Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

me.
    “I’m sorry I got so angry,” he said while reaching out and squeezing my hand. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
    A tear came to my eye.
    “Oh, Dad; I’m so sorry.” I sat up and threw my arms around his neck. He hugged me tightly while gently patting my back.
    “Just promise you’ll be more careful next time,” he said.
    Too choked up to speak, I nodded in agreement. He kissed me on the forehead, smiled, and left my room.
    I wiped away my tears and rolled over, vowing to never hurt my dad like that again. I sighed as I reclaimed the shirt, holding it to my face, and closed my eyes.
    Since my dad and I made up, I didn’t feel so guilty anymore allowing the memories of the night to run wild in my head, and let the more confusing aspects of it come to light. There were just too many things that didn’t make sense. And the nagging “lie” bothered me too.
    What was he hiding? What was he doing there?
    Maybe it was illegal to kill mountain lions and he feared he’d get in trouble.
    I rolled to the other side and felt the throbbing ache from my hip grow worse. Utterly exhausted, all I really wanted to do was sleep, but my mind wouldn’t let me, as the scary “what ifs” played mercilessly when I closed my eyes. I reached over to look at my pain pill bottle thinking it might be time to take one.
    ‘May cause drowsiness’ it read.
    Good.
    Within minutes of taking two pills, my brain began to grow hazy and visions of wild animals became rainbows in fluffy clouds, as my eyes closed sleepily and I drifted off to dream land.
    * * *
    I tried to run but my legs were stuck as if in quicksand and I didn’t have the strength to move them. I fearfully pulled with all my might to make them move forward. Everywhere I looked, the blurry forest seemed to close in on me. I could hear the footfalls of something coming closer in the distance. At its snarl, I turned and gasped. A very large cat lay crouched down in the mist. Its yellow menacing eyes studied me, lips snarled up to reveal large meat eating teeth glistening in the moonlight. It sprung.
    “Ahh,” I screamed sitting up, flailing my arms trying to prevent the cat from attacking.
    I blinked and caught my breath. My head was covered in sweat but I safely sat in my bed. The clock read 2:20 in the morning. I slumped back and thought about what I saw, my heart still pounding against my chest. I felt my eyes grow heavy and sleep took hold of me once again.
    * * *
    I woke up the next morning feeling like I’d been run over by a Mac truck. Everything involved in getting ready for the day was a challenge and took twice as long as normal to accomplish. I hadn’t realized how much I’d taken my ankle for granted until it wasn’t a functioning part of my body anymore. I barely made it downstairs in time for Luke to drive me to school.
    Earlier, I’d called Sam and asked her to meet me in front of the school where Luke would drop me off. I knew I’d need help with my books, but I didn’t tell her anything about what happened, except that I hurt my ankle. I wanted to tell her all about Nicholas in person.
    “Oh my gosh; what happened?” she asked as soon as I tried getting out of the Blazer. Both she and Luke had to help me get out.
    “You’ll never guess,” I said with a wry smile.
    I explained the whole story to her as she helped me get to our first period P.E. class.
    “You’re kidding!” she said wide-eyed as I got to the part where he caught me.
    I’d conveniently left out the “mountain lion” part. I just changed the story slightly saying that the spider caused me to lose my balance and then I toppled off the side of the cliff. It didn’t sound as good, but a mountain lion sighting could cause some to panic. If that information got back to my brother or my dad, I would surely get it. It would be Nicholas’ and my secret.
    By third period, news spread like wild fire around school about how I’d almost fallen to my death and some stranger rescued me. Girls I barely knew stopped me in the hall to ask me what happened. Each time I told the story, the reaction was the same—mouths open, then comments of how lucky I was. Every one of them were astounded and a tiny bit jealous, and I could only assume it was because they wanted to have the same thing happen to them. I would gladly trade my injuries and the attention with any one of them, as long as I knew for certain I’d meet Nicholas another way. But then, I’d be