Possessing the Grimstone - By John Grover Page 0,2
will find you.”
“I do not wish for trouble. I just do not want to live in ignorance. Our innocence can be our weakness.”
“Hold on to your innocence, son,” his mother said. “It has kept our people true to themselves.”
“But for how long?”
“Pim, we are Wiverings,” his father continued. “Our line does not follow those paths. If war comes to us, we use the fleet of foot to protect and outsmart our enemies. That is why the First People left us their gift.”
“It can be used for more than avoiding conflict. It can be offensive, stealthy, amazing. I’ve heard our kind can run across deep water without falling in, and leap into the clouds like they’re flying.”
“Myths.”
“What if they’re not? We could be more powerful than what we think we are.”
“That is why the North and the South make war: because of thoughts and ideas like these. I will speak no more of it.” His father waved him off.
“But Father, I only speak my thoughts.”
“Enough, Pim. If you do not wish to be in the order of Thet, you will need to learn a new trade: blacksmithing, or carpentry. If not those, then you will have to take over the farm when I am gone. Take care of your mother, brother, and sister.”
Pim lowered his head and said no more. He returned to his carving and listened to the crackle of the fire.
###
After dinner, Pim joined his friends, Ono and Arc, at the Plathor River. It was dusk, and the moon was just rising over the whispering trees.
“Go on, run,” Ono said to Pim. “You’re the one who said you could run across it without falling in.”
“It can be done,” Pim replied. “We just need to focus the energy of the fleet.”
“It’s a myth,” Arc said. “My father said it’s just a story they used to tell each other to feel like our people were special and magical.”
“It’s real. I can feel it.” Pim stared at the roaring river. The current moved quickly, the mid-point looked so far away. He picked up a stone and tossed it across the surface of the water. It skipped three times, and then plopped into the water.
“See, that’s going to be you,” Ono said with a grin.
“You’re all just afraid, scared little snow doves.”
“Show us, then,” Arc said, clapping him on the back.
A ray of moonlight glimmered over the river. Pim prepared to run, but hesitated, sucking in air, and then releasing it.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Ono said to him.
“See,” Pim replied. “It’s a sign. Neither of your eyes glow. Watch and learn, boys…”
Pim took a few steps back, held his breath, balled his hands into fists, and ran. He let out his breath as he hit the water. His legs carried him across the shore in a blink of an eye. He moved like the wind nearly to the middle of the river, and fell feet first into the water.
Something moved past him as he sank. It slithered around his leg. Pim panicked and pushed to the surface as fast as he could.
His head bobbed, and the current took him, water filling his mouth, and he swallowed. He looked over at the embankment and saw Ono and Arc waving to him, terror in their eyes.
Pim went under again, shooting down the river. Again and again he would rise above the water, but each time he tried to cry out, his mouth would fill with water.
Past the thrashing, he saw his two friends again, dashing across the edge of the river, outrunning the current.
Pim sank once more, and then thrust his feet off a jagged stone. He broke the surface and reached out for the tree branch his friends had thrust out into the water.
Ono and Arc pulled with all of their might, dragging Pim out of the current until he could wade safely to the shore.
He stood, his bare feet sinking into the gritty sand that glinted in the moonlight.
“Are you okay?” Ono asked.
Pim opened his mouth to speak, but instead spit out water. Then he collapsed.
###
When Pim woke, his mother was sitting beside his bed. Concern filled her eyes. “I’m okay,” he whispered.
She wiped his brow with a damp cloth, and, without a word, left the room. His father appeared in her wake.
“You abused the fleet again, didn’t you? What have I told you, Pim? Over and over again! You cannot run upon the water. Stop being so foolish.”
“I almost made it.”
“You almost drowned. When are you going to give up these childish