Page 25 - THE BOOK 11 12 2020 8 pm FINAL_Neat
P. 25
One carries a large stone-like mine,
his hair, red
like a dying fire.
The other’s hair is dark, and
in his hands he holds a long rod of steel.
I don’t know
how long we walk,
but finally we come to a river,
a wide, flat ribbon of soft grey.
It seems peaceful, inviting, and calm.
But then the water starts to churn,
the surface twisting and writhing
like something alive.
The river explodes into fragments of mist as
a kelpie- a huge,
powerful gray-green horse with
water rolling off its
ice-slick hide in sheets-
rears up from the river.
My heart pounds with fear, but
the two boys are calm.
The second boy,
the one with the metal rod,
leaps at the kelpie.
A line of silver is his rod swinging down
before it hits the kelpie’s shoulder with a crack.
Blood sprays over me,
and the monster shrieks. I’m shrieking too now,
howling as the burning blood sears my skin
like a hundred tiny claws.
The pain fades and my vision clears
24
