Book of Life Read Free Page A

the first, I looped it onto the string of the bow and stuck the tip of it into the pile of foliage. Holding the bow horizontal with the ground, I began to drive it back and forth like sawing down a tree. The faster I did this the faster the stick looped in the bow spun against the foliage that was wedged against the rock. Soon enough, smoke began to wisp its way through the foliage. I stopped and dropped the bow and stick to the ground. Bringing my face close to the foliage, I blew gently. Within, an ember began to glow.
    I gathered the ember in my hands and added it to the pile of kindle I had collected earlier. Fanning the small ember, it eventually grew into a flame and then a fire. Right away I was impressed by the heat it put off. Anxious to eat cooked meat, I skewered the rabbit and set it close to the flames. An hour passed before the meat appeared cooked as I had seen the hunter’s. With anticipation, I pulled the rabbit away from the flames, pinching a bit of flesh near the leg. Right away I yelped as the heat of the meat took me off guard. I waited a moment, my leg shaking with impatience before trying again. This time, the meat was cooler to the touch and I was able to slip off a chunk. It felt noticeably drier than the fresh meat had against my human hands, but it flaked in a way that made my mouth water. I touched the meat to my tongue, and instantly the taste was far more complex than I’d ever tasted with the tongue of the owl. I was taken by the whole experience, and before I knew it, there was nothing but bones.
    Finished, I couldn’t help but feel restless as my stomach felt full. The task itself had been completed, but I was bored. I wanted more of this new life. Inside me, something began to tickle up my spine. I tried to determine what the feeling was. Trying it on for size, I began to get the sense that it was a memory that wanted to come out. In this memory, there was the intense feeling that there was someone I needed to find. But who was this someone and why?
    Looking at my hands, I picked at the dirt caked under my fingernails. If my purpose was to find this person, this person I now saw as a man, I knew that I could not find them in the human world looking the way I did. What resources did I have to make myself into more of the human I observed watching the hunter? The question presented all the answers I needed. Quickly, I switched back into an owl and flew toward the cabin. It was dusk and I knew the hunter would still be out hunting. It was the only chance I had for the next few days.
     
    WES:
     
    Lacy and I stood outside Emily’s bedroom door. “This is hard for her,” I whispered.
    “Hard for her?” Lacy rolled her eyes. “Brother, I realize it’s hard for her. But, don’t you think it’s maybe a little harder for her mother? She saw Jane die.”
    “Jane isn’t dead,” I snapped.
    Lacy gave me a look, one that told me not to get my hopes up.
    I sighed, pinching my fingers around my forehead. I had a headache. Voices murmured their way up the stairs. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but I imagined they were speculating as to how Jane had—gone.
    Who was I kidding? The best chance I had of getting over this was to say it—died.
    Jane had died. She was dead. I knew no one wanted me to refer to it this way, but really, what other way was there to say it? As far as I was concerned, I would never interact with Jane again. Though Max could still see her, what did that do for me? I couldn’t see her, and as far as I was concerned, she was dead.
    Dead.
    But it felt silly. All this felt silly. A funeral? I realized her mother wanted to make this as traditional as possible for everyone who didn’t know about the family secret of magick. But still, she knew the truth, knew that Max was trying to bring her back. What if he did? What would she tell people then? That Jane just reappeared? I was still angry about what Jane’s mother, Sarah, had decided to do with Jane’s body.