Keira sat on the bench reading from her favorite book of poems. Alice In Wonderland lay on the seat beside her. The sun was warmer than any other day since Keira's arrival. It had dried all of last nights rain from the tops of the trees. The bench had even dried without artificial aid, only the ground remained moist and soggy.
It had been several days since she'd seen Alana. Alana had come to the grove that last time where she'd told Keira that Sara wasn't well and that she wouldn't be coming anymore. Keira had thought Alana meant Sara, but perhaps she had meant both of them.
Keira knew that she should feel relieved, but she'd wanted Alana and Sara to be fine, for Hester to care for them without imprisoning them, for Hester to do her job right, taking Keira off the hook. Keira laid the book of poetry across Alice In Wonderland, pushed her body back into the bench, tipped her head back and watched the birds hopping from branch to branch in the trees overhead. They were busy little creatures doing whatever their inner sense of instinct drove them to do. Building nests, laying eggs, grooming or searching for food.
A sudden sense of not being alone in the clearing forced Keira to open her eyes and look toward the path. There she was just stepping through the trees, a girl, not Alana, but someone younger with similar features except that...Keira looked once, blinked then looked again...this girl was completely bald. Not a single strand of hair anywhere on her head. Yet, her eyelashes and brows showed intact with plenty of dark brown hairs. She wore baggy overalls and a green turtle neck pullover. She strode across the clearing and straight up to Keira.
"Hi. My name's Ariel. I bet you wonder why I don't have hair?"
Keira's mouth fell open, but no words came out.
"Hester shaves it for me, twice a week. She won't let me do it myself, so she does it for me."
Keira regained her voice enough to say, "I see."
"I have to have it this way. I see you have pretty short hair for a girl too."
"Yes, I like it this way."
"I like mine too. Alana's not coming. She didn't want me to come either, but I do what I want."
"I see."
Keira's head felt a bit woozy as if she were trying to wake up, but couldn't quite come to full consciousness. Ariel stood seeming not to notice and asked, "So, what can I do?"
Keira struggled to focus on the glad face with deep brown eyes that appeared suspended there before her.
"Do?"
"Can I draw? I like to write sometimes, but today I want to draw."
Keira hesitated confused by a burning knot that had formed in her stomach and a compelling need to run away. Run fast and hard, moving, moving, running further and further away. Ariel seemed even more familiar than Alana, something about her made Keira feel panic in waves.
Again Ariel seemed not to notice Keira's hesitation.
"Well, can I?"
"The supplies are in the cabin."
"You'll have to bring them out. It's not very big in there. I can tell from looking at it."
Keira floated into the cabin for the supplies feeling more like a character in a dream than like a real person. She remained on the porch while Ariel sketched on the bench.
Ariel laid the pad on the seat, knelt on the ground and drew picking up one crayon after the other. Keira could see her from behind the screen. She watched Ariel's expressions change, the power of her strokes grew more intense with each deepening of her frown. Keira looked away, tried to focus on the tops of the trees. She tried not to notice Ariel drawing feverishly, but she was drawn to the bench where Ariel seemed not to notice anything except the paper and the crayons.
A full hour passed before Ariel looked up and called to Keira.
"Do you want to see my drawing?"
Keira rose slowly, stepped carefully toward the screen door, opened it and walked slowly toward the bench. Her arms hung down at her sides, she looked straight above Ariel's head so she didn't look directly at Ariel or the drawing which lay open on the bench. By the time Keira had reached the bench Ariel had packaged up the crayons and closed the cover on the drawing. Keira reached for the crayons that Ariel held out toward her. The sketch pad laid like a heavy stone slate on the bench.
"I'll leave it for you. I have to go."
Ariel raced for the across the clearing and onto the path. Keira hadn't had time to say anything. She turned the box of crayons over in her hand, turned her back on the sketch pad and took several steps toward the cabin.
She stopped and turned around. She searched the entry to the path, Ariel was not there. Her eyes rested on the sketch pad, the mussels in her stomach tightened, she took a deep breath and walked back to the bench. She grabbed the pad off the bench and strode quickly to the cabin where she stood the pad up against the desk chair. She put the crayons on the book shelf, poured some cola, put away the few dishes in the drainer and swept the kitchen floor.
She passed the pad on her way to the bedroom where she made the bed and put away her clothes. She wiped down all the porcelain in the bathroom all the while thinking about the drawing, wondering what it would mean to look at it. What was the worse thing that could happen? That it would remind her of something she'd seen before, one of her dreams or one of the visions?
Keira walked back into the living room. The pad stood where she=d left it. It appeared innocent enough the cover a deep shade of blue, gold lettering, My Sketch Book. She reached out and ran her hand over the cover then carefully lifted the blue cardboard cover, flipping it to the back then stepped back to the sofa where she sat facing it.
It was one of the busiest drawings Keira had seen. The whole thing was done in vibrant crayon colors and not one space larger than an inch square wasn't filled with color.
The paper from the right edge over past the center was filled with green swirls. A few brown branches scattered here and there was the only thing that set them apart as a type of trees or bushes. Small fat blue circles colored over the green looked like polka dots that had been stuck on.
Several stick figures of what looked like children stood and squatted amongst the green. Tiny hands reached toward the blue dots.
To the far left a massive dark tree stood missing all its leaves. The stark branches reached and twisted like thin bony fingers all through the sky and cast shadows on the children. Under the baron branches close to the trunk was a patch of what looked to be pine trees crowded together. A small black circle like the entrance to a cave darkened the area at the base of the pines. A snake resembling a cobra with its hood fully flared hung by its tail from the dead branches. It arched about half way down its long body then stood straight up. The figure of a girl with long brown hair stood at the entrance under the pines. The figures face was pointed toward the children off with the blue dots. It didn't have any facial features drawn in, but fat droplets of moisture ran down either side of the face.
Keira stood abruptly, brought the cover over the pad and slid it under the sofa. She darted outside where she gasped for air while bent forward with her hands against the tops of her knees. She straightened and began to run. She ran through the trees behind the cabin gaining speed until her mind grew gray then black and she fell in a heap on the still damp ground sucking in long steady gulps of air.
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