Stranger Spirits

The Morning After [Chapter One Part Six]

The sun still hasn't risen but from the light streaming, I could tell that there was still an hour or so until sunrise. Beads of sweat trickled down my back as I sat up in my bed.

That was fucking crazy! I covered my mouth to prevent my chuckling from making too much noise. I was a fox that bound around a colorful forest and I saw Atticus naked! My cheeks began to feel heated. Oh my Gods, I saw him naked...does that make me perverse? I grabbed my quilt and shoved my face into a wad of it. "Oh my Gods I'm a pervert!" Feeling too hot under my sheets I got out of bed and went to the main room. I began to chug the water from my water canteen until it was empty.

A couple minutes later I was outside heading towards the edge of town to retrieve some water for my canteen, but since I'm too lazy and it snowed overnight, I'm going to just fetch some freshly fallen snow instead of making an even longer trek towards the nearby river.

I scooped up small pieces and chunks of the snow and began shoving it into the canteen. "What are you doing?" I looked up to see Atticus, at least this time in clothing, standing before me.

Remembering the events that transpired the night before my cheeks began to blush. "I-I ran out of water." Why do I get so nervous around him? "And I'm too lazy to go to the river and get some." Should I have even said that?

"You can come with me if you'd like." He showed me multiple canteens. "I'm restocking for my family."

"Okay." I stood up and dusted the snow off my pants to no avail. There was still going to be wet spots where my knees had pressed on the ground.

At first, we walked in silence and I just took in our surroundings. The snow had turned everything white. I know this happens every year but it's still so breathtaking. "How was your night?" I asked.

"It was very different, to say the least." He replied in a curt manner.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, not being human and all." I chuckled lightly at my inability to maintain a stimulating conversation. "I tried speaking to someone who had turned into a rabbit and that did NOT work. They just ran away."

I looked to my side to see that Atticus cracked a smile. "I dunno why but I kept on scratching the bark off trees. What compels you to do that?" His smile looks good on him.

"Maybe it was just your spirit wanted to do? The elders told us to do as we pleased."

"My spirit must be destructive then." Atticus murmured.

"Don't overthink it, it's probably just instinctive of...umm, what were you?" I pretended not to know what his spirit animal was.

"I was a wolf." He answered.

"Okay, well wolves like to mark their territory." Once we arrived at the river we began to fill our canteens. After I finished filling mine I helped him with his.

"Do you think you did well?" I looked at him as I sealed the container.

"What do you mean?" I cocked my head to the side.

"I mean, a lot of people want to be selected by the Gods. Do you think that you fared well?"

"I don't know, I mean, I don't know what the Gods look for when they choose someone."

"Yeah, you're right." He began to close off the last container. "That was a stupid question."

"No, it wasn't." I looked him in the eye as I handed him his canteen. "I just don't know. I mean, weird stuff happened last night. Maybe if I was more experienced with the ceremony I'd have a better idea but everything was so overwhelming that I just had no idea."

"You're right." He stood up and extended his hand. I took his hand and thanked him for helping me up. "No problem, thank you for accompanying me."

We walked back to town to see everyone was at the center listening to Shikoba speak. "Without further ado, we would like to announce that Atticus Blackwood was appointed by the Gods. Tonight, he will be cleansed and tomorrow morning he will be off to do the bidding of the Gods." Everyone began to clap but when I turned to him I didn't see the smile that I saw earlier by the lake. What I saw instead was an expressionless empty smile. I congratulated him but all I could wonder was if he, the most qualified person in our village, actually wanted to go through with this.

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Hey, so I know this is a small update but I wanted to post something today. It looks like the area I'm in will be "fine" in regards towards Irma but I'll probably lose power starting tomorrow afternoon. I'll try and do another post tomorrow morning just in case.

-Ryan