Chapter 4- Fog

Goldilocks ( yeah, you know the crazy nurse lady) stopped by our house yesterday, in tow with white bandages (galore), wooden crutches, which by the way hurt my armpits when I use them, and more pink painkillers. If I gave Iaso the chance, he probably would have fed them to the birds.

Two times a day, two pills each time, drink water thoroughly after word, yeah, exact wordings on the bottle, not to mention the fact that it had a name that was so unpronounceable I didn't even try ( who wants to try saying: "I'm going to go take my medicine, you know, Ginnaglofiarinaly- thingy mabob that goes on for a while."

Today me and Rena are going to get our ears pierced, mom is going to do it for us. Wake up, eat whatever, avoid milk, place two pills in mouth and drink water (pretend you are not chocking), find Rena (usually by random shops or ramen stands, talking to random people), and run back to mom. Yup, all together that makes my morning schedule.

Me first, Rena didn't have a problem with it, to be honest I think she's scared of needles. I've already have had my ears pierced once, a jade stone given to me by dad for my first birthday. This time it would be something I made on my own, welding metal with moms help, in the shape of a daisy flower.

Mom sat me down on a stool, Rena held the crutches, eyeing them warily as if to say, I am NEVER going to break my foot. Books scattered over the wooden desk, wrenches and other random objects, which made me think about how safe it was for my mom to pierce your ears. I shook my head, she did it before, she can do it again, what do you have fuzz or something in your head? No, just fog.

Mom was quick about it, though it made me flinch all the same. She stuck a pin in my earlobe, after piercing all the way through the skin she pulled it out and slipped a piece of thin string through my ear where she had pierced, then she found the earring slipped the string out and shoved the earring in, sliding a holder onto the back. And repeat.

Then I took my crutches(OW!) and placed them against the hardwood floor and lifted myself. I spun Rena backwards into the chair, and limped off into the kitchen, fumbling for the clear pill bottle. The little stubs on the end of the crutches made a thumping noise every time I swung them forward, and instantly I just don't understand why I didn't beg Axis to get them.

I had to strain and reach for the pill bottle, because I am so hopelessly short (ahem, thank you god for making Rena shorter than me) until Axis came into the kitchen apparently looking for food or something, I mean, he looked like he just woke up. He picked me up, almost like I was lightweight and sat me on the counter, holding my crutches.

"Thanks Axis," I said brightly, grabbing the pill bottle and shoving to in my mouth right in between my front teeth. He muttered something I couldn't understand that sounded along the lines of a swear word and a 'your welcome', maybe both, but I doubt I'll ever know.

He handed me a glass of water without turning his front towards me, stifling a yawn with his hand. I wrapped my hand around it a took a gulp of water, letting the coldness cascade down my throat. Axis lifted me back down towards the floor and handed me my crutches, kissed the top of my head, and continues his search for food.

Back in mom's workroom Rena flashed me two new earrings in her ears, both a small sapphire stone. I had forgotten she had brought those, she had turned them into earrings last night just for this purpose.

"They're pretty Rena! Let's go show Iaso!" I said, grabbing her arm to steady myself. She walked with me in pace, keeping in sync with the hobbled steps.

Iaso had looked at the earrings, leaning against the fence to get a better view, but other than that he had no real interest in them. "They look beautiful Sparky," he said, brushing her hair behind her ears so that the seep blue sapphires shimmered against the sunlight.

"Your leaving in August, right Iaso?" I said, trying to keep my facts straight, this fog in my head was doing a number on me and I couldn't remember if it was August or October or maybe some make believe month. Yeah, Likehad.

Iaso nodded. "Yup, Lucky called me last night, and apparently my parents allowed her too much sugar because she was talking all jitterly and hyper, until Mom took the phone away from her, and told me to come home on the eleventh. I'll leave the tenth."

Rena touched her earrings solemnly looking at Iaso closely. "You know that me and Sam will miss you right?"

"Of course Sparky, and I'll call you guys every weekend and tell my sister, mom, and dad all about you guys."

"And to be extra nice you'll stop calling me Sparky, right?" She asked, flipping her hair over her shoulders and smiling brightly.

"No, consider it your nickname," Iaso said, smiling back, reaching for her hand and slipping her glove off. Rena let out a strangled kind of sound, as if to object but Iaso set the glove on top of her blond head.

"Mom, I have a question." I said, tucking my crutches deeper into my arm, it fell numb in a second. Mom tucked her lemon colored hair behind her ear and nodded towards me, resting the auto-mail leg on her knee. I still don't understand why she makes all the random legs and arms.

"Well, this will be random, but can I go to Xing to see uncle Al?" I asked, fiddling with a piece of cold metal in my hands. First lie to mom in my whole life. She looked closely at me, making a few adjustments on the leg. Her hands trembled before she looked at me again. "Is this what you want?"

I nodded, swallowing my spit. I nodded, plastering a fake smile on my face. She pulled a small quirky grin on her face before saying "Ok then, you can take a train ride there when you want."

I grinned again "August tenth."

AUGUST

I don't know how, and I don't want to know how. Rena had somehow persuaded her father to allow her to go to Xing too, on the exact same day, so she sat there next to me on the bench while we waited for Iaso to finally show. Rena had packed a small blue bag with her toothbrush, two changes of clothes, and hair accessories. Typical Rena.

I, on the other hand, had packed a brown bag with almost the exact same stuff as Rena except equipped with a book about Alkahestry.