The Reborn Forest by Renee Bradshaw

Author:Renee Bradshaw [Bradshaw, Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Two Weeks Earlier

The deciding moment sat on Mara, as heavy as a stone while thousands of thoughts ran over her like a river. The most puzzling thought, the one that made her laugh, she spoke.

“Where are the lights and trumpets?” In the comics, there were always lights and trumpets when one received their message and became a Citizen of Change. Because they always chose the Questioner path. Because if they did not accept their new role that meant they chose evil. The comics made the distinction obvious. No one ignored their calling out of fear.

Could she bury her head under the covers and pretend like the moment never happened? Or, did she run down to the office and report the break in?

How would she explain her inactivity for the past hour as Tayla got away?

Her inactivity.

She did not react. A moment some people wait their entire lives for – chosen to help the Questioners – and Mara let that moment sit across from her with silver hair. Drinking water from her guest glass like she was Mara’s father.

Just popping ‘round for a visit, Mara. Seeing how you’re doing.

The temptation had not been strong enough then, to slink in the shadows, to do something important for the surrounding citizens. Even with Tayla in her home, representing a new life. Would a piece of paper change her mind?

She was unexpectedly exhausted, though there was still damn near two hours before the power would dim.

She mentioned my mother by name. A name she never thought she would hear again, spoken in that tone of love from a stranger’s mouth. Such a different tone than when Mara’s father said, “your mother.”

A member of their cause? Was that why Mara always had the urge to read the comics? Why she was too curious? Had her mother set curiosity alive in her as a child when she was busy setting in manners, dance lessons, and study skills?

“Just read the damn paper,” Mara muttered, swinging her feet over the side of the bed. She crept across the room, frightened, even with her demanding statement that she pull herself together. Read it then… then what? Flush it down the toilet? Mara saw no other option. The note would not change her life, but it would satisfy her curiosity.

Her fingers fought against the decision her mind made, and she reached three times before she touched the paper. She waited for an invisible strike, then yanked out the sheet and small piece of wood.

She trembled from fear, frightened that the message might self-destruct. Tiny corner by tiny corner, she unraveled the page. The object inside tumbled onto Mara’s bedspread; small, slender, and made of real wood. She recognized the object from the comics. A whistle. Communication.

Trumpets and lights.

“All in,” Mara breathed.

Four sentences handwritten, she read them over and over until she memorized them. Then she walked into the bathroom, shredded the paper into a dozen pieces and flushed the toilet.

“Time to return our decisions,” Mara said timidly, as the last piece swirled and disappeared from sight.

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