***
“Why’s she always lookin’ at everyone so funny?”
“Hey why are you staring at us all the time?”
Sevra hardly acknowledged the other children beginning to gather around her. She didn’t see them anymore, instead focusing on the wispy tendrils surrounding each of them. The patterns were all different, as different as their faces or the lines on their hands. At first it scared her when she started to see things, but it had been happening to her so long now that it was as natural as breathing. She had to concentrate to stop it – not that she bothered to try stopping it anymore. The swirls were far more interesting than the people.
Vaguely she heard one of them say something to her, probably being mean again. Last night she hardly slept at all, being so angry about how they treated her yesterday. Momma Lorna insisted she go out and get some fresh air this morning, despite her protests. She would’ve much rather just stayed inside by herself. Making the best of it, she watched the dancing streaks of light and dark, enjoying the show they put on for her and only her. It wasn’t only individuals they surrounded, but every single plant, tree and animal she could see.
Yesterday she discovered something new about them. She could reach out and touch them, not with her hand, but with her mind. Her lips pressed together slightly, remembering the profound joy she felt when she interacted with the swirls.
“I said what are you looking at? Now her mouth’s open like she’s gone daffy,” one of the boys said, laughing.
Distantly Sevra heard a boy’s voice piercing through her concentration. She couldn’t exactly make out what he said, nor did she care to, but the interruption came across as a grating droll that made her temper flare.
Streaks of grey, white, and black mingled and danced. She reached to them without moving, extending her thoughts outward. She had never before felt such a connectedness to the world around her, it was a sense of pure joy and peace.
Something splattered against the side of her cheek, dripping down onto her neck. Her beautiful, pale face turned red with embarrassment underneath the hunk of mud she now wore. The mists around them began to fade, the laughter of the other children returning in full. Seething rage filled her senses, and she clawed back through the mists, blindly wrenching and twisting at the currents flowing around her.
Children doubled over in pain, some fell to the ground and lay still and motionless, the rest stood frozen in confusion before running away in terror. Sevra emerged from her trance shaken and scared, seeing a few of her tormenters in pain and others motionless. But underneath her fright was a deep sense of satisfaction. They wronged her first and she made it even. She didn’t want to hurt them but they made her do it; it was their fault.
It quickly dawned on her what she did, and how much trouble she would be in when Momma Lorna and Uncle Yuley found out. It wasn’t right that they could all pick on her, and she was the one who would end up being punished. The injustice of it made her all that much angrier.
She did what any seven year old who just did something bad would do, ran away. She panicked - overwhelmed by what she just did, the unfairness of it all, but most of all she scared herself. In a panic, she sprinted towards the gardens. Behind her, now in the distance, she began to hear concerned grownups shouting the other kids’ names.
After a few minutes she began to hear her name called. It was Momma Lorna, and she sounded worried.
“Oh there you are darling, I was so scared,” she said, coming upon Sevra huddled between rows of vegetables. She sat there hugging her knees to her chest, looking straight ahead.
“Do you feel well? Can you stand?” Momma Lorna asked, reaching down to check her pulse and feel her forehead.
Sevra looked up and shook her head. “Here we go, baby, try and stand,” Momma Lorna insisted, not seeing anything visibly wrong with her girl. She took her hand, gently getting her to her feet.
“Is it your tummy?” Momma Lorna asked, seeing Sevra with her arms folded tightly in front of her. “We think some of the other children might have had food poisoning.”
Sevra nodded.
“Come on, let’s get you to the infirmary house with the others.”
She let herself be guided away, putting her head against Lorna’s side as they walked.
“You’ll be okay, it didn’t seem to hit you as bad as a few of the others,” she reassured. Sevra didn’t really hear her, she was more concerned with how much trouble she would be in once they knew it was her fault.
Once they got inside Sevra saw five of the children tucked into beds, their parents hovering and fussing to make sure they were comfortable. Oddly, she didn’t feel anything at that moment. She thought she should have felt something, bad about what she did perhaps. If only they hadn’t driven her to it, maybe then she would’ve felt guilty.
“Did you kids eat anything you found outside this morning?” Momma Lorna asked Sevra, “Maybe some berries or fruit?”
“I didn’t mean to do it,” Sevra answered, staring ahead blankly.
Momma Lorna hushed her and guided her towards an empty bed, “Get some rest,” she told her, “I’ll see if I can find out what you children were into.” She looked around at the infirmary and let out a rush of air, then muttered under her breath, “What a mess.”
Sevra watched as Momma Lorna worked around the room, checking in on each and every person. It slowly began to dawn on her that she wasn’t being blamed, and no one suspected she did anything. They ate something bad and it made them sick. That made sense. She realized she had been silly, how could she have possibly made them sick? Settling her head back into the pillow she began to relax, of course it wasn’t her fault.
No one paid her any mind at the moment, everyone so busy with those who looked the most ill. She watched as Momma Lorna worked and the parents tried not to get in the way. She saw Yulan in the corner of the room, also observing. When their eyes met he continued to stare, seeming as though he was looking through her. She suddenly felt ashamed, and had to look away.
Could he have known what happened? She reminded herself she did nothing wrong, but couldn’t bear the thought of Yulan being mad at her. Still feeling his eyes on her, she rolled over and pretended to sleep. A moment later, she heard his voice at the side of her bed.
“Sparklebug, are you feeling well?” he asked in his deep, calming voice?
She lay there, keeping her eyes closed.
“Listen, I have some things I must see to. I want you to stay inside until I return. Understand? Get some sleep,” he continued. Bending down he gave her a kiss on the head.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Uncle Yuley wasn’t mad at her and all was well with the world.
Destiny's Gem Page 3