Beyond the Glow

Chapter 23

"So how bout it?" I ask eagerly, watching his face for an answer. He hesitates, eyes flashing. "Pleeeeeeeeaseeeee!" I beg, the thought of magic right now is intoxicating, and I just want him to show me a little bit. I can't wait for Mother to get back with my lamp. 

"I guess we can do a little bit..."  Said Len hesitantly, he glared at the ground for a moment before lifting his head triumphantly. "I know! We can go to the river," His eyes glinted mischievously, "I've got a surprise for you there."

I can feel my eyes narrowing, "What kind of surprise?" Len just smiled, not giving anything away. He reached out grabbing my hand and towing me through the trees. "Len! What kind of surprise? Last time wasn't funny!" I wail. "Do you know how hard it was to explain how I got covered in multicolored dirt to my parents?" 

Len snickered. "I wondered how you managed to keep me a secret after that color bomb. You could have just washed off in the river you know." 

"How was I supposed to explain how I got soaking wet?" 

"Say you fell in while watching the fish."

"They'd never let me outside again! Let alone in the forest." I groaned. 

Len rolled his eyes. "I promise its not another color bomb." He said. 

"It better not be." I grumbled. But let him tow me along all the same. I trusted Len, he wouldn't do anything. Most of the time. Other times, he very much enjoyed playing pranks on me. I suppose there's nothing much else to do in the when hes all alone anyways. 

I looked around, noting we were near the river. Leaves from last years fall coated the ground, crunching underfoot.  The summer sun beat down, but the wind blew strongly, cooling my skin. I think back to the fire in camp. Had we put that out? Surely Len wouldn't be so daft as to forget. But we were in quite a hurry. 

All it would take was a strong wind for the flames to reach the leaves, they'd burn easily, like the paper my parents sometimes used to teach me letters. 

"Are we there yet?" I ask Len. Worry coating my voice. All the sudden, I just wanted to go back and make sure the flames were put out. 

"Oh relax." Len smiled. "We'll get there soon enough." His blond hair danced in his eyes, pushed about by the wind and the pace we were running at. Our eyes met, and thoughts of the fire disappeared, as did my feelings about worry I was having. I was ninety percent that was magic related, but I didn't care. 

I could feel a smile starting on my face, and Len's only grew wider. He stopped, and I looked away. The river stood in front of us, river was really a generous description. In reality, it was nothing more than a small creek. It calmly burbled over rocks, and near the middle got a little deeper. There weren't really any fish living in it, which was why Len really only used it to get water and do laundry rather than fish for food. 

"Up here." Len tugged my arm, leading me upstream. Our feet splashed in the muddy riverbank, and I signaled Len to wait, tugging on his arm slightly. I bet down, slipping my shoes off and leaving them next to a tree. Len waited, not taking off his shoes because he never had any, as far as I can remember, I've never seen him with shoes.

His feet were calloused and dirty, Len washed them when he could, especially when he knew I was coming, but they always got dirty again without shoes. I tried to give him mine once, but he said no, cause mine are 'too girly'. I think he just didn't like wearing them. They must feet weird after walking around barefoot for so long. Len smiled, and we both continued upstream, our bare feet splashing in the mud.

"It's close." Said Len, not even winded from our uphill trek. I however, was panting, not as used to hiking in the woods as he. The river curved, and we followed it, stopping when we got to a point where the water trickled out from a stone cliff wall.