L'arbre silencieux
By: SilentTrainConductor
Chapter 1
The sun was bright, and the sky was clear without any clouds to be seen. There was a little girl panting heavily as she ran away from an older boy who could be seen chasing after her, in some sort of panic.
"Evy! Evy! Are you out of your mind? Dad will kill us!" The girl merely turned her head and smiled mischievously as she kept on running, not saying a word, for talking may slow her down. The boy sighed as he saw that his sister wasn't paying any heeds towards his warnings, and who could blame her? She was usually the one telling him what not to do, even though he was the oldest…
"Evy! You're wandering off! Too far this time! Dad will never see us!" The boy began to stumble a bit as he tripped over some objects in the sand, he then saw they were nearing the river, and he moaned inwardly. Now he knew *this* was too far, Dad was going to kill him... Then the boy saw it, a large tree in which its roots extended into the river, its trunk vast and huge and the leaves were various mixtures of green, dancing along with the slight breeze. It was definitely an odd sight to behold, there being no other tree nowhere near in plain sight. Of course there were various shrubs and bushes about…but no trees…well except for this one. It was definitely odd indeed.
"Look Jonathan…I saw it from the site…isn't it beautiful? I just had to come…" Evy seemed to be mesmerized by the sight, her lips curled upwards with a smile, and her toes at their points as she walked towards the tree.
"Well, I suppose it's nice enough…this is the coolest place in the desert I'll bet." Jonathan nodded towards the river as well as the shade of the tree. His eyes widened suddenly as he saw his sister stick her toes onto the tree and begin to pull her self upwards. "What the hell are you doing Evy!?"
"Jonathan! No cursing!"
"No-no cursing!?" Jonathan shrieked in disbelief. "You're climbing that damn tree and you're telling me not to curse!? Get down from there! You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Don't be silly, I won't fall." Evy finally stopped her climb as she made it to the top and settled in between the branches. "Oh, look Jonathan, a little flower bud." She tickled it with her pinky, slightly hoping it would bloom, but received no reaction. She pouted a bit on how the bud dared not to open, but she wasn't about to pry it open, she knew these things took time.
"Evy…" Jonathan began but was interrupted by his sister's giggles.
"Oh you silly, just come on up here, unless you're a chicken…" Evy taunted and shook the tree's branches a bit allowing leaves to flutter to the ground below.
"I rather be a live chicken than a dead one!" Jonathan shot back, not willing to be taunted by his younger sister. But Evy continued to smile shrugging her shoulders as she did so, looking away from Jonathan towards the river. Something caught her eye and she thought she could make out some sort of black dog on the other side of the river watching her. She raised her eyebrow a bit and then jumped slightly as she felt someone touch her arm.
"Jonathan!" Evy cried breathing heavily, "You scared the life out of me!"
"Did I now? That would explain the jackal." Evy turned her head slightly towards Jonathan who had a look of 'I know something you don't'.
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.
"Dad said in ancient Egyptian times jackals were sacred in that they looked after the dead. Funny though, I didn't know they came in black…" Jonathan mused staring at the blurry figure on the other side of the river, who was still watching them. Jonathan shivered slightly and pulled at Evy's arm. "Come on; let's go…I'm starting to feel a bit unsettled…" Evy nodded also sensing the change in the air, and how that the peaceful feeling was replaced by one of great anxiety and fear. And then it happened; it was so sudden it took a while before Evy knew what was happening. The branch that held Jonathan snapped, Evy saw in slow motion as Jonathan's face changed from one of slight annoyance to one of horror, and she reached out quickly hoping…no. Jonathan slipped by her fingers, she watched on how he stumbled before he got to the river. She heard the loud thump that was caused by Jonathan hitting his head against one of the branches, and the snaps of smaller branches breaking underneath him. Finally there came the loud splash of Jonathan's body hitting the water, and then silence.
"JONATHAN!" Evy cried after finally finding her voice. She climbed down the tree as fast as she could, tripping every once in a while but didn't fall. She could hear a faint yelping and barking in the background but she ignored it hoping to find some sort of sign of her brother. "JONATHAN!" she cried once more, she then felt herself being pushed forcefully aside and saw her father jumping smoothly into the water. She cheered inwardly on how her father would always manage to save them, and continued to look for any sign of Jonathan or her father. She stopped breathing, thinking quickly, rewinding the events in her head, watching and waiting. She looked to the tree and silently cursed it for being so inviting. Then there was the sound she was waiting for, a gasp of air and the sputters of someone trying to push out water from their body…but she only heard one make the sound. She noticed how Jonathan was limp in her father's arms, a knot formed in her throat and she began to shake slightly. She moved out of her father's path as he made his way towards the bank.
"Dad?" she questioned with a whisper. Her father climbed out of the water and sat Jonathan upright and began pounding frantically at Jonathan's back, who half-opened his eyes and sputtered out most of the water he drank. Jonathan then closed his eyes again and lay limply against his father.
"Dad?" Evy questioned again with fear in her voice now that she saw her brother's actions, "Is he going to be all right?"
"I hope so sweetheart, I really hope so." With that said he picked Jonathan up and walked back towards the camp, lowering his head towards that of Jonathan's nuzzling him and kissing his forehead. Evy sat back at the bank still shocked at how quickly everything went, she looked towards the river and saw the jackal slowly fade away, already the sun set and the jackal's fur blended well against the darkness.
"Evy!" her father's voice broke through the silence. "Come on then! Hurry now!" he cried and Evy could sense the fear in his voice so she stood up and quickly hurried after her father, not wanting another look and that so-called loving tree.
**~~**
Jonathan was being caressed by his mother who was rubbing her thumb against his forehead and bombarding him with sweet kisses. Jonathan merely accepted each one, he was too tired to resist as he usually did. Jonathan and Evy had already received their lectures and their parents promised they would be punished, but not today, maybe tomorrow, they had enough excitement for today. Jonathan noticed how Evy sat alone away from the camp; her back turned away from the rest of them. So Jonathan pried himself away from his mother and made his way over to his sister.
"Hello." He started quietly, he never being one to enjoy awkward silences.
"Hello." She answered back, that was when Jonathan knew she had been crying, she always slurred her vowels and forgetting her consonants so her 'hello' became 'eo'.
"That was some ride huh?" he eased into the conversation lightly, hoping not to get Evy riled up, of course…
"Oh Jonathan! You could've died because of me! You warned me and-and I-I-" she began to sob gently and Jonathan rubbed his hand against her back.
"Now, now, it was my choice to get up on that tree. It was better me than you anyway Evy. At least you had enough sense to not jump in after me; we both would've been in that river drowning if it was you who fell. Can't have that can we?" Evy shook her head slowly sniffling as she did so. "We would've been to chickens clucking for our life in that river." Evy smiled slightly which allowed Jonathan to brighten up as well, and than Evy let out a giggle.
"Jonathan that made no sense…"
"Do I ever make any sense?" Jonathan smiled and knocked his head gently against Evy's own head.
"You have a point…" Evy smiled wiping her tears away with her sleeve and then brought Jonathan into a hug. "Thank you." She whispered and let back on her hug as she felt something poking oddly out of his chest. She looked at it and noticed an octagonal shaped protruding from his shirt.
"What's that?" she asked, Jonathan looked surprised for a bit on how quickly her curiosity took over her.
"What? This?" Jonathan pulled out the object from the inside of his shirt and then shrugged. "Dad gave it to me, since he already had enough to take to the museum one little souvenir wouldn't hurt." Evy swiped it from her brother's hands.
"Hey! That's mine!" he whined. Evy turned the figure around and noticed little ancient Egyptian inscriptions all over the object and noticed how it had little clasps on the side, and try as she might she couldn't get it open. Evy sighed and handed it back to Jonathan.
"Dad would've never given you that." Jonathan nodded knowing his sister would figure out the truth.
"I found it half buried in the sand before I gave chase to you, I'm surprised it managed to stay inside of my shirt and not fly out, especially after falling out of the tree. So, do I have to give it back to Dad?" Evy smiled at how Jonathan seemed to always ask her what was right or wrong. But this time Evy shook her head.
"No, you don't." Jonathan raised his eyebrow in question and Evy didn't dare look at him, 'This is for him' she thought. "I'll let it slide this time." Evy gave a small wink and Jonathan grinned happily at getting to keep his treasure. "But-!" Evy raised her finger "Only *this* time…"
**~~**
To be continued…
Thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter, and I'll be sure to answer any unanswered questions in the later chapters ^^ Please let me know on what to improve on and what you thought of this chapter. Thanks very much so!!
By: SilentTrainConductor
Chapter 1
The sun was bright, and the sky was clear without any clouds to be seen. There was a little girl panting heavily as she ran away from an older boy who could be seen chasing after her, in some sort of panic.
"Evy! Evy! Are you out of your mind? Dad will kill us!" The girl merely turned her head and smiled mischievously as she kept on running, not saying a word, for talking may slow her down. The boy sighed as he saw that his sister wasn't paying any heeds towards his warnings, and who could blame her? She was usually the one telling him what not to do, even though he was the oldest…
"Evy! You're wandering off! Too far this time! Dad will never see us!" The boy began to stumble a bit as he tripped over some objects in the sand, he then saw they were nearing the river, and he moaned inwardly. Now he knew *this* was too far, Dad was going to kill him... Then the boy saw it, a large tree in which its roots extended into the river, its trunk vast and huge and the leaves were various mixtures of green, dancing along with the slight breeze. It was definitely an odd sight to behold, there being no other tree nowhere near in plain sight. Of course there were various shrubs and bushes about…but no trees…well except for this one. It was definitely odd indeed.
"Look Jonathan…I saw it from the site…isn't it beautiful? I just had to come…" Evy seemed to be mesmerized by the sight, her lips curled upwards with a smile, and her toes at their points as she walked towards the tree.
"Well, I suppose it's nice enough…this is the coolest place in the desert I'll bet." Jonathan nodded towards the river as well as the shade of the tree. His eyes widened suddenly as he saw his sister stick her toes onto the tree and begin to pull her self upwards. "What the hell are you doing Evy!?"
"Jonathan! No cursing!"
"No-no cursing!?" Jonathan shrieked in disbelief. "You're climbing that damn tree and you're telling me not to curse!? Get down from there! You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Don't be silly, I won't fall." Evy finally stopped her climb as she made it to the top and settled in between the branches. "Oh, look Jonathan, a little flower bud." She tickled it with her pinky, slightly hoping it would bloom, but received no reaction. She pouted a bit on how the bud dared not to open, but she wasn't about to pry it open, she knew these things took time.
"Evy…" Jonathan began but was interrupted by his sister's giggles.
"Oh you silly, just come on up here, unless you're a chicken…" Evy taunted and shook the tree's branches a bit allowing leaves to flutter to the ground below.
"I rather be a live chicken than a dead one!" Jonathan shot back, not willing to be taunted by his younger sister. But Evy continued to smile shrugging her shoulders as she did so, looking away from Jonathan towards the river. Something caught her eye and she thought she could make out some sort of black dog on the other side of the river watching her. She raised her eyebrow a bit and then jumped slightly as she felt someone touch her arm.
"Jonathan!" Evy cried breathing heavily, "You scared the life out of me!"
"Did I now? That would explain the jackal." Evy turned her head slightly towards Jonathan who had a look of 'I know something you don't'.
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.
"Dad said in ancient Egyptian times jackals were sacred in that they looked after the dead. Funny though, I didn't know they came in black…" Jonathan mused staring at the blurry figure on the other side of the river, who was still watching them. Jonathan shivered slightly and pulled at Evy's arm. "Come on; let's go…I'm starting to feel a bit unsettled…" Evy nodded also sensing the change in the air, and how that the peaceful feeling was replaced by one of great anxiety and fear. And then it happened; it was so sudden it took a while before Evy knew what was happening. The branch that held Jonathan snapped, Evy saw in slow motion as Jonathan's face changed from one of slight annoyance to one of horror, and she reached out quickly hoping…no. Jonathan slipped by her fingers, she watched on how he stumbled before he got to the river. She heard the loud thump that was caused by Jonathan hitting his head against one of the branches, and the snaps of smaller branches breaking underneath him. Finally there came the loud splash of Jonathan's body hitting the water, and then silence.
"JONATHAN!" Evy cried after finally finding her voice. She climbed down the tree as fast as she could, tripping every once in a while but didn't fall. She could hear a faint yelping and barking in the background but she ignored it hoping to find some sort of sign of her brother. "JONATHAN!" she cried once more, she then felt herself being pushed forcefully aside and saw her father jumping smoothly into the water. She cheered inwardly on how her father would always manage to save them, and continued to look for any sign of Jonathan or her father. She stopped breathing, thinking quickly, rewinding the events in her head, watching and waiting. She looked to the tree and silently cursed it for being so inviting. Then there was the sound she was waiting for, a gasp of air and the sputters of someone trying to push out water from their body…but she only heard one make the sound. She noticed how Jonathan was limp in her father's arms, a knot formed in her throat and she began to shake slightly. She moved out of her father's path as he made his way towards the bank.
"Dad?" she questioned with a whisper. Her father climbed out of the water and sat Jonathan upright and began pounding frantically at Jonathan's back, who half-opened his eyes and sputtered out most of the water he drank. Jonathan then closed his eyes again and lay limply against his father.
"Dad?" Evy questioned again with fear in her voice now that she saw her brother's actions, "Is he going to be all right?"
"I hope so sweetheart, I really hope so." With that said he picked Jonathan up and walked back towards the camp, lowering his head towards that of Jonathan's nuzzling him and kissing his forehead. Evy sat back at the bank still shocked at how quickly everything went, she looked towards the river and saw the jackal slowly fade away, already the sun set and the jackal's fur blended well against the darkness.
"Evy!" her father's voice broke through the silence. "Come on then! Hurry now!" he cried and Evy could sense the fear in his voice so she stood up and quickly hurried after her father, not wanting another look and that so-called loving tree.
**~~**
Jonathan was being caressed by his mother who was rubbing her thumb against his forehead and bombarding him with sweet kisses. Jonathan merely accepted each one, he was too tired to resist as he usually did. Jonathan and Evy had already received their lectures and their parents promised they would be punished, but not today, maybe tomorrow, they had enough excitement for today. Jonathan noticed how Evy sat alone away from the camp; her back turned away from the rest of them. So Jonathan pried himself away from his mother and made his way over to his sister.
"Hello." He started quietly, he never being one to enjoy awkward silences.
"Hello." She answered back, that was when Jonathan knew she had been crying, she always slurred her vowels and forgetting her consonants so her 'hello' became 'eo'.
"That was some ride huh?" he eased into the conversation lightly, hoping not to get Evy riled up, of course…
"Oh Jonathan! You could've died because of me! You warned me and-and I-I-" she began to sob gently and Jonathan rubbed his hand against her back.
"Now, now, it was my choice to get up on that tree. It was better me than you anyway Evy. At least you had enough sense to not jump in after me; we both would've been in that river drowning if it was you who fell. Can't have that can we?" Evy shook her head slowly sniffling as she did so. "We would've been to chickens clucking for our life in that river." Evy smiled slightly which allowed Jonathan to brighten up as well, and than Evy let out a giggle.
"Jonathan that made no sense…"
"Do I ever make any sense?" Jonathan smiled and knocked his head gently against Evy's own head.
"You have a point…" Evy smiled wiping her tears away with her sleeve and then brought Jonathan into a hug. "Thank you." She whispered and let back on her hug as she felt something poking oddly out of his chest. She looked at it and noticed an octagonal shaped protruding from his shirt.
"What's that?" she asked, Jonathan looked surprised for a bit on how quickly her curiosity took over her.
"What? This?" Jonathan pulled out the object from the inside of his shirt and then shrugged. "Dad gave it to me, since he already had enough to take to the museum one little souvenir wouldn't hurt." Evy swiped it from her brother's hands.
"Hey! That's mine!" he whined. Evy turned the figure around and noticed little ancient Egyptian inscriptions all over the object and noticed how it had little clasps on the side, and try as she might she couldn't get it open. Evy sighed and handed it back to Jonathan.
"Dad would've never given you that." Jonathan nodded knowing his sister would figure out the truth.
"I found it half buried in the sand before I gave chase to you, I'm surprised it managed to stay inside of my shirt and not fly out, especially after falling out of the tree. So, do I have to give it back to Dad?" Evy smiled at how Jonathan seemed to always ask her what was right or wrong. But this time Evy shook her head.
"No, you don't." Jonathan raised his eyebrow in question and Evy didn't dare look at him, 'This is for him' she thought. "I'll let it slide this time." Evy gave a small wink and Jonathan grinned happily at getting to keep his treasure. "But-!" Evy raised her finger "Only *this* time…"
**~~**
To be continued…
Thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter, and I'll be sure to answer any unanswered questions in the later chapters ^^ Please let me know on what to improve on and what you thought of this chapter. Thanks very much so!!