Shadow Tag [Open]

[Poet]

"And the days they all turn black...
And our dreams all start to fade.
But there's no turning back.

Hop, hop, hippity-hop. Leapfrog it was! The little girl chortled, hopping over her shadow, only to have to appear right in front of her. Ah, over it again and again and again! No matter how many times that she leapt over her shadow, Vivi couldn’t ever catch up, not till the sun went down, and that was the way she liked it. After all, it was a game that would last forever! Who wouldn’t like that? So much fun!

Taking an extra large leap in an effort to get ahead, the child tumbled, her already grass-stained dress getting worse as her brown braids flopped about her head. “Whoopsies!” she announced to no one in particular, picking herself up off the ground and wiping the excess grass off of her blue dress. No need to get herself too dirty, after all. She didn’t want to get yelled at when she finally made her way home. Well, to her house, anyway. That totally wasn’t home.

Good mood momentarily ruined, the little girl frowned lightly, flopping back onto the grass on her back, and smelling in the freshness of it all. She liked being outside, where the air was fresh, the animals were fun, and there were no empty people around. Vivi had yet to meet anyone when she went out here to play, but she was positive that if she did end up seeing someone, they wouldn’t be empty like everyone else. After all, empty people didn’t want to come out here.

Mood uplifted once more, at the thought of meeting a not-empty person, the child began humming a nonsense little tune, one that she had made up herself, before throwing herself into a somersault, laughing gaily as she finished rolling. Yeah, that was fun! She grinned cheerily, scrambling to the top of the hill she was on, before rolling down it, giggling all the way. Whee!

Honestly, this was way better than hanging out with any of the kids that she knew, the nine-year-old decided, making her way back up the hill for a repeat of her rolling. Who would want to play house, or dolls, or just be stupid, when you could roll around in the grass? True, her dress was all grass-stained now, and she would probably need to get it fixed again, cause she had ripped it on some rocks, but this was still way better. Stupid other kids.

With that final thought, Vivi grinned once more and rolled down the hill.

~~~~~~

Word Count: 414 Words
Song: What If by Simple Plan

[Ninette]

The light of the day found Nalith collapsed on the gentle slopes, hands and hair sullied by dirt, and her mood taking a plummeting dive. She was always on the lookout for valuable plants, and being a botanist of sorts, wouldn't overlook greenery simply because its medical use wasn't widely known. She was beginning to think there was a reason some plants where overlooked, the cramping in her arms the result of a prior scuffle with the meadows vegetation. She could only assume the scarce plants were so tough because of the constant sun, perhaps it was a survival mechanism of some sort, making them bristly and with roots deep in the Earth. Whatever the cause, all she wanted to do now was rest, as she lay on her back picking out shapes in the clouds.

Her cloud games were broken by the sound of childs laughter. At first she thought it was a trick of the wind, perhaps the giggling murmur she heard being the breeze, rustling as it weaved its way through the grass. Like a dog pricks its ears in rigid silence when hearing a strange sound, so the lady stood, still and silent, curioisty piqued by the thought of a child so far from the safety of her gaurdians. A moment later and the sound was swept away by the wind, and with a shrug, she returned to her laborious battle with the wild vegetation. She finally prevailed, but only to be given a bittersweet victory. With a final tug, the healers prize was to land flat on her bottom, clasping the plant tightly within her fist. It was while on her back that the sound came again, her head had come to rest close to the crest of the hill, and making the laughter seem to be all the nearer.

She scrambled to her feet, dusting off the filth of the days toil with one hand, the other raised to shield her eyes from the sun as she surveyed a distant slope. At first it appeared as only a dark, swift moving shadow, Naliths eyes still unaccustomed to facing the suns glow. Her eyes gradually adjusted however, and as another peal of laughter burst from the form, she realized that it truly was a child that she saw. The maternal part of her reacted only with terror; the thought of a young girl out alone in the wilderness, how dangerous! As the youths giggling became even louder, the tiny form now rolling down the hill, seemingly overcome by joy, the more easygoing side of Nalith could not help but laugh with her. Still, the fact that it was a child, seemingly alone, could not be overlooked. She left the stubborn plant at its place on the ground, glad to have an excuse to end the dreary job.

Shifting into her eagle form, she skimmed down the gentle curve of the slope, white breastbone close enough to threaten the ground with a swift kiss. The flight was a short one, less than a minute later she coming to where the childs descent would end. Her dark eyes gave the girl a cool once over, taking in the soiled clothes, and dirt patterned skin in a swift glance. She couldn't help but let a chuckle escape her beak, the girls discheveled, but clearly delighted form too much to resist. The laughter continued even as she spoke, her tones softening, but still riddled with the telltale undertones of amusement. "Decided your clothes need a change of color did we? I've never really favored buying dyes myself." The child looked fairly young, she wasn't sure if her lighthearted teasing had gone completely over her head.

The idea that her eagle form may terrify the child came as an after though, Nalith quickly shifting from her prior thick beak and long clawed form, to the more welcoming appearance of her human shape. She made sure to compensate for the fierceness of her prior form with a warm smile, though bearing its characteristic unevenness, the grin itself bemused and curious. "But little ones should do their clotheswork a bit closer to home, don't you agree?"

wordcount :: 760
Notes :: junk long post, hope it makes sense

[Poet]

"And the days they all turn black...
And our dreams all start to fade.
But there's no turning back.

Hearing what seemed like faint laughter, from farther away, the girl paused in her descent. Was someone out here? …Nah, couldn’t be. If someone was, it was surely one of her friends, right? The thought stirred a spark of hope within her, cause she always liked to play with them, especially her best friend, Evan, so Vivi looked up with eyes wide, just in time to see her best friend fade into sight. “Evan!” she cried gleefully, lunging at him and giving the black-haired boy a hug, who simply smiled and patted her on the back in return.

She had met him forever ago, after Mommy… went away, and he had yet to say a word to her! But his name was Evan, she knew that, just like she knew that she was his best friend and he hers. “Come on, come on, let’s go hill-rollin'!” Vivi told him, grabbing his hand and tugging him up with her as she scrambled back up the hill. The blue-eyed boy with messy hair gave her a smile, one of his small, usual ones that barely showed any teeth, which told her that he was totally okay with it! Yes, friend-time! Always better than doing it alone!

Of course, he had to wait for her to start rolling before he could, otherwise they crash right into each other, kaboosh! That would hurt! Rolling to a stop at the base of the hill, Vivi looked up with her wide green eyes, wanting to see what progress her friend had made, when she saw a bird. Right. There.

Mouth falling into an ‘o’ of surprise and excitement, the girl tentatively reached out a hand, shushing Evan as he rolled to a stop behind her, intending to try and touch the bird… When it chuckled. Shrieking in surprise and falling back into Evan’s lap (who caught her and immediately began to glare at the bird), Vivi’s eyes widened as her mind connected the dots. Laughing bird? Had to be a person, then!

That theory was only proved when the bird spoke up, with a decidedly female voice, though her words made Evan chuckle and Vivi scrunch up her face, trying to understand. Redecorate her clothes? What? That made no- Oh… She was talking about the grass stains on her clothes, right? “I dinna try to,” the girl told the bird petulantly, crossing her arms while Evan smiled on indulgently. “Th’ best playin’ always makes ma’ clothes dirty, that’s all.” For all the girl’s intelligence, her speech was quite obviously that of a child’s, especially considering the fact that the only time she spoke to normal people was with questions. The rest of the time, it was with her silent imaginary friend, which really didn’t help with her speech.

Vivi’s eyes widened once more as the bird shifted into a woman. A friendly, warm looking woman, but a woman none-the-less. “That was so cool!” she immediately gushed, awe and adoration written all over her face. She had never actually seen someone switch from animal to human, or vice versa, even though she had done it herself, and it was way more cool to see than she would’ve thought. “I’ve never actually seen somebody do that afore!” Major, major awesome, right there!

A thought occurred to her, and Vivi’s eyes turned back to Evan, in whom lap she was currently resting. “Can you do tha’, Evan?” she asked curiously, having never thought to ask him before. He shook his head, however, which made her frown slightly. “Aww…” With that, she turned her attention back to the lady, unaware that she had totally missed the last question that the woman had asked, as well as the fact that she had been talking to (apparently) nothing.

~~~~~~

Word Count: 626 words
Song: What If by Simple Plan
Note: Just in case you can't tell (I tried to show it in the text), Evan is completely imaginary. Nobody can see him but Vivi. ;)