Sara and the Friendlies - Chapter 2

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I wake up to the sound of my phone chirping. Dream must be texting. What time is it? Is it time for school?  Someone is carrying me like a child. Maybe Father found me asleep on the couch again. Sometimes I watch TV until late at night.

                

“Sara, are you awake?” The voice is not my father’s. He is a boy.

                

I open my eyes. The boy puts me on the ground and I walk quickly through the dirt. I am in the neighborhood behind my school. I turn and look at the boy’s face. He is the boy with the birthmark under his eye.

                

I say, “Who are you?” My voice is tired and my head is light.

                

He smiles, but I know he is embarrassed. He knows my name, but I don’t know his. “My name is Royal,” he says. He grabs my arm and tries to make me walk. I don’t move.

                

My phone chirps again. Dream is texting. I’m shaking as I pull out my phone.

                

<What’s going on Sara?? What did Dino say? How come you aren’t texting me back???>

                

That’s right. I spoke to Dino recently. Yesterday, I spoke to him by the tree.  Or it seemed like yesterday. Now I remember. Only a few minutes ago…

                

A memory walks into my mind. I see Dino ready to kiss me, and someone else pulls me back. Royal interrupted my conversation with Dino, and he interrupted my very first kiss.

                

“Let’s keep walking,” Royal says.

                

“I’m not walking until you tell me what’s going on. Why are we walking together, anyway?” I cross my arms.

                

Royal is nervous. “We have to hurry before they find us. I’m not in my district right now.”

                

“No!” I insist. “I don’t even know you. Where are you taking me? And…” I point my finger towards the school. “What happened? I saw…there was a light. I saw Dino holding a light. And why did I black out? Am I going to be okay?”

                

“That’s why we need to leave now. More will come.” Royal is trying to pull my arms.

                

“What happened to Dino? Did you do something to him?”

                

“Sara, I will tell you. Not now, but later. After we’re safe at the noodle shop.”

               

“How do I know you’re safe? What noodle shop?” I push Royal back.

                

Royal’s face changes. He is looking at something, and he is afraid. Before I can turn around, he holds my shoulders and says, “Tell them I am your guardian. If you don’t, they will think I am an enemy. I don’t want to fight again.”

I look at Royal’s hands and gasp. They are glowing like Dino’s hands glowed. “What is this?”

“Please. I know you don’t trust me, but please.” He crosses his arms to hide his hands, and I turn to face the people he is talking about.

They look like foreigners. They are very tall with wide shoulders and long dark hair. Their clothes look old, from many centuries ago, but I have never seen the style in any history books. They are walking to me and pointing at my face.

The leader of the group speaks first. “Hello.”

“Hello,” I say. “How are you?”

Another foreigner speaks to the leader. “I’ve never seen her look at us before.” She stares at me. “What’s your name? Who gave you this ability to see us?”

I don’t speak. Maybe they will ignore me and keep walking.

“Who is your lord?” The leader asks.

I pretend like I understand by nodding my head. I’m not sure, but I think I’m smiling. I hope I am. I am so afraid, I don’t know.

“Your house,” the woman foreigner asks. “Where do you worship?”

I smile again and laugh. “Yes, I go to the one at the end of the street, Fox Temple.”

The woman foreigner smiles and nods her head. “That’s right. I’ve seen her. She serves our Lord Fox."

The leader speaks, “And who are you, boy? I’ve never seen you before.”

I speak quickly, “He’s my guardian.” I hope they don’t ask me what a guardian is.

The woman speaks, “She will need a guardian now that she can see. He’s a bit small for a guardian.” She leans closer to Royal who keeps his arms behind his back. “You serve Lord Fox, right?”

Royal just smiles and doesn’t speak.

“Answer the question,” says the leader.

“Yes,” I say.

“No, I don’t,” says Royal. He cannot lie.

The leader’s eyes grow large, and he brings his right arm to his face. Light spills out of the cracks in the pattern of his old-fashioned gloves. “He’s from another house! He tried to trick us with one of our followers.” The leader and several other tall foreigners move their arms and their fists start glowing. What a strange sight! I don’t know what to do. It is a good thing Royal knows what to do. Immediately, he steps in front of me and holds out his hands. A light travels out of his fingertips and hits the strange people in the face. They fight back with their own bursts of light. Royal knows how to block them somehow, and most of his blocks protect me from getting hit again. Is this what Dino tried to do?

I don’t know what to do. I stand like a stupid animal, too frightened to move. I am like a fish in the middle of a dog fight. I start running towards the direction Royal wanted to go in the first place. I hear him behind me fighting all of those strange people with magic. I guess I must call it magic. There’s a noodle shop at the corner. It’s small and clean, and I see a woman, the owner I hope, relaxing on a chair. She looks like she might fall asleep soon.

“Ma’am! Ma’am, excuse me.” I say as I am running towards her. She stands up slowly and puts her hands into her apron where she keeps her change.

“Yes, what is it?” She yawns. She does not notice I am afraid.

“There’s a boy over there. Royal! Do you know him? He’s in trouble!”

The woman moves her head slowly and laughs. “Royal! Yes, I know him. Is he in another fight?”

I scratch my head. I want her to move faster. She walks slowly as if she is about to do the dishes.

We walk for a couple minutes. I scratch my head and try to walk faster, but anytime I hurry, she asks me a question.

“What’s your name, girl? You go to Royal’s school, right?”

“Yes, I do. My name is Sara.”

“You can call me Momma Great.” She touches my elbow. Her hands are soft and warm. At least they didn’t glow.

“Nice to meet you, Momma Great. Is Royal going to be okay?”

She was quiet. She did not like my question. She thinks I’m rude to push her to move faster.

“I really hope so, Sara.” She speaks so sincerely, I wonder why she continues to walk so slowly.

“Yea, there are a lot of those strange…people there. He might get hurt very badly. We should hurry.” My heart is pounding so loudly now. I can see Royal in the distance. He is fighting the other strangers with bursts of light. More have come to fight. They surround him. He’s probably losing.

Momma Great looks back at me and laughs. “Oh no! I thought you meant about life in general. No, he will be fine. This is just a fight.” She walks up to the crowd of strangers now, no fear in her steps, and she pulls out a small book from inside her apron. She speaks a short sentence, “Lord! Light the way, please!” Her voice is strong. After she speaks, her palms grow bright with light, brighter than any other magic before, and with a short toss, she drops the light into the center of the crowd of fighters. All of the strangers fall on the ground. Momma Great turns back to the noodle shop. “Please bring him home.”

Royal stands alone, weak and tired. I run over to him and catch him before he falls on the ground. “You found my mom,” he says.

I nod my head, more confused than ever before. Together we walk to the noodle shop.


Sara and the Friendlies - Chapter 3