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 210: The scene rippled and once again Penelope watched the out of control horses race down the street.
The scene rippled and once again Penelope watched the out of control horses race down the street. It was still frightening but now that she knew more or less what would happen Penelope was able to brace for things. She ignored the horses and looked to where Emily was instead of having to search for her. Instead of leaning against the wall she was climbing off the ground. Surprisingly there was a man behind her making a hasty retreat. As others were rushing towards her, it seemed strange.
Emily, with her clearly broken arm was obviously in pain. The ladies swooped in and took her to the doctor’s office. Penelope followed. The world rippled and she followed Emily to her bedroom. The sight of the man stayed with her, and Penelope tried to push thoughts of him away as she focused once again on how Emily was healing her arm.
When the scene rippled again, Penelope was ready, braced for the explosion of sound and movement. She immediately turned to Emily and was certain she saw the man push her so she fell and ended up with her arm broken.
“She could have ended up with a lot more broken,” Penelope thought looking at the horses. It was a disconcerting notion. She didn’t know Emily and given the clothing she and the others were wearing she, the man who pushed her and pretty much everyone she saw was long dead, but she couldn’t help but feel outrage at the man who pushed her down.
The scene played again and once more Penelope tried to focus on the healing. While she thought she had it down, Penelope let the scene play a few more times. Each time it reset, she focused on the man who pushed Emily, committing his face to memory as though planning to pick him out of a line up and then shifted to studying the healing once he was gone.
Eventually she thought she had both his face memorized and the understanding to try the healing herself. Reluctantly Penelope stepped out of the scene and back into the black. She looked to the sunburst of lights. They were still glowing but none of them was pulsing and calling her to them.
“Maybe I’ve learned what I needed,” she told herself. Penelope took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In the bed, she rolled over and fell into more normal sleep.
When Penelope woke, she found her arm still hurt but somehow the pain was less immediate than the day before. She got up and slowly made her way through her bathroom routine and getting dressed. The movements caused the pain to flare to life and by the time she was more or less dressed the pain pills were looking pretty good. She took a couple of ibuprofen thinking that if she did try the healing she learned in the night then she might want to take the edge off the pain first.
‘I also want to start with the plants and work my way up to the bone,’ Penelope decided. She didn’t think trying a potential new skill on her own bones was a good idea.
“But at least no one pushed me in front of a runaway horse,” Penelope told herself. As she went to the kitchen to get some breakfast she wondered if a greenhouse attack was much better than a shove into the street.
Ten til Midnight 