Elements' Eyes (Book 1: Going-Through)

A Surprise 2.8

"Oh my dear mistresses," he started with a deliberately tearful voice, his face expressing cheesy pity. Even his wife had some trouble keeping her face straight. "You say such important words, your speeches are so complicated, I'd kick out everyone who would even try to doubt that. But who on earth told you, who deceived you so lowly as to make you think you must starve to talk seriously? I'd kill that fool if I found the one, but that's nothing. I can assure you it's all been a terrible lie. And the truth, the only real truth I'll tell you: if you eat when talking, it doesn't make your words less serious, not the smallest bit..."

"We are not those fools of yours and we do not doubt it," his wife interrupted, suddenly taking the bag away from him, "Not eating, though, has a bad effect on talking. Just an awfully bad one! You do hear what you're babbling right now, do you..."

"Why have you offered me the tea then?" Keernah protested. "I won't get my appetite back for an hour now. I thought we wouldn't have supper, 'cause it's late."

"You won't be able to bend your fingers if you hadn't drunk something hot," Mom explained nonchalantly, "You've only had half a glass, and we won't eat a lot anyway. Didn't we bring some dried apples with us last summer?"

"They're in the cellar," Dad replied. "Excuse me, but I'm not going down there just now. Let's have our festive meal tomorrow. What about a festive breakfast, eh?"

"If you ask me, it can be a festive lunch," Mom yawned indifferently, pulling some food out of the bag, "We're too cold and tired, and the house isn't ready for the feast, honestly speaking. Let's eat quickly and go to bed. Tomorrow we'll decide what we do — if we don't freeze in the night. Really, why haven't we asked anyone here to start the fire before our coming? I think we stopped believing people altogether after last winter in that wretched old Seenent."

"A couple hours later you'll spring up from your bed and go open all the windows wide," her husband insisted. "Actually, didn't you sleep when riding? I thought you both slept; but you look like you were secretly chatting all the time, so now you're like sleepy birds..."

"How can one sleep in a car driven by you?" Mom snorted. "I felt every snowdrift you ran over, and it was like being a rolling ball, not a proper dream, but not good sleeping either, do you get it? Just like total dizziness! All right, who wants the vegetables?"

"Do you want some vegetables?" Keernah asked her friend, sighing with relief. Whatever her father had said, they never discussed serious matters when having meals. Later Mom would only remember she didn't like something, but everything was explained to her, so she saw there was no reason to worry. And Keernah would be eventually left alone with her friend, at least until spring.

Keernah would absolutely love to touch him — her pendant made that memory vivid as well. She couldn't get to the source of that feeling, though. When she was little, the pleasance of his touch didn't surprise her: she took it for granted, for she liked her new friend immensely. Now Keernah wasn't sure that only her feelings were the reason. The boy's touch was too bright and extraordinary for that; the warmth and tickling lightness it used to spread over her skin was not comparable to anything she felt before. No hugging her pets or parents at any moment of Keernah's life induced that sort of feeling in her. Not the merriest game, not the greatest admiring, not the most sincere love, besides the love for him, could be next to that.

She observed she'd never been afraid to lose the feeling. Unlike a delicious meal or a walk in fine weather, she wasn't upset with the realization of it being over soon, even though it eventually was. With the feeling, Keernah hadn't the least desire to concentrate and watch it to take out everything she could of its rare bliss. On the contrary, she wanted to move, to be active and do a lot of different things including ones she didn't know how to do. But nothing would stop her: she was happy with the things she carried out successfully and laughed like crazy at the things she made a mess out of. The feeling was with her — in her — and colored everything around with winning joy.