The Awakening

4 -High Ridges

Sitting on the park bench, Avery pulled the notebook from her bag. The doctor had explained to her that the verbal cues her mother was giving during her seizures was normal, the firings in her central lobe or something like that. Avery thought it was some hypothetical response to a question he did not have the answer to.

On the inside of the front cover, Avery had attached a small twelve month calendar and each 'x' highlighted an episode. They always seemed to be grouped together, in groupings of three or five. That middle day, which hung over the balance of their lives, always seemed to be the worst. It was nothing for her mother to drop to the floor as she was making breakfast and to repeat it a few hours later as she was vacuuming.

When her mother was younger, she was able to hold down a job and her employer seemed to be understanding. However, as organizations changed and tightened their wallets, then a string of cut backs happened; her mother was laid off. It had now been three years since her mother last had a job. Luckily her pension plan had a long term disability component, which helped to cover some of their living costs. Avery worked as an office clerk by day and did a waitressing job at night to cover the rest. The tips were good, so it was worth putting up with the creeps to keep the wolf at bay.

Lately the seizures seemed to be intensifying, there was a shadow cast over them and brought a chill. Avery worried that soon she would be able to take care of her mother, and she was torn. How would she be able to afford the care and how could she live with herself if she had to put her in a home?

It was those thoughts that led to Avery starting to keep track. Regardless of a lack of a medical license, Avery thought she might be able to do something to put a stop to them.  Well she had to try; what other choice did she have as the medical contingency didn't seem to really help or have any real ideal how to fix it. It seemed to her there had to be a reason for all of this and she just had to figure it out to make everything right again. 

 Avery stared at the 'x's on the page - dark slashes crossing off numbers and boxes. They happened every month, although the days varied slightly. Avery thought to their routine and wondered what they were doing, so far she had ruled out diet, exercise, sleep, and scents.

Frustrated she turned the page, blocking the marks from view and made her way to the most recent entry.

Mismatched eyes

The Crow has seen

Coal coloured boots

Stone and screams

 Avoid the night and glowing orb

On the path towards High Ridge 

These were the words her mothered uttered, over and over, again and again. What did they mean? There wasn't anywhere she knew called High Ridge. Avery had spent the early hours of the morning searching the internet, looking for a poem or text to make the words relevant. The Oxford dictionary offered little other than to exasperate the efforts. 

She had searched for landmarks and still come up empty handed.  

Avery turned back to the previous day, noticing a pattern. The same string of words repeated. The ordering differed slightly but the content was similar.

Avery backtracked on the pages to the last cluster of seizures her mother had. Some of the words repeated, yet the pattern differed. 

Looking to the sky, 

turning from the night, 

I see the bleak and black eyes, 

High Ridge, leading into the ground