SORRY! I lied! I said this would be up faster than the last one, but it's not. I lost the creative spirit (and my log in). But here's the next part. And something actually happens!
Paige was sitting in the meadow, braiding blades of grass, when the land shook. She looked around, surprised. What was that? She found herself thinking. I'll ask Geri. He'll know.
Paige wasn't entirely sure who Geri was, but she got the feeling she trusted him.
A shadow appeared over her and she turned around. A man with longish blond hair and a stern face stood over her. "Geri, why did the land move?"
The man smiled. "Because of you, Panny. In your heart, you willed it to move."
"I did?"
"Yes." The man sat down beside her. "You know so much, you wanted something new. Something you didn't know. But you still have all the answers."
He leaned over and kissed her forehead.
Paige woke up feeling refreshed. The dream was similar to the one she'd had three days ago, but calmer. She felt like it was trying to tell her something.
I have the answers. She repeated to herself. She looked at the map on her wall. "I have the answers." She said aloud. "I know who I am."
Even though she said it convincingly, she didn't believe herself. She still couldn't answer her most pressing question. Who am I?
She got up and went to the map. Without really thinking, she put her hand over China. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
There was pain and cries for help, but she pushed through it. She had to see Yao. She had to know.
He stood where he always had, but now there was a panda standing beside him, speckled with blood.
"What are you doing here?" She hadn't realized she'd spoken until Yao turned to face her.
"I should be here." He sounded like he was in a trance. "Why am I not here? It's my job to look after them."
"What do you mean?" A wave of pain hit Paige, but she stood her ground. "What is your job?"
"I have to be strong. If I'm not, my people suffer." He turned away from Paige and she knew the conversation was over.
Without opening her eyes, she moved her hand over the map. She saw flashes of other countries. Scenes of peaceful mountains filled her head, then were replaced by wild forests. As her hand moved, she saw glimpses of people.
Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at her palm. The symbol that was fading into her hand looked so familiar. Where had she seen that 'P' in a circle?
"Paige, are you okay?" Blake knocked on her door. "Who are you talking to?"
"My past self." Paige lied, thinking quickly. "She never responds, but I'm trying to get her to tell me who I was."
"Well, don't talk too long. Remember school?" Blake laughed as he walked away.
Paige grabbed an old pair of jeans and her new graphic tee. She glanced at her hair in the mirror. Why do I keep it so long? She asked herself. It's been two years. If it was going to help, it would have.
She picked up a pair of scissors and brought them up to her shoulders. After a moment, she sighed and put them down, grabbing a hair brush instead.
It's not just for me. She told herself. Alice likes braiding it, and Jackie would blame herself for what she said yesterday if I cut it. She tied it back and grabbed the elastic Jackie had given her the day before.
When she walked downstairs, she saw that Blake had made frozen waffles. She sat down in her chair and he put a plate in front of her, along with a glass of orange juice. "What's all this?"
"It's your seventh day here." Blake smiled. "It's a celebration."
Paige did the math in her head. "Dad, I got here Wednesday night. It's Tuesday morning now."
"I said seventh day." Blake repeated. "Not a week."
Paige smiled. Other's might not have seen the difference, but when you're seventeen and two years is your life, you tend to notice those things. "And I remember every second of it." She added.
Blake clapped twice, then turned back to the stove. "Remember what you can." He mumbled, probably thinking that Paige couldn't hear. "Knowledge is power."
As she walked to school, Paige thought about what Yao had said in her… What was it? A vision? She shook her head.
Am I crazy? She thought, looking at her hand. The symbol had looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. Where have I seen it before?
Something pink floated in front of her face. She looked up and saw that she was passing the large house with the pink tree. A breeze had blown some petals out into the street, making Paige stop in her tracks and stare.
"Hello again." Someone said from the yard. Paige turned and saw Yao coming out of the house with a rake. "Did the cherry blossoms catch your attention?"
Cherry blossoms? Paige looked closer and saw that the petals were the colour of cherry yogurt. "They're really pretty." She said before she could stop herself.
"It's that time of year." Yao started raking the petals into a pile. "Every April the blossoms fall. In Japan, there's a festival just for watching them." He chuckled. "Of course, it's a pain to clean up."
Paige took a deep breath. "Yao, can I ask you something?"
He smiled at her. "Other than that? Sure."
She couldn't help the laughter that spilled from her lips. "Right. Well, I don't know how to start, but…" She trailed off, thinking of the right words. "Um, you know what's going on in China, right?"
Yao's face fell. "Yeah. It's terrible." He looked at Paige suspiciously. "What about it?"
Paige stepped closer to the fence, not wanting anyone else to hear. "Well, I didn't until Friday. But, the thing is, Thursday night, right before my friend told me you had collapsed, I saw it. In my mind."
"Oh!" Yao was genuinely surprised. "What do you think it has to do with me?"
She bit her lip and looked away. "In my mind, I saw what was happening, but that wasn't all. I… I saw you looking on. So, I just wanted to ask, what's your connection to China?"
Yao smiled again. "I was born there. My family moved around Asia a lot when I was young. All of my brothers and sisters were born in different countries."
Paige nodded. She was about to turn to leave, then remembered something. "I was touching China." She blushed. "On my map." She added. "This morning, this is gonna sound crazy, but it was like I was talking to you."
"What did I say?" Yao looked like he wanted to run.
"That you had to be strong for your people." Paige saw his quick intake of breath. "You didn't mean your family, I know that much. Who could you have meant?"
He looked around, making sure they weren't being watched. "Everyone in China." He whispered. "Paige, you aren't crazy. You saw the truth."
"What do you mean?" She didn't understand what he was saying.
"I'm not just from China." Yao confessed. "I am China."
When Paige finally got to school, she realized classes had started. She went to the office to sign in before making her way to Accounting. Everyone was working on a computer, most likely using a special program.
Mr. Väinämöinen walked over to her. "Paige, are you alright? You've never been late before." He took a closer look at her face. "And you're so pale."
Paige ducked her head. "I'm fine." She lied. "Just a little tired, I guess. May I sit out this class?"
"Have you done your homework?" She nodded. "Alright. You're the only one who's actually done it. Everyone else is doing a punishment task, so you're excused."
Paige thanked him and made her way to the school library. She found a world atlas and sat at a back table. She opened it to a map of Europe and closed her eyes, then placed her hand over a random country.
She felt a wave a heat and took in a quick breath, forcing her eyes open. She looked around to make sure people weren't staring at her, then looked down. Her hand was covering a country between Italy and Turkey.
Bracing herself, Paige closed her eyes again. The heat hit her again, but she kept her eyes closed. She saw old ruins half buried in the ground. All around her, cats turned and mewed at her.
She couldn't help smiling at them. She'd read somewhere that there were a lot of cats in Italy and surrounding countries, but she still didn't know where she was.
Looking around, she noticed dirt flying out of a ditch. She guessed someone was excavating the ruins. See the truth. She told herself. She walked over to the ditch and looked down, shielding her eyes from the flying sand.
Paige could make out a man with dark brown hair through the dust. He wore a white t-shirt and tan pants, a brown jacket tied around his waist. He didn't seem to notice her standing above.
"Excuse me?" She called down. "Are you a country?"
The man turned around and Paige gasped. She choked on sand until she opened her eyes.
She was breathing hard, but managed to focus on the map. Slowly, she moved her hand, revealing the country. Greece.
What's going on? She thought, closing the atlas. She'd never forget what she'd seen, even if she tried. She'd recognized the man at the first glimpse of his face.
It was Henry.
So, yeah. More installments coming, but I won't say when, cause I don't even know.
Comments greatly appreciated.
