Drakaina Series Book 1: Secrets from Inside

Sparks and Spirals

The ground is hard against my bare feet as I ran through the beautiful sun's rays this morning. The smooth cool air feels as though I am gliding in the forest. I reached the top of the rocks and decided to take a break. I have been on the run for most of my life with my family. I have never understood the reason, and it has never been explained. I don’t have much memory before age five. My family tells me this is normal as most children don’t have many memories that early.

Today, I took a long run in the forest up to this rock point I see every day from my window. The smell of pine and the sound of rushing water always soothes my spirit. I have felt very anxious all week and my runs are getting faster. Expressing this to my family several times that, according to the books and to my knowledge, humans should not be able to run a mile this fast. My father always assures me that I am just incredibly fit and takes care of myself.

As I embark back to the house, I notice that there is some sort of sparkles in the air all around. I move off the rock down to the stream nearby and try to reach out and touch them. As I move my hand through the golden green sparks, I feel tingles but they don’t hurt. I see off in the distance there is a huge one and decide to investigate. I come about five feet from it, and it disappears. I look around quickly and see nothing anymore. Shaking my head at the crazy illusions, I started to head back down the hill.

Coming into the house, I smelled my mother’s fresh sourdough bread and practically sprint to the kitchen.

“Hey Mom, what is that I smell?” I laugh grabbing a plate from the cupboard.

“Tova, now you know your father will be home soon and always wants that first slice, you will have to wait until he arrives.” She says as she smacks my hand away from the loaves.

“Mom! That is not fair, I am starving and would love to have a slice. You know I did do all the dishes and the laundry all week. I also will do it next week too!” I say trying to give her the sweetest eyes I could.

"Enough of that now, you will have to wait. Dinner will be in an hour. Go upstairs and clean up." She says as she grabs the plate I got out of the cupboard and puts it away.

I stomped my way up to my room and closed the door. Grabbing clothes for the shower and heading down the hall, I run into my brother as he is leaving.

“There is no hot water,” he said winking and adding an incredibly annoying smirk.

“You have to be kidding me! Again!” I yelled, closing the door. This is the third time this week.

After my shower, I headed downstairs for dinner. My mother, Sarah, my father, Bailey and my two brothers, Dax and Sean. My father and brothers tower over my mother and I at about 6 ½ feet. They do not look they same though. Dax has brown hair and blue eyes. Sean has blonde hair and brown eyes. My father has black hair and brown eyes. They all look like they are ready for any fitness adventure. My mother is a petit woman with long brown hair and blue eyes. I am slightly taller than her and curvy with bright red hair and purple eyes.

No one has ever explained to me why my eyes are purple or bright red hair. You see, this hair is not a normal red it shimmers in the sun or any light for that matter. In the sun though, it shimmers bright like red jewels. I have always thought this was a beautiful feature of mine. School people thought I had tinsel or some sort of dye in it, but I do not. It is all natural. Snapping out of my thoughts as my brother passes a bowl to me.

Dinner was quiet again, which is odd. Normally, my brothers don’t stop competing on who can eat the most and my father talks about his day at the store. Come to think of it, this whole week has been incredibly quiet for my family. It has been quite the opposite for me though, having all these weird incidences during my daily activities or life.

You already know about the sparks this morning. Last week it was the swirls in the books. Every book I picked up at the library had swirls in them. They would just be yellow and hover over them. I eventually just left because it was freaking me out too much. One day, I was taking a shower and the water wouldn’t touch me. It kept falling all around me but not touching me. It took me forever to wash out the shampoo. My mood has been off as well.

I shake my head as I brush my teeth. Laying down for bed I think maybe its time to start asking questions about things. Why do we move so much or why do we have to stay hidden. After all, we are three months away from moving and I am one month away from twenty-one. I have never really pursued questions again after my mother shut me down at age fourteen. I just accepted what was and moved on. I am now wanting to go off on my own or have my own adventures and maybe find love.

All I know is that I am ready to have a future of my own and not travel so much. I just hope my family accepts that well when I bring it up. Thoughts evade and sleep wins.