruptly as tiny eyes hovered right in front of her face. “Do you guys have glowing insects in here?”

“Glowing insects?” Christelle’s voice seemed confused. “Uh, just some wasps and bees, but they don’t glow.”

The light suddenly dissipated and a red and black body launched itself at her, followed by a few more. She stumbled backwards, swatting at the buzzing around her face, then tripped back into a fern. The buzzing hovered just above the bushes, so she rolled onto her stomach and low-crawled back through the brush to the alcove.

“What is wrong with her?” Christelle mumbled, probably not meant for Eka.

Eka crawled out from the brush and looked around. No buzzing followed, so she stood and headed back to the swing.

On the couch, Christelle’s deep frown started to morph. “You have some…” Christelle’s face contorted into a grin that she seemed to fight, “twigs in your clothes. And hair.” She burst out laughing.