[EDITING] One day on the farm, Ciara climbs her favourite tree, only to find a magical creature lives there. A white dragonfly transforms to a baby dragon when she reaches to touch it. She lands in a world of magic, where she finds the mysterious Sk...
She was here by herself. How long should I watch?Can I wait out my thirst?
She noticed a glint of sunlight off something from a tent on the far side of the camp. She looked around and decided to move further into the circle. Who knows if they might be gone for the rest of the day? No one was coming. She lifted the cloth on the pot and pulled out a handful of berries to help quench her thirst.
After that, she crept further in. When she got near to the spot that she'd seen the light sparkle, she realized the reflecting object must be inside the back of a more open tent. The light had only just caught her eye from the tent's farthest end. A open-ended triangular tube, made from a sheet, had been used as a shelter. At the opening in back, the rays hit—whatever it was.
She could see inside the tent. On one side, on top of stick poles tied together, lay a bed made of blankets. A second cot, made up by a much neater person, no—child—sat on the other. A pillow of clothes hid whatever the thing was that shone at the end.
The object could have stayed completely hidden from outside, if the sun hadn't bounced off it so brightly—like nothing else on the land. She couldn't help herself now.
I shouldn't go in. But outside the tent, the terrain presented too many large rocks, wedged all the way up to the mountain. She couldn't climb over boulders so large to inspect more politely in back, so she had to. She dared— She shouldn't, but she did—she tiptoed inside.
Just enough creeping, only to peek, was all that she'd intended. But what she saw made her even more curious, then. What on earth could shine as bright as this thing? She had to go all the way into the tent now. She listened and moved carefully.
The thing stuck out only a little. It was hidden in the pillow of clothes. Just the very tip of a handle, inlaid with bits of abalone shell, shimmered like rainbows, as the sunlight swept the inside of the tent. This would never be noticed, if she hadn't been just where she was. It is beautiful— What is it?
Ciara pulled back the roughly piled pillow to reveal more of the handle with cream-colored satiny swirls and tiny red dots of crystal, inlaid. They made an intricate flourish the shape of a flame. It wound up the stem of a stick—an incredible stick. A baton of some sort.
Ciara was just about to touch it. What is it for? Intricate carvings in the wood curved round a shaft above the pearl and red handle.
"Hey!" Footsteps were suddenly close up behind her. Ciara spun. She confronted a steaming red face on a dark-haired boy. And then she heard the hissing and honking of nearby nesting geese and all manner racket broke out, as more children's voices were heard, closing in. Other people were here. There was no hiding now.
"Hey! Don't touch my—togs! What are you doin'?" And the boy tried to stop her.
"It's just—it's not quite familiar—" And he saw what she touched.
"What part of "mine" and "togs" don't you get?"
"Uh. Most—both parts, really. I'm—"
"Look, I don't let my best friends know this is here, and they're my best buds. Why would I let you see or tell anyone else? What's wrong with you?"
"I kind of don't know. I'm not sure what—I'll just go, if you move."
"Where do you think you're going to?"
"I—I don't know, actually."
"What Circle are you?"
"I have no idea."
The boy glowered. "Well you figure it out, and you're gonna keep quiet, you hear? You think you got that much?" The boy still blocked her way.
Ciara nodded.
"I mean it."
"Yes. I shouldn't be here."
But then she heard a strange voice in her head rasping, "Hmmmm—or, maybe you should," and she heard a loud hissss.
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