Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

you were thinking, walking alone in the woods. In the dark,” he said slowly, controlling his anger. “I can’t believe you’d be so careless.”
    “I know, Dad. I’m sorry,” I whispered as I glanced up at him through my bangs.
    “Nobody knew you were out there.”
    I looked down again as I felt wave after wave of frustration and horror. I cringed. This was the one time I wished to be normal. Feeling my dad’s disappointment with me was by far worse than any other real punishment I could have experienced.
    “If that boy wasn’t there . . .” he exhaled sharply and stopped.
    I gulped back my tears and glanced up at him with his arms folded, towering in front of me, his body tense.
    “Julia, I could have lost you tonight, do you understand?” he said just above a whisper.
    The cushions squeaked when he sat down next to me. All I wanted was for him to put his arm over my shoulder, but the lecture wasn’t over.
    He struggled to keep his emotions under control, but I caught the twinge in his eye. He was reliving the distress again. The same distress I remembered eleven years ago when they found my mother’s waterlogged car in the river with no sign of her whereabouts. I wanted to sink into the couch and never come out.
    “Yes,” I whispered, feeling a prick of pain in my own eyes as they started to get watery also. “I’m really sorry, Dad.”
    From my peripheral vision, I watched him nervously turn his wedding band on his ring finger. I fought to remain calm as the silence droned on, but I didn’t dare say anything further. No matter how much I fought to fill the void, I would follow Luke’s advice.
    “I guess I need to go get your car now,” he grunted after several agonizing quiet minutes.
    I shook my head just a tiny bit, but still looked down.
    “Fine! Let’s go Luke,” he barked. “Where are your keys?”
    I took them out of my pocket and held them out for him without making eye contact. He snatched them out of my hand and stormed towards the door. I breathed a sigh of relief as I read his real feelings. He loved me; overwhelmingly so.
    “I hope you’ve learned your lesson!” my father said over his shoulder just before slamming the front door closed behind him.
    Full of guilt, I hobbled up the stairs to my room, anxious to shower away the grime and guilt from the fall. The warm water felt good over my sore muscles but stung the large raspberry covering most of my left side. I knew tomorrow I’d be feeling a lot worse.
    I winced while examining the new cut on my left cheekbone in the mirror, wondering how I could have been so stupid; a possible permanent token symbolizing my lapse of judgment. A scar might be just what I needed to wise up.
    A flash of his shimmering eyes gazing down at me the first time we made eye contact stole into my thoughts. Butterflies tickled my stomach and threatened to rage out of control as I stifled a giggle. I pressed my eyes shut and sobered myself up, disgusted I could so easily let the circumstances amuse me, remembering my dad’s grief instead.
    Downstairs, I heard the door slam followed by muffled voices. On one foot, I hopped to my bedroom door and quietly closed it. Keeping out of sight seemed prudent at the moment. I dug around on my floor and found my favorite loose-fitting jammies and gingerly put them on before crawling into bed.
    My tattered shirt sat on the edge of my comforter. Picking it up, I felt the fabric in my hands. A memory of Nicholas carrying me down the trail surged through my mind. Who was he really? I bit my lip and thought through what happened, replaying every gory detail. I brought the shirt to my nose and inhaled. It still smelled like him.
    I turned off the light and looked out the window. The stars twinkled softly in the night’s sky. It didn’t matter which way I lay on my bed though, every direction I tried hurt something someplace. I picked the least painful position and snuggled my face against the shirt feeling closer to Nicholas with each inhale.
    Was he looking at the same stars thinking of what happened too? I hoped so.
    I felt someone approach before I heard the gentle tapping on my door.
    “Yes?” I said as I frantically stuffed the shirt under my pillow. I knew it was my dad, who seemed to be a lot calmer. But I didn’t want to be caught sniffing my dirty shirt.
    “I wanted to say goodnight,” he said while cracking open the door.
    He walked over to my bedside and sat down. His soft expression comforted