Disclaimer: I do not own The Riddles of Epsilon.
Author's Note: Here's to my only reviewer, Sakura Hitsugaya! Thank you so much, again!!!! Reviews make this story worth writing!!!
"JESS!" Her mother's angry voice greeted her as she entered the house.
Jess looked at her feet and waited for her mom to find her. When she appeared, her face was red and she was even more obviously furious.
"You promised to help out yesterday! And I can live with you not doing a few chores, BUT DISAPPEARING for the WHOLE NIGHT! That is unacceptable, young lady! I'm tired of you running off to a cottage to see some… some… some BEING that is probably only going to get you into even more trouble! You- you're grounded, Jess! And you know what, EPSILON is grounded, too! You hear that, Epsilon? You're BOTH grounded!"
As her mother yelled, Jess could picture Epsilon perfectly. He would be sitting in a chair, most likely leaning it back on two legs, laughing his perfect, idiot head off. Just for her own amusement, she pictured the chair toppling backwards, and him falling with it. If only that would really happen, and if only I could see it for real, Jess thought bitterly.
"What were you DOING, anyway?" she was still loud, but she wasn't screeching anymore, and her frowning face was not as red.
"I went up and got my note, then came back-"
Her mother cut her off. "Don't lie to me, I know you were not back last night!" She was getting angrier again.
"You didn't let me finish, mom!" Jess snapped, frustrated. "I was on my way back, but I- I don't know why, but I fell asleep." Her expression became thoughtful. Now that she thought about it, it was strange that she had fallen asleep. She hadn't felt the least bit tired. And she could have sworn that she had only been asleep for a few minutes as she spoke to Matthias… But a whole day had passed. The thought of spending all that time on the cold, stone bench made her stretch, bringing the reminder of how sore she was to the front of her mind.
Her mother now looked concerned rather than angry. "You didn't pass out, did you?"
"No, I didn't."
"Did you sleep on the ground?"
"No. I slept on a rock. And it kills!" Jess forced a smile, in the hopes that her mother would take away the punishment. "So am I still grounded?"
"Of course, Jess. You need to be more responsible! You could have been hurt!"
Jess sighed angrily. "Fine! But what if Epsilon needs me?" she grumbled.
"If he needs you that bad, he may come and visit you here. Now go help your father. He is in the yard. Apparently, the chickens escaped." The woman sent her daughter one last glare and then left the room.
Jess watched her leave and then turned and walked stiffly outside to help her father with the chickens.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Jess was relaxing in her room, playing a game on the computer (which she was most likely not supposed to be using), and humming the tune from her dream. She took out a piece of paper and started writing the few words she could remember from the song:
Sleep now lovely one
So…
It's been too long
…
You…
…With your smile
…Sweet one
…
…My beauty
…
…Always
Dreams can come true
…
…
…Sweet one
…No more
…I am free
Where…
Is taken away
…
Deep within
…Sweet one
Jess paused there. She knew there was one last line; she even knew what it said. But for some unknown reason, it struck her as familiar… why? All it said was:
So it begins