Ashes and Mangrove Trees (Kheft)
Feb 4, 2012 23:29:55 GMT -5
Post by Kheft on Feb 4, 2012 23:29:55 GMT -5
The soft crunching of an errant twig made Saamina wince. It was hard to move through the forests in silence as she preferred during winter when everything was dead and dying underfoot. There was no green growth to muffle the sound of her passing. She padded along, dancing softly between root and bramble, hopping nimbly from rock to rock when they presented themselves. Still, the occasional disturbance was inescapable. It sounded so abrupt in the hush of the woods, making the birds pause their singing to try and identify the source of the disruption.
She swatted a hanging strand of creeper aside and picked her way across a stream that flowed along beneath large patches of ice that clung to its surface, solidified around the jagged, protruding edges of stone. Just as she reached the opposite bank, her foot caught a slippery patch and skidded out from beneath her. Landing on her rump, Sam yelped angrily, kicking at the offending spot and letting loose a couple of words she had picked up around the docks -- ones her mother certainly would not approve of.
After hissing and fuming for a few more moments, she huffed a last expletive and dug around, ensuring that Gage's note was still in her pocket. The crumpled parchment smoothed comfortingly beneath her fingers as she spread it open and consulted the instructions for the hundredth time.
It was an odd little friendship that had budded between the two. Born on that cold beach with the gift of a sweater, and fed on cocoa, ginger cookies, and some mutual need that neither had been willing to acknowledge previously. Companionship.
And so, despite the little time either had for personal pursuits -- as those with the responsibilities of families to help feed -- they found opportunities to explore the newly formed acquaintance. When schedule allowed, Sam would wait outside the schoolhouse for Gage's classes to be dismissed. Over hot drinks and a snack provided by Margot, they talked; awkwardness slowly dissolving into comfortable conversation. On days when it became impossible to meet up, they left messages for each other. It had been Gage's idea initially, but Saamina found the old fencepost that marked the spot where their paths always diverged as he turned towards his home, and she continued along the path that led to her own. So this became their agreed upon spot, the middle rung where it notched into the post, the shallow cavity functioning as a makeshift letterbox for the two. That was what had her out today, scrambling through unfamiliar undergrowth. Gage's message that morning was in the shape of a map, and she was scrutinizing it once more before turning a few points east and heading off again.
At last, with a final unsteady skitter down a slope of loose stone, she ducked through a narrow opening between two rocks, and stepped out onto the banks of a small cove. The trees surrounding it were warped and bent, like the contortionist she had seen once in a traveling show. Their thick trunks twisted at unusual angles, and roots crept like grasping hands over the uneven ground in a network of growth until at last they dipped their fingers into the low, lapping waters. Unlike the cliffs closer to the village, this spot was sheltered by long reefs further out, and any waves that made it this far were tamed to glassy swells.
After the initial surprise of the scene diminished, she scanned the surroundings, finally spotting Gage where he sat. His long legs were sprawled over a root of impressive girth, hands and arms securing his position with a firm grip on the knobly bark. He hadn't yet seen her, his attention completely absorbed by whatever could be seen beneath the surface of the water he lay suspended over. She crept out onto the branch behind him, edging closer until she stood just behind where he had a foothold. Her fingers found a springy bough overhead to grab onto, letting her lean further and further out. Craning her neck, she finally whispered,
"So…what are we looking at?"
