Random Things I Wrote

Eyes Like Amber

Ezra sighed. "I don't know, a while?"

They sat in silence for a minute before he spoke again. "Have you thought about getting out of here?"

"Yes," she whimpered. "All the time."

"Me too. Maybe we could get out of here." He paused. "No, never mind. It's crazy," he laughed.

"Any plan is better than no plan. How're you gonna do it?" Amber asked.

She could almost hear the cogs turning in his head.

"Well, you're a monster, obviously, or else why would you be here? But you've never told me what your powers are. Vague hints. What can you do?"

She froze. Would he be afraid if she told him? Would he leave her behind in his grand escape plan if he knew what she could do?

Quietly, hesitantly, she said, "I-I can turn people to stone."

"Oh! Cool! You'll be very helpful in this then."

Amber's mouth fell open slightly. He didn't care that she could kill people with just a look? "You're... still not afraid of me?"

"Nope! I'm blind, remember? I won't be able to even see you. Problem solved!" Ezra said excitedly.

Ha! If only everything were that easy. Ezra was much more accepting of her than any other person had been. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't even realized he started talking again.

"-and I think that the next time the guards come in, we could beat them up and escape. What do you think?"

"Um, sure," Amber said, pressing the back of her head against the wall. What could two little kids do against guards? They already knew she could turn them to stone, so at the first chance they got they always covered her eyes. The guards were dumb, but not dumb enough to be killed that easily.

Then, Amber heard the clanking footsteps of armored boots. A guard descended the rickety spiral staircase with food trays. The smell made Amber's stomach whimper longingly, even though the mush on the trays did not look appetizing.

She grumbled to herself. Maybe if she could get the keys from the guard she could escape. Amber had discovered that she was so scrawny she could fit through the bars of her cell a long time ago, but she wasn't brave enough to try to get out. Not without help. But Ezra was blind, what could he possibly do? Just be deadweight?

Could she get the keys when the guard shoved the tray into Ezra's cell? What was the worst that could happen when she tried? She could be thrown to the floor and get another bruise to accompany the ones she already had.

She could be punished in some way, with no food or water, perhaps? That wouldn't be the worst thing, they'd already done that to her multiple times. She put her head on her knees.

They could kill her.

But was her life the only thing she had to lose? If she died, the royals wouldn't get her magic. Maybe it would be better if she did die.

But then she would never feel the grass between her toes again. She would never watch the sun sink below the horizon again. She would never find anyone who wanted to be around her.

Wait.

Ezra wanted to be around her. He wasn't afraid of her like most people, and she could never kill him.

Maybe she wanted to be around him too.

She looked up, determined. She was going to get the keys. She was going to escape. And she was going to bring Ezra with her.