A Tale of Halves
By Sadie Searls
Kim stood on the side of the snowy
mountain staring at the white snow forest beneath her. She let out a sigh. She
could see a small town in the distance with smoke rising from the houses. How
she wanted to be a part of that world, to have a family that loved her and didn’t
leave her out in the woods by herself, to have friends to talk with, and food
that tasted amazing.
She turned away from the sight. She
knew that dream would never come true. Who would ever love a girl like her,
half human and half elf? It is not like people don’t like elves. They just don’t like Dragon Elves. Dragon Elves
are the most powerful elves on earth. They can see and hear into other worlds
and if they get in a fight, the other is a goner. The humans didn’t like to have Kim around
because she acted differently than all the other children. She would tell ridiculous
stories to their ears, so they made her leave. The Dragon Elves could not bear
to look at her, as she was different from them. She had brown hair not red,
blue eyes not green, and she acted more
like a human than an elf to them. So they had sent her away. Her parents were
banished right after she was born, so she had never known them. All Kim knew
was her name and that she was half human, half Dragon Elf.
As Kim took her normal route home,
the thoughts sparked by the sight of the town stayed in her mind. How she wished… No, no, Kim you love living by yourself: you have freedom, your own
space and… she stopped herself. I
have to stop lying to myself. Imagine living with my parents. I would walk into the front door and my mother
would call, ‘Hallo’ and father would be sitting at the fireplace, smoking a
pipe… she shook her head to get the thought out. “Face it Kim that will
never happen,” she muttered to herself.
She enjoyed walking in the snow (although
most elves don’t like winter), saying nothing more to herself. She crossed a
small bridge and as she stepped off the last rock plank, she sensed
danger. That was new. These parts were
always safe. She looked around, but saw nothing dangerous. Then she closed her
eyes. When she reopened them, she was no longer looking through human eyes but
dragon ones.
Kim scanned the land before her and
saw nothing but snow. Really Kim, there is nothing. You must be
losing it… Through her reptilian eyes she saw a kitten, a small kitten
walking on the snow as if it owned it. Kim blinked back to her normal eyes and
looked at the spot where she had seen the kitten. There was nothing but snow. She called back
her reptilian eye and there the cat was. Ok
this is new. She slowly walked over to the kitten who was now cleaning
itself in the snow.
Kim stopped a few steps away and
knelt down. She slowly let a one of her arms move forward toward the kitten. This is a bad idea Kim; think about it. The kitten stopped, looked at Kim, and then
slowly walked closer to her.
Kim did not know that a boy slightly
older than herself was watching her from the bridge. He was wearing a green
shirt with a brown cape. His long black hair tumbled in a mess over his
shoulders. Above the boy’s shoulder was a bright flame, his guardian who guided
him through the dangerous forest of Lasho. The flame came close to the boy’s ear and said
in a sparkling voice, “She is not from here. I can tell by her clothing.”
“Oh don’t worry Blaze. She’s probably not dangerous. Look at her as
she cradles the kitten of a Bolt Cat.”
“You know that she should not even
be touching one. Does she not know that
those cats can kill human kind?”
“But look, the kitten looks more
scared than the girl,” the boy interrupted his friend. “I’m going over.”
“Remember to think before you speak
my friend.”
“I will, Blaze,” with that he
started walking toward her. His guardian followed.
Kim stroked the kitten’s soft coat.
The small kitten purred with every stroke under her gentle hand. “Hey, little
fellow, what’s your name?” The cat looked at her, and then turned back to her
hand waiting for her to pet him. “What if I name you Brave, because you are
brave to be my friend?” she sighed. She’d just gone from no friends to her only
friend – a cat.
“Hmm excuse me, ma’am,” a strong
but kind voice called behind her. Kim turned around to face the boy with a
dancing flame around his head. She stared
at him. She had not seen a person in a
long time. The boy looked at her strangely, and then Kim remembered her reptile
eyes. She blinked for her normal ones, but when she opened them to face the
boy, he was nowhere to be seen. Weird. Where
could he have gone? It was probably your mind playing tricks on you, Kim. She looked
down for the kitten who was not visible, but she could still feel it her arms.
Something was wrong. What it was, she
didn’t know.
The boy looked at the spot where
the girl had been sitting, now only a cat sat in mid air. “Blaze, did you see
that?” Blaze said nothing, for he was
thinking to himself what this could mean. Never before had this happened in the
forest of Lasho. “Do you think that I scared her?” Silence. “Did you see her eyes?
They were reptilian, but otherwise she was a pretty little thing.”
The boy was about to turn and walk
away thinking that he would never see her again when she reappeared out of
nowhere. “What’s your name?” he asked, hoping that she would answer before
disappearing again.
“Kim. And yours?” she said without
looking at him.
“Bronze. My name is Bronze.” He
answered.
She turned and looked at him. He
was smiling at her. She tried to smile
back but it was not the prettiest smile. “What are you?” Kim asked him.
Bronze stared at her, “I could ask
the same thing about you.”
“No, what are you? You’re not normal.
I can only see you with these eyes, not my normal ones. Are you dead? A ghost?”
He laughed sweetly and sat down
next to her, “No I’m not dead and I’m not a ghost. I’m a Mightman.”
“What’s a Mightman?”
“A person who lives in the Lasho
forest. Each one of us has a guardian to guide him through the forest so we
don’t die, but end up at the Quiet Waters.”
“What is that place, Quiet Waters?”
“It is the place where the Mightmen
can be with their king, whom they have been separated from. I hear that it has
rolling hills and streams of water sparkling in the sunlight. It is more
beautiful than you can imagine.”
Kim looked down at the kitten now
sleeping in her lap. Quiet Waters seemed too good to be true, but she knew that
no boy would want her to follow him there. “Sounds amazing.”
“I know. Now
tell me what are you?” Bronze asked.
“I’m a human.” She stopped; she
didn’t want to tell him that she was also a dragon elf. That would probably
scare him away.
“Look at her clothing,” Blaze
whispered in Bronze’s ear,”a blue dress and red cape that should tell who she
is.”
Bronze looked at her once again then
smiled for he knew the answer, “Part Dragon Elf too, Kim?”
Kim’s eyes widened, “How? How did
you know?”
“Your clothing kind of helped and Dragon
Elves are kind of normal in the forest.”
Kim looked down at her clothes. She
was wearing a blue dress belonging to her human mother with a red cape that
belonged to her Dragon Elf father. She smiled at Bronze, “I guess it’s a
giveaway.” The kitten stretched in her lap. Kim had almost forgotten about
it. She petted its furry head.
“You know that’s a Bolt Cat,
right?” asked, Bronze, watching her movements.
“Oh, no I didn’t know that. I just
thought it was a lost kitten.”
“They are called one of the most dangerous
cat in Lasho forest, yet here you are holding and loving on one.”
She shrugged her shoulders, for she
did not know what to say. Bronze stood up and reached out his hand for her to
take. She looked at his hand, and asked, “What’s this?”
“A hand,” he laughed.
“I know that, but why are you being
so friendly to me? I’m a no one. No one cares or loves me. I’m only a half, not
one whole, but two halves.”
Bronzed looked into her eyes and said,
“Kim, I think that you are one cool person from the few minutes I’ve talked to
you. Is it wrong for me to try to be
kind?”
“Don’t you know that Dragon Elves
have killed many people?”
“I know, but that’s because they
were attacked first… Come with me to the Quiet Waters. Leave your pain and be
yourself. Go on an adventure, learn
about life and explore the creation of our Creator.” Kim looked at the kitten
that had wakened from his nap. “Let me be your friend, Kim.”
Kim looked at his hand waiting for
her: freedom, adventure and a friend.
Kim picked up the small kitten and placed it in the snow and took Bronze’s
strong hand. He pulled her up and smiled.
“Yeah, it sounds fun and different. I
think it’s time for some change in my life,” Kim answered.
“All right, let’s go.” Kim walked
away from the kitten and after Bronze who was following Blaze as they headed
towards the path to Quiet Waters. The kitten sat in the snow and watched the
two walk away, shrugged its shoulders and turned from the site where the two
had met.
2 comments:
That was both mesmerizing and intriguing.
This was a very interesting story. I loved the idea of a dragon-elf, and the world you created was very intriguing. Great job.
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