Raven Saga 01 - Raven

Friday was when I had a date with Oliver. I blushed at the thought. Meredith smiled. She knew what was going through my mind.
    “I think perhaps we've put rather a lot on poor Lilly since last night. We should all go home and leave her to think about everything. After all, it is a lot to take in,” she said, standing, “plus, John will be coming home for lunch so I'd better go and get him some food ready.”
    She kissed me on the top of my head, kissed everyone else before putting on her warm green coat and walked out the front door without a backwards glance.
    The others stood and said similar things, before they prepared themselves for the cold weather outside with coats, scarves and gloves before following along behind her.
    As Rose stood up, she took my hand and offered to make me some lunch at her house if I wanted to walk her home. As Gabriel had also gone out, I locked up and wrapped up warm as we headed off in the direction of her home. Instead of walking along the roadside, we chose to take the scenic route, the way I had walked when I had first come across the lovely Portuguese music.
    I thought back to that day, to my first impression of Rose and wondered if I looked anything like a cat... or a raven for that matter, but I couldn't see it in myself. Perhaps others saw me that way. Although I hoped that the dangerous ones couldn't tell, I certainly wouldn't want them to know.
    As we wandered along the shoreline, I heard the plops again of the fish jumping out of the water and back again, wondering if they were simply fish or fish that had another secret side to them. A human side.
    They looked pretty harmless so I assumed, and hoped, that they were of the simple fish variety. They were small creatures so it was hard to imagine them changing into human form. But then, so were ravens and cats. I wished I knew how the change took place. I didn't feel the need to change myself, but I would have liked to witness someone else changing – perhaps then I would feel better prepared for what was to come in my own life.
    Just 24 hours ago I would have walked down there by the sea and I wouldn't have had a care in the world (other than that of my missing 'mother' and father). I would have seen everything in a completely different light. Innocent and naïve to the real world. That was me... yesterday.
    How things can change in less than a day. Now everything I looked at appeared different. Everything that once would have taken my breath away because of its natural beauty would be scrutinised in a way I never dreamed possible. Even the other birds that sat innocently in the trees above us could be more than just birds. Were they really birds? Or were they humans that could change? As they watched us, what were they seeing? Did they see innocent bystanders to the world? Or did they see us as threats? Particularly Rose with her catlike appearance? Could they sense the cats in us?
    The world was a completely different place to what it was yesterday.
    As we wandered through those immensely tall cedar trees and I noticed glimpses of the bright blue sky between the branches, Rose stopped and turned to face me.
    “I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you the truth when we first met, my dear. I do hope you understand that I had to wait for your grand-father to speak first. It was between him and you.”
    I told her that I did understand the reasons behind the decisions and I didn't hold it against her. It was irritating at first but not any more.
    “I so wanted to tell you about your mother.”
    “You can now, though,” I responded hopefully as we wandered through the trees along a winding pathway that had probably been created by my family over the years.
    It was what she wanted to hear and so she began to tell me what my mother was truly like. Beautiful, honest and playful. From childhood until her early death, she was the same. Devoted was another word she used. “Devoted to me. To our parents. To Neleh. She was devoted to you the whole nine months she carried you, too, Lilly. You mustn't forget that. Although you didn't have the chance to know her, you two developed a bond during that time and that's a bond that can never be broken. I think this is why she is able to get through to you so strongly in your dreams. You need that bond to be able to do that.”
    That simple sentence meant the world to me. Even though I had never had the opportunity to know this remarkable woman, I did have an unbreakable bond with her. She