A small creek runs near us, making melodious noises. It looks so beautiful as it flows over moss covered rocks. Water has always been my favorite element. I squat down and stick my hands in it, the water is cold. It's riveting.
"This is so beautiful." I gush.
"I know, dude." She replies, snapping pictures of the surrounding forest.
Foliage all around, flowers are blooming, it's like a Disney set. I've never been good at identifying plants, but I know Irises when I see them. Some are peach colored, some are pink. Wow, a yellow one, I can pick and press it into a scrapbook for mom. She loves irises. Gently, I pluck it. So pretty and soft.
"Dude, over here. It's a bunch of morel mushrooms." She points to a nearby tree.
Those I can identify by their distinct appearance; they have all these little ridges at the top. If I remember correctly, they're edible too. Personally I wouldn't eat one, but then again, I hate mushrooms in general.
Macey scurries towards the patch of mushrooms and starts taking pictures before gathering them. "I'm using these for vegetable stew later."
"Uh, how can you tell if they're real morel or a false morel?" I ask.
"I'll cut them open later, real ones are hollow, false ones have little fibers in them." She explains, gathering as many as she can find.
I wander back to the creek bed. A perfectly round, smooth, stone catches my attention. I pick it up and run my fingers across it, it's so perfect. Not far from where I found it, I find an oddly shaped, rust colored one with white lines all over it. Pop loves to collect unique rocks. Nothing like free souvenirs, right? Farther upstream I find shiny, crystal-like rocks. Every rock that I like, I clean off in the creek and put in my pocket.
"Got a case of the goblin brain do ya?" Macey comes up from behind me, almost scaring the literal pee out of me.
"What's goblin brain?" I ask her as I continue to collect unique rocks.
"It's when something interesting catches your attention and you keep pursuing it." She chuckles, cradling an arm full of mushrooms. "Like me, I got the goblin brain over these mushrooms." I can't even count how many she's picked.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up, I jolt to my feet. A predator is nearby. Pop taught me if the forest goes still and silent, a predator is close by. It's dead silent, I don't hear any noise, no bugs, no birds, nothing.
"Macey, we need to leave right now." I whisper. "There's a predator nearby."
At first her face is full of confusion and a little bit of skepticism, but then she starts listening to the silence. "You're right, we need to hit the road anyway."
Staying on guard, we follow the trail back to camp. Fortunate for us, we return safely. I'm so thankful that Pop taught me that information on wildlife.
As planned, we stop by the local crystal store. I like them, they're pretty, but I'm not like Macey. I don't believe they ward off spirits or bad energies, and so on and so forth. They're just pretty. Macey goes ham over everything; they even have tarot cards. While she looks at all the pretty treasures, I peruse the shop at my own pace. Organized boxes of varying crystals are stacked around the store. Amethyst, Tiger's Eye, Jade, and so many more beautiful stones. Heart shaped crystals/stones lay on a small golden plate. They have a small indent in their centers meant for their users to rub their thumbs across, basically they're worry stones. Two for ten dollars sounds fair, one for her, one for me. I pick an amethyst one for her, and the jade for me.
I look up, Macey is looking at me with horror painted across her face. In front of her are four tarot cards. Now, I don't know anything about the cards. I don't believe in them, but something has her freaked out. The woman on the opposite side of the cards locks eyes with me. Concern is etched in her tired face, her eyes are beautiful, chocolate brown with flecks of gold. She has chocolate skin, and beautiful curly black hair that she has swept back in a hair scarf.
"You are in danger child; the cards tell me so." She runs her hands across the cards. She holds up the card with a tower on it, followed by one with a grim reaper on it.
I don't believe in the whole tarot card reading your future mumbo jumbo, but I'm getting the jeepers creepers. I mean I have been feeling some evil aura or dread, whatever you want to call it following me, but I haven't mentioned it to Macey.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't believe in tarot cards. I just came here for my friend and to look at pretty crystals." I dismiss her worries.
"Dude, I think we should take this seriously." Macey says worriedly.
"It's fine Mace." I assure her.
Ignoring their concerns, I place the worry stones/crystals on the table. "What's my total?" I ask her. For the first time, I look up and read her name tag. Emerelda. It's a rather beautiful name. Not one you hear every day.
She takes a leather cord necklace with an onyx crystal on it. The onyx crystal is shaped like a small dagger. "If you won't heed my warning, at least take this and wear it until you return home. Don't' remove it until you get home safely." She says forebodingly.
"How much is it?" I ask as I reach out to examine it. The onyx stone is smooth and shiny.
"In your case, free." She says curtly. "But it will be ten fifty for the worry crystals."
I pull out my wallet and hand her a twenty because I need smaller bills anyway. She gives me back my change and I put it in my wallet.
Emerelda looks at Macey, her face full of worry. "Remember what I told you child, one wrong decision can lead down the road of tears and destruction."
Macey nods as we walk out of the shop.
When we get back to the truck, I give her the amethyst heart shaped crystal. "Here, I know how much you love amethyst."
"Thanks, I love it."