I'm not sure if it's the fact I'm not at school, the fact I've got a small room to myself, or the lack of interruptions, but Monday and Tuesday both seem to just go past in a blur.
I jerk awake with a jump as dad pulls into our driveway Tuesday night.
"Evening sleepy head."
I yawn loudly, "God, why am I so tired?"
Dad chuckles, "Well, if I was to guess, it's because you've been doing school work all day rather than taking time to relax."
"But you do the same…"
Dad nudges me again, "Taylor, I'm an adult, and I'm used to these hours. You're still a teenager. Come on, let's get you inside and I'll try and bring you home at lunchtime tomorrow."
After a couple of tries, I undo my seatbelt and push open the door, "I think I wanted to do something tomorrow. That was it, I want to go to the bank."
"I'm sure I can drop you off there instead. What do you want for dinner?"
I yawn again, "I don't know, surprise me."
Dad nods as he opens the front door, "Sure, I'll wake you when it's ready."
"I'm not tired dad."
Dad nods wisely, "Sure you're not. Why don't you put the TV on and watch something instead then?"
I stagger into the front room and sit down on the couch before stabbing the remote. The next thing I know, dad's waking me up to the smell of pasta and bolognese.
"Mmm, that smells nice."
Dad nods, "Well come on and eat up, then you can get an early night."
I groan as I get up, "Dad, I'm 15, not 5."
"Uh huh, and did you remember to take a break yesterday?"
I nod sleepily, "I did, I had lunch with you. I did it again today too."
Dad sighs, "Taylor, we were at the office at 7:30, you're not used to starting till 9. I didn't finish work till 6 yesterday, and 5:30 today, but your school finishes at 4. I think you're allowed to be tired."
I squint owlishly at dad, "Really? It didn't seem like it was that long."
I dig into dinner and by the time I'm finished I'm feeling more awake. Because of that, instead of heading straight to bed, I instead start to help with the cleaning up because dad cooked.
It's while I'm putting the leftovers into the fridge that I notice my stick in the corner. A moment later, my heart has started beating faster in excitement, as there's a perfect way to get some more sleep.
"Dad! I'm going to my camp, do you want to come?"
Why did I do that? Do I want dad there?
I hear dad say something from the lounge, but I can't make out what he said. Walking into the lounge I ask, "What was that?"
Dad looks up from the TV, where I can now hear the sounds of a football match, "Not tonight, maybe tomorrow?"
I can't help myself when I hopefully say, "Really?"
Dad nods, "Sure, you can show me where you keep disappearing off to tomorrow."
I smile, "Thanks dad, maybe we can have a simple campfire meal too."
Dad laughs, "Sure, I'll save some space."
I bounce into the back yard with my stick, backpack and nine tins bobbing behind me. As I'm disappearing through the first crack I idly wonder if I should have brought the rucksack instead. But that feeling passes quickly as I smell the fresh air of the forest beyond the crack. It only takes me a few more cracks before I hit the canyon and end up free falling down to the right level.
As I arrive at the right level, I have a quick look around to see if anything looks familiar. From where I am, I think I can see the river through a couple of the rocky hills. There also seems to be some movement over there too, but I just want to get to my camp, set up the campfire and not have to worry about school or Brockton Bay for a while. It still takes me several minutes to get into the right frame of mind to teleport to my camp though.
When I get to the camp I curse vehemently as I walk into rain. It figures that it would have to rain while I'm exhausted. With a groan I wander into the forest in search of suitable branches to make a temporary shelter. While I'm doing that, I silently thank dad for the army book once more.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Apparently, my cleaning power can be used to dry clothes and hair. A fact that I am very grateful for after hurriedly building a basic shelter around a tree. Another thing I'm grateful for, is that the army manual is printed on good quality paper, with ink that didn't run in the rain. If the rain doesn't let up in the morning, I think I'm going to have to look at turning my stick into a staff. Well, removing the bark anyway, which will make it feel more staff like to me.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
After a rather uncomfortable, if dryish, night, I wake up with the light to a scene of light drizzle and mystery meal cans, where the labels have once again come off my food. At least this time I know all of the cans contain food that I actually like, or at least don't mind.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Tuesday 12 April, Day 2
It occurs to me that I should probably try to remember to add the date to my entries, rather than constantly writing day 1, day 2, etcetera. Especially if I'm going to let Dad read my diary.
One good thing about the constant rain is that it's given me time to strip the bark off my stick and smooth off the wood with my power. I also managed to thread the needle without touching either the thread or needle. Now I just need to get the needle to go where I want it to.
The rain finally let up, but it's starting to get dark. I'm going to do a bit of practice with my cutting power to try and get it as reflexive as I can with my staff. While I remember, I should see if Dad knows how I can protect the wood from the insects and rain here.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Day 3
Oh god I needed this. I feel so much better now that I've had a dry night to sleep, along with a couple of good meals. Today I'm going to try and get my cutting power as quick as I can with my staff. I did some thinking last night, and I think that maybe I should be using my attack powers with my staff so that I don't Don't be stupid Taylor, Lung caught you before you had a staff, and you can't take the staff everywhere. New plan, get good with the staff, and still practice without it.
I just killed a rabbit thing. The staff does make all the difference, as I just pointed at the rabbit and cut. There was a gouge taken out of a nearby tree and the ground, but I'm sure I'll get more precise with my cuts.
Oh god, I just threw up. I didn't realize just how bad the inside of the rabbit would smell. Why am I doing this again? Oh, right. I don't want to rely only on cans.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
After a breakfast of reheated smoked rabbit meat, I lay back against the tree inside my makeshift shelter. I know it probably won't be here next time I come back, like the stuff I made for Grandma's cookware. But it's still nice to have.
"Maybe I could find some old bricks at one of the derelict factories. Or even just buy a bag of mortar and break up one of the boulders in that area. Right, well, let's see if I can find a decent boulder I can bring back to camp."
With my mind made up, I crawl out of my shelter and grab my staff before stepping forward. With a sigh, I step forward again without leaving my campsite. It ends up taking me 15 minutes to finally teleport to the rocky plain. I'm just glad I'm not doing it under pressure.
Looking around, I grumble as I realize that I've come right back to the place I first found this part of this world, as all I can see is towering rock walls around me. Rather than spend another 15 minutes trying to teleport to the top of the large boulder I found before, I instead opt to find somewhere to climb out of this ditch, canyon, gap, whatever it's called.
As I reach the top of a boulder where I can see the river and forest I have a brief look up at the sky. Ok, so looking at the sun, it took me nearly an hour to get up here. But at least it was good for my fitness right? Ok, so maybe I could have teleported four times while I was climbing, but…
My thoughts peter off as I spot movement by the river. As I watch transfixed, a herd of large animals appear one by one along the edge of the river, until it looks like the river is bordered by a wall of brown. All long the river, the line seems to undulate as the animals lean down to drink, or lift their heads up to keep watch. Even though I don't have a close up view, this is far better than any of the Aleph import nature documentaries, as they just can't capture the sheer size of these herds through a TV screen. Or even just how loud they are, as even from here I can here their bellowing calls.
A faint flicker of movement to my left is all the warning I get before I'm surrounded by blue gray spines, all float in mid air. Panicking, I push out with my telekinesis as hard as I can. As I do, I turn to the left just in time to see a wolf like creature that's almost as tall as I am leap at me. For a fraction of a second, I freeze as everything seems to slow down. Then my surprise passes and I desperately push myself to one side, just in time for its jaws to miss my head, but not fast enough to avoid its claws digging into my shoulders as it bowls me over.
As it lands on the ground on the far side of me, I reach out for my staff at the same time the spines that I pushed away reappear on its back while it's turning around. As my staff slaps into my hand, I push myself into a low crouch at the same time the wolf watches me with it's yellow eyes. A moment later, the pain in my shoulders hits and I become aware of the fact I'm bleeding, as well as the fact that the air feels heavier than normal.
For a few seconds the two of us look at each other, waiting for some indication that the other is going to attack. That moment passes just as suddenly as it started, when it bows it's forelegs down at the same time it arches it's back. At the same time the spines on its back disappear, I twitch my staff at it while sending my cutting power out, and lightly scoring the rock it was just standing on. All around me spines fall to the floor as the wolf dances to one side, blinking out of existence for a fraction of a second, only to land off to one side, just out of range of my cutting power.
As my staff tracks around to follow it, the wolf again does that blinking jump, only this time it doesn't reappear where I can immediately see it.
As I turn around to look for the wolf, I startle slightly as the spines around me disappear from the floor. A faint growl from between two smaller boulders is all the warning I get before I'm once again surrounded by spines, only this time I don't have a target to look at. Scrambling away from the drop I climbed up, I reach out with my telekinesis to grab as many of the spines I can, rather than allowing the wolf to pepper me with them. As I'm under no illusions that I'd fair any better than one of the mice or rats that Spike hunts.
I'm somewhat surprised when around three quarters of the spines just drop to the floor and on top of me while the remaining quarter remain in my control. Rather than letting down my guard, I carefully circle around the boulders that the wolf was hiding behind, the spines and my staff both ready to attack if I see so much as a hint of movement. By the time I can see behind the boulders, the wolf is long gone, the only evidence it was even there being a torn up patch of moss that was growing in the shade. As the adrenaline leaves my system I carefully look through the gap between the two boulders, trying to work out why the wolf ran. As I do, I realize that it's so small a gap that it would have been like trying to see through a keyhole, and once I moved it probably couldn't see me anymore.
Wearily, I use my cleaning power on both my wounds, as well as the patch of moss I just found. Then I press the moss over the wounds and hold it there with my telekinesis while I grab the rest of the spines. Each one is around as thick as a knitting needle, and as long as my forearm, from elbow to finger tip. For a moment I consider leaving my backpack at my camp and just going home. A thought that only lasts a few seconds before I remember that my journal is there. Instead, I find a sheltered area to teleport back to the camp and pack all of the spines into the backpack before I head home.