Little One by Shannon Keene
Chapter Two
When I woke this time it was to a large headache and puffy eyes. A nineteen year old looking boy stood over the bed I was laying in. He was wearing a white linen shirt and pants. “Oh, so you’re awake.” He lightly patted my forehead with a damp cloth. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Who are you?” My throat was dry and I sounded hoarse.
“That is an odd name.” He said with a charming smile as he turned and started to fill a short mug with water from a pitcher that sat on the night stand. His hair was so dark brown that it appeared black, and his skin was a pleasant tan, “Do you have a nickname that isn’t so odd?” He offered me the mug.
I sat up slowly for I was feeling slightly ill; I accepted the mug and took a drink before answering, “Most call me Nessa.”
He sat on the edge of the bed with a mug of his own, “Nessa.” He said it as if he were tasting it- deciding if he liked it or not. “It’s a fine name. So if most call you Nessa, what do the rest call you?”
I smiled as I took a drink, “What they will; what do most call you?”
“Oh,” He rolled his eyes, “This and that-“
“Liam!” I heard a shout from outside the room.
The boy hopped up, “But mostly that.” He jogged to the door and leaned out. “What is it Enna?”
“Is she up?” the voice sounded closer.
“Yes.” Liam answered.
“Get her some lunch and then take her to the study.” It was the cat’s voice.
“Yes, Enna.” Liam replied.
“Be careful with her, the influx of Mana on her is shocking her body. She will be apt to fainting till her body can balance the difference.”
“Yes, Enna. So, then, no trips to the pond today?” I heard the smile on Liam’s lips.
“Not today, perhaps tomorrow.” There was a faint hint of humor on the cat’s tongue.
Liam came back to my bed side, “What would you like for a bit of lunch? “
“I’d rather have some questions answered.” I admitted.
Liam shook his head, “I can’t answer much. Enna can though.”
“Is he the cat?” I asked.
“Cat?” he tilted his head, “I suppose that is a harder question that you intended- I’ll just let him answer your questions after lunch.” He put his hands on his hips, “Now then, what do you want for lunch?”
I guess I won’t get any clear answers till I eat, I thought to myself. “A ham and cheese sandwich would be nice.”
“What’s ‘ham’?” He looked at me confused.
“What- do you not know what ham is?” I giggled. “It comes off of a pig.”
“What is a ‘pig’? Is that a plant?”
“No,” I said, a little shocked, “It’s an animal. Ham is a type of cut of meat that comes off of a pig.”
He threw up his hands in mock defeat, “I’ll just give you what I eat.” He turned to the doorway and flashed a charming smile over his shoulder, “Be right back!” Then he ran out of the door.
I smiled to myself; What have I gotten myself into? The locals don’t even know what ham is. Then it occurred to me that I didn’t even know what town I was by. I looked out the window and saw a large field of wheat. I must be in the country. I looked around the room I was in. The curtains and bed clothes were all made of white linen like Liam’s clothes. I looked down and realized that I too was wearing linen. I had on a white short sleeve night shirt. The walls where painted white. The closet door, bedroom door, doorframe, trim and floor where all made of wood. The nightstand and dresser that sat on either side of the bed was made of matching wood.
Liam came back soon carrying a tray with two plates. I pulled a pillow from behind me and laid it on my lap as he handed me a plate before warning me that it would be warm.
On the plate were three pieces of fried egg plant, mashed potatoes, and chicken fried steak. A meal made of some of my favorite foods. “You didn’t have to go to so much trouble.” I said as he plopped down at the foot of the bed.
“It was no trouble.” He said happily as he popped a round slice of fried egg plant into his mouth, “Besides” he said with a full mouth, “The chicken fried steak was just finishing as you woke up.” He swallowed.
I took a bite of egg plant, “Where are we?”
He took a drink from the mug he had earlier before answering, “Oh, we are about three days from Sunset Mountain.”
“What is the closest town?”
He cut a piece of steak and started chewing it thoughtfully, “That is a sticker of a question, “ He leaned back as he thought then swallowed before answering, “The closest town is about four days away if you take the river- which is about a half day’s ride. It’s called Feather Burrow. You need to eat your lunch.”
I dropped my fork, “Four days!” I exclaimed, “Why not take the highway?”
He lifted a circle of egg plant to his lips, “I suppose flying would be the fastest route.” He took a small bite, “But I don’t know any of those spells yet and we don’t have a Passenger Pidgin.”
I felt my finger’s start to tingle, “What are you talking about?” I started to rub my hands together to try to alleviate the tingle.
Liam tensed up as he saw my hands, “You gonna faint?”
“My hands are just tingling.” I felt the haze that I felt in the kitchen skulk over me as I looked at my hands as I rubbed them dumbly.
“I told you that you needed lunch-“ Liam stood up quickly and set his plate on the floor with a clatter. He scooped a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes from my plate and forced it into my surprised mouth. “Eat.” He commanded.
I did as he told be to, still in a content haze. The tingle slowly spread up my arms and started at my feet. As Liam force fed me my lunch I felt the haze retreat along with the tingle. When he saw that the haze was retreating he handed me my water-mug, “You really do have it bad.”
I took a drink from the mug with shaky hands, “Got what bad?” I looked over the mug’s rim at Liam, who looked concerned.
“It’s called Mana sickness.” He stooped to pick up his plate, “I don’t know how people get it, but I do know that the people that are affected the worst end up having the most control.”
“Control over what?” I asked.
“Lunch.” He nodded at my plate, which was still half full. “Food first then answers.” He collected the tray and his plate before heading out the door.
“Don’t even think about coming out of that room before you finish everything on that plate.” He shouted from the hallway.
I looked down at the plate, seeing that most of my lunch was already force feed to me while I was in a haze. I quickly finished the rest of my meal and tip toed to the hall. I leaned out and looked left and right for Liam or the cat. Seeing no one I turned to the right and started to make my way down the hall.
“Feeling better?” Liam said with a chuckle into my ear.
I jumped at his unexpected appearance and turned around quickly, “Liam!”
A grin spread across his face, “That’s what they call me!” he offered me his arm, a gentlemanly gesture. “To the study, then?”
I took his arm and let him lead me through out the house- which turned out to be more of a mansion. The walk to the Study was about fifteen minutes long. When we arrived he opened the double doors leading into the Study in a grandiose manor; he rushed to them then opened them with a great bow. “Presenting his Lordship: Miss Nessa.” Then Liam swept himself out of the way so that the doors swung fully open and I was the only on in the doorway.
The Study was perfectly round, a great spherical room. The only flat part was the floor. The walls where lined with shelves of books clear up to the tip of the sphere where normal books would have fallen out. The floor was covered with many different carpets of varying size, shape, patterns, and colors. None of the hard wood underneath could be seen. In the center of the room was a large wooden desk with a daunting tall backed leather chair neatly swiveled ever-so-slightly behind it; In front of the desk where two smaller wooden chairs. In the center of the desk was a cat that was shifting lazily between breeds, color, and fur length. “You don’t have to be so theatrical, Liam.” The cat said in a deep voice. “Welcome, Miss Nessa. Please,” it nodded to a chair, “Take a seat. I’m sure you’re loaded with questions.”
I came and sat nervously, “Yes. I do.” I played with the fabric of the night shirt I was still wearing.
The cat looked at Liam who was eagerly waiting to be invited to sit. “Liam, ready Miss Nessa’s room.”
Liam hung his head as he backed out of the room in a less theatrical way. “Yes, Enna.”
As the doors clicked faintly shut behind me the cat spoke up, “’There is nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.’”
I sat, slightly confused, “Isn’t that from a Beatles’ song?”
“Yes. I never quite like their music but I’ve always found that lyric to be rather comforting; Don’t you?”
“I suppose.” I replied.
“Now,” the cat licked his paw, “Do you have any questions or not?”
“Aren’t you going to explain anything to me first?” I asked.
It looked up at me in a confused way, “Why would I do that? I could give you a lot of information you don’t want.”
“That’s true.” I agreed, “What is your name then?”
“Enna.”
“Where are we?”
“We are on what is called a Wheatfield Dream Plantation.”
“What’s that?”
“This plantation is the setting for all dreams that take place in wheat fields. We also produce the wheat that gets turned into flour for dreams. Things like bread, biscuits, and cookies get made for dreams from our wheat fields.”
“You make the food that’s in dreams?” I asked.
“Yes, there are a lot of people that profit off of the manufacturing of dream props. Dreams would be rather dull if there were no props.” The cat replied before stretching. “Dreams with no props are what most people think of as not dreaming at all.”
“Like when I fall asleep and the only thing that I see is blackness?”
“Precisely.”
“Alright.” I pushed some stray hairs out of my face, “Do you know what ham is?”
The cat laughed, “Of course I know what ham is, why do you ask?”
“Liam thought it might be a plant.”
“Oh, I see.” The cat laid down, “Liam had what we call Manna sickness when he first came. His case was a…unique…one.”
I waited for the cat to continue be he kept true to his word that he wouldn’t explain anything I didn’t ask for. “What is Manna sickness?”
“That makes for a long explanation.” The cat yawned, “We are on a different plain from the world you come from. Some of your great thinkers have theories about this plain, they call it a dimension. They think that there are an unthinkable number of dimensions when there is only this one. Though, it is quite different from your world so I could see why your people think that there are multiple.
“Every once in a while people from your world come here for a vacation or a dream.” He glanced over at a clip board that seemed to slowly seep out of the top of the desk, “It seems you’re here because you’re in a coma.”
“What?” I shouted as I stood abruptly.
“Yes, it seems that you where in a car accident. The reason that you’re in a coma is undetermined at this time.”
I felt vaguely aware of the memory of a car crash. “My mother was driving… Is she alright?” I slammed my hands against the desk, “Please, you have to tell me?”
Enna slowly shook its head, “I can’t. I don’t have the information.”
I sighed heavily, “Alright.” I slowly turned and up righted the chair I toppled. “Please go on about Manna sickness.”
“In this plain there is a lot of magic; something that your world used to have but lost because of hard hearts. What we use to do magic is something called Manna. It’s something that can’t be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. We don’t know exactly what it is but we do know that it is a necessity for casting spells. When your people come here they get a huge amount of Manna that they never had before. Those with hard hearts don’t get sick, but those that have an open mind and an imagination get very sick. Their hearts are open to the manna.”
“It’s like chocking on water, isn’t it?”
“It can be. Some die from Manna sickness. The most that die tried to deny the existence of Manna or try to take on more than their bodies can take at one time.”
“So, as long as I don’t try to do any magic that is high above me I should be fine?”
“You catch on quick.” The cat winked.
“Why was Liam’s case of Manna sickness unique?”
Enna looked at me and took a moment to respond, “I can’t explain that right now. But he ended up loosing his memory as a result: Something that had never happened before.”
I felt like he wasn’t telling me every thing but shrugged it off. He was at least giving me an answer to every question. “Do I have a serious case of Manna sickness?”
“Not too serious. You where only unconscious for nine days once you got here.”
“Only nine?” I gasped.
“Liam was out for four-teen.”
A soft knock at the door broke our conversation. “Come in.” Enna called.
Liam came in, chipper as ever. “I’ve finished Nessa’s room and I can’t stand the suspense!”
Enna nodded, “I think we’ve had enough questions for one day.”
“But I have more questions!” I lied. I just wanted the chance to think of a question while Enna was handy.
The cat shook and gracefully jumped down off of the desk, “No, you don’t.”
Liam was beside me offering his arm again, “Come on! I can hardly wait!”
