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#saturdayscenes #samanthascenes From my work on #thursdayschildren this week:
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Sunrise was already starting to come later. Kye’luh sat up on the edge of her bed, groaning as she rubbed sleep sand from her eyes. Her eyes ached and she wondered if she’d slept with them open, or if it was just that she’d slept so little.
She and Jason had sat up talking for hours, and once she’d gone back to bed, she’d laid there waiting for her head to stop spinning on the possibilities, good and bad. She’d probably only had a couple of hours of solid sleep.
She picked up the windup clock at her bedside. Almost eight. When they’d first arrived, the sun burned the sleep from her at closer to six. Winter really was coming. She hoped they were ready for it. She’d never been up the mountain for longer than a weekend in the winter. The cold was going to make everything more complicated.
She picked up her mother’s flannel shirt and pulled it on, noticing that it smelled of liniment now. The minty smelling stuff Alecia used to take down swelling and take care of pain. Kye’luh had used the shirt to prop Jason’s foot up last night, and the fabric must have absorbed some of the scent. It wasn’t a bad smell. It was kind of comforting. It smelled like being taken care of.
She made her way to the outhouse, smiling a little remembering the posh accents and water closet jokes from the night before. She tugged the handle and it resisted. Someone was already inside.
Kye’luh leaned against a nearby tree, letting her head fall back and looking up into the leaves, already changing color and beginning to dry and blow away. She stood back up when she heard the door clatter open. It was Alecia. “Jeez, K, you look awful.”
“Thanks, Leesh.” She pushed past her cousin to make use of the facilities. This part wasn’t going to be much fun when the weather got colder either. The seat was going to be cold and the chinks in the wood that helped ventilate would let in the winter air.
When she came out, Leesh was still standing there, hands on her hips. “Bend down here.”
Kye’luh complied. “I’m all right. I just didn’t sleep enough.”
Alecia felt her head and nodded. “You don’t seem to have a fever, but your eyes are bloodshot. Bad dreams?”
“No. It wasn’t that. I stayed up late talking to Jason.”
Alecia crossed her arms over her chest. “I see.” Disapproval wafted from her with a scent stronger than the outhouse fumes.
“I don’t know what you think you see. I was trying to get him to explain himself, tell me why he was really here, and what he wanted.”
“And did he tell you?”
“He did.” She left out how touched she was by his belief that his father must still be alive and by his determination to save him. She didn’t tell her cousin about the way he made her laugh, describing his misadventures on the way up the mountain. “He was sent by the Underground, by Malcolm. They’re hoping to recruit us to help the mission, to get more kids out.”
“And you believe him?”
“I do.”
Alecia narrowed her light brown eyes. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s—well, if he was dangerous, he would be better at it. Don’t you think? What kind of government operative gets lost and loses his food supply?” To a raccoon, of all things.
A thoughtful look softened Alecia’s expression. “There is that. He didn’t exactly arrive ready to overcome us and take over.” She turned to walk back toward camp. “Nyaysia is going to be a hard sell. She doesn’t trust him.”
Kye’luh sighed. “I know.”
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Thanks for reading! You can learn more about me and my writing at http://samanthabryant.com or follow My Saturday Scenes collection here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/Y5kMoB There's also a collection for ALL the Saturday Scenes by ALL the participating authors here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/4XjIWE
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Sunrise was already starting to come later. Kye’luh sat up on the edge of her bed, groaning as she rubbed sleep sand from her eyes. Her eyes ached and she wondered if she’d slept with them open, or if it was just that she’d slept so little.
She and Jason had sat up talking for hours, and once she’d gone back to bed, she’d laid there waiting for her head to stop spinning on the possibilities, good and bad. She’d probably only had a couple of hours of solid sleep.
She picked up the windup clock at her bedside. Almost eight. When they’d first arrived, the sun burned the sleep from her at closer to six. Winter really was coming. She hoped they were ready for it. She’d never been up the mountain for longer than a weekend in the winter. The cold was going to make everything more complicated.
She picked up her mother’s flannel shirt and pulled it on, noticing that it smelled of liniment now. The minty smelling stuff Alecia used to take down swelling and take care of pain. Kye’luh had used the shirt to prop Jason’s foot up last night, and the fabric must have absorbed some of the scent. It wasn’t a bad smell. It was kind of comforting. It smelled like being taken care of.
She made her way to the outhouse, smiling a little remembering the posh accents and water closet jokes from the night before. She tugged the handle and it resisted. Someone was already inside.
Kye’luh leaned against a nearby tree, letting her head fall back and looking up into the leaves, already changing color and beginning to dry and blow away. She stood back up when she heard the door clatter open. It was Alecia. “Jeez, K, you look awful.”
“Thanks, Leesh.” She pushed past her cousin to make use of the facilities. This part wasn’t going to be much fun when the weather got colder either. The seat was going to be cold and the chinks in the wood that helped ventilate would let in the winter air.
When she came out, Leesh was still standing there, hands on her hips. “Bend down here.”
Kye’luh complied. “I’m all right. I just didn’t sleep enough.”
Alecia felt her head and nodded. “You don’t seem to have a fever, but your eyes are bloodshot. Bad dreams?”
“No. It wasn’t that. I stayed up late talking to Jason.”
Alecia crossed her arms over her chest. “I see.” Disapproval wafted from her with a scent stronger than the outhouse fumes.
“I don’t know what you think you see. I was trying to get him to explain himself, tell me why he was really here, and what he wanted.”
“And did he tell you?”
“He did.” She left out how touched she was by his belief that his father must still be alive and by his determination to save him. She didn’t tell her cousin about the way he made her laugh, describing his misadventures on the way up the mountain. “He was sent by the Underground, by Malcolm. They’re hoping to recruit us to help the mission, to get more kids out.”
“And you believe him?”
“I do.”
Alecia narrowed her light brown eyes. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s—well, if he was dangerous, he would be better at it. Don’t you think? What kind of government operative gets lost and loses his food supply?” To a raccoon, of all things.
A thoughtful look softened Alecia’s expression. “There is that. He didn’t exactly arrive ready to overcome us and take over.” She turned to walk back toward camp. “Nyaysia is going to be a hard sell. She doesn’t trust him.”
Kye’luh sighed. “I know.”
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Thanks for reading! You can learn more about me and my writing at http://samanthabryant.com or follow My Saturday Scenes collection here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/Y5kMoB There's also a collection for ALL the Saturday Scenes by ALL the participating authors here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/4XjIWE
