Earth My Body

Chapter 4 - Tosú

Tosú- Irish translation: to originate in or to start...Pronounced: tuh-soo  

Céad Míle Fáilte: a hundred thousand welcomes  

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Tosú

It isn't difficult to spot my shiny zebra print luggage on the airport baggage carousel. I quickly grab it and set it beside me. Grandma's luggage, on the other hand, looks like everyone else's so we wait another 20 minutes and I don't know how many rounds, before she recognizes it and I eagerly snatch it up.

"Mamo! I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you!" I turn around to see a young girl with long, layered hair, the color of fresh blood, smeared gold with highlights throughout.

Her skin tone is the color of an Ivory soap bar and her eyes are a mysterious blue/grey. She wears very little makeup probably because of her naturally beautiful red eyebrows and lips. Her outfit is strange but cute, something a pixie would wear: a red strapless dress, mid thigh in the front, to her knees in the back, tattered around the top and bottom hemlines. Her matching red and white, thick-striped, leggings and below the knee boots make me wish I'd paid more attention to what I'd worn today.

The young woman hugs my grandma, and then they both turn to face me. Grandma smiles broadly and says, "Ashlyn, sweetheart, this is my neighbor Megan. I was hoping she'd show you around once you get settled in."

We kindly greet each other and then Megan offers, "Of course I will show you around!" Her tone changes and she in a thick Irish accent she says, somberly, "I'm sorry to hear about your mother." At once, I feel my anger rise. I don't need strangers to feel sorry for me. I just nod my head and smile, lips pursed.

Claustrophobia sets in and abruptly, I want out of this crowded, loud airport. I grab the handle of my luggage and head toward the exit, yearning for fresh air. Outside at the curb, Grandma and Megan walk up to a car a few feet away from me. A teenage guy gets out of the driver's side of the white convertible BMW and gives Grandma a hug.

Grandma gestures toward me and says, "Ashlyn, this is Megan's older brother, Connor."

My jaw drops and my eyes feel like they are literally popping out of my head at the sight of him. I stammer, "H-h-hi" and immediately feel my cheeks turn beet red with embarrassment. Connor is about six feet tall and muscular with small freckles on the bridge of his nose. His mystical blue grey eyes are framed by his spiky red hair with gold tips. He walks over to me and says, "Welcome to Ireland. It's nice to meet you." With a wink, he picks up my luggage and puts it in the trunk.

We pile in the convertible, Connor and Megan in the front, Grandma and I in the back. Grandma had warned me it's a two hour drive into the countryside so I settle in. The 12 hour plane ride was almost sleepless for me. The screaming kid behind me kicked my seat the entire trip, so I look forward to some shut eye. After about a half hour of staring out the window at the same lush green landscape, I begin to nod off.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The sound of distant voices resonates off the walls of a dark corridor lit only by candles. As I walk closer to where I think the voices are coming from, I begin to hear them arguing. I seem to recognize one voice, as I hear, "This is her birthright! You can't punish her for something that is not her fault!"

An intense male voice answers, echoing through the corridor, "She may not even possess the abilities. When her mother was banished and stripped of hers, the child should have automatically been excluded from receiving her abilities."

I hear Grandmas voice plead, "Because this a special circumstance and has never happened before, give us a chance to prove to you that she belongs here with her people. Her birthday is in two weeks. If it doesn't come to her after one week, we will leave."