Where they learn about flowers and find a wooden amulet
As soon as Ben slid the key into the lock Sara felt a slight tingling sensation down her spine. She saw the same excited anticipation she felt herself on the faces of the guys.
Ben opened the lid and leaned forward to inspect the contents of the box.
“Oh.” He sounded disappointed.
“Come on, give it up, what’s inside?” Connor said. He leaned in closely next to Ben.
“Oh. Right.” His voice sounded equally disappointed.
“Let me see,” Alex shoved Connor out of the way. “There must be at least some jewelry in there, or coins, or … Oh.” The excitement on his face gave way to utter bewilderment. He held up a small round wooden amulet that hung from a thin leather cord.
“Well… that’s settled then,” Alex exclaimed. “What’s next, more to explore here in this shed? There’s surely something more exciting in here.” He turned to Connor and Ben.
“May I see it,” Sara asked. She held out her hand.
“Sure, if you want to. It’s nothing special,” Alex said.
“I want to see it anyway,” she replied. Alex gave it to her, and she held it in the palm of her hand. To her it didn’t seem insignificant. On one side of the round wooden disk she noticed an intricate, very delicate carving. The guys were talking about their next plan, but she barely noticed them anymore. Sara traced the lines with her finger.
“It looks like a flower, and vines with leaves,” she muttered under her breath. Absent-mindedly she brushed a loose strand of hair behind her left ear. As she traced the lines of the carvings the tingling sensation on her back grew stronger. An intense yet comfortable warmth spread between her shoulder blades.
“I know what this is,” she suddenly exclaimed. “It’s a petunia! The same as that large flower on the front of the box. The one you couldn’t find in the botany books, Ben.”
Ben turned to her. It seemed he was going to object but while he opened his mouth no sound came out. Sara watched as his eyes grew wide.
Ben tugged at Alex’s shirt. “You need to see this,” he said.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sara asked. “I only said it is a petunia.”
Alex, who had now turned to her too, took a look at her. Sara grew concerned as she saw shock appear in his eyes.
“What the …” Alex turned to Ben.
“Your ear!” Ben stammered, pointing at her.
“My ear, what do you mean?” Sara touched her ear. “There’s nothing wrong with my …” She stopped talking. Her ear felt strange. It seemed there was a small point at the tip. “Is it pointy?” she asked Ben. He only nodded.
“And what is that on your back?” Alex had his eyes fixed on something right behind her.
“My back? What do you see?” Her voice cracked.
“Well, it seems you’ve grown a pair of wings.” It was Connor who now also looked at her. “Cool.” A broad grin spread across his face.
Sara tried to feel what it was on her back. Her hands only met with a warm sensation that felt slightly electric.
“Let me take a picture,” Connor said. He took out his phone and pointed it at her. “Right, look … Oh. Let me try again.” Once more he pointed at her. “What? There’s nothing in the photo, look.” He showed the picture to Ben and Alex.
“I saw a mirror,” Sara said. She walked to it. She couldn’t see much in the small dirty surface but it was enough to reveal a glowing translucent shape that indeed looked like a wing. She leaned in closer to see her ears. “They are pointy,” she sighed. “And I have wings.” She turned to the guys, who were unusually silent.
“My middle name is Petunia, you know. After my grandmother,” Sara said, to break the awkward silence.
She put the amulet back in the box and closed the lid. The warmth on her back faded.
“Now they are gone,” Alex said.
“Oh,” was all that Sara could think of to say.
“You know, let’s go home and have a drink,” Connor suggested. “Then we can talk about this a little more. Better keep that amulet in the box for now, Sara,” he added. “We don’t want to attract unwanted attention, right?” He gave her a friendly wink.
“I guess so, yes,” she said.
Together they headed over to Sara’s house.
This is a chapter in a story that originated with a post on Tumblr. I wrote a post about how this story began and how it developed into a ongoing adventure, where Writerdragon4 and myself take turns in writing the story. If you want to stay updated on more stories, subscribe to my blog.
Een gedachte over “The keys in the bookcase – Chapter 2”