A Summer Morning

by **Ennisa** on September 23rd, 2019, 11:02 am

13th Summer 510 AV
"speech"

It was just under a season since Ennisa had turned ten years old. The birthday cheer that had filled her Spring with happiness had faded down to the usual background normality. That wasn't to say that she was not a happy child - far from it! Ennisa was a remarkably cheerful young lady. Life was good for this little Lhavit child. She spent her days larking around with her younger brother, and other neighbourhood friends, exploring and playing and laughing through the streets and across the fields and over mountainous boulders. As well as this, she lived a comfortable life with her mother and step-father. They weren't rich, and their home wasn't fancy, but they were cared for.

Not that Ennisa really understood the security of two loving parents and a warm bed to sleep in at night. She, like many children, took her parents and their home for granted. Often, she and Seth left home even before the sun had risen, which left their parents worrying about them, especially as they didn't return home until after the sun had set. No matter how many times her mother had told her, Ennisa couldn't really fathom why they would be worrying, as she knew that they were perfectly fine, and so she didn't take their warnings to heart.

Most days during summer, Ennisa and Seth woke before their parents, and sneaked out to make the most of the warm weather before autumn came around again. The morning of the 13th was no different. Ennisa woke up before Seth, like normal. She was a light sleeper, so when the first glimpse of the rose-pink sunrise gleamed through the window, she was up and awake. She and Seth shared a bedroom as they were both quite small, so she padded over to poke him awake, stifling a yawn as she did so.

"Hey, get up sleepy head." She whispered so as not to wake up her parents, asleep next door. Seth mumbled something unintelligible, so Ennisa kept prodding his forehead until he blinked his eyes awake with a slight frown. She smiled and ruffled his mop of hair. Teasingly, she whispered, "Fiiinally! C'mon Seth, we've probably got half a bell before they wake up. Let's get going."

Seth rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, and squinted through the window. Outside, the sun was beginning to rise fast. The rose colour had been joined by a small symphony of golden honey tones and the faded blue of the cloudless sky - it was going to be another perfect day. He stirred himself and the two children got ready. When they were both ready, Ennisa slipped into her shoes and gently creaked the door open. Seth, who had both hands shoved into his pockets, peered around her shoulders impatiently from behind. She did her best to ignore him, and pushed the door as slowly as she could, as she was well-aware of the squeak it had acquired that had alerted their parents of their movements one too many times.

The door did squeak, just briefly, but it was so quiet that Ennisa breathed a little deeper, sure she had managed to be sneaky enough. She nodded to Seth, who grinned with simple, childish delight, and he tip-toed towards the front door and opened this, just as carefully. Ennisa was simply desperate to get outside, so it was her turn to wait impatiently behind her brother as he slid the door open. Finally, after less than two chimes, the brother and sister duo had escaped - to freedom!

by **Ennisa** on September 28th, 2019, 2:27 pm

"speech"

They giggled with delight as they ran from their front door. It didn't matter who heard them now. Ennisa ran, her feet slap slap slapping down, as she followed her speedy brother, who had raced on ahead. Without any singular plan in mind, the two children raced and breathlessly called out meaningless insults at each other until they were finally worn out and stopped. The location where they stopped, the two of them flopped down in an untidy heap, was a sloping, grassy field. It was still damp from the morning dew, so Ennisa's knees and elbows were dark with moisture, and her hands had picked up dirt and damp soil from where she'd launched herself to rest.

Whilst she lay on her back and watched the birds flocking in their swirling land of freedom, Seth began rummaging around in the undergrowth. As always, he was on the lookout for rocks, which were his fascination at that age. Ennisa didn't particularly understand her brother's odd fascination, especially because his collection was growing rapidly in the corner of their shared bedroom, which had spawned a few heated arguments about whose side of the room belonged to whom. Sometimes, Seth asked for her help, probably because he knew she wouldn't steal any of his stash.

"Hey, Enni! Come you come and help me look?" The girl sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, but in truth her back was getting damp and cold, and the birds were too far away to be of much interest. "Alright Seth." She tumbled over onto her front, crouched, and then stood and walked over to her brother. He had found himself a nice rocky outcrop which stuck out of the field. The rocks were crumbly, and most of them looked boring to her, but he seemed fascinated.

"What do you see in these rocks anyway," she grumbled, but Seth wasn't listening. "Here, look. Look 'round the other side? If you find anything come and show me? Thanks Enni!" She smiled, but goodnaturedly stuck her tongue out at the back of his head when he turned back to his findings. Nevertheless, she did as he asked. The sunshine was beginning to warm up the grass, but the rocks were still cool and damp. As she peered closer, she noticed various insects, which blended into the background quite well. Curiously, she lifted her little finger closer to the nearest. It was a strange looking critter, a little grey thing with more legs than she could count. It crawled forwards and didn't even seem to notice when it crawled onto her finger.

She drew her extended pinky to her eyeball so she could see her find a little better. Fascinatingly, it had what she guessed were probably eyes, but they were on stalks rather than flat on its face like most people she knew. Huh. She flicked the insect off, and turned back to the rockface. Now that she was paying attention, there were several rocks that were easily prised from their little nooks. She grabbed the first one and wiggled it out through a process of picking off lichen and jiggling the stone backwards and forwards until it came loose in her hands.

It was quite crumbly, which was another surprising thing. She wouldn't have thought a rock, one of the strongest things ever, could be as crumbly as this. It was more like... She pondered for a moment. Like cheese. Hard but also soft. She decided to name it cheese-rock.

The cheese-rock was not interesting apart from the fact it fell apart though, so Seth probably wouldn't be that bothered by it. He only seemed to like rocks that had features. Sometimes he found stones with bits of crystal embedded within them. Ennisa liked those ones, but only because they sparkled. Other times his attention was caught by swirling patterns or what looked like leaves caught within the rock.

by **Ennisa** on September 28th, 2019, 2:55 pm

"speech"

Ennisa prised another cheese-rock from the protrusion and looked it over. There wasn't anything interesting there either. Nothing but the fine, sandy dust that now coated her hands. After checking a few more rocks for her brother, who she occasionally heard 'oohing' with excitement at whatever he'd found, she grew bored and took to looking in the cracks for more insects.

In childhood, Ennisa's interests swung rapidly from one thing to another. In the last ten days, she had discovered an intense joy in a certain type of dancing she'd seen at the Surya Plaza. Now, she was discovering that insects were a pretty entertaining subject. This was mostly down to the number of legs they had. From what she had seen so far, they ranged from about four to four million... she guessed.

She was trying to corner a tiny silvery spider, but it was a wily little thing, and it kept creating webs to launch itself further up the rocks to avoid Ennisa's clutching fingers. She giggled, imagining what she must look like from its perspective. Positively monstrous, she imagined. Sausage fingers. She chuckled, but cursed when the spider hopped, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

There was much to be seen in the semi-wilderness of Lhavit though. Seth and Ennisa spent the next bell in their own little worlds. She, chasing innocent wildlife, and he, playing with stones. Eventually though, as the sun climbed higher, Seth finally announced he'd found everything he wanted to. Ennisa was glad to go along with him when he suggested going to the Swing. There, they might meet a couple of their other friends, but it was more likely they'd have the place to themselves, especially after Sali had almost slipped last time they had gone as a group. Ennisa was actually surprised that Seth would suggest it; as far as she remembered, he had been petrified when they had visited last time. Not that she was complaining. Ennisa adored the Swing.

The two children alternatively hiked and walked the fairly long distance to reach the Swing. The warm, summer's morning must have mellowed them, because they hadn't started bickering yet, which Ennisa appreciated. They chatted about nothing in particular, just about their surroundings, where they were going, and gossiped about their friendship group a bit. By the time they approached the Swing, it was almost lunchtime. The summer sunshine was warming Ennisa's back something fierce, and the sky was almost completely clear of clouds. Her stomach was rumbling a little, but later on when they went home they would get an evening meal, and the two children were well-used to going without sustenance until then.

The Swing was over on Sharai Peak, just past the edges of the Okomo Estates. Unfortunately, although they had a few friends who lived there, Ennisa hadn't seen anyone she knew, so it was just her and her brother. She had 'found' the structure a couple of summers ago, when an older friend had taken a group of them out to it. It was only last summer that she herself had taken a go on it, out over the terrifyingly long drop. That one moment of daring had been addicting, and whenever she'd had chance last summer she'd plunged out over the deep, shrieking howls of delight.

It was early in summer. There was an unwritten rule amongst her gaggle of friends that they only come out to the Swing during the summer, so Ennisa felt quite smug thinking she (and begrudgingly Seth, by association), were the first ones out of their group to visit the place that year. In the last few yards, Ennisa ran with a yelp of glee, her heart leaping in her chest as she anticipated the challenge. Seth trailed behind. When she looked back and saw his expression, she couldn't help but think that Seth was probably regretting the suggestion now. It was an unfair thought, but nevertheless it made her giggle in a childishly malicious manner.

by **Ennisa** on September 28th, 2019, 3:09 pm

"speech"

"Hey, Seth! Do you wanna go first, as this was your idea?" She grinned widely as she stood there, hands on hips, framed by the strong boughs of the tree that held the rope swing. Behind her, the mountains ranged outwards, alternately blooming green and stony grey. Lhavit peeked out in places, with glittering towers and buildings dancing in the sunshine. Ennisa luxuriated in the gentle breeze, and the warm light of Syna on her head and hair, which shimmered in the sunshine.

Seth, in comparison, looked mildly queasy. Although she and Seth were close, she knew that they were, at heart, very different people. She was actually disappointed that he didn't look as excited as she felt, and that disappointment quickly built into resentment. "Well, don't look so petching miserable. It's fun! Why else would you come up here, anyway?" Seth shook his head, and she could see him close off, as his eyes turned downcast.

"You go first." Ennisa stared at him for a tick or two, partially with disbelief and partially because she wanted to make him feel uncomfortable. After all, it had been his idea to come, and now he didn't want to? "Okay, if you're too scared..." She turned on her heel, and walked up to the edge of the precipice.

She looked down.

All the blood rushed to her head, and she swung herself back to looking at solid ground again, or the tree, the sturdy, sturdy tree. Her heart began pounding harder. There was nothing quite like it, the chilling thrill of that deep plunge down the side of the cliff. A small rock skittered over the edge and fell down, bouncing on the scree. Ennisa took a few deep breaths, and looked out at the swing, which hung serenely over that great height.

Now that she was there, she could understand Seth's fear. When she had been with her friends before, there had been that social pressure behind her, which had lending her some artificial braveness. Now that it was just her and Seth, she was expecting that same bravery to return, but instead her stomach curled around itself and her brain whimpered no-no-no over and over as she looked at the impossible.

How the petching petch was she supposed to be able to get the swing? It had been so simple last summer. Now... "Hey Seth, don't worry. It is really, really steep. Come over, have a look. I'll be here next to you." She took a slight step back and gestured him over. He approached slowly, as if expecting some trick, but Ennisa was simply awed to silence, and the disgruntlement had gone out of her.

In a soft, genuinely ponderous voice, she said, "How are we supposed to get to the swing? Any ideas, clever-clogs?"

by **Ennisa** on September 29th, 2019, 11:50 am

"speech"

Seth, the clever clogs in question, peered at the bough the swing was attached to. Ennisa followed his gaze. Together they studied the tree, the way the gnarly roots grasped the ground. Ennisa looked at the branches, and especially at the lower branches, which seemed to provide easy footholds. Last summer, a little girl that she hadn't known the name of had climbed into the tree, she remembered now. Yes, she'd climbed it, monkey-like, and reached where the rope was tied to and swung it to the side from up there.

Ennisa gulped. She risked a glance downwards at the ferociously steep slope. It was terribly unsafe, and any wrong move would send her plummeting. Yet, Ennisa couldn't accept that she was a coward. Even if there was no-one around to see what she was doing, it would still rankle, to know that she had chickened out. Equally, if she did fall to her death, wouldn't she then be known as the idiot who had climbed a tree and died for nothing?

Oh, the dilemma. Whilst she was in the middle of grappling with her particular challenge, Seth cleared his throat, and coughed nervously. She turned to look at him. His throat-clearing nonsense usually meant he wanted to say something that he didn't know if she'd like or not. "Hey, Enni. I think I might've changed my mind. I don't really want to go on the swing anyway, and look, over there there's clouds so the weather might be changing. Shall we go somewhere else instead? Maybe we could go to the Snow Apple Orchard whilst we're on Sharai? Or have a splash at Springwater Square? I don't want to stay here anymore."

Although she wanted to feel put-out by her brother's flip-flopping and by the fact she wouldn't get to show off on the Swing, she couldn't help but feel glad that he had inadvertently solved the problem in one swoop. She tried to hide her glee by frowning. The corners of her lips turned down and she hmmed a sigh. "Fine. It was a waste of time to come here, so let's go to the orchard, then to the square. That way we can make the most of the rest of the day. C'mon Seth, let's not waste any more time!"

She had to run then, so Seth couldn't see her smiles. He chased after her, and they ran through the mountain meadows, following Lhavit's winding and sloping paths until they reached the Snow Apple Orchard, which was mostly just trees at that time of the year.

by **Ennisa** on October 18th, 2019, 4:23 pm

Date
"speech"
"others"

The orchard was a lovely place to visit. Ennisa had once tried a tipple of the cider the apples produced, but she had a vivid memory of the unpleasant taste. However, the trees themselves were interesting, especially to two young minds, and the organisation of the orchard was fascinating to run through. Ennisa and her brother played a couple of games of tag, in which Seth was surprisingly good, and Ennisa annoyingly terrible. This soured the mood until she decided to try levelling the playing field by taunting her brother into a race.

They were walking down the aisles of trees when she slyly broached the subject. "Hey, Sethie."
"Hmm?" He wasn't paying attention, as he was rummaging around on the floor using the tip of his toe, looking for upturned stones. Ennisa giggled with barely suppressed mirth, which got his attention. She was already preparing herself, her muscles all bunched up, and her feet ready to launch off down the aisles of trees.

"Race ya!" She shouted and then she was off. Seth, who was understandably annoyed at her blatant cheating, shouted after her, but he couldn't resist the urge to win. Soon, the two children were pounding through the trees, breathlessly gasping, Ennisa trailing frothy, hysterical giggles as she went. Workers, if there were any, covered their ears or moved out of the way as the two Lhavitian children barrelled by.

The sprint was close, the end point (i.e., the end of the treeline) was ahead. Seth, despite the unfair head-start his sister had taken, was rapidly gaining. Ennisa, who would not cede defeat again, risked a look back and decided to make a break for it. She was gasping for breath by this point, her fingers clenched into her sides in a comical manner so as to crush the stitch building under her ribcage, but she pushed ahead. As soon as she passed the last tree, she lunged down to the ground and rolled onto her back, laughing in between catching her breath.

"I won, I won!", she crowed, but Seth was having none of it. "You cheated." His mood was as sullen as a raincloud. Ordinarily, Ennisa would have been able to pick up on this even if it was subconsciously, and would have lowered her mood to suit, but she was high on amusement and victory, so she waggled her tongue and fingers in his direction. "Nope, you're just a sore loser. You can't admit I'm better than you," she taunted.

Seth's outcropped lip was comically grumpy. "No, you cheated. Go away." She rolled herself upright, and shrugged, suddenly annoyed. "Fine, grumpy guts." She pushed herself to stand, and walked away. The summer sunshine had faded. The rain clouds Seth had spotted were drawing closer, and as the first drops began to patter onto the grass, Ennisa started to walk away.

For the rest of the day, though the rain didn't threaten any further, she was in a black mood. It was only later, once the two children had gone back home in their own seperate ways and eaten, that they had both mellowed enough to talk. But the incident was not touched upon, and Ennisa didn't apologise. By the time that they had both curled up in their beds, they were back on speaking terms, the morning's spat seemingly forgotten.