Reflection of Perfection | NaNoWriMo 2016 ( severe editing)

0 4 : g i a n t s · a n d · b o y s

Evelyn: 

"Don't you think this has gone a bit too far?" I tried to reason with Amber. "Nonsense, Evelyn."

"They're just kids. They're too young." I protested as we walked through the woods. How did Amber expect me to react when she told me that she had planned for a young boy to slay a giant for her? 

"Trust me, Evie. You trust me right?" Amber sounded so desperate.

"You know I do, Amber. Why?" 

She smiled sadly, "Do you think I want to do this? If I could turn back time, I want to be part of our loving family, not like a monster I've become." A tear fell down her cheek. Instead of the tear being clear, it was murky and toxic like, leaving behind dark lines as it fell, as if she was wearing mascara.

Amber caught me staring, "I feel myself being drained as a monster. I'm doing all I can to stop it, Evie. But I'm scared too, just as much as you."

I smiled, but it was wobbly, "Amber, as soon as we reach the next town, we are going to stay at the inn and you are going to sleep and shower. Don't even try to protest."

Amber chuckled, "Oh what would I do without you, Eve?"

🍂

"... oh, how am I ever going to sell Bea? I'll miss you, girl." A boy's voice drifted toward us, and Amber grinned. Within seconds, she glamoured herself so she looked like an old man. I scaled tree and watched the scene from above. A selfish part of me was just happy that I wasn't the one that had to go under the glamour. I couldn't stand glamours- the way the stench of magic filled my head with a gentle buzz was something I tended to avoid.

"Is that a cow, lad?" Amber's scratchy voice reached me. "Yes sir. I am bringing him to the marketplace where it shall be sold..." The young boy declared, his voice wobbling just a bit. But, I could see how he treated his cow. It was his friend, and he loved it as much as I loved Amber. My heart broke a little as I watched him.

Amber drew something out of her pocket, "If I give you these magic beans, will you give me your cow? Youngsters like you ought to have fun, go on adventures! Just plant these and they'll grow overnight, and perhaps you'll find enough gold to buy your cow back again."

"I don't know..." The boy looked at the beans, the cow and the beans again. Finally he spoke.

"I'm Jack. Consider yourself a deal!" Jack handed over the cow and Amber gave him the magical beans. He shot one last look at his cow, and whispered under his breath, "I'll be back for you, girl." 

As soon as the boy, Jack was far away, Amber shifted back and I hopped down from my tree, "Why do you have to choose him?

Jack's cow let out loud MOO and it's tail smacked my sister in the face. Amber made a face, her eyes angry, and snapped her fingers and the cow disappeared. I just hoped that wherever Amber sent the cow, it was safe.

"Oh, trust me. He'll give him an adventure of a lifetime. Jack will help us, whether he wants to or not. And for that, he will be rewarded." I didn't like the sound of that, but, what did I like these days anyway?

"But he's just a kid," I muttered quietly. Amber just shrugged, "So?"

"He could DIE!" I yelled at her. Amber's eyes flared with anger, " And I need the Giant's castle. Otherwise, my plan fails," She replied simply as if it were a fact I failed to see. What plans? I wanted to yell back, but even if I had asked, Amber would only tell me what information she needed me to know. Paranoia was something she'd never lose. 

My eyes burned, "He could die." I whispered to myself, quietly.

"Look Eve. I know he won't die. I swear. Give it a few days." Amber snapped, stomping ahead the foliage obscuring my view of her. Heaving a sigh, I followed her, if only because I had no one else to follow. 

🍂

From the distance, we watched as the beanstalk fell down with a crash. The giant's fall however, shook the ground like an earthquake. As the boy was proclaimed a hero, we slipped under one of the beanstalk's leaf. 

Amber quietly plucked off a tiny part of the leaf, muttered a few strange words, waved her hands, and we appeared in front of the giant's castle. I could imagine Jack running past us, his body pumped with adrenaline, as he stepped over the bouncing clouds and to the beanstalk while the Giant lumbered after him. 

"Ah yes, this will do. Everything is dead, and the cat too. Perfect." Amber mused.

I lifted my skirt to walk on the cloud- and trust me, it was harder than it sounds. You were literally stepping on something that isn't completely solid and one misstep could mean a fate similar to the Giant's. Why he chose to live in the sky is something I will never know. 

At last, I reached the castle. "I'm here," I called to Amber. She nodded, and took a deep breath, before raising her hands and yelling out a series of foreign words that let off a dark vibe. The castle spun and shrunk into a small figurine. I caught the tiny castle before it could fall through the cloud. "That'll do."

The cloud we were standing on began to shake. Without the castle, the foundation would be lost and the cloud would then return to it's normal, unmagical state. I clasped my hand with Amber after she walked through the cloud to reach me and she shouted a counterspell that sent us spiraling back to the place where we met Jack.

I noticed Amber's blonde hair growing streaks of gray, as she casted a simple glamour spell. The grey area had expanded subtly, each time she used dark magic.

Soon, as expected, Jack appeared. "Thank you so much, sir. The beans made me rich."

Amber smiled, "And I suppose you've come to buy your cow back?"He nods, ecstatic, handing over a pouch of coins as his cow appeared from the woods and strolled to it's owner.  I decided that I didn't want to know where the cow went.

Jack left happily with his cow and Amber smiled at me warmly, letting the glamour fade, "Does that make you feel better?"

Behind the wobbly smile and the worry in her voice was just my sister, trying to be good again.

"Very. Now, how does a hot bath and a comfy bed sound to you?"