The House of Avery

I: Nile and the Stones

My testimony eh? I suppose there are still tales to tell. Yes there are indeed, secrets yet untold. Where to start? Dorothy certainly went through a wild ride. But maybe... Have you heard the tale of Nile and the Stones? Yes Nile Catherin. That is a good place to start I think. Yes, yes ill get to myself but why not have some fun first. The House of Avery's got some stories. Nile Catherin. He was some smart fellow. Good looks about him too. Well then, lets begin with that. Nile...

Nile was always fond of nature and natural things. You wouldn't know it from a glance. on the outside he was no more than another rich kid with a big brain who thought he was better than everyone else. And while not completely inaccurate, Nile really did care about nature. Which is what frustrated him the most. There really was something special in nature. Trees and birds and rocks. But what? what attracted him to it so much? what made him dedicate his time at the most prestigious inventors college to making more efficient ways of replanting trees. And why, even with such a passion, did he still find himself up at night racking his brain trying to think of anything, any idea that would ensure an investment. This was his life, And he thought all this as he walked.

Nowadays walking was the only thing keeping Nile sane. Though this particular walk happened to be to his class. The class was late and his walk lead him through the center of campus. Usually Suzy walked him to class, She hadn't shown up so Nile walked alone. The stone path wound around the statue of Stan Avery. Erected shortly after his death. Nile had been born two years later. He always thought that perhaps he would open a letter one day revealing him as Avery's sol descendent. That was silly of course. Avery already had a descendent who just so happened to be one of the worlds most respected inventors. Curse that Ray Lolhker.

Now of course we come to the fall. Nile was just rounding the statue when his foot caught on something. It was the strangest feeling. All slowed and yet Nile felt as if he was moving faster. First his legs hit the ground. Then his arms. Than came the pain it wasn't the sharp pain he had expected more... The pain of cold when your body is trying to heat up. A warmth that seems almost wrong yet protects you from that other hurt. He could do nothing but writhe on his back. He couldn't find the strength to stand. He tried. But than he felt something else. The stones beneath he began to breath.

There was no motion. No air. Only a strange intent. Deep earthen lungs expanding with the world, than falling again. Over and over. Nile managed to turn on his stomach. The pain seemed to fade and he stood. The breathing continued. Though there was a longing he felt from the stones as he put his shoe between flesh and earth.

He sighed. Than looked up. his neck muscles pulling and bending. Bone shifting under tissue and meat. Nile felt it all. The flow of blood. Heart, pushing it out. He even felt his of brain, thinking within the prison of the human mind. It was night. He decided to skip his class.

The days seemed to blur. All his thoughts in unison with the breath of nature. He had ideas now. Good ideas that could change how logging companies affected the glob. He was the most creative he had ever been and yet... He still wished to be one with it again. Sometimes, when he passed the statue, he was tempted just to sit. To sit and be whole again. He changed his walking route. Suzy had gladly gone along with this. Though Nile had obviously not told her the reason.

One particular evening the two where walking to class when somehow by some force they where led to the center of campus. Nile froze.
"Oh," Suzy said. Her vocal cords moisturizing and flapping creating the illusion of speech. "We can turn around if you want."
Even though Nile hadn't told her the reason she had figured he had been traumatized by something here. She couldn't have been more wrong. Nile shook his head. "It's okay" he muttered.

They continued down the path. That now familiar feeling getting stronger. Stone after Stone passed underfoot. At last the longing reached the peek of it's strength. It pulled him with a weight he couldn't describe. He looked to Suzy for help but she had disappeared. Nile put all his weight on the statue, trying to resist the pull. He knew if he fell than he would never get back up. His skin was scraping the cement block the statue rested on. He was kneeling. Vary slowly.