Spirit

Chapter 2: Kara

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Chapter two: Kara

I rolled over, feeling the rough, woollen blanket under my fingers. Even with my eyes tight shut I could tell how the multi-coloured patterned cloth would look in the bright sunlight leaking through the baby blue curtains.

The alarm clock on my bedside table reads a quarter past seven. And the sun would just be rising. My favourite time of day in my favourite time of year. This autumn had brought crisp golden leaves coating the dirty forest floor, and the stray sunbeams made them look like they were strung of gold.

I finally open my fawn brown eyes and blink a few times. The small room comes into focus, the same way it did every day. Indeed I had been right. Where the curtains did not quite meet the light had created a strip of sunlight illuminating the bed clothes.

My room had been like this for as long as I could remember, panelled wood walls, simple wooden floors, my single bed with a white pillowcase, matching duvet and multi coloured bed spread, my birth gift from my grandma. Across from the bed was the oak wardrobe, desk, complete with a mirror and a small pile of odd objects like my Spirit Guide books and my Rain Powder.

Strange objects for a normal person, but I am about as far away from normal as you can get.

Sitting up in bed I can see myself in the mirror above my desk. My hair is tousled from sleep and sticking up at unnatural angles. It's the exact same shade of brown my eyes are. My lips are more slender than full, with a slight cupids bow. I have always been skinny, most of our community is, but I am strong, James has ensured that.

Exercise is taught with the mantra that a healthy mind goes with a healthy body. I am not beautiful - not in the traditional sense - but I'm not ugly either, I'm just me.

Swinging my legs out of bed I pull back the curtains. Even at this time in the morning there are a few children playing in the pile of leaves my dad raked up the previous day.

I change out of my checked pyjama bottoms and pink camisole top, (an indulgence my best friend Lori bought for me for my last birthday) and into something a little more suitable for living in a forest. Long sleeved, button down, green shirt, brown Capri pants, complete with thick socks and walking boots. I brush my hair through several times and wish, yet again I could use the Sleeking Spell to remove some of its tangles. Unfortunately, I remind myself that my Spirit powers are only to be used in an emergency. A little voice in the back of my head tells me that this is an emergency. But then I remember who I am and pull it back into its regular low ponytail.

When I cross into the kitchen, my mother is already up and washing the tiled bathroom floor clean. She could be a pretty woman if she didn't live how she did. If she wasn't a Spirit.

She was fair where I was dark with wispy blonde hair tied back in a long plait and worn with a blue headband to keep it secure. Her eyes were light brown, almost topaz gold in colour. We looked so different she sometimes joked I wasn't her child.

She leans back on her knees and smiles as I pass. I take an apple from the sideboard and exit the house. Outside the cool, crisp morning air bites at my face but I'm used to it. The forest weather is always temperamental.

'Hey Kara' a voice calls out

Its Matt, a boy from my class. He brushes his blond hair behind his ear and smiles at me. we are the same age though he hasn't chosen a partner yet. Hunting partners are chosen by males and can be picked from when they turn twelve to the new year of their seventeenth birthday. Matt has a mere two months left to choose.