Side Note: I'm sorry if the last chapter was a bit of a letdown. I'm still working on this book, so please tell me if you have any ideas. I'm willing to accept any advice whatsoever.
Chapter 2
Fireai was going to run away. She had been going to write her book, but no matter where she went, Allenae or one of her friends was hanging out, just waiting to tease her. I just can't take it anymore! All they do is tease me. If I don't run away, I will never be able to be myself. Besides, no one is going to miss me. Who would miss a freak who likes to read books? She ran to her room. Thankfully, nobody was there.
She snatched the two blankets on her bed and spread them on the floor. She grabbed snacks she kept hidden under her bed and threw them on the floor. She pulled out enough clothes for the next week, some stuff from the bathroom, and put them in the blanket too. She tied up the blanket into a bag. She grabbed her schoolbag, which had some papers, pens, pencils, and her favorite books. She attached the blankets to her bag and put it on. Then she climbed out the window. She walked to the corner of the House, which was where she lived. It was more than just a house. It was a mansion. I need to concentrate on what I'm doing. Not the House. Then she realized the one tiny detail that she had forgotten: Where do I run away to?
Her mind slipped back to the House. The House was massive, and so were its gardens. The gardens contained not only gardens, but also orchards, and pine groves, and vegetable gardens, and the whole area went as far as the eye could see in every direction but one. The entire place was made into a labyrinth by hedges and bushes of varying sizes. The shortest shrubs were only a foot high. The tallest hedges could have passed for trees because they were eight feet tall. But Fireai wasn't looking at anything in the gardens. She was looking in one direction, at one thing. The forest to the west. It was dark and mysterious. Nobody ever went in, mostly because there was a legend about a girl who ad gone in to explore, and never come out. Fireai started walking west, away from home and towards adventure.
When Fireai got close to the forest, she heard a noise like the trees rustling. It was just a breeze, she convinced herself. She closed her eyes and walked in. Nothing happened. Whew. I thought I was a goner. And then she heard it again. This time she pinpointed the noise, and it was right over her head. She looked up, and nothing was there. She looked back down, and by her feet was a small squirrel. "Hey there! You are just so adorable! Did you want me to pet you? Hold still little guy." She reached out her hand to the squirrel, and it darted off. She knew she should be looking for a place to sleep, but she ran after it. When it was just barely out of reach, it ran off again. The strange thing was, it continued to do so, and in a pointedly curved path. You're a curious little fellow aren't you? A few hundred yards later, the little squirrel stopped darting around. Fireai let her bag fall to the ground and plopped down next to it. The squirrel started to climb up a tree. Fireai followed it with her eyes. Then it struck her. The tree is as big around as six of me! Then she looked up. The tree was so tall she couldn't see the top. About ten feet up, the squirrel climbed over a lump and disappeared. Curious, Fireai pulled on her pack and began to climb up the tree.
It was strange though. It's almost like the tree is helping me. The branches were just the right distance away. At one point, she looked down and slipped, but her hand caught a branch just to the left of where she had been. That's strange, she thought. I didn't see that branch before. She swung back over to where she had been and continued climbing. She reached the lump and looked over its edge. There was a hole in the tree, and it was just barely big enough for her to squeeze inside and pull her bag behind her.
Inside, it seemed like it was much, much larger than the inside than it was on the outside. The inside 'floor' was about two feet beneath the ledge on the tree. The 'ceiling' above was another three feet up. The inside looked about twenty feet wide and was round, like the outside of the tree. She looked outside and it was getting close to dusk, so she untied one of the blankets, and hung one up on the knobs that stuck in various places around the 'room'. She grabbed a T-shirt and some sweats and changed. When she had changed, she grabbed a bag of pretzels and some water. When she had finished dinner, she pulled down the blanket over the hole.
Outside, night had come. Between a patch of tree branches was a glimpse of stars. Blanketed in starlight, Fireai fell asleep
Fireai woke up to the sound of birds trilling and sunlight on her face. She opened her eyes and sat up. She yawned, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and grabbed her water bottle. After finishing it off, she ate some cereal. I have to get more food, she thought as she looked at her meager supply. She put the blanket up and changed into some jeans and her painting shirt. She pulled on some socks and tennis shoes. Then she looked down from her perch. And I HAVE to go to the bathroom! She climbed out onto the ledge, pulled both of the blankets over and threw then down to the ground. She clambered down after them. When she got to the ground, she threw both blankets over some low-hanging tree branches, and Voila! Bathroom! When she came back out she saw the little squirrel sitting next to the tree. "Hey little guy! You know what? I need a name for you. Gus? No. Tykel? No. Galineo? No. I know, Squirt! You like your new name, Squirt? She must have imagined it, but she thought that the newly named Squirt actually nodded.
Fireai climbed up into the tree, and began pulling her stuff out of her backpack. When it was empty, she put it on and climbed down. "Hey Squirt, do you know how to get out of here?" Squirt didn't answer. He just ran off. Fireai chased after him, only he didn't stop this time. Along the way, Fireai made a mental list of everything she had to get. Okay, I need… food, some more blankets, clothes, some decorations would be nice. Maybe some more books and paper. Probably a pot and pan for cooking. And matches. This list sure is long. Alright, I need blankets, clothes, a pot, a pan, matches, books, paper, and decorations. She had just finished her list when she reached the edge of the forest. She now realized something. The farther she had gone, the more something had felt wrong; like something was missing. She took that last step out of the forest, and it was like whatever had been slowly ebbing away just disappeared. I can't think about that now. I have to concentrate on not getting caught. If I get caught now, I'm dead for sure.
She began making her way to the House. First stop: Bedroom. The window to her bedroom was open, just the way she had left it. However, her bed had new sheets on it, and everything was put away, leaving no trace of the evidence that she had ever left. She ran for the closet and opened the door. From inside she pulled out the blankets from the closet.
She tugged the curtains off their rod from the bathtub. She put those on the blankets too. The clock on the said that it was only nine o'clock, so she had a few hours before classes had a break for lunch. She cleaned her room of everything she needed, and grabbed a few of her favorite things, like her journal and some pictures. She pulled down her luggage and squashed everything inside. She shoved it under the bed where nobody could see it, and then got out of her room and raced to the backdoor of the kitchen. She opened the door and put on an apron and a hairnet, which she had grabbed from the peg next to the door. Then she walked around the kitchen, snatching apples, oranges, hamburger patties, bread, rice, salt packets, sugar packets, cereal boxes, and any other food she could find that wouldn't go bad quickly. She fit the food into one of the two plastic bags that she was carrying. If anybody asked her why she was taking so much food, she simply replied, "Some of the girls wanted a picnic today, so they asked me to get their food." Surprisingly, it worked every time. When the bags were full, she just put them into an old, unused picnic basket she had found and closed the lid. Hefting the basket, she made her way to the back door and removed her kitchen wear and walked outside. She walked toward her bedroom and clambered inside. She pulled out her luggage outside to where she had left her basket. The clock said it was about eleven o'clock, so she had an hour before classes got out. Slowly, she started making her way back to the forest.
When Fireai got to the forest, she was so exhausted that she forgot to wait for Squirt. She just kept walking, and after a few minutes she arrived at her new home. Lacking the energy to pull her stuff any farther, she climbed up to her room and rolled inside. Before she hit the floor, she was asleep.
Fireai woke up to the sound of Squirt chewing on a juicy, green apple. Fireai sta up and looked around. All of her stuff had been moved into her room. Her decorations were all hung up on the walls, the linens were neatly folded with her soap and toilet paper opposite from where she lay. She was covered with a blanket, and her clothes were in perfect piles by her head. The food was neatly displayed against the wall closest to her feet. She grabbed an apple and started eating when she realized, I didn't move this stuff up here! I left it down on the ground. But if I didn't move it, who did? Squirt was still eating his apple. No. There's no way a squirrel could have done this. Is there? She started making lunch, but for the rest of the day, she didn't let Squirt out of her sight. Squirt didn't do anything unusual. He just climbed around a lot and ate nuts. Dinner that night was a hamburger, some apple juice, and a few cookies for dessert. She got ready for bed, made a quick stop at the bathroom, and went to sleep.
Fireai was up and dressed at the crack of dawn the next morning, literally. She had packed her schoolbag with some food, water, and some bath stuff. She had her hiking boots on, and felt great after a wonderful night's sleep. She climbed down from her new house, and started off. She kept the pace to a brisk walk. She stopped for a break after an hour. She stopped at an open glade, with fruit trees of all kinds, there were peaches, cherries, apples, oranges, lemons, and even some grapefruit. She put her bag down under a peach tree and grabbed a peach. She sat down next to her bag and started eating. She gazed around, amazed at how peaceful and relaxing it was. Her whole life at the House, and the best days had been the last two, while she was separated from civilization. For the first time, she felt she belonged where she was. At the House, she had always felt like an outsider, or the "outcast orphan". That's what I was, she insisted to herself. But now, now I am something… different. This is where I was meant to be. I don't know why, but it is. Then and there, she decided to find out why she was even still alive. What her purpose was, and what she was supposed to do for the rest of her life. She finished her peach, and continued walking.
Fireai enjoyed this time alone. She was so concentrated on her earlier thoughts, however, that she walked straight into a creek. Underneath her everyday clothes, she had worn a swimsuit. She pulled off her t-shirt and jeans, then pulled out a washcloth and some soap. The creek water was warm, and not cold, as she had expected it to be. The water was about three feet deep, so after her bath Fireai just floated on the water, relaxing after all the stress of the last couple of days. Without meaning to, she floated downstream. The farther she floated, the colder the water got, until she stopped herself on a rock that was jutting out above the water. She looked to her left, and a huge lake spanned before her eyes.
The water was crystal clear, and underneath the still surface, she could see various fish and plants flourishing in bright colors. Around the lake was a sandy beach with pebbles and rocks that glittered and shone in all the colors of the rainbow, including some that she had never seen before. Around the beach, trees leaned over, creating shade and seats above the water. The lake was very deep. It's almost like a miniature ocean! She thought. I can't believe I've never come here before. And to think, while Allenae is slaving over schoolwork all day, I'll be here, relaxing and having fun. I love my life. With that, she stood up and jumped in. the water was cool, but in a refreshing way. Underwater, she opened her eyes and found that she could see everything.
She was amazed by all she saw. The majority of the fish were about two to three inches wide. She managed to catch one fish, but it squirmed out of her hands and swam to its school. But then its school swam back. They created five moving rings around her, then darted forward and started nibbling at her skin. That tickles! She thought. It tickled so much, she let out a giggle. Before she could stop herself, she took in a deep breath. Only, the breath did not contain air. It turned into one gigantic gulp of water. She gagged, then started to cough, but she was still underwater. She started swimming towards the surface. When she got to the top, she took several shallow breaths mixed in with coughs of water. She let herself be washed up on the beach and lay there, recovering from her near-death experience. After about ten minutes she sat up, waited to stop feeling dizzy, then stood up. She wandered around the beach, picking up shining pebbles and skipping rocks. At about eleven thirty, she climbed back into the stream and started swimming upstream. There were so many plants along the banks that there was no place to walk. When she had reached her starting point, she pulled herself out of the stream.
She used the towel to dry off, put on her T-shirt and sat down to eat lunch. From her bag she pulled out a sandwich, some tortilla chips, a container of honey, a tangerine and three chocolate chip cookies. When she had finished, she pulled out the two empty water bottles she had brought along and filled them with water. Then she put all of her trash into a plastic bag. She packed everything up except for her clothes and her towel; the towel she left to dry on a rock. After everything was done, she walked into the water and started making her way upstream, to find out where all the warm water was coming from.
After a couple of minutes, the water was noticeably warmer. Thankfully, the current was not strong, so she was able to swim with ease. Fireai didn't notice it at first, but, this water is getting hot! Soon, she had to get out and sit on a rock that was barely large enough to crouch on. After she cooled off, she lowered herself, carefully, back into the water. She hurried along, already guessing where the water was coming from. Finally, she reached the source.
It was a hot spring, and small wafts of steam were curling off of the surface of the water. She dipped her hand in, but the water wasn't scalding hot. She jumped in, and at first it burned a bit, but then she got used to it. Fireai discovered that the water was bursting out from several fissures in the bottom of the pool. The water had minerals and gases of some sort though, because the water bubbled and fizzed where water met air. When she came up for a breather, the sun was starting to go down. She headed back to her campsite, floating and relaxing on the way back. When she got back, she dried off and got dressed. She packed up everything and slung her backpack over her shoulders. Then, she started off. Seeing as how she knew where she was going this time, and didn't have to back track or search for water sources, it only took her half an hour to get back to her house. Once home, she changed, made a small fire using the matches and made hamburger meat with potatoes. When she had finished dinner, she cleaned up and went to bed. Today was…perfect. She fell asleep with a smile under the ever-watchful eye of Squirt.
