if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

eyes

     It wasn't hard for me to find Sadie.

     She was sitting by the horse stalls, running a brush through a chestnut's glossy tail. Her knees were tucked close to her chest, and she was sitting on a tall stool. Her eyes darted to me as I approached.

     I held out a hand to the chestnut, and it nuzzled my palm, searching for apples. Sadie watched me.

     "What's his name?" I asked.

     "Mingo." She replied automatically, then looked as though she regretted opening her mouth.

     "It's okay." I took a step back. The horse puffed its disappointment in not finding any treats.

     I didn't know how to proceed. I hesitated, teetering on the edge of pointless small talk and getting to the point. Then I decided to stop wasting time and drew a breath to speak, but she cut me off before I could start talking.

     "You don't look like a normal traveller." She said quietly. Her brush rhythmically stroked through the horse's tail. "I don't know how to explain it, but you look like you're on your way somewhere that most people can't follow. You react to things differently than most simple travellers."

     "React?" I was mildly surprised. "Explain."

     "When you talked to my sister, I could see the shock in your eyes. You looked a little freaked out, even. But then, it wasn't so obvious that Sorrah would have noticed. Why?"

     I breathed out slowly. I didn't question the depth of her observation. I didn't expect any less of her. "That's a tough question to answer."

     "It's okay." She turned back to the horse. "You must think me strange. A lot of people do. So? Do you need something from me?"

     I breathed out slowly, suddenly losing courage. "Actually, never mind. You don't have to do now."

     She cocked her head to the side. Suddenly there was a glint of suspicion in her eyes. "You want to tell me something. What is it?"

     "You have to accept it. It will be hard."

     "I don't mind."

     "I'd rather tell your parents first, actually."

     I really didn't know how to handle this, so I was just stalling for time at this point. Should I be blunt? Sugarcoat the truth? Honestly, I didn't want to tell her now. It might be difficult for her to handle. But I couldn't just show up, stuff the Sword into her hands, and tell her to train for ten years. That was too much at once. 

     "No. Tell me now."

     Once again, that familiar look in her face. I had seen it so many times. I hesitated, then sighed.

     "Have you noticed your power?"

     The effect was immediate.

     She fell off of the stool, knocking it over. The brush she was holding flew away from her hands and landed on the sparse grass. She scrambled up and stepped a few messy paces back from me, raising her hands in front of her face. Her eyes were wild with fear.

     "No!" She shouted, shrinking back from me. "Go away!"

     "What's going on?"

     I sighed, resigned to my terrible choice of words. The stable master, Sadie's father was standing behind her, glowering at me with the aura of a brewing thunderstorm. 

     "I'm sorry." I bowed my head. "I said something wrong. I will leave now."

     I grabbed the little belongings I had and hightailed it out of the Stable.