The Adventure of Fel

chapter two

        "Hi!" I say, skidding to a halt.  Mom and Dad are taking off their coats and hanging it on a tiny wood coat-rack by the door.

       "Hi sweetie," Dad says, his eyes crinkling. Mom walks over and kisses my head, murmuring a hello. I feel something being pushed into my hands. I look down to see a rolled up piece of yellowed paper. I carefully unroll it.

       "Oh," I gasp. I run my hand over the page – it's a map,clearly very old, but that's not what matters. This is a map of all of the Lands. I spot The Kingdoms on the far right, a large group of tiny islands with a bigger one at the center. All the way on the left I see Burr, a massive landmass, with all of the key features labeled. The Market, the City, The Elements school,Hopper Forest, Lucinda's Meadow, Orion's Beach. In the middle of the right coast, there's a chain of islands moving almost diagonally upwards until they reach the top of the map. Frost Towns. My eyes trace a whale's tail drawn in beautiful blue ink sticking out of the water. The longer I look, the more secrets I see. In the bottom right corner of the page is a lioness head, its eyes sharp and real. The mapmaker's logo, I'm guessing. I feel tears spring to my eyes. Sure, I've seen plenty of maps in my textbooks, but my parents know I can't resist the character and style of older versions. I'm a collector of sorts – currently I have ancient maps of The Kingdoms, Burr, and The Frost Towns, as well as a more detailed map of Hopper Forest. Now I see the whole picture. It's magnificent. It's heartbreaking.

       "I love it," I whisper. I feel somebody's arms around me and I turn to smile at Mom, knowing all is forgiven from this morning. She grins, silently asking if I'm okay.

       I give my parents each a hug and a thank you before I run back upstairs.

       I lay the map out on my bed for Leo and Gwen to admire. They ooh and aah at all the right details while I pace quickly around my room, grabbing a small lamp and placing it on my desk. I open my dresser drawer and grab some chocolate, two pieces of paper, and a dirty bucket of pencils. I haven't drawn since I was little, but something about this map has reminded me of the joy it used to bring. I sit in my creaky desk chair and stare up at the stars out my window. I can only see a few before the trees of Hopper's Forest take over, but they still fill my heart with joy. In my head I thank them for this inspiration.

        For the next few hours I'm hunched over the paper, criss-cross applesauce in my chair, sketching and coloring. Occasionally one of the cats leaps onto the desk, only to be pushed off and back onto the bed.

       "Fel! Dinner!" My dad calls. I sit up abruptly, my stiff back aching. I look down at the paper, a small smile on my face. I've drawn my own map of the Lands, one with great detail. The lines aren't at all as solid and composed as my new one, and I could only remember twelve out of the seven hundred kingdoms, but I'm okay with that. It's my map.

       "I bet you could memorize all of the kingdoms," Leo says, curling his tail around my hand as his eyes dart over the paper. "If you wanted. It's not like you have to have a memorization ability – ''

       I scoot my chair back and stand. I feel Leo's words seeping into my skin and I feel the urge to take a bath and wash them out. I could spend the next year of my life pretending I'll be some great mapmaker. I could memorize The Kingdoms and draw everyday. I could spend hours over my textbooks and maps. But when my Spring came, and I wanted to go to school or join the Market, it would all be in vain. Someone, somewhere, has a drawing ability. Someone is meant for that job. Someone has actually been through all the Lands, probably from a City family, selling the latest technology for a boat ride or trading money for all the experiences I wish I had.

       I trudge down the stairs, my good mood already deflating. My stomach twists. A cat healer. I shake my head.

       After dinner I lie on my bed, Gwen on my stomach and Leo next to me. Outside my window, the sky is pitch black with a sprinkling of stars, no moon in sight. My stomach pulls towards the window. A thrill shoots down my spine at the thought of climbing out. What would I take with me? My maps, of course. Clothes, though not much. Food, a book to read or two. My journal.

       "Fel," Gwen says, her voice warning. Sometimes I wish she couldn't read me so well. I turn away from the window.

       "Don't you guys have hunting to do or something?" I snap.

       "Here we go again," Leo says.

       "Look, I'm sorry, Fel. I'm sorry I've been pushing those school pamphlets on you, ok? But I hate seeing you stare out the window, all depressed, because I'm sorry, but there's no way for you to leave. And you know it. Your natural ability just won't allow it. But you know what? I don't wish you could draw, or memorize, or travel, because you can talk to cats. You can talk to us. And it hurts when you act like you'd rather have anything else, because we love you, Fel!" Gwen's mew trembles. "We love you so much. You're our best friend."

        I close my burning eyes. I sniff loudly and stay quiet as the seconds pass by. I hear a tiny thump.

      "Leo hates it when we fight," Gwen murmurs. "I should go after him." There's another few seconds of silence followed by another small thump. I roll over, and watch the starlight glisten off of Gwen as she runs away. I get up and stomp my feet as I go to my dresser and change into sleeping clothes, black tights and a loose white tunic. I run my hands through my hair, causing it to become even puffier, and then grab my journal from off the top of my dresser.

       For the last time that night, I collapse onto the bed. I open my journal's deep red cover and begin rapidly writing like my life relies on it. I feel the sinking feeling in my gut begin to lighten up as I write down everything that happened today, almost as if I'm pushing today away from me through my words. Finally, I slam the book closed with an air of triumph. Tomorrow, things will be fine. The cats will arrive at dawn and I'll wake up to bright sun on fur. I'll have breakfast with Mom and we'll talk about how we miss Ivy and how Mom and Dad's business is going, and she'll bring up my Spring, and I'll briefly talk about being a cat whisperer or something, and for the rest of the day I'll read. Or swim. Or something else I've done before. What is there here that I've never done before?

       Leave, I think, and I drift off into sleep.