digging around the kitchen, looking for a phone. "Dad, is she
gonna be alright." Tucker asked rubbing my hair softly and slow.
"She really hot. He said, as he lightly touched my forehead with
his hand. I could tell he was worried just by the sound of his voice.
"Don't worry son, she'll be fine." Dad replied still digging and
looking around for the phone.
"So, this is why mom's here huh?"
Tucker said softly.
"She's
here for you Mia." He whispered into my ears. "Yeah, and now
that your sisters getting her power; sooner than I thought she
would, I think she timed it perfectly.
She knew that her being here
would start the change." Dad said very angrily. "So what now?"
Tucker asked. "Now we wait for the elder counsel Tuck, that's all
we can do." Dad replied, as he pulled the phone cord out of the
bundle of newspapers that went flying around the house.
"Hi, Lily.”
“Yeah, it's me David.”
“Me and the kids are fine, but we may have to spend the night
over at Tom's.”
“Yeah. I'll explain later; I promise.”
“You gonna be ok.”
“Alright, we'll see you in the morning.”
“I love you too." Dad said, as he spoke on the phone.
"David." Uncle Tom called out from outside. "Yeah; did you
get a hold of them?"
Dad asked. "Um, they already knew, and
they're already here." He said, stepping slowly back inside the
house. "Bring her to the hut." He said, pointing to the little old
shack out back.
Dad and Tucker both carried me out the back door, pass the
old pile of junked cars and across the large yard into the small old
hut that sat near the large fire pit. Tucker found some old fur's that
uncle Tom collected over the years and he rolled them into a
pillow. They laid me down on a small wooden bench covered in
animal fur. I'm not sure how long I laid there, or what was going on
while I laid there.
For me it was just darkness, and sounds. I tried to open my
eyes and talk; but no matter what I did, I couldn't and I didn't
understand why.
I could hear some voices while I floated in the
darkness, but I didn't know who they belonged to. I could smell
smoke; like there was a fire burning and it made my nose burn a
little. I could hear someone talking just above me; but the voice
belonged to someone I didn't know.
I could feel the soft plush fur beneath me but I was afraid to
try to open my eyes. What happened to me? Why was this
happening to me?
What was gonna happen to me? I was so
confused and scared.
I peeked with one eye to get a glimpse of
where I was. I was in a small room that reeked of fire, ashes, and
saw dust. There were old dusty mounted heads on the walls, with
animal fur hanging beneath them. Was I dead? Was this going to
be my hell, surrounded by dead animals? I thought to myself;
terrified of what could be happening.
Suddenly the door opened. I quickly closed my eye so that
whoever was didn't know that I was awake. I felt a warm hand on
my forehead. "Oh good, you're cooler now." The voice said. This
voice I knew.
"Tucker." I said, in a very dry hoarse voice, as I slowly opened
my eyes. "Yeah; how you feeling?" He said softly.
"What
happened?" I asked in a whisper. "Well, you're about to find out
Mia. Uncle Tom and dad called the tribal counsel. You remember
the old men that grandma used to tell us about?" He said still
softly.
"Uh huh." I said with a nod. "Well, they're real and they're
right outside waiting for you to wake so they can talk to you. Mia,
just know that you are about to step out into a whole new world for
you." He said with a smile.
I looked at him with a blank face.
"What are you talking about a whole new world?" I asked
confused.
"Well let's start with your looks, it changed a bit." He
said with a chuckle. Tucker got up and walked over to a little work
bench and pulled out a small rusty mirror and handed it to me.
"See." He said with a chuckle. I gazed at the reflection in the
mirror and barely recognized myself. My hair was always a bright
red color, only now it was a deeper red almost like the color of
blood. "Oh my god, I have white hair." I cried out softly. A perfect
streak of white flowed from the top of head all the way to the
bottom. My eyes were red too, like I was crying all night only not
as puffy.
"What in the world is going on?"
I demanded. "Well; when
you're ready, we can go outside and you can find out for yourself."
Tucker said standing up, slowly moving toward the door.
I sat up
on the makeshift bed that I laid on. My neck hurt like crazy, I
rubbed it a little and shifted to set my feet on the floor. I had no
shoes on; the feeling of dirt and sawdust pushed up from between
my toes.
I looked around the room; there were old mounted animal
heads lining the top of the little hut with it's fur hanging right below
it.
There was a small work bench filled with old rusty stuff; a
candle burned dimly at it's corner in a small cup. The floor was
covered in dust; and the cabin smelled dirty but oddly enough
there was a faint smell of apples; for the life of me, I couldn't figure
out where it was coming from.
I kept looking around, cringing at everything I saw. When I
looked at the old door where Tucker stood waiting, I noticed the
cracks in it shone a bright flickering light through it. I looked at
Tucker worriedly. "Don't worry Mia. I won't let anything happen to
you." He said, with a reassuring smile on his face. I slowly got up
and let my feet regain its composure. It felt like I hadn't used it in
days, as my muscles stretched with every movement of my toes.
"How long was I asleep?" I asked reaching out for Tucker to
help me. "You've been out for three days." He said helping me
walk forward. "What; for three days?" I said a little loudly.
"Yeah,
three days." He repeated.
He pushed the door open and slowly
helped me out through the door. I looked around and remembered
that I was last at uncle Tom's house. Just ahead were people that
I never seen before, sitting around the huge fire pit that was now
filled with wood, burning very brightly. The sun had just set as the
star's twinkled in the evening sky.
“Where's dad?" I asked Tucker who still had me by one arm.
"He's over there." He replied nodding his head, toward three men
standing in a circle. "Dad; she's up." Tucker called out.
"Mia, baby
are you ok?" He said, hurrying over to help me.
"Yeah, I think so."
I answered, still looking around at these strange people, who just
sat there staring at me.
"Who are all these people?" I asked, quietly so no one would
hear me. "This is the tribes elder counsel. There here to help."
He said, as we walked closer to a huge log positioned right in front
the fire pit.
"Come, sit." He said, pushing me closer to the log.
"Dad, I...I don't know what happened and this is really freaking me
out." I said, staring at all these new eyes looking at me.
"I know
baby, but hopefully we can explain some things to you to help you
understand what happened and what going on." He said, trying his
best to ease my fear.
As the darkness fell over us, and whatever small light was left
in the sky disappeared; I noticed a small white light shine in the
front yard, it looked like head lights. "Hi everyone, I'm Mia
Dawson." I said, with a slight wave. I tried to ease my nerves as I
sat down on the log and tried to get comfortable.
My back faced
the forest, it was a very unnerving feeling but I was alright.
"Hi Mia, you can call me Elder Wolf." Said a very big man,
who sat directly across from me. He wore a very big gray wolf
head on his head with it's fur covering his shoulders and back.
As
I smiled back and greeted him, I could remember seeing pictures
of old men who wore things like that hanging on my grandmothers
wall; this is weird, I thought.
"Hi Mia, you can call me Elder Wing." A smaller man said,
sitting beside him on the right. He sat there with a very big
contagious smile on his face.
I just simply smiled back at him.
He
wore a big black and white feathered head dress, and was bare
backed. I didn't know how could he handle this chilly night air; I
thought to myself.
Dad sat next to Elder Wing, but now dad had his own, sort of,
head dress on; he wore four eagle feathers fashioned toward the
back of his head. Uncle Tom was there too, and he sat on the left
side of Elder Wolf. He wore a brown bear skin over his shirt. I just
looked at them all, expressionless, very confused.
They were wearing some weird stuff; not to mention my dad
and uncle Tom wore them too.
"So tell me Mia, what do you think
happened to you the other day?" Elder Wolf asked with a very
deep but sincere tone of voice.
"Well, I really don't know." I
replied, still very confused about the whole situation myself. "I'll tell
you what happened." A very old familiar voice said from behind of
me.
A small rough hand slowly grabbed on to my shoulder. I
jerked at the touch, there was a familiar smell of roses in the air.
Tucker who sat on the log next to me jerked back, nearly falling off
his seat. "My Mia.." I heard softly. My heart fell to the ground; I
didn't even have to look, I knew exactly who it was, no one called
me that except my grandmother.
My eyes fluttered with tears building as I slowly turned around
in utter disbelief. "Grandma." I said with a quivering voice. I bit my
lip, to try to hold some kind of composure. "My Mia." She
repeated, as the glow from the fire light flickered off her long white
hair. "But; but how? How can this be?" I said, placing my hands
over her cheeks. "How? I thought....I thought you died?" I said,
feeling the warm tears running down my face.
She hugged me
like she always did; I felt like I was a little girl all over again.
I closed my eyes remembering the way she felt, the way she
smelled.
When I opened my wet eyes I was looking at my
grandfather who was now standing right behind her. "How; how
can this be.. I don't understand." I said as I reached out my hand
to touch him.
He grabbed my palm holding it tightly with both
hands.
"Ha...ha.. I bet you think your looking at ghosts." Grandpa
teased.
I couldn't smile, I had no expression; he was right, I did
feel like I was looking at ghosts. Every bit of fear, confusion and
frustration disappeared as my grandmother held on to me tightly.
"What's going on?" I said, my voice still shaky. "We had to go
away for a while, my Mia, but we're here for you now." He said
with a soft smile.
"We're here now and we're not going anywhere."
She said,
wiping my tears from my face. "Mia, you're a very special young
woman. We all thought that you would experience this changes
within you, later in your life; but I guess now is as good of a time
as any." She said, as she sat next to me. "My granddaughter is
strong, she will survive this attack to come. She will be ready
when the time comes." She said, looking over at the four men
sitting across from me.
I couldn't take my eyes off of either of them.
"Mia, you have
been chosen to defend this land against an evil that our people
have fought against for many, many years. Our people have
defended these mountains for generations; and as the generation
get older and die our energy and power leave us to find the
decedent who is worthy to hold it.
Now I can see that my time will
come soon and so will your grandfather's." She said holding my
hands tightly in her's.
"What are you talking about?" I asked
confused again.
"Are you able to pass this right to your grand daughter and
teach her the ways of our people before this evil returns?" Elder
Wolf asked, looking at my grandmother through the fire's light.
"Yes, Elder I will, we will begin at first light." She said very sure of
herself.
"Alright, we shall meet again in three nights. At that time
Red Moon, she will have been told what is expected of her and
