Mirabelle

Chapter 8

Mirabelle glanced at Gavin while she was working on the tent. She was still seething but seeing him so miserable, so frustrated with himself, lessened her anger. The more she looked at his sad face, the more sympathetic Mirabelle felt. Finally all the anger had faded, her eyes went back to normal, and she walked over to Gavin and gave him a hug whispering 'I forgive you,' into his ear as she did so.

Gavin pulled away to look Mirabelle in the face. Her eyes were back to normal and she had a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry for being such an idiot," Gavin apologized again.

"At least you acknowledge it," Mirabelle retorted quietly.

"What? That I'm an idiot? Well I am so why hide it if it already shows through the way I act." Gavin made fun of himself. Mirabelle smiled and shook her head at him mockingly.

"I'm sorry for getting so mad but I am very touchy about the fact that boys think they are superior. That they think girls can't do anything except cook and clean. It drives me insane. Most likely because girls can do anything boys can do plus more." Mirabelle ranted and apologized at the same time.

"I can't blame you for getting mad since it is true that boys think that way but I also can't feel as strongly about as you do since I'm a boy."

"I know, I know. Can we just forget most of this conversation except for the fact that boys aren't superior to girls?" Mirabelle asked slightly embarrassed for no reason that Gavin knew of.

"What were we talking about again?" Gavin asked sarcastically, winking as he did so. Mirabelle smiled big enough so that she showed all her teeth. Gavin smirked. Mirabelle rolled her eyes and grabbed the wooden spoon from his hand and finished cooking the meat.

Dinner was delicious but served with a big helping of awkward. Neither Gavin nor Mirabelle was willing to break the silence but neither of them could stand it. Finally Mirabelle shoveled down her last bite of meat then went to her pack and took out some papyrus and a quill. She started to write with an intensity Gavin had never seen. Her eyes darted back and forth across the papyrus. Her fingers were a blur of skin and quill. Words appeared in beautiful cursive handwriting but Gavin couldn't read what it said. Gavin was quite smart for his age and he knew how to read and write but this writing wasn't English it seemed.

"What language are you writing in?" Gavin asked wondering where she had learned to write in a different language.

"What? I'm writing in English. Do you read a different language or something?" Mirabelle replied confused. I had never learned a different language. Or maybe I had but had forgotten when my memories had been erased but because I had known the language so well I hadn't realized I was writing in a different language. Mirabelle thought to herself. Ugh that is one confusing thought.

"Listen. You may not think I'm all that smart but I know quite a few things. I can read and write pretty well but what you just wrote makes no sense to me. I read and write English by the way."

"So you're saying that I'm writing in a different language based on your knowledge and skills?"

"Well yes in a way but look harder. Here let write..." Gavin started to scribble some words down on an extra sheet of papyrus. "See this is in English. Now match it up against yours." Gavin said. Mirabelle compared both sheets of papyrus and as she did so the words started to look different. Mirabelle could read both sentences but she could also see that the words were written differently. Gavin tried to read her expression but it kept changing from surprise to amazement to confusion and to others.

"No. I just can't remember anything. I don't want to drive myself insane thinking about this anymore." Mirabelle looked like she was in pain, as if she was overloaded with thoughts and ideas. Tired mentally and physically, Mirabelle crawled into her tent and fell asleep within moments. Gavin stood outside awkwardly for a few moments before walking into his own tent. Unlike Mirabelle Gavin was not quick to fall asleep. Lost in thought, it took him almost an hour to finally slip into the world of dreams.