Finally the sun came up. He thought that it never would. The day promised to be a cloudless wonder. He was tired but he kept pushing. The more miles he put between his home and him the better.
By three thirty in the afternoon he had put a great many miles between himself and the town. The only things that he would miss would be Tim and the little ones that he aided through their first stumbling steps on the way to the yellow belt rank, then even higher. By four o’clock he was absolutely exhausted. He looked for a good place that he could lay down and bed for the rest of the day. The walk had done wonders in easing his soreness from the night before. He found an excellent place that would be safe from prying eyes that could possibly be looking for him already. The good many miles that were between him and the town put him at ease. Nobody would think of looking for him so far away as this. Phillip sat down and ate a little food and drank a little bottled water that he had brought with him. Lying down with his mind wondering here and there sleep was soon found. He must have slept the day away and into the night as the next thing he knew he heard something.
“Phillip we need you! Please hurry!”
Jerking awake with a start he sat up. His mind was still groggy and he did not at first remember where he was. It was very dark. Peering into the darkness all around him he could not see very well. The occasional sound of a fast moving car came from the highway that was close by. Then it came back to him, his flight and all the walking he had done and where he was. Had anyone found him? The voice had sounded like it came from all around. Now he could not hear anything. After eating lightly and drinking even lighter he decided it was time to get moving, he picked up his stuff and began walking once again. His eyes had adjusted to the dark allowing him to see enough to get moving. Phillip felt even better still as the night air was cool and even more miles were put between the town and him. The voice had been a dream and that’s all there was to it.
The night had passed on and the heat was the problem of the day. It was much hotter than it should be at this time of year, man it was hot! The mountains were close at hand or so they appeared to be. Distances could play tricks on one's eyes so there was no way of really knowing how far away they were. The cool air of the mountains would feel very nice right about now. According to the sun once more it was late in the day. Once again he started looking for a place to bed down for the night. After walking a bit more he came across a small stream. He quickly stripped his shirt, shoes, and socks off and waded in. Finding a shallow pool Phillip sat down in it and started splashing water all over himself. He also submerged his head under the water to help him get some of the dirt and grime from his hair and face. Feeling refreshed now he just sat in the pool and listened to the sounds of the woods. Stomach rumbling he regretfully left the water to rummage in his backpack to see what was left in food and water. “Great,” he said to himself. “I would just have happened to forget to pick up my food and water last time.” Walking back over to the stream he looked dubiously at the water. Cupping his hands and filling them with the water he saw that it looked pretty clear. So he decided to take the chance and drank some. Not too bad he thought. He drank quite a bit so that his stomach felt full and would not mind the missing food as much. Walking back to where he had left everything he put his shirt, sox, and shoes back on. Then he sat leaning against a tree. He situated his chucks on one side of his legs and his backpack on the other side. Having cooled down somewhat from the water he relaxed and decided to take a little nap until it was time to move on. Closing his eyes his stomach took a slow roll and the nausea hit him. He had time for one last thought before he too faded into dimness, then nothingness at all. His thought had been, “man that water must not have been any good after all.”
** Phillip's Arrival **
Phillip was on his feet in an instant knowing that something was wrong. Dropping down into a low defensive crouch he looked around. To his surprise he was not in the woods anymore. In fact he was nowhere he had ever been before. Scared but not seeing any immediate danger in site he stood back up and looked around more slowly. The view was breath taking from where he stood. It appeared that he was standing on the top off one of the slow rolling hills that he could see all around him. The sun was shining brightly in a perfectly blue sky with just a few wispy clouds in sight. Far off in the distance there was a little touch of blue that may be a lake or something. Bending down to grab his backpack and his chucks he was dismayed to find that his chucks were gone. Instead there was this cylindrical silver item. It was maybe eight inches long by one inch thick. On the ground near him there was also a large leather pouch type item. It had a thick strand of leather that was attached to it so that it could be swung up and over the shoulder to carry things in. Peering closer at the metallic object to take a better look he saw that it was every bit as beautiful as the world was around him. It was a bright shiny silver metal of some sort with some weird markings on it. When he touched it, it felt warm and gave him a secure feeling. Gently he curled his right hand around it and picked it up. He had pushed something but did not know what. It happened so fast that it startled the living daylight out of him causing him to drop it. He could have sworn that the object had vibrated for just a millisecond and that both ends had protruded in the wink of an eye. Once again looking down he saw that no change had happened. It was still just eight inches long. With a trembling hand he reached down and picked it up again. This time concentrating hard on not being surprised and dropping it. It was a Bo staff! That was what it had turned into! It did not take Phillip long to figure out the small trigger device that when pressed turned it into the staff. He now held a rod about five feet in length that was the same weight as the wooden one that he had left behind. This must be some kind of light metal he thought. Grinning he put the rod into the pouch. Then he turned and took his sights on what looked to be the lake and started off on his journey.
Chapter 3: Tracy
** Practice in the Woods **
As if by magic an arrow appeared directly in the center of the target. Bulls Eye! Tracy grinned happily with satisfaction as she looked at the target sixty yards away. Without removing her eyes from the target she reached behind herself and grabbed the last arrow from her quiver. Nock-ing the arrow onto the bowstring she drew back. Once again closing the left eye she sighted, there was nothing but her, the arrow, and the bullseye in the world. Holding her breath she released her shot. Well nobody is perfect she thought to herself when the arrow went right of the bulls eye into the yellow section. Slowly she lowered the long bow and rested it up against the tree that she had been standing under. Casually brushing back a strand of long raven black hair that had escaped from her ponytail she considered collecting all her arrows for another round. Then glancing up at the sun she decided that there was not enough time. Sighing she took off walking toward the various targets to take a closer look at her growing accuracy and, of course, to pull the shafts from the targets. With her quiver once again full she headed back to the tree to collect her bow. The long bow had earned its name; it was long and took a great deal of upper body strength to wield it. Besides using the long bow she also did minor weight lifting to give her the required stamina to continually let the arrows fly true. She loved the peace and solitude that her practice gave her; this was her spot, and her sport. After securing her bow to a special bracket mounted to her bike she headed toward home. Dappled sunshine filtered through the leaves in the trees as she rode down the path in the woods. She also loved the bike ride with nothing but the wind in her hair and the birds singing in the trees.
“Tracy we need you!”
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time startling Tracy to where she almost fell off of her bike. She was able to bring the bike to a stop and hopped off kicking her kickstand in place all in one smooth motion.
“Who’s there?” Tracy whispered.
Looking all around she could see no one. She decided that her imagination had gotten the better of
her again and remounted her bike and once again pedaled toward home. By the time she had cleared the woods she had forgotten all about it. She was almost home.
** At Home **
Tracy sat in front of the mirror looking at herself. Her long raven black hair was a striking contrast to her fair skin. She was considered good looking for the most part but had few friends due to her nature that people mistook for aloofness. She would go off into daydreaming without even realizing it, getting a faraway look in her eyes. Pulling a brush through her hair she sighed. Not one single dance as yet this year, and the year was soon ending. Feeling pity for herself she sighed again. It was not her fault that she lived in her own little world. She could not help it, as hard as she tried she would find herself just drifting off. She had a love/hate relationship with that part of herself. She loved it because when she was there she could do whatever she wanted as she had the power. She hated it because it did put a crimp in her social life and also her grades. At least she was not failing school. What a laugh, what social life? Everyone thought she was weird and would not hang with her. For the most part she did not mind, but sometimes it really hurt. Like when there were school dances that she was not invited to, or when she could hear the snickers from her classmates. She also felt her Mom was disappointed in her. That is what hurt the most out of everything. She had never met her father as he had died when she was nothing but a baby. She often wondered if things would be different if he had not. Well it was Friday; school was over till Monday, yet another week in the trashcan. Sighing she put her brush down and went out of her room and headed to the kitchen. Mom had left another note that she would be working late again so she would have to fend for herself in the kitchen. No biggie, she had been doing that since she was small. Opening the fridge she hung on the door and stared inside. She knew what it held but didn’t know what she wanted. So maybe if she looked long enough something would jump out at her. After a few minutes and nothing did she gave up and shut the door. Wandering out of the kitchen she decided that the house was just too quiet. Going into the living room she turned the stereo on as she preferred music over the mindless drone of the TV. Her favorite radio station played a mixture of hits from the sixties to now. They also played different types of music depending on who the DJ was. That was better, now maybe she could eat something. Going back to the kitchen she put together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and poured herself a glass of milk. MMMMMmmm…. Delicious and nutritious. After finishing while bopping to the beat of the radio she took her glass to the sink and washed it.
RRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!! Sheesh! The phone ringing about made her jump out of her skin. They were probably about the last people on earth with an old fashioned phone that really rang instead of chirped at you. She answered on the third ring supposing it was her mom.
“Hello?”
“Tracy, it’s me Stacey. I was wondering if you could meet me at the movies tonight. They are playing that new creepy show and I didn’t want to go by myself, but I really want to see it.”
Surprised by the call out of nowhere, Tracy did not reply for a second. Yes, she knew Stacey, but not that well. Stacey was one of the few people that did not poke fun at her, but they were not exactly friends either. Stacey ran with the kids that were not in the “in” crowd.
“Uh… sure. I wasn’t doing anything tonight anyway. The movie starts at seven, right”?
“Great! Yup, that’s when it starts. I’ll meet you out front.”
Hanging up the phone she had to admit. She was a little bit happy but also a little bit apprehensive of this invite out of the blue. Glancing at the clock she saw that she had about an hour and a half before she had to be there. She decided that a shower might be in order before then so she headed once again to her bedroom to gather some fresh clothes. She adjusted the temperature of the water before stepping in. She liked a hot shower at first, and then she would turn the temperature down at the end of the shower so it felt like a rain shower. She was just about to turn the shower off after washing and rinsing when she felt a little light headed.
“Tracy, we need you!”
The light-headedness passed in an instant and she hurried up and turned the shower off. Poking her head out of the shower she called out,
“Hello? Mom! Is that you?”
Only the dim music from the stereo answered her. Feeling a bit confused she quickly stepped out of the shower and dried off and did the towel wrap thing around her hair. She then quickly dressed and cautiously searched the house. The house was still empty like it was before. Whoa creepy she thought. Then reasoning to herself she decided that it had been either the radio going real loud for a second and she misunderstood it or she had really heard nothing. Going back to her bedroom she grabbed the blow dryer off her dresser and plugged it in and sat on her bed and dried her hair. After her hair was dry she ran a brush through it. She was one of the lucky few that her hair did not ever go into a mass of tangles and it was easy to care for. After a few touches of makeup she was ready. Once again looking at the clock she saw that now half an hour remained until show time. That meant that she would be able to take her time on her ten-speed bike. Going out the side door she checked to make sure she had her house keys in her fanny pack along with her money. Satisfied, she locked the door and headed for the garage. She unlocked the side door to the garage and went inside and grabbed her bike and removed her bow. A lot of people knew she had it but it would not be good to be running around armed and dangerous. Chuckling to herself she checked and made sure the door was locked then mounted her bike and headed off down the road toward town. Her Mom and herself lived just outside of town, close enough for easy access to stores, schools and such, but far enough to be out of the noise and traffic. In just the right area. She enjoyed her rides on her bike as they were quiet and you could go along at your own pace. She always rode with the traffic, as she should. Checking her rearview mirror she saw that traffic was light as usual. Shifting on up in gears she increased her speed to where she could almost go with the flow of the traffic. It was easy on these flat roads.
** At the Movies **
In fifteen minutes the theater came into view and she was able to spot Stacey already standing in line. Pulling up by a lamppost she unhooked her chain and secured her bike to the post.
“Hey Stacey, how’s it going? Tracy asked.
“Going ok considering what a killer week I had at school this week. Did you know that I drew a D-Hall slip this week?” Stacey asked while at the same time making a face of disdain.
“Really? What did you do to get that?"
Stacey took a step forward in line as the line moved. “All I did was forget to spit out my gum before going into Mrs. Standish’s class.” She lamented.
“Oh boy, you chewed gum in Mrs. Standish’s class? Your real lucky you did not wind up wearing the gum for the rest of the class on your nose,” Laughed Tracy. “You do know that is what she used to do up until a few years ago.”
“One please.” Stacey directed at the ticket window. Then while she was paying for her ticket and getting her change she replied to Tracy, “I think I would have rather of done that than sit in D-Hall and write I will not chew gum in class. I had to fill 10 sheets of paper front and back before I got out.”
As Tracy forked the money over through the little slit in the glass window she decided to flat out ask Stacey as to why all the sudden the invite. She was really curious. I mean the year was almost over with no socialization before now. After getting her change and her ticket she turned to look at Stacey. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything but why all the sudden are you inviting me to be with you?”
Looking a bit embarrassed Stacey stammered out,
“Well, I have to admit that you were not my first choice. But all my other friends were already busy. So please don’t take this the wrong way either. I really wanted to see this movie, but not all by myself. I know that you don’t really do anything so I thought I would give you a shot. I must h
ave picked up the phone and put it back down a hundred times before I finally did call you. Also I am kind of curious as to why no one hangs with you. I mean I know what everyone says, but I wanted to see. Ugh… sorry to sound so blunt but I can’t help being honest.”
A bit taken aback Tracy looked at her and replied,
“Honesty. Mmm… that’s good and I like that. It is hard to find that quality in people now-a-days. Well anyways I am glad that you did call me. I have been wanting to see this picture also.”
Walking into the theater lobby together they stopped at the snack bar and got the necessary supplies to take them through the movie. Popcorn with loads of butter and soda are must haves. They found seats together and sat and just chatted until the lights dimmed and the previews began to roll.
With the movie over and once again outside it was full dark. The temperature had dropped slightly but it still felt good.
“Man that movie was such a disappointment”, groaned Stacy. “I can’t believe that I just dropped nine bucks in there. Hey, you gonna need a ride home?”
“Nah, I got my trusty bike here and it will not take me long to get home. You're right about the movie, but I guess what can you expect from something that has a row of roman numerals after it. You would think that the bad guy would really die but they always come back.”
“I’m glad I did invite you. You made the movie more bearable. Well, you be careful riding home and I’ll catch you at school on Monday.” Stacy said. Then she started walking toward her car and turned to wave good-bye.
Also waving bye Tracy swung her leg over her bike. Then with a look back she shouted, “I had fun to. Catch yah Monday!”