Another journal

Written during my month of writing.  You can find all the sections here.

Small piles lined up neatly on Emily’s bed, each representing a day’s outfit.

“It’s too much, kid.” Her aunt’s voice coming from behind made Emily jump.

“Really? I figured five days would be a decent amount—and there’s a range of layering options, I don’t know how cold it will be, or anything.” Having never gone on more than an overnight trip, Emily felt like her breath was being crushed out of her chest just planning what she’d bring to the Sidhe. Her aunt placed a hand on her shoulder.

“There’s no laundry in the Sidhe and no showers. I mean, for you there won’t be. There’s rivers to bathe in, but without someone watching your back they’re not an option. Think of the books you’ve read, do they bathe on quests?”

Emily rolled her eyes, “No, but they don’t use the bathroom either.”

“Well, you’re going to be doing that, no question. Speaking of which, how’s your period clock out? Do you need to bring things for that?”

Shaking her head, embarrassed, Emily watched as Janice picked through the piles of clothing, setting half the socks and underwear, portioning the rest of the clothing into one option that layered from two sweaters down to a high summer tank top. She added shorts and a sports bra to the pile.

“There. You’ll be wearing most of it and the rest rolls up pretty compactly. The key is always to bring lots of socks. You can layer them for warmth and dry socks make all the difference in morale. I think somebody gave you gloves at the party, those things that are fingerless gloves but have mitten flaps?” Emily nodded. “Okay, that and a hat of some kind and I think you’re good on the clothing front.”

Janice looked back at her niece, seeing the crossed arms. She pulled Emily towards her, hugging the fallen shoulders. “Reading a bunch and knowing a bunch doesn’t give you experience, hon, you know that. If we were going on a vacation, your clothing choices would have been perfect. But there’s no coat check on a quest.” With a final squeeze she let go of her niece and headed down the short hall to the bathroom. “Toiletries next.”

With her aunt’s help, Emily packed. They went through the gifts she’d received the night of the ceremony, seeing what would be worn and what would be carried. When Janice seemed satisfied she had Emily stand on the bathroom scale, with and without her pack on.

“About twenty pounds, more than I’d like, but a good percent of that is food and water, which takes care of itself.” She chewed on her lip as Emily slid the pack off, setting it carefully on the ground so the camera slung on the side didn’t bang on the floor. “You’ll find water there, of course, but you’ve got to be careful, rivers aren’t just rivers there.”

Emily scrubbed at her face, slick with sweat. “Well, can I eat what is offered me? I mean, how do I know what’s okay to eat and drink and what’s not? Are there laws I could be breaking?”

Janice started. “Oh jeez, yes.” She pushed hair out of her face and looked around, as though the bathroom’s close walls had answers. “Let’s eat first though. In front of the fan, it’s like an oven in here.” As she pushed past her niece to the kitchen, Emily thought for a moment that tears glimmered in her aunt’s eyes.

While they ate, Janice kept the conversation to mundanities like television and the neighbours’ children. Emily noticed they both danced around the same topics, avoiding anything that mentioned the future, or plans made before Becky had her chat with Emily.

Janice set her fork down with deliberation and glanced at her niece. Emily had finished first and was trying to balance her empty soda can on the corner of its rim. She kept playing while she spoke.

“The closer I get to leaving, the more scared you get. Do I have, like, any chance of not dying or being turned into a tree or something?” She tried to laugh, but it broke bitterly.

Janice shook her head. “It’s not that. I think deep down I fully believe you’ll be fine, you’ll do great. But there’s so much information you don’t know. There’s no guidebook, everything you’ve read is hearsay—and not knowing the rules doesn’t mean you won’t be held to obeying them.”

Emily let the can fall and left it, gathered her plate and pushed back from the table. “Well, I have five days left. What can you and the others teach me by then?” She looked back at her aunt, who held up the soda can with the tips of her fingers.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

Well, I can admit it. I totally failed at my month of nails. First I decided to extend it through May and about a week ago I realised that there was no way I was going to meet my goals. Lame. But hey, at least I can admit it. No excuses, I just lost the drive during the bleh period of time I am calling Maypril.

Failure happens, and my monthly focus thing is not going to stop because I screwed up one month. There will be a focus for June and I’m so going to do it, not going to fail twice, thank you.

I did totally produce some stuff for this focus, so image dump below. All images link back to their Flickr page, with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.