Two-Bisg

Late that night a soft knock woke Amirra from her sleep. She was up and at the door in seonds. She held her hand out to the little girl who stood there with her large stuffed bunny. She raised her big, blue eyes to meet the older girls silver-green ones. Tears clung to her pale yellow eyelashes and the quiver of her soft face tore at Amirra's heart.

 

“Isham vas, lin isham vas,” she cooed as she dropped to her knees and pulled the girl into her arms.

 

“It was worse this time,” the girl blurted as tears streamed down her face. “They were there, laughing at me. They saw me cry and they laughed, idhas tasd.”

 

Amirra closed the door and picked the girl up. She settled them both on her bed, warm and snug under her blankets. “Who laughed at you, Elizabeth? Who would dare laugh at my little dear, lin isham vas?”

 

“Some of the kids in my class,” she said tearfully. “I was telling my friend Hilary some of the elf words you taught me and they heard. They said you didn't teach me the words, that old Mrs. Felton did. They said I spent all my time with Mrs. Felton and said that you would never, ever hang out with a homeless brat like me.”

 

Amirra stroked the little girls soft blond curls as she cried into her neck. She cooed comforting words in Elvish. Elizabeth loved Elvish. She had loved elf tails when her parents were alive and the stories were her life line after they died. The two had been drawn together, Elizabeth attracted by Amirra's elven voice and Amirra by Elizabeth's loneliness.

 

When her tears slowed down Amirra whispered, “They should know better, isham vas. Who in their right minds, and who in their wrong minds, for that matter, whould want to spend time with Mrs. Felton? No one, that's who.”

 

Elizabeth's giggle sounded sad and didn't last long.

 

“You all eat breakfast at the same time, right?” the older girl asked.

 

The question distracted the little girl from her tears and her forehead wrinkled as she tried to remember. “Yea, at eight thirty on the first floor. All the kids under ten do.”

 

“I'm going to bring you a special surprise tomorrow at breakfast, okay?” The other girls face lit up with a smile that reminded Amirra of bright sunshine. “I'm leaving tomorrow for the field trip, so I made something for you so I can comfort you without you having to sneak around at night.”

 

“Really?” She hugged her bunny and Amirra tighter. “You made something for me? What is it? Did you use your magic or did you make it by hand? What color is it? Is it even a color?”

 

Amirra raised her hands in defense and laughed. “I keep forgetting you can ask twenty questions with one breath. You will see your present tomorrow, lin isham vas, I promise.”

 

The girl settled down again snuggled closer to Amirra. “Will you sing me a song, idhas tasd?”

 

“Oh course, isham vas. What song would you like me to sing to you?”

 

She thought a mintue, playing with her bunnies ears, then said, “'Island in the Sun' by Weezer? Daddy loved Weezer.”

 

Amirra sang the song softly, sweetly, until Elizabeth fell asleep. The older girl picked her young friend up and carried her down the stairs and in to her room a few doors down from the staircase. After tucking her into her own bed the elf went to her room and her bed.

 

 

 

 

The next morning Amirra strolled into the first floor of the cafeteria at five till nine. The children, many of them new to The School, stared at the small, pale lady with silver-red hair. She smiled at them, her eyes warm and shining. Her black, long sleeved blouse was loose, but the jeans it was tucked into hugged her hips and clung to her legs. The steel toes were all they could see of her black hiking boots because of the flared bottoms of the jeans. She had a small black pack slung over her shoulder and a leather-wrapped box in her hands.

 

Elizabeth stood on her chair and waved. When Amirra got close enough to her table the girl said, “Savker, idhas tasd!”

 

“Vyk Savker, lin isham vas,” Amirra answered with a smile. “Zyt dys lem?”

 

“Ly dim vyshemt!” She bounced in her seat when Amirra sat next to her. “How's my pronunciation? I said it right, right?”

 

“Yes, you did very well. Your elvish is wonderful, vyshemt.” She put the wrapped box into the young girl's hands. “Now you must hurry and open your present. I am running late.”

 

Elizabeth carefully and quickly unwrapped her present. It was a black box with silver embroidery. She squeaked in delight and lifted the lid. The inside of the box was divided into sections for jewelry and a silver mirror set into the lid. As soon as the lid was open a voice started singing.

 

“That's you singing!” Her face was as bright as the sun in the sky. “You're singing in elvish! What song is it you're singing?”

 

Amirra smiled. “It's one of the songs I wrote myself. Do you like it?”

 

“I love it!”

 

“I'm glad.” The older girl checked her watch and hugged her. “Gotta go, isham vas. The forests awaits.”

 

Elizabeth kissed Amirra's cheek. “Nyst lem, idhas tasd.”

 

“Lem dys nilat.” Amirra raced to an open window and leaped through it. The children gathered around Elizabeth to look at her new music box and the ones that made fun of her apologized.

 

 

 

 

Amirra was the last to arrive, but she was on time. The seniors were excited about getting to leave The School's buildings and venture into the Elven Forest. Students were forbidden from leaving the buildings. The Forests stretch in seven hundred and eighty-nine square miles in every direction from it's center, King Dominic's Tome. The School is ten square miles from the Tome. If a student got lost they would stay lost unless they found the only road, a road that was more like a dirt path, that cut through the thick trees. Clearings were few and far between and not many people knew how to use the stars, moon,and sun as directors.

 

Mr. Grand and Mrs. Morris stood at the head of the group. Mrs. Morris was a older lady who was one of the nicest people anyone could ever meet. Her face smiled as easily as most breathed and her blue eyes where kind and happy. She has been with The School for at least fifty years. She was one of the gifted teachers, able to change her vision to see heat signatures and she could make her vision sharper than it normally was.

 

Mr. Grand was a tall, copper skinned man who had enough muscle to to back up his third-degree black belt. His eyes and short hair were black. He reminded his students of a material arts movie star except that he didn't look a bit Asian. He was in his late twenties and was want people called a fire-starter.

 

“Everyone's here?” Mrs. Morris asked as she scanned the group. “Good. On time, too.”

 

“Barely,” Mr. Grand muttered.

 

“You all know the way this is going to go,” the old lady said with a smile. “but I'm going to remind you anyway. Today we are going to hike the ten miles to the Tome. Tonight we are going to camp in one of the meadow clearings nearby. Since it is Ever Night and we will be staying in one of the clearings were the holiday was celebrated we will have a bonfire. We won't be staying up long, however, because we are all going into the Tome at this time tomorrow. We'll spend another night in the clearing and head back here the next morning. Does everyone got that?”

 

The group nodded and mumbled their agreement.

 

“Okay, people, lets get moving.” Mr. Grand turned and started off into the trees. The students followed and Mrs. Morris waited for them all to pass before following as well.

 

Not far into the forest a huge oak tree caught Amirra's eye. It looked just like any other tree, but she sensed something strange about it. She started to walk toward it but Mr. Grand told her sternly to not wonder off. She stared for another few seconds, then started walking again. She pushed the odd feeling and the tree to the back of her mind and continued to enjoy the hike.

 

Ten minutes later, when the group was a ways away, the tree that had caught Amirra's attention moved to follow them.

Author's Note

o_O O_O O_o
The tree moved!! Bum bum bum!!