literature

Autumn Leaves [1] Step Into Another World

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         Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
         Snap.

         The leaves beneath her tall, brown riding boots crunched against the sidewalk with the occasional twig getting splintered in two with them.  She kicked at the piles that lines the sidewalk, pouting and miserable as the leaves flew into the air getting carried away by gusts of wind. Stupid kids at school, she thought furiously, gripping the straps of her backpack tighter. It had been a terrible day, and she doubted the rest of them would be any better.

         Kids. Teenagers. Could be so cruel.  

         She felt tears well up in her eyes as the memories came flooding back. Kinome Hamada had just moved there, and the preppy girls with their stupid jocks just had to give her a great razzing. The entire day had been one misery after the next, and now all she had to look forward too was a home filled with other kids whose parents were either dead, or deadbeat.  

         In a fit of frustration she bent down and plucked up a stick, spun, leaves crunching, and tossed it towards the nearby woods. The tears could no longer be contained and she slumped off of the sidewalk and down the hill towards the woods. Halfway to their edge, she let her knees crumple beneath her and her butt hit the ground.  

         I want to go home, she kept thinking. And it was stupid for her to think it, too. She didn't really have a home--she didn't have anywhere. But she wanted to go home--to the idea of a home, more than anything.  

         Tiny little droplets flecked down from clouds above as she curled her knees up to her chest and stared into the woods, sniffling and occasionally wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her pink sweater.

         She didn't know how long she sat there, periodically picking up sticks and stones within her reach and chucking them towards the forest. It was getting darker steadily outside, but she didn't want to go back to the foster home. It just wasn't home.  

         "I should run away," she whispered as it started getting colder and the sun was setting.

         Kinome chucked another stick towards the forest, and watched it disappear--winking out of sight. Her brows furrowed as she studied the forest, having never seen the stick hit the ground like the others. She tried a stone next, and the same thing happened.  

         Standing, she started down the hill and found that there were two forests. One in the background, and one... in the foreground. They looked very similar, both a smattering of trees covered in autumn leaves, but the one in the front... She tossed another stick and watched it disappear into the first forest, the foreground forest, and then she tosses a rock and watched it fly over the foreground forest and into the back one. Kinome blinked. She started to think she'd either fallen asleep, or was losing her mind. Or both.

         With a long branch she'd plucked from the ground nearby in hand she reached it out and through what she could only describe as a portal. With little to no thought about the consequences she stepped through.  

         It wasn't immediately obvious that she wasn't in the same world she had been in, for all she knew she was walking through the same forest she went by every day going to and from school. If I keep going through the forest I should come out at some highway eventually. Kinome tried to think back to the maps she'd seen before. The forest was supposed to be really big though... she started to think she'd get lost in there.

         Branches snapped and she paused. Was somebody watching her?

         There was a fluttering overhead. Very quiet. Birds?

         Kinome turned around, intent on getting back to the road she'd be walking along before she got completely lost in the forest. But the further she went, the more confused and frightened she became. When she was certain she should have made it to the road, and perhaps even beyond it, she stopped, and started to panic. "I thought about running away," she chattered, always talking to herself when she was very stressed, "but I don't know if I was serious, this wasn't how I wanted to, getting lost in some forest--dying in some forest!" she clutched her dark hair in fist-fulls--completely panicked.

         After several minutes of spinning around, peering through trees for the road, and listening for any cars going by, she started calling out. "Hello?" she called. "Hello? Is anybody there? Help! I'm lost!"

         What if there's a killer in the woods? She paled. Stop it! That's not a good thing to think of.
         Oh God, what am I going to do?

         "Hello?" she called louder, and slowly--hesitantly--made her way back towards where the road should be. "Please, if anybody can hear me, help! I'm lost..." Kinome felt tears in her eyes and she wiped them away. Crying won't help you!

         She spun in circles, confusing herself as to which direction was what, tears streamed despite fighting against them. "I'm going to die," she said, sinking to sit on the ground against a tree, crunching the leaves beneath. "Please," she whimpered, hugging her knees. Then a whisper, "Is anybody out there?"

         The wind picked up and the leaves that remained attached to the forest trees shook, several becoming dislodged and fluttering down to the ground below. A few got stuck in Kinome's long tresses. Far above, in one of the trees, sat perched a leaf-like creature, amber eyes fixated on the girl below. Oh dear, she thought, having observed the girl for a while. A moment passed, she watched the girl sob, and then she decided she couldn't have any more of it. *Hush now, young one,* she began, projecting her voice, as soothing as she could make it, to the young girl.

         Kinome's head snapped up and she looked around. "Hello?"

         *Hello. I'm not down there, dear one. I'm up here, in the trees.*

         Kinome looked up instantly. "Who are you?"

         *My name is Natsidalia, and I'm going help you get home.* She picked her way carefully down the branches, but stopped when she saw Kinome no longer looking up towards her, but instead staring down at the ground.

         "I don't have a home." The girl said.

         Natsidalia paused, confused. *But dear child, were you not just crying and wanting to go home?*

         "Stupid, isn't it?" muttered Kinome. "I'm scared at being lost, but I've been lost my whole life." She looked back up. "Are you going to kill me?"

         Natsidalia fluttered herself, shaking the tree branches near her. *Goodness, no! What would the point of that be?*

         "You climbed that tree?" Kinome asked, standing, looking up the tree curiously. She hadn't even yet realized that the voice she kept hearing she wasn't hearing with her ears, but rather with her mind.

         *No, dear,* said the leaf-dragon, continuing her descent until she was perched within Kinome's view. *I flew. I'm a Bishel, a dragon, dear--Natsidalia h'Arna de h'madatir'Sanuas. Or, in your language, Natsidalia the beauty of the autumn leaves. Though, you can call me 'dalia, if you prefer. It's much shorter.* And without realizing it she struck a kind of pose and let Kinome bask in her brilliance.

         The girl just stared. Mouth slightly ajar. "I'm losing my mind," she finally said, and Natsidalia faltered, her moment of glory dashed. "Or I'm dreaming. Did you say you're a dragon? That's impossible. You're--you're going to eat me, aren't you? No, wait. I'm dreaming. You won't eat me if you're my dream."

         Natsidalia let the girl ramble. She figured she needed to. And when she was finally done, Kinome sat back at her tree, back to the tree, and stared at Natsidalia. She also kept pinching herself, and closing her eyes real tight then opening them to stare again. "You're not going away," she said. "I'm not waking up, I guess?"

         *I'm not a dream. I'm quite real.* Natsidalia explained calmly, through honestly her leaves were a bit ruffled--oh, stop pinching yourself, girl!. *You came through a portal into my forest, a portal I created. I never know who is going to step through. This time--it was you. I never meant to take you from your home, or get you lost. I can open it again and you can go home. Simple as that. So, don't be afraid.*

         "I told you," Kinome started, and her voice was back to despair and sorrow. "I don't have a home. I shouldn't care if I'm lost."

*You came from somewhere,* 'dalia said. *And you seem sad to have left that somewhere.*

         "I'm a foster kid," and 'dalia didn't understand. Kinome must have saw her confusion. "My parents are deadbeat, or dead--I don't even know anymore. I live with a bunch of older kids with this couple and, well, it's not really a home. I get moved around a lot."

         *I'm sorry, dear. But wouldn't you like to return?*

         "No," Kinome answered quickly. "I mean, they're nice and all, but--I just want a real home. With a real mom, you know?"  

         Neither of them said anything more for several moments. "I like your forest," Kinome said after a while. "Fall is my favorite."

         Natsidalia smiled. *Mine too.*

         A small breeze filtered through the leaves and a few fell. *You could stay, if you want,* 'dalia finally said to the girl. *As long as you want. Though, I don't have much food. I'd have to go hunting. I also don't really want a fire in my forest...* she trailed off. *I could find berries and the like, I suppose.*

         The sun was setting slowly, dusk was upon them. Kinome was watching the colors change. "Maybe I can stay the night?" she asked. "If I have to go tomorrow, then... I guess I'll go back."

         Natsidalia found berries and fluttered down the forest floor to share them with Kinome, and to share body heat as well in case the girl grew cold. She gathered the leaves around them in a blanket and listened to the girl talk. And talk. And talk.  

         "One day, maybe, I could get adopted," the dark-haired girl was saying as she started to fall asleep in the nook of the tree, head resting against 'dalia's chest. "A nice family--a nice home--somewhere I could be happy, you know?"

         She fell asleep like that as the sun set completely and the forest grew dark. Natsidalia curled up next to her, admiring her unexpected visitor. *I hope that happens, dearheart,* she thought, hunkering down to rest as well. *I hope you find your home.*

         The next morning Natsidalia opened the portal back and Kinome could see the road she'd been next to. She was about to step through when she realized something and stopped to look back to the leaf-like dragon. "Can I come back sometime? To visit?" she asked.

         *Oh, of course, little one,* Natsidalia fluttered forward and embraced the girl in an awkward hug. *Good luck out there, be safe, and have faith--you'll find your home. I just know it.*

         Kinome hugged back, and sniffled. "Best dream ever," she said, obviously not convinced she wasn't dreaming. Natsidalia said nothing to correct her, but felt her words tug at her heartstrings. "Thank you, 'dalia."

         They parted and Kinome went through the portal leaving Natsidalia to wonder if they would ever meet again.
Featuring 
Natsidalia 
 
Natsidalia is a Bishel dragon adopted from Bishen Realm. 
To adopt your own Bishel dragon please visit the link above.
© 2017 - 2024 EndaraMae
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