Chapter 4: A Few Sneezes

The summer had come and gone. To Cody the days seemed to fly by. It was strange to him. For the last ten year, the days seemed to drag on and on. His problem never seemed to go away. And though it still dwelt upon his mind, Abiba's presence seemed to make the days go by quicker. Nina had noted on several occasions that Cody's humming was very pleasant, and even when Cody made a conscious effort not to hum, the moment he let the thought go, a tone came from within him. But this could not continue. Cody was quite certain that any such feelings toward Abiba beside that of friendship would be completely out of line. He gave her a subtle cold shoulder when she came around in the mornings. His answers to her questions were more like grunts and nods, hardly any words. But that did stop tug at his heartstrings whenever her saw her running by. And when she ran, she'd see him in the corner of her eye, give a smile and a wave, then continue on her errands. The more he denied this, the harder the tugs would become.

The valley was decorated in colors of orange and red, yellow and brown. The days grew crisper and the days shorter. Gustafa began talk of their yearly trip to the mountain hot springs. It had become a tradition of sorts. Cody and Gustafa would go into the mountains to a natural hot spring, hardly anyone knew of this spring. Gustafa had mentioned that there would be a third member of the party this year. Cody thought nothing of it. A few days away from the valley would do him some good.

The first day of fall had arrived. The sun had just begun to peek over the mountainside when Cody reached the mountain pass. Gustafa and the third person would be coming soon. Cody had brought only a few things with him. Two towels, a blanket and matches for a fire. Gustafa would bring his guitar and food enough for the next two days. The trip had always been very simple. Hike to the hot spring, set up camp, bathe in the spring, and stay up for the night and the next day venture back to the little valley. It was relaxing in a way. Nothing crazy, simple.

"CODY!" The voice that called to him was not Gustafa. Cody's heart stopped. He slowly looked over his shoulder. Abiba was walking along side Gustafa, looking ready for a hike. Cody looked at Gustafa with eyes that foretold death to the young hippie.

Gustafa laughed. "I hope you don't mind a woman coming along Cody, I know it's normally a 'just guys' thing but I thought Abiba would really enjoy it." Through Gustafa's rose colors sunglasses, Cody could sell how disparately he wanted Abiba to come. Cody rolled his eyes in agreement. Without another word Cody began the hike up the mountain.

Throughout the trek Cody could here Gustafa and Abiba chatting behind. It urked him to hear them talk. Even when they got to camp, Cody set up the tents. Abiba had made an effort to help Cody, but Gustafa had stolen her away to listen to his song about the dwarf. Although his face showed no sign of anger- this was truly annoying Cody.

When night fell, Abiba was the first to go into the hot spring. All by herself. Cody had hardly talked to Abiba during the trip. Gustafa was humming pleasantly to himself as he fixed some dinner for the three of them. Cody sat on a tree log, watching the flames licking the wood. His mind was else where, for this was certainly not the relaxing trip of which he had hoped. Gustafa's humming was growing more and more annoying. In his subconscious mind he wanted to shout at Gustafa. Yell at the top of his lungs and demand that the man in the big hat would stop being so happy that Abiba was around. Cody got up and went to the tent.

The humming stopped. "Hey, man, don't you want some supper? Or go into the hot spring?" inquired Gustafa.

Cody didn't look at him. "No. I'm tired. I'm going to bed." And that was that.

He had gone to sleep for maybe a few hours. Cody stirred in the middle of the night. He looked and saw the fire was out, only a small electric lantern offered a guiding light. Cody sighed. He shifted from side to side, finally deciding to go into the spring at this late hour. That was, after all, why he had come on this trip.

The spring was only a few yards away from camp, the steam from the water was huttled together by the bamboo reeds arching over it. His clothes were neatly folded on a rock beside the spring along with a dry towel. Cody wrapped the other towel comfortably around his waist. Cody stepped into the water. A warm thrill went up his spine. The massive man enjoyed natural springs such as this. He truly did. Cody looked up. The bamboo reeds parted overhead to reveal the night sky. The stars in the fall would appear much more vibrantly then those in summer. The air was warm as Cody closed his eyes. Now this was relaxing.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry Cody." Cody cringed. Why did that voice appear every time he was relaxed? Cody opened his eyes to see Abiba poking her head out from behind a rock in front of him. "I just heard you come in-" Abiba's face was slightly red, though it was probably from the heat of the spring. Her copper locks were down, not in the ponytail that Cody was used to seeing. It framed her face nicely, leading the viewer to her sparkling eyes. "And, well- I'll get out now," she said nervously. She waded through the water past Cody, but slipped before getting out. A great splash of water crashed onto Cody's face. When he opened his eyes, he noticed Abiba's towel floating beside him. His face turned to a deep red and Cody quickly shut his eyes.

"Arg! That's annoying!" growled Abiba. "Tsk, and that was my dry towel. Uh- Cody- haha, don't worry its ok, open your eyes." He didn't. "No, really its okay, I'm in a swimsuit." Cody peeked with one eye, and it was verified; Abiba was wearing an orange tankini. "I hate trying to balance the towel on my head, ya know? I always drop it into the water." Abiba rung out the towel and left it to dry on a branch. "Brrr- It's cold," Abiba turned to Cody. "Mind if I stay in for a while longer?" Without an answer She sat right back into the water. "Hmm? Cody is the water too warm for you? You're all red." Abiba reached over Cody to feel his forehead. Satisfied that he was not overheated, her attention went to his face. "Hey, why isn't your makeup washing away, Cody?" She began rubbing the white lines on both sides of Cody's face.

Cody grumbled a little. "Its not makeup- it's a tattoo." He said, waving her hands away.

She looked puzzled. "Why would you get a tattoo of white lines? It seems rather silly."

Cody was silent for a moment. "I was in a gang when I was younger." Abiba's eyes went wide and her mouth fell agape. Cody was fairly surprised he had said it himself, he hadn't shared this piece of information with anyone, ever. Though Abiba didn't ask, he saw that her eyes were hungry for more. "My father died when I was 10, grieving his death my mother lost much of her sane mind. I wanted a family- and I joined a violent gang in my neighborhood. As a symbol of your membership you received one white line, if you progressed further, you got another. Four meant that you didn't have to answer to anyone but Leader." Cody stopped himself. He didn't want to look back any further right now. There was a pulsing dark feeling throughout Cody's body. All the things he had done to reach the four line status in the gang, made him a horrid person. Though his heart was beating fast, it was painful, how could he have done such things? What sort of person could even think of-

There was a break. The dark feeling was cut off from his being, and drifted away. A soft touch had stopped the plague on his mind. Cody looked down at his arm. Abiba's hand lay on his forearm. Slowly he looked up to her eyes. They overflowed with a great compassion. She gently rested her head on his arm. "Its okay- don't worry about it, Cody." He was not sure how long her head rested on his arm, but he was grateful for such kindness.

"ACHOOOO!"

"You shouldn't have gone to the hot spring so late at night Cody, you knew you could have gotten sick," said Gustafa as the party approached Forget-Me-Not Valley.

"Achoooo!" The second sneeze came from Abiba. The air had a cold chill in it, leaves fell and danced in the air about the three.

Cody looked down to Abiba and said, "I hope you don't fall ill because of-"

"Oh don't worry, I'll be fine I promise!" She smiled at Cody very warmly. Cody began to wonder is Abiba ever got angry or shouted. Then again, many people wondered if that was the case with Cody.

"You're sneezing too?" asked Gustafa, slightly confused.

It wasn't long until the three had parted their ways. Cody had gone straight to Turtle pond and waited for Nina. Though, he couldn't stop sneezing. "ACHOOOO! ACHOOOO! ACHOOOO!!!!!!"

"Oh, bless you, my dear, hee hee." Nina was coming down the hill, smiling ever so cheerfully. Cody nodded a hello. "So- who is it, Cody?" she laughed.

Cody looked at her puzzled.

"Oh, Cody- I mean who's thinking about you," she explained. There was an odd twinkle in the old woman's eye. "If you sneezed three times in a row like that, there's a saying that someone special is thinking about you."

Cody's eyebrows went up. In the distance he heard "Achooo! Achooo! Achooo!!!!" The man looked up, and running past on the cobble stone road in town, was none other then the copper haired girl, Abiba.