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Adopted at 4 under strange circumstances, Adella grows up & strange things begin to happen |
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I awoke that morning still puzzled about what I had dreamt. It didn’t make any sense. The voice that usually comforted me in my dreams only seemed to make it more confusing this time. I decided to keep that one to myself. I usually like to talk to Lia about my dreams, and even Jillyan. They always have some insight as to what they could mean and they’re usually right, but this dream was different. It felt so real, like it wasn’t really a dream. It was a little disconcerting, especially the part where the voice spoke to me. It had never done that before, why now? What was so important that it had to start talking to me? Couldn’t it just hum that beautiful lullaby for me that it used to hum when I was younger? Why couldn’t I just dream like every normal girl my age about cute boys and all the fun mischief I could get into while going to school in Lenthia? Soon enough I’d be living the city life…big fun there, I thought sarcastically. I liked Gildred well enough, it was simple and quiet and I didn’t have to talk to anyone if I didn’t want to. In Lenthia, I’d just be the new gossip to talk about. Sure, many different villages sent their girls to Luenthia for school but very few were as tall as I was and I doubted any of them had hair like mine. It seemed to be the rarest trait in all of Amira, and I was the lucky winner in that bizarre lottery. Besides, I hate the idea of leaving my sister and parents for so long. Girls’ school lasts for four years and I’m only allowed family visits during holidays or family emergencies. Only a few short weeks left before I’m scheduled to leave. Geez, I’m a mess. I could feel the warm tears building in the corners of my eyes again. My pillow was starting to feel very damp underneath my face and was becoming uncomfortable. Lia would want to know what happened to upset me but I didn’t want to talk about it. Between the dream and having to leave, I just didn’t want to go into it. Besides, I know my parents want what’s best for me, but I just don’t want to leave them. Jillyan, she’s going to be worse than I am. But look at me, crying again when I should be packing. Why can’t I face the fact that I have to leave my family so soon? Just as the tears started to stream down the sides of my cheeks, a huge gust of wind blew open the window in my upstairs room. Rain came pouring in and leaves and branches blew all around me. I was so stunned and amazed at this sudden change in weather that I almost didn’t think to go to the window and force it shut. But when I reached the window, no longer crying or upset even, the sky had already begun to clear. The wind was still fairly heavy but overall the sky was returning to its usual summer blues and fluffy white clouds. On the floor lay the evidence that it had been raining, the dead leaves and twigs that now littered my room were still there but yet the sky portrayed no evidence that anything at all had happened. “That was bizarre!” I said, still slightly stunned. I decided to rush downstairs and ask Jazin or Lia about this strange and brief storm when I noticed the house was unusually quiet. Jazin wasn’t rattling on about the latest medicinal herb an apprentice of his had discovered in the wilderness and Lia’s sewing loom was sitting still and silent in her work room. Where had they gone? “Jillyan, mom, dad?” I called. No answer. Where were they? I thought to myself. They have to be around here somewhere. I decided to go outside and look around the yard near our small house. “Jillyan!” I called a little louder. “Garden” I heard her respond. I bounded towards the field about 50 yards from the back left side of the house trying not to trip on the little stepping stones that lead the way to the small vegetable herb garden. When I rounded the corner through the small patch of red maple trees I spotted her. She was a true sight to be sure. I couldn’t help but laugh just a little as I saw that Jillyan was in the garden hunched over clinging tightly to the scarecrow puppet we’d put up in the field just days before to frighten the birds that ate our vegetables. It didn’t work very well. “I’m glad we finally put this scarecrow up!” shouted Jillyan over the random gusts of heavy wind. The clouds were gone but it still felt like a storm was brewing. “I told you it was going to come in handy. I knew it was good for nothing to scare the birds but I couldn’t help but feel like it was going to be useful at some point.” I remember very clearly the day we put it out. “It’s pointless,” Jazin had said. “The animals here are too smart to fall for an old trick like that! Besides, why waste a good pair of old tanned leather pants?” Jazin loved his old pants. He saw no reason why his best work pants should be sitting on a post in a garden filled with straw just so the birds could come and eat our crops anyway. “Now Jazin, you know as well as I do that if Jillyan sees something is missing then she’s going to either have help putting it where it belongs, or she’s going to do it by herself and get hurt.” Lia laughed at her husband. She seemed to have a very strong understanding of her youngest daughter and did everything in her power to help Jillyan in any way she could. I never put much thought into it to be honest. Ever since she had been sick three years ago, Jillyan always seemed to know just when to put things in their place. She always knew that they would be useful, but didn’t know exactly how they would be useful. It was strange and her timing was flawless. Lia and Jazin started calling her their “Little Seer” because she always seemed to see, or at least have a strong sense of certainty, that something was going to work, even if it wasn’t in ways we expected. “What are you doing out here? Did you see that storm?” I called after her, trying to make myself heard over the loud winds that were slowly dying down. “Why do you think I’m attached to this scarecrow!” an angry and annoyed Jillyan roared back at me. “Well, Jilly-bean, I don’t understand anything you do when it comes to that scarecrow so I thought I’d at least ask.” I responded gently, a slow grin starting to form on my thin lips. “That storm almost threw me across the Great Sea to the no-man lands! I was picking lavender stems when I saw the clouds build up, and then I heard the first roll of thunder so I ran as fast as I could to grab hold of that stupid scarecrow. I’m glad we put this thing out here before that showed up.” She shrugged her head in the direction of the brief and bizarre storm clouds. “I never would have made it to the house. Where do you think it came from? It’s already gone and I never really saw it coming in the first place.” Jillyan continued to mumble something about how unnatural the storm was for this time of year and that a wind that strong should only be felt on the coast lines, not 600 miles inland. “Have you seen mom or dad?” I hated to interrupt Jillyan when she was in the middle of one of her tirades but I was getting a little worried that I hadn’t seen our parents at all this morning and I wanted to make sure everything was ok. I have so little time left with them before I’m shipped off to Girls’ School and I don’t want to waste a minute of it. “They went to market to get some things before your trip in a couple of weeks.” Jillyan responded automatically. It sounded like a practiced response. Jillyan was never any good at telling lies and when she had to she practiced what her responses would be with care to make them sound as convincing as possible, which only made the lies more obvious. “I thought I told them no more going-away gifts!” I didn’t like the idea that Jazin and Lia were spending more money on me than they had to. I have everything I really need and what I don’t have the school would provide I’m sure. Why do they insist on buying me more things? I can’t fit it all in my pack as it is. People are going to think I’m spoiled when I get there. I kept thinking to myself. I’m really not worth the amount of trouble Jazin and Lia are going through to keep me happy. I’ll just have to thank them again and leave it at that. They’ll never let me return it and to be honest, any reminder of home will make this easier for all of us, I reminded myself. I know they're just scared I’m going to feel abandoned or homesick but I won’t. Well, homesick maybe, but definitely not abandoned. Jazin and Lia would never make me do something I didn’t want to. They do so much to remind me how much they love me and how much they’re going to miss me that I don’t think I could ever forget. Even without the gifts, I know that Jillyan and I are their life and nothing is more important to them than we are. After a minute, Jillyan finally finished her ranting and I paused my thoughts long enough to make a decision. I wanted to see Jazin and Lia, but that storm kind of freaked me out and clearly Jillyan wasn’t very happy about it. Maybe I’ll just stroll down to the town to be sure everything is ok. “I’m going to walk to town to see if I can’t find them. That storm was so strange I just want to make sure that everything is alright in town. Maybe I’ll run into Baylee.” I teased Jillyan trying to distract her from our parents. He was the one boy in town that Jillyan really liked and I always picked at her about it. “That’s not fair!” Jillyan shouted back at her. “You can’t go alone! Besides, mom and dad told me you had to stay here. Not to mention, Baylee probably isn’t even in town today so you’ll just have to run into him another day.” She stuck her tongue out at me. I started to gather a few herbs and vegetables while I was in the garden thinking quietly to myself as Jillyan continued to brood over whether I’d really see Baylee in town or not. She really did have an odd taste in boys. She was only ten but she was absolutely in love with a boy in town who was 13. The fact that he was three years older than her wasn’t weird, it was the six fingers he had on his left hand. He also had an unusual sense of style. Somehow, he managed to create the most unusual looking clothes and wore them proudly all over town. His most famous ensemble of abnormalities was a pair of cotton made cutoff pants with a skunk skin belt to match. They were dyed in a way that it made them checkered. Black and white squares bombarded the entire bottom half of his outfit where as his top would range from bright royal purple, to a tacky looking orange. His parents weren’t much better. Nice as they were, they were still an odd bunch. They are collectors of rare oddities around the countryside and sell them as gifts in their local shop. Baylee must have picked up some of the habits from the many travelers who come to buy from their strange collections. I can’t even imagine where Jillyan obtained such unusual tastes in boys but then again, I was no role model either. I don’t have any use for the boys in the village of Gildred. They all tease me as I walk by anyways, as though I couldn’t hear them. I was only interested in one boy, and he lived in the village of Danu, 15 miles to the east of the Vilien River. Danuans are a quiet people, very dedicated to their studies in hunting, astrology, and Amiran history. Many people believe the Danuans are the original inhabitants of Amira, but the legends vary depending on who tells the story. Gildredians say it was their ancestors that traveled across the Great Sea from the country of Astraea, but traveling story-tellers insist it to be the Danuans. It didn’t matter to me either way, I wasn’t a part of either people; I was something else all together, though what, no one could be sure. I’m not difficult to describe. I’m a quiet girl, which is something I cannot say for the rest of the girls my age in Gildred. They’re usually quite chatty and bubbling with the news of the latest cute boy, the who’s who of village disgraces, or favor more especially. That just isn’t my style or part of my personality. I couldn’t care less about who was and was not in favor of the village elders and I certainly didn’t care which boy was the cutest, at least not in Gildred. None of them had ever given me the time of day and never would simply because of how different I am compared to the rest of the village girls. My hair, my eyes and my height are the most noticeable characteristics about me if I had to make my guess. My hair and eyes are a deep auburn red. During the summer months, when my hair is at its brightest, it shines like no other color found in Gildred. Being tall though, is just full of advantages. I wouldn’t trade it for anything! All the other girls of Gildred have hair of yellowish gold or sooty black. No one in Gildred even slightly resembles me. Going to school will actually do me good. I’m kind of looking forward to getting out of here and into the city. Lenthia has so much more diversity in people to offer, not to mention the average traveler is male and in his early twenties. I grinned at the thought. Yes, definitely a better selection to choose from there than in Gildred. With my skin being so light and pale and my faded freckles covering my entire body, I shouldn’t stand out anymore than a dirty travel worn wanderer begging for shelter for the night. My face is quite long though, almost like a thin tear drop. My extremely high cheekbones make my face seem longer and thinner than it really is, but it wouldn’t be my face that caused all the stares, even in Lenthia. It’d be my hair, fiery, coppery red in the summer and deep auburn in the winter. Even in the big city, red hair was not a norm and wasn’t really considered attractive. My mother however thought I was quite beautiful and had no problems telling anyone she met how incredibly proud she was of me and how beautiful I’d grown up to be. “Her face has always reminded me of royalty. She has an almost majestic look about her.” Lia used to tell all of her friends when she first adopted me. Maybe that’s why she adopted me in the first place. I still couldn’t see it. I could hear my mother’s voice now, “Such a bright eyed girl. You know, just looking at her eyes makes you feel like its summer. They’re so warm and gentle.” I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks at the embarrassing thought. They may be warm and gentle around my family, but devilishly red to the rest of the town. She tried to explain to them that my eyes were simply an extension of my hair but I don’t think they cared much for either one. “I’m telling you,” she would try using her most convincing voice, “they look very much like the color of her hair in the summer sun, a shiny coppery color with hints of golden flecks.” I didn’t get it, why did Lia insist on bragging about someone who was clearly an unpopular addition to this little village. Now look at me, a fresh 17 and almost a foot taller than all the other girls and many of the boys. It’s so frustrating sometimes being this different, almost like a curse. The only thing I would even guess that I have in common is how young I still look. My mother says I have “the look of innocent curiosity” still etched in my face. She also says that I should be proud of my long legs because they make me appear more graceful. “HA!” I laughed out loud at the thought of me being graceful. Really, Lia shouldn’t tell such lies to the women of Gildred, they might start believing it. My legs are gangly and lanky, anything but graceful, but I do have the advantage of speed. I don’t really care that the other kids avoid or ignore me but I couldn’t resist it if someone dared challenge me to a race. Strangely enough, of all the odd things about me, abnormal height, bright reddish brown eyes, red hair, none of them are as unusual as the main reason why people avoid me. No, oddly enough, it always seems to rain when I go into the village. Not only does it rain, but it always feels cooler and windier. Even if it’s summer time, I take a shoulder wrap with me because the rain and wind are almost completely inevitable. I took a deep breath and sighed. Why can’t I just be like the other girls? Did it have to be so hard to fit in? What’s so wrong with looking different I’d like to know? It’s not my fault I look like this! Blame my parents. Oh, wait, that’s right, no one knows who my real parents are. I had to think of something else. I was starting to get depressed again and everything around me started to look kind of funny, it all looked gray to me and I didn’t like it. I’d enjoy going into town more if it weren’t for the people who lived in the town itself. It usually makes me sad or puts me in bad mood. The workers on the outskirts of town were a little more tolerant of unusual sights or people seeing as how they meet a lot of travelers that skim through town on a daily basis. If at all possible I only visit the Traveler’s Outposts. If I have to go into town, I do like to visit the little sweet shops and bakeries, which is why I make at least one trip a week. “ADELLA! Are you even listening to me? Snap out of it!” Stunned, I dropped all the vegetables and herbs I’d been collecting. I suddenly realized Jillyan was screeching at me. I had a bad habit of getting lost in my thoughts. I only just realized she was trying to convince me to stay home with her instead of going to town, though I think she was more concerned that I was really going to run into Baylee. “Ok, Jillyan. No talk of Baylee. Walk with me to the house so I can put these vegetables in the pantry.” I bent over to pick up the mass of items I’d dropped. By the way, why do mom and dad want me out of town today?” Other than the obvious reasons, I thought to myself. She was thoughtful for a moment, staring at her feet shuffling them along the path back towards the house. “I’m not supposed to tell and you know it” Jillyan whined. She obviously didn’t want to keep me in the dark but then again, she’d apparently promised our parents not to talk about it. “Oh come on, it’s no real secret what they’re doing Jilly-bean. I’ve known for weeks now that they’re planning some big going away gift which I’m sure is too expensive. I’m just going to buy a few herbs for our dinner this evening. I promise, if I see mom or dad, I’ll hide and they’ll never know I was there.” I tried to soothe her steaming little bubble of frustration that was building up. Besides, Jillyan knew there was nothing she could really do to stop me even if she wanted to. “Oh. Yeah, sure! Like you can go into town unnoticed.” Jillyan mocked quietly to herself. Not wanting to discuss it any further, I dropped the vegetables and herbs in a basket beside Jillyan’s feet and turned from the house to begin walking towards the path that took me to town. I didn’t even bother to look back. The clouds started to build up again ahead of me and my mood began to darken just a little. Rain again, of course, I thought frustrated. Why does it always have to rain when I’m in a bad mood? It seemed like the clouds were darker than usual, kind of like my mood lately. I can’t think about that right now. I’m just going to focus on the path towards town. After a few minutes of quiet walking, I found I was humming to myself. It was a soft tune I’ve heard in my dreams a thousand times and it always comforted me, though I don’t really know why. As I continued down the path I noticed the magnificent oaks along the road to town, and while staring at the grandeur of their height and strength, they made me feel a little calmer, protected somehow. They reminded me of something else, but what I couldn’t quite remember. The oaks weren’t very common around Gildred and the ones that were in our woods were very old. The last of their kind I’m sure. I’ve never seen an oak sapling in all my years of travel from my home to town. It was the beginning of September and a few, though barely enough to be noticed, leaves started to turn colors for the fall. Beautiful golden reds, pale oranges, and burning yellows started to peek their way through the shadowy curtain of the green tree branches. Then there were the constant greens, the pines. Unlike the oaks, they dominated the forest and in their own way they were also quite beautiful. So tall and thin, brightly shining green needles scattered in every direction with no apparent notice of the mighty oaks whose shear girth seemed to swallow the slender pines. I’ve always enjoyed the forests here. They were forever changing, always transforming into new and beautiful things. Because the pines grew so quickly, new saplings would begin to sprout every year and the forest floor would change ever so slightly. One of my favorite parts of the forest, besides the constant changing of the leafy canopy, is the smell. I would miss that very much when I went to Lenthia. It was a rich smell. The pines weren’t the most powerful aroma in the forest, but they were the most comforting to me for some reason. A warm almost tangy and sweet scent with a trace of fresh rain surrounded the beautiful trunks. I guess I won’t be spending hours of my day just relaxing and sitting quietly here anymore. I guess I’ll have to find new trees to huddle against when I move. No time to stop today, I thought to myself saddened once again that I had to leave my beautiful forests in two short weeks. The clouds had cleared for only a moment while I was enjoying my view near the pines, but started to creep back in as soon as I started to head back down the path towards town. “Stupid clouds”, I muttered to myself. I started humming my calming tune to myself again. The melody reminded me a lot of a summer breeze in a funny sort of way. It started low and was thick and heavy with an affectionate and slow rhythm. My favorite part of the tune is when I get to the playful bounce that always put a smile on my face. It almost reminds me of a gentle rain falling on a pond or of Jillyan playing in the yard. Just then, the sun peeked its way from the shadowy gloom of the clouds and rested a few bright rays on my cheeks. I was instantly warmed by the feeling and couldn’t help but be excited as I skipped my way down the final stretches of the path. |
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