Woman in bck

  ***

  Parking my car at the hospital, I once more grabbed the flowers and headed inside. I’ve been keeping an eye on Melody ever since that day I saw her colpse. It seems like this wasn’t the first time it happened. When I picked her up from the alley, I could tell that she wasn’t in good condition. Unable to use my powers to heal a mortal without risk angering the other gods, I had no choice but to bring her to the hospital. Ever since then I’ve been visiting her regurly. It seems her parents are overworked and don’t have time to visit. As for her friends, they have school and they each go off to prevent crime. It isn’t just me they stop, but there are monsters and others with fragments of godly powers that they fight. Due to how much I limit my power. I’m more of a vilin of the week sort of threat. After all, I just engage in insurance fraud and insider trading, not that my sister knows of the tter half of it.

  Checking in as usual, I headed upstairs for her room. It’s a bit te in the day, but any visit is better than no visit. Looking through the open door, I saw her looking sadly out the window at the city. I knock on the door and let myself in.

  “Hey, it’s me!” I smile.

  “Oh hey!” She turned to me, smiled brightly as if her previous expression was an illusion.

  Even with that smile, I could tell that she’s changed. She was pale… Her cheeks and eyes were sunken in and her arms were so thin. With every movement that she made, I worried that she would break. She didn’t look like the girl who could beat a god by herself. What was it that caused this? Neither me or Celistia understood what it was. It wasn’t magic and it didn't seem to be chemical or biological. Just as we were confused, the doctors were too. Every blood test was something unknown to them. Whatever it is, it’s beyond me. Truly out of this world.

  “How are things going?” I ask, pcing the flowers in the vase I brought some time ago. “Everyone treating you well? Getting tasty food?”

  “Food aside, everything is great!” She gave her usual answer.

  “I’ll try to sneak a burger in here for you next time.” I joked, pulling a chair to her side.

  “You do that.” She smiled.

  Man, she must really be tired of the food here if she’s not even telling me off. I’ll make sure to bring her something next time. With magic of course. It’ll taste just as good, with the proper amount of nutrition.

  I sat there with her, talking about whatever crossed our minds. Her on TV shows and movies that she watched, me on events in the city and my annoying sister. She ughed, but I wonder how she would react if she knew who I was and the fact that my sister is her beloved goddess? As time passed, I couldn’t help but notice her gnces at the door. I suppose I’m not a repcement for her friends or parents. I’m not trying to but I can’t help but be discouraged. I hope that I can at least help her pass the time and feel less lonely. Eventually the time came and visiting hours ended.

  “Right, well I should get going.” I said looking at the clock.

  “Oh it’s this te already?” She looked honestly surprised at this.

  “Yeah I didn’t realize it myself.” I lied. As a goddess, I am always aware of these things even if I keep my powers this limited.

  “Man, time sure flies when I’m talking with you!” She smiled. “I never get bored of our little chitchats.”

  “You sound like an old woman speaking like that.” I poked fun at her.

  “Back in my day you youngsters were more respectful!” She poorly imitated an old woman.

  We both ughed.

  “Right, right.” I wipe the tear from my eye. “I should get going before the nurse gets mad again.”

  “Right.” She smiled. “Take care and drive safely.”

  “I will, I will.” I nodded, standing up from my chair.

  Stretching a bit, I heard my joints pop.

  “Oh! That was a loud one.” She chuckled.

  “Yeah, I need to exercise some more.” I admitted.

  Smiling at her, I noticed something odd, or at least I thought I did. Blinking, I saw that nothing was there. It was only for a moment, but it looked as if there was some sort of bckish sand on her bed. Well, it was probably nothing. I bet I just stood up too fast. Mortal bodies are strange after all. We exchanged our usual goodbyes and she kept up that smile until I left the room. I’m sure that she’ll keep it for a bit longer. Starting up my car, I headed home, unaware that this would be the st time I see her smiling.

  Evelyn

  ***

  Feeling something approaching me, I woke up in arm. Reaching for my spear I found that it wasn’t there. Furthermore, I wasn’t in my home. Where am I? What’s going on? Armed, I heard a voice.

  “Whoa easy there.” A woman called out to me.

  “W-what?” I looked at her frightened.

  “It’s me.” She said. “Aura. We talked yesterday.”

  Ah, that’s right. I was brought here and given food for an arrowhead. Remembering yesterday’s events I started to calm down.

  “What are you looking at?” I ask Aura.

  Okay, maybe I’m not calm.

  “Easy.” She said with her hands up to show that she was no threat. “I just wanted to tell you that breakfast is almost ready.”

  “Ah…” I look at the door fp and see early morning sunlight coming in.

  Keeping an eye on her, I slowly get out of the cot. It wasn’t as comfortable as my nest. Stepping on the floor, I was caught off guard by how soft the floor was. It didn’t feel like moss, and didn’t have the same dampness as it. Looking at it, I saw a white carpet which was unfortunately stained by my footprints from st night. I can’t help but be a bit ashamed of my hygiene. If mom and dad were to see this, they would be appalled. Trying not to think about it, I move towards the door, keeping one hand on the cot to keep my bance.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Aura asked.

  Looking at her, I can tell that she was worried but there was no need to.

  “I’m fine. I just need my walking stick.” I said.

  Truth be told, walking has been challenging since the accident. I’m sure that I didn’t injure my legs, but it was still hard to do so for long distances without my walking stick or spear.

  “No, you’re clearly not fine.” She said moving towards me. “You can barely walk.”

  “I can walk!” I said louder than I intended to.

  “…” She looked at me with pity in her eyes.

  “I can walk…” I muttered, making my way to the door.

  Where did they hide my spear and knife? Those are valuable to me. Well the spear is less so, but I would like to use it to get back home. Without saying anything, Aura opened the door fp for me. Exiting with unsteady steps, I looked at the campground that they set up. Multiple tents were set up, some bigger than others and some had open walls that looked to be there to provide shelter from the sun and rain.

  Some distance away I saw multiple fires with cooking pots and pans around them. That must be where I get food. Looking near the tent, I saw a wooden pole discarded near some firewood. Not wanting it to go to waste, I stumbled over to it and cimed it as my new walking stick. It’s no spear, but I could always sharpen one end when I get back home. As I picked it up, I noticed some people looking at me, but I chose to ignore them. Ah… Where should I get a bowl? The one that I had yesterday was confiscated yesterday with my spear and knife. Wondering this, I turned back to her.

  “Do you have any preference for where you want to eat?” She asked.

  “Hmn…” I look at her as I ponder this.

  Eating by myself would be awkward and I feel like I would be that strange person who everyone avoids. Then again, I’m not sure if my manners are up to eating with these people. What if I do something wrong and annoy them? I might not get my stuff back and they might keep the food they were going to trade with me. This is a hard choice… Well, I suppose I’ll eat with them. It’s a big risk doing so, but there's also big rewards if I do. It’ll hurt to lose the knife but I have a couple spares.

  “I’ll eat with the others.” I said.

  “Great, I’ll go tell everyone to make room at the table.” Said a man with the same uniform as her.

  When did he get here? Oh well. Food comes first.

  “Right, well let’s get you some food…” She said.

  She’s giving me that look again. I don’t like it.

  “What are we eating?” I asked.

  “Eggs, bacon, bread and cheese, with fruit water.” She answered.

  By the goddess that’s a lot! When was the st time I had any of those!? Eggs, I tried to get once, but the nest was too high up. Bacon, obviously there are no pigs near here. Bread? I have no oven and have yet to find a bread tree. Fruit water is probably the thing I’m most looking forward to. In this world, fruit water is basically watered down fruit juice. I don’t care what fruit it is, I just want some! Thank you moon goddess for today’s luck! With a smile on my face, I turned to her.

  “So, where do we eat?” I ask not even bothering to hide my excitement.

  “In the dining pavilion. It’s right this way.” She pointed to one of the open walled tents.

  Wow a table! It’s been so long since I used one of those! I wonder if there's ptes over there? Walking over, I keep an eye open for one. Luckily I didn’t need to. The man wearing the same uniform as her held a pte out for me when I arrived. I need to be sure to thank him.

  “Thank you.” I accepted the pte.

  What the hell!? Comparing my pte to others, I can see that I’m clearly being treated worse than others. My pte has maybe half an egg on it and only a single piece of bacon! I eat more than this when I catch my own food. That’s it. I need to be sneaky… Taking a seat on the bench, I tried not to look devious as I leaned my new walking stick next to me. The moment Aura put her own pte down and moved to take a seat, I knocked my walking stick over.

  “Ah…” I reached for it, but it was clearly out of my reach.

  Seeing this she gnced at me, sighed and reached down for it. As she did, I quickly switched out ptes. Looking back, she handed me my walking stick and then took her seat, none the wiser. I am so sneaky! I should be a spy or something. I quickly ate my food before she could notice anything was wrong. Wow, so this is what eggs taste like? I hoped that they were a bit sweeter, but there's not much I can do about that. What about the fruit water? Oh my goodness, it’s unsweetened lemon! They couldn’t even add any sugar. What a bunch of cheapskates!

  Looking around the table, I saw her with a steaming cup, putting sugar cubes in it. Once she was done, I reached for the sugar which was just barely in reach. Pulling it closer, I dropped a couple of cubes in my drink… Huh? They aren’t dissolving. That’s weird. Oh well, let's stir it. I’ll have to use the same spoon for my eggs but whatever. It’s all going to the same pce anyway. Oh, people are making weird faces. Let’s drink it before someone tries to steal it. The cup was pretty heavy, so I had to use both hands. Ah! This is much better with sugar in it!

  “Kid.” The woman said in a bit of a loud voice.

  “Yeah?” I asked, taking a breath between sips.

  “Is your home far from here?” She asked with the same loud voice.

  “Why are you yelling?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  “Okay…” She sighed and then continued in a quieter voice. “So how far is your home?”

  “Not far.” I said. It’s not like I knew the actual distance so I couldn’t give them a number. “It’s by the river.”

  “River?” She asked.

  “Yeah, it’s…” I paused to look around to see where I entered this camp. Finding the general direction, I pointed towards it. “It’s that way.”

  “Is it close enough to send people to go get water?” She asked.

  “Um…” I had to think.

  There’s no roads so anyone that went had to carry a bucket or a barrel if they really wanted to, though it wouldn’t be easy. I look back to the direction of it. How long of a walk is it?

  “It might be hard…” I said.

  “Right…” She seemed deep in thought.

  I went ahead and continued eating. Ah, I ate a bit too quickly and finished before anyone else. Looking at her pte, I saw that she barely touched it. Maybe she isn’t very hungry. I was tempted to ask for her bacon but I already took her food before. Maybe if I look sad, someone will give me more out of pity.

  …

  Stuffing some pity bacon in my belt bag, I waited for the woman to gather her goons, rather her guards. Having some time to look around, I saw that these people had horses and other pack animals. Hopefully they don’t eat all of the grass in the area, I still need to eat it to feed myself. Sooner rather than ter, she appeared with four other people holding various weapons. They also carried a bag which probably held their trade goods. Looks kind of small. I wonder if this is only one of the bags of food for our promised trade.

  “Hey, kid you ready?” She asked.

  “I have a name.” I told her.

  “Yeah, three of them if I remember.” She said, paused, and then looked at me. “Do you hear voices when you are by yourself?”

  “…” I narrowed my eyes at her. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

  “It took you a minute to react to that.” She said, tapping her foot.

  “Don’t gaslight me.” I said.

  “What does that mean?” She asked.

  “Anyway, my house is this way.” I pointed with my spear, as they had given both it and my knife back.

  Without waiting for a response I headed into the woods. They must have given up on their lies, because they followed me without saying anything. I was half tempted to check my traps, but decided against it as it would be rude to do so with guests waiting on me. Instead I headed down a familiar path towards my house. As we drew near, I grew excited as I started thinking about how I can show off to people. There’s too many people to fit in my house all at once, but they can take turns if they really wanted.

  Coming up to my house from behind, I saw my familiar rock and cy chimney. Now that I look at it with the intent of showing it off, it could use a bit of work. Regardless, I decided to point it out.

  “There it is.” I said.

  “Where?” she asked.

  “Right there. We are coming up from behind it.” I said hurrying forwards.

  Walking to the side, there was a hole with hardened cy balls which held smoked meat wrapped in leaves. Other holes like it were nearby, but I had already buried them. This was the start of my winter preparations. If I’m careful, what I have now could probably st me two months. Not only that, but there was lots of grass covering my roof. It was the bitter stuff, but it should help me in the long term.

  “Here it is!” I gave them a big smile. “This is where I have my fire, those bushes are where I dry my clothes. If you need to go to the bathroom, you can use the river. Oh and this is where I cut my hair…”

  I went on to expin each part of my house starting from the outside. They looked amazed, so I must have a good pce! Next I showed them inside. Rather they stood outside as I crawled in and pointed out more things like my nest and firepce. Now that I think of it, I need an oven. I wonder how hard it is to make one? I’ll think about that ter. Next I brought out some of my old walking sticks to show them some of my designs.

  “This one I tried to carve a bird but I messed up, it doesn't look too good.” I said, menting my failure.

  “Hey, kid.” The woman said gently.

  “Huh?” I looked up at her.

  “You said that you live here?” She asked, looking at my house.

  “Yep!” I nodded.

  “How long have you been living here?” She asked.

  “Um…” I had to think. How long was it? “About twenty…?”

  “Days?’ She asked, armed.

  “Weeks.” I corrected her. There was no way I could make all of this in only twenty days silly!

  “Okay…” She nodded slowly with a worrying look in her eyes.

  “Oh, let me show you my fishing spot!” I said crawling out of my home, before she got any strange ideas.

  Grabbing my spear, I headed down the hill to the river. Once more ignoring my traps, we made our way to the river. Just as I remembered it! Lifting up a rge rock, I stuck my hand in a hole which had my fishing line in it.

  “Look!” I showed it off. “I use this to fish!”

  “I see…” She said sadly.

  She must be upset that she doesn’t have one like it. Oh I need them to drop off the food! I should have done that when we were at my house.

  “Oh, the food!” I held out my arms. “Gimme.”

  “Hey, uh. Kid?” She said hesitantly.

  “That’s not my name.” I told her. “It’s Evelyn, Cra, and Melody.”

  “Right…” She said. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “After I get my food.” I said. “You promised.”

  “Yeah. We’ll drop it off at your… ‘house’.” She said. “But first, how did you get here?”

  “I walked.” I said. I also flew, but they probably wouldn’t believe that.

  “How far did you walk?” She asked.

  “I don’t know.” I answered honestly.

  “Okay, I have so many questions…” She sighed.

  “Food.” I held out my hands.

  Grayburne