Chapter 7

Water

'OK Jill here you go.' Rick said, smiling at me. I nod at him, trying to hold in my excitement.

'Thanks for coming out here.' I write on a note. 'I appreciate it.' He smiled, a little sadly, once he'd read it.

'You know Jill,' he starts, his speech automatically slowed down, so used to talking to me. 'You could come back to the town. We all...we all miss you.' I look away, not wanting to see the sadness that has overcome his features.

'Thanks for the chickens Rick.' I sign to him. He sighs.

'You're welcome Jill.' he signs back, and he turns to leave my farm, not looking back once. I watch him go, and a wave of nostalgia hits. A long time ago, that man and I used to be best friends. We did everything together, but that was before...I shake my head and drive away all the negative thoughts.

'You've moved on Jill.' I tell myself. 'This is what you've chosen.' Rick's out of my sight now, and I turn back on my past, any grief I feel over it pushed down. I turned to look at my new chicken, the reason why Rick was over here in the first place. 'Hi baby!' I sign to it as I crouch down to her level. At first she's startled, but she soon relaxes as I begin to pet her. I pick her up and take her to the coop to meet Flower. Flower had begun to lay eggs a few days ago, and due to my recent seed dilemma, I decided I need to buy a full grown chicken to get more eggs right away. At least this is what I tell myself, because truthfully, I just really wanted another chicken. Once I'm in the coop, I sit down with my new chicken in my lap, stroking her soft feathers. Flower soon sees me and rushes right over, wanting to get in on the attention. I giggle. 'My little babies.' I think,and look over my two chickens. I think of Rick's visit today, and all that he meant to me all those years ago. 'I'll name you Ginger.' I think, looking at me new chicken, and both Ginger and Flower fall asleep in my lap.

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After my chores for the day were done, I went to my new favorite spot, the Goddess Pond. I walked to my usual spot, the cool place right under the furthest light, and sat down. The insects have come out, and I sit and imagine the amount of noise they must be making. Feeling completely at peace, I lean back and soak in the feeling of the night and the giddiness that it brings. I loved this place so much, and was ashamed that my fears had kept me from finding it for so long. There was no danger, no traffic, no people...usually. I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see a certain someone's famous smirk that I was begging to grow tired of. I quickly sat up, embarrassed.

'No, lay back down. You looked even prettier than normal.' Skye said. I roll my eyes and frown at him, upset that he'd messed up my evening alone. This didn't get past Skye, and he asked 'What's wrong beautiful?' I roll my eyes at him again, and I reach down for my pad of took me a minute to realize it wasn't there. I hadn't brought it because I'd figured it'd be too late for people to be out, and that I'd be alone. Panic shoots through my veins, as my only means of communication had vanished. Skye seemed to pick up on my dilemma. 'You forgot your paper didn't you?' he asked. I look away, ashamed. I try to get up quickly, wanting to escape the situation, when Skye grabs my arm. 'Tsk,Tsk Jill. Here I am putting in all this effort to talk slowly, as to communicate with you, and you don't even want to try and communicate back?' he asked, feigning disbelief. I stare at him, shocked. This was the first time anyone here had tried to stop me from running away, or even suggested I tried to communicate with them. I was always an afterthought, or the situation you think back on and wish you'd done something different. Frustrated, I sign back at him.

'It's harder than it looks! To you, it just seems like I'm moving my hands randomly. How on earth are we supposed to communicate?' As if to further confuse me, Skye laughs.

'OK beautiful, although I have no earthly idea what you said, I can at least tell you're angry.' I pause and realize that he was right, I was angry.

'You just don't understand.' I sign again, this time feeling sadness rather than anger.

'Well, why don't you try to teach me a few signs? I'd understand then.' The words register in my ears, and I stand there and look at Skye like he's the craziest person on the planet. Maybe he was, it's not like I knew him very well. Or maybe it was just me, because I began to act on impulse. I pointed to the pond next to me and signed 'water'. Skye look surprised for a moment, before asking 'Is that how you sign water?' I nod and do it again, slower this time. Skye lifts his right hand and signs 'water'. I smile and him and nod, showing that he got it right. Skye grins right back at me, and signs the word again. 'See Jill,' he winks at me. 'We're communicating.' I nod, excited, before looking around the area again. This time, I spot the huge tree. I walk over to it and sign 'tree'. 'You're trying to sign tree right?' Skye asks, and I nod and sign again. Skye signs the word, albeit a little awkwardly, and I smile and shake my head. 'Did I do it right?' Skye asks. I laugh a little at him, and do the universal sign for 'it was so-so'. Skye smirks at me. 'Hehe, this is actually pretty fun. We'll have to continue our lesson another time though. It's getting pretty late ,and beautiful girls like you should be in bed.' I'm surprised, and look at my watch to see it was almost eleven.

'Crap.' I think to myself. 'I have to get up early in the morning.' I quickly wave goodbye to Skye, and run off, embarrassed I'd stayed out so late. Just before I leave the area though, I turn back and see that Skye is still looking at me. When he's sees I've turned back, he smirks, points to the pond, and signs 'water'. A huge smile breaks out on my face and I nod at him, before running through the night back to my farm.

A.N. Whoa Jill's got a past! Hey guys I hope you liked this chapter, because it was really fun to write. Oh and by the way, did anyone else noticed that Rick could sign? Hmm, I wonder why...ANYWAYS thank you so much for reading this, and leave me a review to tell if you like the direction in which this is going.

Oh by the way I got a review a while ago that asked why Jill could write. Deaf people, although most can't talk, can still learn to read and write. Also, Jill wasn't born deaf, it happened while she was a teenager, so she could read and write already anyway. Good question, and I hoped that answered it.

-Goldengirl