Freya sat in her seat impatiently waiting, she was in biology, but she wasn't interested in the structure of a plant cell and the process of photosynthesis. Her attention was on the clock hanging over the classroom door, it currently reads 12:49 pm, she bounced her foot up and down, gently tapping her heel making a soft tapping sound on the floor. As the bell rang, she practically jumped from her seat and pulled her bag along, making her way out the door and down the halls and stairs towards the side exit near the outside classes in the huts. As soon as she was out of the main building, she started to speed walk to the area where they kept the unused greenhouses. Freya still remembered how she first came across the abandoned greenhouses, it was before she made it to the high school. She was halfway through her 8th-grade year and she had had a bad day at school and decided to walk home just to clear her head, even back then the taunting from her fellow students got to her.
She started walking towards the high school as her eyes began to tear up. She was passing by the old greenhouses as she heard someone calling to her, "Hello dear, why are you so sad? Such a sweet face shouldn't be stained with tears," Freya looked to see Ms. Grand carrying a long and deep basket, one side was filled with her gardening tools and gloves; the tools were old and well used, the gloves were stained with dirt and the smell of fertilizer, while the other side was filled to the brim with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and some spinach. Freya wiped her eyes and nose as she looked toward the stranger, Ms. Grand smiled at her softly and walked over to her and sat on the stone lining the sidewalk. She patted the place next to her, Freya nodded and took the seat, leaning back on her palms taking in the smells of the vegetables, dirt, and the spring air.
She began to calm down and Ms. Grand sat there next to her and laid an arm on her knees, leaning forward and tilting her head she asked, "So why were you crying?" Freya looked up at her and began to unload all her stress; about the kids at school, her failing a test, and how stressed she felt about it all, she took a deep breath and looked up at Ms. Grand with a smile, "thank you for letting me vent, today was a bad day." Ms. Grand rubbed her upper back gently and they both chuckled.
Freya swung open the sliding door to her greenhouse and a wide smile appeared on her face when she saw all her herbs and flowers in their rows. She skipped over to the lower-left corner of the building, to her dark purple orchids, these were always one of her favorite flowers. She loved the vibrant color and soothing scent they had, but above all, she loved learning about herbs and flowers and everything they can be used for. She slipped her gardening gloves on and grabbed the tools Ms. Grand let her use, as she knelt and began to gently pull the flowers and their roots out of the small patch of earth. She gently stacked them in a faded white basket, the basket itself was in an almost flat shape, the faded and chipped white paint from the basket made the varying dark and light purple hues of the flowers seem brighter. Freya held the basket and stood up while looking through the ceiling glass she could see the light blue-sky overhead and the few white clouds slowly passing over. She smiled to herself and turned her attention to the next plant shed been waiting for, the chamomile and calendula. She knelt to the two beds side by side and smelled the herbs. The smell tickled her nose, making it crinkle up as she giggled to herself, "you both only took 7 ½ weeks, but these will make some wonderful teas and creams." She started to carefully take them out of the soil, she heard a soft knock coming from the sliding door of the greenhouse.
Freya looked up and was surprised to see someone rather unexpected, Daniel Randell, a football player and the type of guy that all the girls wanted. He was smart and considered very likable among students and teachers, what could he want here? Freya stood up quickly as he stepped inside "so um...do you happen to know where hut 534 is?" he asked raising an eyebrow and tapping his foot impatiently. Freya pointed out the door and to the left "go to the end and the right it's to only build there" he nodded and turned to leave but looked back "it's embarrassing I had to ask you, tell nobody I have a reputation." He walked out and closed the door behind him, Freya sighed and sat down on her small stool, even the supposed sweetest boy in school hated her family. Freya inhaled slowly and sighed turning back to her garden beds and continuing to harvest her herbs.
Ring!
The last bell finally rang throughout the school releasing the students to go home for the day. Freya picked up her bag and headed out of the classroom and towards the courtyard, as she walked, she passed the long row of windows. She looked through them and could see into the courtyard, Mark was sitting with his group rolling the dice and cheered. Freya watched them for a while, she didn't know much about Mage Quest but her brother had been a fan for about 2 years, from what she could understand it was much like the game Magic or Dungeons and Dragons but the range of characters was different and the main goal was to level up your character and gain experience and defeat bosses. Freya walked over to the table of Mark's friends, "ah come on!! Does anyone have any healing potions?" Mark's friend Carter groaned. Mark started writing something on Carter's page "uses one potion, you are healed" he hands him his paper and sighs relieved.
The quest master, his friend Kristy, stretches up and yawns before closing the book "I think this is a good place to stop for, today don't you?" Everyone nods, Freya gently taps the top of Mark's head and he turns around and smiles. "Hey, I hope you weren't waiting for too long" Freya shook her head as she handed him his bag "So were you able to get the sword from the castle?" they started towards the bus. Freya noticed how Mark was rubbing the back of his neck, this always meant he had something on his mind, and she can tell what. "So how is Kristy?" Freya asked in curiosity, she could see the deep red blush on her brother's face and smiled softly, "gosh she is so nice before we met for Mage Quest we were partnered in theatre and had to read lead parts together to practice emotional speaking. The teacher said that we did great, I had so much fun and we even got to know each other," Mark had a soft smile on his face. Freya could tell that he liked her a lot, he had told her that Kristy was his crush since middle school.
She thought about this as they boarded the bus and she sat next to the window with her bag and laying in her lap. She laid her face on her bag, she had never had a first love before she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to like someone that much and to have someone who knew her better than anyone. She closed her eyes and tried to take a nap on the way to their stop, she looked up towards the sky, the bright blue sky swirled as the bus rolled on and passed the trees. Her eyes began to feel heavy, her eyes drifted shut and her body started to relax, she sighed happily before she began to fall into a sweet, blissful sleep.
Freya and Mark walked through their front door and were immediately hit with the smell that was a mix of lavender and vanilla bean. They both walked to the kitchen's entrance to see their mom in the kitchen with an array of amber glass bottles, she had different size corks for them; she thought it gave them an air of authenticity. Freya stepped into the kitchen and gently stood her bookbag up on the table and began to take out the orchids, chamomile, and calendula she had harvested that day. Her mom saw them from the corner of her eye, and she turned and smiled big "they all bloomed just in time, thank you sweetheart" she went over and hugged Freya tightly, laying her ear on her chest. As she laid her head on her mom's chest, she could hear her heartbeat and feel the necklace she always wore around her neck, it was a simple long black string with a stone connected to it, a lapis lazuli with silver spirals wrapped around it to keep it attached to the string. Freya lifted her head off her chest and pointed to her mom's stone then looked up towards her, her mom chuckled, and a soft smile grew on her face.
"Mom what does this stone with the spiral around it mean?" Freya asked, she always thought that the blue of the stone and the silver seemed to suit her mother; she wondered if the meaning did, too. Her mom seemed thrown aback by her daughters sudden, nonetheless, she took the stone off from around her neck for her to get a better look. "This stone is a Lapis Lazuli and the spiral is silver and they both have unique meanings" she sat at the kitchen table, Freya took the seat next to her and looked at the necklace "so what do they mean?" Mark came in and took a seat at the table, just as curious about their meanings as Freya.
"Well, lapis lazuli represents deep wisdom and intuition while the silver is a symbol of the moon, the soul, and the beauty in life." Their mom said leaning back in her chair, "you know your dad gave this to me, it was on our third date he said to me 'Devona, I got you this for you to wear if you ever feel like life is dark or if you need help for the future, in which case I hope you will let me be a part of yours'" she smiled and Freya smiled with her and Mark sighed "I wish I was like dad," he said as he leaned his chin into his palm "he wasn't afraid to let you know that he liked you, he dared to say 'hey, I like you' I wish I could do that." Freya looked down at her hands and fell silent, Mark and her mom looked at her with concern. Their dad walked in loosening his tie, Freya looked at her family with a sad look on her face "I wish I knew what it was like to love someone as much as all of you, I sometimes wonder what it feels like?" Freya's dad knelt on one knee next to his daughter and cupped her hands in his, leaning his forehead on hers with a soft smile on his face. "You know there is no need to rush it, love will come when you least expect it," he said, Freya had a small smile and nodded as their dad looked towards her mom with a look of knowing, "Devona I know we said we wanted to wait until their birthday but I think now is as good a time as any don't you?"
She smiled as they both stood up "we know it is early, but we think we should give you both these now, could you get them Adam?" she smiled. He nodded before taking off his blazer, hanging it off the back of the chair, he stepped out of the kitchen and into their bedroom. He knelt onto the floor, removing a floorboard from in front of the bed revealing an old box with a lock on it that resembled a coiled snake. He came out a minute later carrying two small boxes with little horn locks in the fronts of them, both were old and had a sort of worn dark red paint. He sat them on the table in front of Mark and Freya and stood behind their mom, Freya looked at the box excitedly "This box is so pretty, it looks like something out of a fantasy world thank you!" she had a big smile on her face while Mark was a bit confused, their mom and dad looked at each other for a moment before they chuckled under their breaths.
Freya felt the heat rise to her cheeks out of embarrassment and began to nervously laugh, she looked at the box while turning the horn lock upward and gently tilting the top open. A small stone cut into an oval shape with a long silver chain sat at the bottom of the box, Freya picked it up out of the box and admired it. She saw Mark open his box and pull out a ring with a fiery orange stone surrounded by iron, "whoa, these are amazing what are these stones called?" Mark asked after putting his ring on his thumb.
Their mom smiled "well we got these pieces of jewelry made for the both of you because of the meanings they represent, they will help you both in the future." She holds Mark's hand up to see his ring. "Mark, your ring is a Carnelian with iron, this stone is meant to increase success in life and is said to evoke one's inner fire. It is also said to help someone achieve their goals and dreams; we are hoping that the stone will inspire you to finally confess to you know who." Mark felt as though he could die of embarrassment, Freya started to laugh at her brother, throwing her head back her brother groaned.
Their dad rubbed her head as their mom turned her attention to her. When Freya stopped laughing, she could still feel her laughter in her ribs, turning to her necklace she picked it up in her hand, holding the stone and rubbing it gently with her thumb. Her dad looked down at the stone in her hand, "now I'm no good with stones but let's see if I can guess the stone this time." Their mom, Devona, rolled her eyes at her husband, Adam, they sometimes played this game, guessing stone. Someone would pick out 6 random stones and each person must guess what the stone is and whoever has the most wins, their dad always loses at this game.
He looked closely at the stone with its swirls of dark and light greens weaving around the stone, twisting and tangling together. He smiled with glee "Is this a malachite my dear?" Their mom nods towards him and he shouted "yes! Finally!" they all watched him do a victory dance, a combination of different outdated moves from the '90s. Freya and Mark covered their faces, "again please stop this," both exclaim while their parents smiled at them. Their mom held Freya's hand, rubbing it softly and pointing to Freya's necklace. "As your father said your stone is a malachite. Malachite's represent big change, new beginnings, and transformation." Freya looked at her mom confused and looked at the stone "am I going to be changing?" chuckling to herself as she put the necklace around her neck, letting it rest on her chest. She liked how green it was, it reminded her of a forest she saw once in a dream. It was outside of a large town by a port, the forest overlooked the town as the sun rose, shimmering on the water and in the windows of every house. The sun almost queues the windows of every shop open for the day and the tolling of a school bell to signify the start of a school day.
Freya jumped into her bed wearing a long nightgown with a dark blue ribbon around the neckline, she reached across her bed to grab a small hardcover sketchbook laying on her nightstand. Pulling it onto her lap, she pulled the pencil from the spring at the top of the book, flipping to the last drawing she was working on she started to add more details to it. It was a drawing of the hall in her dream, she shaded in the figures form, adding more details to the holes in the walls and cracks in the floor she leaned against her pillows. She tilted her head up to stare at the ceiling, she looked at the popcorn-like pattern of the ceiling going over the events of her day, why are things so complicated?
She lifted her sketchbook over her head to look at the shadow drawing of the figure, despite having these dreams so often in the past few two months she was never closer to seeing what the figure looked like. She sat the sketchbook back on her nightstand, closing the cover and laying the pencil on top. She slipped out of bed and walked across the room to her short lamp sitting on her desk in the corner of her room near the large window decorated with butterfly stickers and long white curtains. She turned off her lamp and she jumped back into her bed and pulled the cover over her. Looking back up at the ceiling Freya clutched onto her necklace and closed her eyes, keeping them closed she started to slowly drift off to sleep, hoping that the dream that has haunted her would cease.