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"Freak!" their cries followed her as she crashed through the underbrush. Her cheeks burned with anger and humiliation, but what could she do?! They had powers and she... well, that was the problem. Take school for instance--she didn't even have the powers to boil water! She had tried fighting last week, and ended up suspended up side down in a tree, her clothes ripped and an angry bruise forming in an embarrassing place. The only thing she could do was run and fantasize about horrible things to do to her tormentors- her thoughts ended abruptly as she tripped over a rock and landed in a puddle of mud. Meanwhile, another girl was feeling sorry for herself. Kay turned away from the school and started for the stream, only a few minutes away. The trials of the day slowly faded out of her mind as she steadily walked to meet her two and only friends, Stella and Pyrene. She thought of all the problems that seemed to surround her. The kids at school were being awful. "I only wish I were invisible" Kay thought, "Maybe then they would leave me alone." She stopped her musing as she heard rustling among the bushes. "Kay!" a voice broke the silence of the woods. "Wait up!" She turned to see Stella gracefully strolling towards her. Stella paused to untangle her long white dress from a nearby bush and ran up to her. "Hey," Stella said cheerfully as she joined Kay, "is Pyrene late again?" "Knowing Pyrene, can anyone doubt it?" Kay laughed. Stella seemed unusually happy for the end of a school day. Her long, shiny black hair gleamed in the sunlight and her pearly green cat's eyes were sparkling. They sauntered through the woods toward their usual meeting place. "You seem cheerful for a school day," Kay inquired curiously. Stella started to reply but was interrupted. The two had rounded a bend just in time to hear Pyrene mutter "Stupid rock!" as she tried to pull herself out of a mud puddle. Her slightly plump frame was covered with mud and her brown hair was full of sticks and leaves. Kay and Stella stared at the scene and began to giggle. Pyrene glared indignantly at the pair, but couldn't help herself; she started to giggle, too. Her friends tried to help her out, but gave it up as none of them could stop laughing long enough to do any good. When they eventually stopped, Pyrene was pulled out and began to look around and assess the damage. Pyrene was muddy and wet, her friends less so. Her green, floaty dress had a long rip in it, and twigs were tangled in the delicate garment. She took the outer layer off gingerly, wincing when her cut hands brushed against the fabric. "Anybody have anything for these?" she asked hopefully, pointing to the scrapes on her palms. "No," said Stella. Pyrene hadn't thought so, but it never hurt to ask. After washing her hands in the stream, she wiped them on the torn pieces of the already ruined outer dress. Then she ran her fingers through her hair, picking out the stuff, and grimacing as she yanked on the snarls. Her friends, already having cleaned off the little mud they had on their hands, sat back and talked. After she felt sufficiently unfilthy, Pyrene joined in their conversation. The girls talked idly and wandered through the forest, just enjoying each other's company. They all jumped when Lakesha, the old woman they lived with, called out to them. "Hurry up, you three! It's already 4 o'clock for goodness sake!" They realized they had already passed the woods and entered the village while they were talking. Grandmother Lakesha had been very busy lately. For some reason the community seemed more than a little irritable. People fought over nothing. The normally peaceful village was full of tension, and fights were erupting everywhere. Even at the village school, the added tension was shown by the children with increased bullying. The problem had started about a week ago, accompanied by strange storms and violent winds that were very out of season. Also there was this foul gray fog that filled the valley every morning. Lakesha sighed as she walked slowly through the tiny village. The next day as Pyrene walked to school, she scanned the groups of kids for her friends. The yard was unusually quiet, full of mutters and angry looks. She was shocked to see a few kids, who were well known for being close friends, in the middle of a fight. Other kids gathered around to see what would happen. It took teachers a little bit of work to break them all apart. This lasted all day, and by the time class broke for lunch, Pyrene was surprised to realize how tense everyone was. She felt like she was waiting far a dam to break, and she said so. "I agree," Kay said. "I wish I knew why everyone is so unhappy. Maybe we can help somehow." "I doubt it," said Pyrene sadly. "No one ever listens to us. Anyway, I don't think anyone even knows how this started. I asked Grandma, yesterday, and she said that it seems to her that this has just sprung out of thin air. And it's happening everywhere." Kay said, "Do either of you ever get the feeling that something big is going on? Everyone is so wound up and no one really knows why!" "I'm surprised nothing has happened already," Stella agreed, "even the teachers are acting funny." "It feels like we're going downhill with nothing to stop us, like a ball rolling down a hill, Pyrene said, her green eyes dark with worry. " I don't like it." Stella was tired of all this glumness. "Let's talk about something more cheerful." "Let's go outside. We can play Rukomet while we talk." Kay offered. "Do we have to?" whined Pyrene. But she smiled and got up, eager to end the disturbing conversation. As they played Rukomet Kay suddenly said, "Hey Stella, how come you were happy yesterday? You never did tell us." Stella replied, "No reason really. I was just in a good mood, I guess." "That's strange," said Pyrene. "When everyone
else is grumpy and argumentative, here you are in a good mood!
As a matter of fact, I felt perfectly normal, too. What about
you, Kay?" Kay replied slowly, "I have been in a bad
mood lately but nothing like everyone else. I don't think it's
the same thing. How weird!" |
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