I wasn’t quite finished with the story I was telling by the time 2025 ended and so decided to continue it until it reached an ending point. Then I will start a new one. Besides, I kind of want to see where Penelope ends up. And so we have…
Day 207: Penelope blinked as she watched the trio once again open the picnic basket.
Penelope blinked as she watched the trio once again open the picnic basket. The entire discussion started again. Penelope listened and watched. None of the words changed, the mannerisms were the same. ‘It’s like it is a recording.’
Penelope listened to the recording a second time over and thought about using magic to heal. She thought of her own currently broken arm.
‘Not dealing with it for the next six or so weeks would be nice.’ She had a long list of things she wanted to do but when working one armed, she was limited. ‘Even then the pain wipes me out.’ She was sure the pain would fade at some point. The doctor set the bone, and it needed time to fuse back together. It was the movement that she thought was causing the pain. ‘And why he gave me those pain pills.’
Penelope took a step back from the group as the scene reset again. Instead of backing up into the grass surrounding the picnic tableau, Penelope found herself falling back into the darkness with the gradient colored sunburst around her. One of the other green lights was blinking this time. It was a deeper green than the celadon one from before. She moved to it, unsurprised when she again found herself falling into a scene.
This one was far different even though it featured Emily. The men were gone and Emily was seated on a small stool in what looked like a green house. There were glass panels overhead held in place by a metal framework. The front wall was glass as well. The glass was steamed up a bit but through it, Penelope could see a landscape covered with snow, the tree limbs bare and black where they stretched up into the sky. The room itself felt stifling. When she looked around, Penelope saw there were pipes running through the room.
Moving near one of them, she found the heat was radiating from it. Emily was seated in front of a potting bench. Her dark skirts nearly swallowed the stool she was sitting on. In front of her was a small plant. It looked as though someone sat on it. Several of it’s delicate stems were bent or outright snapped.
“Heal not grow,” Emily muttered to herself. She cupped a hand around one of the bend stems. It was nearly snapped and the smell of green was intense. Penelope leaned in as she felt the tingle of Emily’s magic begin to work. Slowly, the damaged part began to heal. When it was healthy again Emily took a deep breath and turned her attention to another part of the plant. Penelope watched as Emily worked on healing each of the broken bits on the plant. There was even a newly severed stem she managed to re attach and make grow in a healthy way again. When she was finished the plant was whole and undamaged.
Watching Emily, Penelope could almost see how it was done.
Emily set the plant to the side and picked up a small knife. The scent of astringent was strong in the room as Emily lifted a bottle and dabbed heat Penelope thought was rubbing alcohol on a cloth. The cloth she used to sterilize the blade.
Penelope jumped as Emily then used the blade to make a small cut on the top of her left arm. Blood welled up and Emily set the blade aside. She cupped a hand over the cut.
Ten til Midnight 