Post by Antigone nó Gentian on Oct 26, 2009 21:13:22 GMT -5
It began with a spark.
I was in the kitchen with Laure, the cook, learning how to make a stew. She was striking flint at the hearth to make a flame, and I saw the spark. Like rippling water, the scene changed. Laure and the pot and the hearth faded away, and I was standing on a dock at the port, watching a drunken sailor stumble back to his ship.
The sailor looked at me, or through me, and then stumbled up the gangplank, knocking over a lantern onto the floor of the deck. The dry plywood burst into flames. I screamed as the flames spread, looking around, but there was no one to help.
Suddenly, Laure was shaking me and I was back in the kitchen, shaking. "Fire," I managed to spit out. "At the docks."
"Fire?" asked Laure, clearly shaken. "Don't be silly, child, there's no news of any fire. You were just daydreaming."
Later that day, I found Father in the library, reading. "Father," I said.
"Ah, Antigone," he said. "Come kiss your father."
I went to him and hugged him, kissing his cheek. "Father, it happened again."
"What did, darling?"
"I saw something that wasn't there. A fire, at the docks."
Father frowned. "You must have been imagining things, my love."
"I wasn't! It was just like the time with the goat, one minute I was in my room and the next I was on the farm, in the barn, watching it be born."
Father stroked his chin. "If you wish, I shall send a note to the harbormaster warning him of fires. Will that please you?"
"Yes Father, but..." I didn't know if it would help at all.
Three days later, we received word. The harbormaster had gotten my father's note too late, the ship had burned the previous night. It was that day that Father decided to send me to Gentian House in the City of Elua.
I was in the kitchen with Laure, the cook, learning how to make a stew. She was striking flint at the hearth to make a flame, and I saw the spark. Like rippling water, the scene changed. Laure and the pot and the hearth faded away, and I was standing on a dock at the port, watching a drunken sailor stumble back to his ship.
The sailor looked at me, or through me, and then stumbled up the gangplank, knocking over a lantern onto the floor of the deck. The dry plywood burst into flames. I screamed as the flames spread, looking around, but there was no one to help.
Suddenly, Laure was shaking me and I was back in the kitchen, shaking. "Fire," I managed to spit out. "At the docks."
"Fire?" asked Laure, clearly shaken. "Don't be silly, child, there's no news of any fire. You were just daydreaming."
Later that day, I found Father in the library, reading. "Father," I said.
"Ah, Antigone," he said. "Come kiss your father."
I went to him and hugged him, kissing his cheek. "Father, it happened again."
"What did, darling?"
"I saw something that wasn't there. A fire, at the docks."
Father frowned. "You must have been imagining things, my love."
"I wasn't! It was just like the time with the goat, one minute I was in my room and the next I was on the farm, in the barn, watching it be born."
Father stroked his chin. "If you wish, I shall send a note to the harbormaster warning him of fires. Will that please you?"
"Yes Father, but..." I didn't know if it would help at all.
Three days later, we received word. The harbormaster had gotten my father's note too late, the ship had burned the previous night. It was that day that Father decided to send me to Gentian House in the City of Elua.