| I highly recommend you jam to 'When I'm Small' by Phantogram while you read. It's what I listened to while writing. And it may explain why it seems so dark.
"See you tomorrow, Meow!" The adorable imp-like humanoid blushed and waved in my direction. I knew it wasn't fair of me, but I gave him a seductive wink and made a saucy saunter out of the Harvest Sprite Head-Quarters. There was no doubt the sprite was hanging on that final image, a conclusive slap and scolding coming from within the tree.
Zoo probably did that. She's a bitch, but then again so am I. Safe to say we bring out the worst in each other.
Before I could walk very far from the entrance, I spotted Mr. Lost Puppy mope along the path, straight in my direction. I groaned and attempted to hide my eyes behind my miniature curtain of gold. Needless to say, I stuck out like a sore-thumb, practically flagging down his attention.With a straight face he muttered, "Hey, Kalonice. Nice day, huh?" It was amazing how he managed to render such an open and cheery greeting into a cry for attention.
Throwing on my best 'happy-go-lucky' grin, I giggled, "Hey, you. I thought I said you could just call me Kali?" I hated my first name with a passion, but Cliff couldn't seem to let it go.
"Yeah. But, Carter told me it's Greek. He says it means beauty and victory. I just thought it was really fitting." It took all I had not to roll my eyes. Of course I knew that! Well...at least that it was Greek. But it was such a mouthful, and you should witness a sample of the mispronunciations I hear!
Shocked by his own flattery, he suddenly was flushed with embarrassment and looked at his feet. This time, however, he managed a cheery tone. "I was actually on my way to the spring. You wanna...come?"
Of course not! That was the last thing on my To-Do list! For one, I was swamped with chores, and secondly, I was terrified of water. How was I supposed to stand beside a spring when I squealed like a baby whenever I stepped into a deep puddle? Closing my eyes, I nodded and smiled. "Sure, Cliff. Let's hurry, though: I've got things to do."
Violet jewels met me as Cliff lifted his face, blooding flushing his cheeks and a legitimate smile peeking at me. "Cool, let's go. Tell me what's on your mind."
Apparently amusing anecdotes of my farm life were enough to sate his thirst for conversation. However, he didn't say much besides the usual 'wow' or small chuckle, but I could tell he intent on hearing every word.
"And there it was, bull sperm, on my hand!" I flailed around my left hand in his face for dramatic effect. "That's the last time I try to artificially inseminate Ellie (my cow)." Cliff laughed and batted it away lightheartedly.
Suddenly, he the grin dropped from his face and the atmosphere became strangely thicker; more serious. For a while we didn't do anything besides stare at the spring. Or at least he did; I was focused on my foot, attempting to forget how dangerously close I really was to the body of water. I felt my arms begin to tremble so I laced them together and shook myself, making it appear as if I'd gotten a slight chill. It was the middle of summer, anyway. Thankfully he hadn't noticed my slip-up.
He finally murmured without looking away from the spring, "Um, Kalon-Kali. I'm so glad you and I are friends now." It sounded so awkward coming from him, but I could tell he'd been meaning to say this for a while, so I kept quiet. The sooner he admitted his undying affection for me, the sooner I could get home and feed Ellie.
"But I'm a little nervous. What if I come to Forget-Me-Not Valley one day, and...you're not here anymore?" I choked back my shock and looked away myself, even though he never bothered to even check for my reaction. I wanted to pass this off as another attempt at recognition, but it really poked at me. Is that really what's been on his mind this entire time?
"I'd really miss..." Cliff trailed off and refused to finish that sentence. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and scuffed some dirt into the Spring, marring its crystalline beauty. Still, I said nothing. I couldn't tell what was killing me the most. The close proximity of the spring, or Cliff. Either thought made me squirm. But they were in distinctly diverse ways.
Cliff began to catch onto my silence and struck me with his violet gaze. "Will you stay in the valley and be my friend, Kalonice." His features were dark and troubled.
Oh God! He's expecting me to answer? What do I say? I'm never at a loss of words. It was true, I left that for the boys.
There was no question I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I would give him this bit of consolation.
At first I faltered but quickly gathered my jumbled thoughts and emotions into simple words. "Of course I will," I whispered. For some reason, it felt like a promise. I closed my eyes.
Cliff appeared soothed, sighing, "Really? Thank goodness..." I felt his eyes on me, could feel them burning into my flesh. I looked up, I had to. I was afraid of what I'd feel if I did, but I owed him that much. Although I'd been correct. I lost myself in his mauve survey, my heart assaulted by an overwhelming sensation of pain and grief.
"It's just...I don't want to lose someone special to me." God must have heard my prayer as he finally broke our en-locked gaze and went back to halfheartedly watching the spring. "Like when I lost my family."
I shuddered again, my teeth chattering to boot. I was such a mess! I moved closer, and right when I was summoning the strength to reach for his hand, he looked up and shrugged. "Oops. Sorry to get all weird on you there. But I'm glad you said that. You're really special to me, Kalonice."
No, you can't do that to me! That's not fair! But all I could do was think dirty thoughts and scream inwardly as he gave me a sincere grin.
Cliff then bottled up his emotions again and dryly coughed, "You probably have to get back to work now. Thanks for going out with me. I'll...I'll be heading back now." His burning red cheeks were apparent, but I fronted that I hadn't noticed and slowly nodded. And with that, he turned and hurried away.
I quickly released my breath and panted heavily afterward. Funny thing is, I hadn't even realized I'd been holding it. I was distracted; not by the impending presence of the nearby spring or Cliff saying my full first name, but by my conflicting thoughts. I knew I was angry and that it was because of Cliff, but I didn't know what for. Was it because of our 'hello-goodbye' encounters, or his conniving attempts at wooing me.
Well, I hope he knows it's not working, and it never will. And never will I ever drop my guard like that again.
"Because I'd rather die...I'd rather die...than to be with you." With a snivel I rubbed the aching pain from my taught shoulders and stumbled home.
| Thank you for reading, guys. If there's any confusion, be sure to ask in a review. I'll try to answer as many as I can, but if I get too many, I just might begin a story to explain Kalonice and her feelings toward Cliff.