She sunk down below the water, body limp and legs dangling over the side of the little tub. Everything outside was muted and strange under the surface, just the way America liked it. Her heartbeat, though, grew loud in her ears, and she like that too. She held her breath as long as she could and magic was real. Magic to Sunny was like breathing to America and that meant it was special, not just a thing picked up off a book or from some video on the internet. It meant that folks who didn't breathe it the way Sunny did, well, could just as easily end up gasping their last like a fish on the docks and that should be scary. There were tides of it and that should be so, so scary.
Opening her eyes, America watched the play of light across the water above her, waiting for the scary parts to get more important the the wondrous ones. There's some kids playing out at the edge of the campground and she wonders how they'd react to magic, how they'd...
She burst out of the water in a rush. Dripping water onto the trailer floor, America stood up to peer out the window and the small figures running through the campgrounds. Had it been some kind of freaky reflection thing? The mirror sort of magic as opposed to the Sunny sort.
But it'd been so clear.
II.
Quote:
text to: Sunny
are there boy witches
are they as stupid as regular boys
America flopped onto the grass, letting the phone slip from her hand after a series of angry emojis were sent Taym's way. It'd be the last she'd bother with sending him anything.
It'd be nice, if people were what they seemed right out.
Rolling onto her side, America huffed and glared at the ants, trooping along nearby. Ants were probably really honest. They were hard working folks just trying to do their jobs, didn't even make up excuses about having to go the long way just cause a redheaded human's magnificent a** was parked in their express lane. They just got the thing done.
Idly her gaze picked out the pieces of food they were carrying, even the littlest bits sparkled distinctly from her view, high above their little colony.
Except she wasn't in the tree above of them and with a groan America flopped onto her back. Had she fallen asleep?
Quote:
text to: Sunny
what sort of dreams do you have
have you ever seen a color that looks like the taste of glue
III.
She passed by a particular garage on her way to work and was so caught up in not thinking about the man that suddenly the he was walking right by her. And tall. And all the wrong colors that were still kind Right as well and...
America stared at the empty sidewalk. It was still early. No one else should be out, though she noticed that Ivy was sitting by the door of the garage, likely to soon be let in. The girl hurried on, confused and troubled.
IV.
Listening to some Top40's leg hanging off her bed, America hears the birds outside with a smile. A little while later, she sees them on their branches despite never leaving her camper to look.
V.
She liked drifting off, liked everything getting a little bit more gentle and strange. She likes the bright awareness of waking up, but there's something so nice when reality gets soft around the edges.
Ashdown Crier
