Welcome to Gaia! ::

Breathe out.

America picked up the little jar and carefully tapped its dust over the wet ink. Inhaling deeply, she held her hand over the pendant.

The darkening room barely even registered, it felt right that the shadows would deepen and surround her. Gloom's words filled her head, summoning up the part of her that ran and hid, that sought out the secret, hidden places to feel safe. To feel like she had a place, her own, safe from all the hurts, large and small, that other places had to offer.

It is exactly large enough, perfectly hidden, and it is dark but that has never held her fear.

America can feel her magic for the first time, moved by Gloom's and building and building into a small, powerful focus. The girl exhaled and pushed that power and those feelings into the pendant, her gaze fixed on the lines of the glyph.

Magic is real. The thought swirled along with the scent of fresh turned earth and a storm in the wind, laundry drying on the line. The power eased back, but the awareness of it thudded through her.

"Dang..." she huffed with a laugh. "Helluva artsn'crafts."

Turning her hand to better accommodate Gloom's head, gently scritching his jaw, America reached out with her free hand to pick up the pendant. She held it up in the dim light.

A safe place? That she'd made for herself. Her smile grew inexplicably shy for a moment, before the feeling retreated behind her sense of accomplishment. She'd learned to do something new and magical, though what that something was...

America wrapped her hand around the stone, and thought about those small, dark places. The ones that were a little wild and very secret and all hers. The sanctuaries of a small, lonely child and a young woman who still longed to run and hide away.

Looking, she gave a small laugh. "Like a hidey-hole, right in my pocket." She rubbed her thumb along the surface of the pendant, and wondered what Prudie would have said. Probably something a fair bit damning, about folks that have things to hide. America smiled widely. She didn't have to hide, she just liked to. But she liked the rest of the world too much to hide for long, and so it was easy to summon up the feeling of stepping out, from the cozy little space and into the fresh air and elements.

The girl inhaled again only to let it out in another laugh. "That was amazing! I did that?"

"You're a real good teacher, Gloom Friend," America stated with quiet gratitude. Elsewhere in the room, there was a rude sound from Mr. Bitterberry that was possibly a sort of grudging agreement. The girl sat straighter, her expression both thoughtful and bright as this new piece of assurance and safety. Her own magic. Earned and learned.

"I'll practice a lot, much as I'm able." America nodded. The idea that learning and practicing this could lead to more made it impossible to stop smiling. "You've opened a great big door for me, haven't you just?"

She gazed down at the pendant for a long moment and then slipped the pendant into her pocket, would have to get a sturdy chain of sorts for it later. Curling in a bit, she pressed her face against Gloom's shadowy fur. "Thank you, Gloom Friend."

"Doesn't mean I won't be grateful when you do, hun," America laughed. "You know, I've been thinking for over a year now, I probably won't go to school again and carry on learning stuff."

Careful not to dislodge him, the girl began placing the remaining supplies back into her bag. "But this is better than any other sorta learning I was picturing. Will I be able to make this sorta thing for other folks too? Or is it a...hmmm...something a person's gotta make for themselves, thing?"