4th Fall, 515AV, daytime.
It was four days since Coryn fell from the skies, plunging into the murky coldness of the Suvan sea.
It was four days since she was hauled onto the sands by three men on a rowing boat, who claimed they had saved her life.
Oh, how she wished they had let her drown.
It was two days since she had been released from the medical centre. She'd been dubbed as healthy as was possible for a woman, though Coryn suspected that her release was more to do with lack of space. Since her discharge, she had been staying in the residence of one of the nurses who had tended to her. Kim was fat, kind and just past middle age. The silver-haired woman had been hailed by co-workers and patients alike for being the kindest hearted spirit in the city. Along with her husband Ralph, Kim had taken in orphans, homeless men and women and other people like Coryn.
Correct: one other person like Coryn.
"Just like you, sweetheart. By night he appeared as a normal chap, but in the day he had horns. His were red, mind, not green like yours."
Though Kim had no real reason to lie to her, Coryn failed to believe the well-intentioned nurse. She had seen all variety of people in Syliras, but no one quite like herself. Nobody else had horns during the night-time, and this was partly the reason why Coryn refused to leave the apartment Kim and Ralph had generously opened up to her during Leth’s reign. Come daytime, she had fewer excuses, and either the nurse or the butcher would drag her outside to walk the walled streets of the city.
She was yet to speak a single word aloud to anyone, but Coryn now grasped enough of the language Kim and her husband spoke to nod and shake her head in response to their many questions. They were patient with her, kind. Some days she felt actually thankful for them, almost affectionate. But then a dark cloud of depression would glide over her mood and Coryn would once again become sullen and detached.
Today was one of those days.
“You’ll feel better when you find something to distract yourself with,” Kim was saying as she led Coryn through the noisy pathways of Syliras. The nurse was under the impression that a hobby or pastime would lift Coryn’s spirits no end. She had a saying, a busy mind is a happy one, but the Svefra did not agree with her kind sentiments. Her problem wasn’t that she was bored, it was that she had been ripped from the world in which she belonged. If anything, her mind was too busy, jumping between self blame and guilt to anger and resentment. And there was nothing Coryn could imagine that doing would ever distract her enough to stop thinking in such a way. “We just need to find something that you enjoy, that’s all.” The nurse reached over to Coryn, squeezing her arm in a familiar and encouraging manner. “We’ve got plenty of time to work out what that is exactly, and in the meantime it’s all about learning new things and opening doors for us.”
Kim did that a lot: used the pronouns we and us when she really meant you.
We need to get out of bed so we feel better, don’t we?
We won’t let the stares get us down tonight, will we?
Coryn supposed that it was supposed to be comforting, or to be a symbol of unity and togetherness between the two women. But, instead, she was irritated by Kim’s words. She felt like shaking the plump nurse by the shoulders and declaring that no, actually, we didn’t have to ignore the stares, she did. And for that exact reason, she would rather stay in bed all day and night to hide from the world.
"Plus, I think it's good for you to meet new people." Kim added absently as she led Coryn down a side alley and down another of Syliras' puzzling internal streets.
It was four days since Coryn fell from the skies, plunging into the murky coldness of the Suvan sea.
It was four days since she was hauled onto the sands by three men on a rowing boat, who claimed they had saved her life.
Oh, how she wished they had let her drown.
It was two days since she had been released from the medical centre. She'd been dubbed as healthy as was possible for a woman, though Coryn suspected that her release was more to do with lack of space. Since her discharge, she had been staying in the residence of one of the nurses who had tended to her. Kim was fat, kind and just past middle age. The silver-haired woman had been hailed by co-workers and patients alike for being the kindest hearted spirit in the city. Along with her husband Ralph, Kim had taken in orphans, homeless men and women and other people like Coryn.
Correct: one other person like Coryn.
"Just like you, sweetheart. By night he appeared as a normal chap, but in the day he had horns. His were red, mind, not green like yours."
Though Kim had no real reason to lie to her, Coryn failed to believe the well-intentioned nurse. She had seen all variety of people in Syliras, but no one quite like herself. Nobody else had horns during the night-time, and this was partly the reason why Coryn refused to leave the apartment Kim and Ralph had generously opened up to her during Leth’s reign. Come daytime, she had fewer excuses, and either the nurse or the butcher would drag her outside to walk the walled streets of the city.
She was yet to speak a single word aloud to anyone, but Coryn now grasped enough of the language Kim and her husband spoke to nod and shake her head in response to their many questions. They were patient with her, kind. Some days she felt actually thankful for them, almost affectionate. But then a dark cloud of depression would glide over her mood and Coryn would once again become sullen and detached.
Today was one of those days.
“You’ll feel better when you find something to distract yourself with,” Kim was saying as she led Coryn through the noisy pathways of Syliras. The nurse was under the impression that a hobby or pastime would lift Coryn’s spirits no end. She had a saying, a busy mind is a happy one, but the Svefra did not agree with her kind sentiments. Her problem wasn’t that she was bored, it was that she had been ripped from the world in which she belonged. If anything, her mind was too busy, jumping between self blame and guilt to anger and resentment. And there was nothing Coryn could imagine that doing would ever distract her enough to stop thinking in such a way. “We just need to find something that you enjoy, that’s all.” The nurse reached over to Coryn, squeezing her arm in a familiar and encouraging manner. “We’ve got plenty of time to work out what that is exactly, and in the meantime it’s all about learning new things and opening doors for us.”
Kim did that a lot: used the pronouns we and us when she really meant you.
We need to get out of bed so we feel better, don’t we?
We won’t let the stares get us down tonight, will we?
Coryn supposed that it was supposed to be comforting, or to be a symbol of unity and togetherness between the two women. But, instead, she was irritated by Kim’s words. She felt like shaking the plump nurse by the shoulders and declaring that no, actually, we didn’t have to ignore the stares, she did. And for that exact reason, she would rather stay in bed all day and night to hide from the world.
"Plus, I think it's good for you to meet new people." Kim added absently as she led Coryn down a side alley and down another of Syliras' puzzling internal streets.
