The sound of Railey coming down the stairs wakes me up. Looking at the clock it's about 1 am. The TV is still on and the movie I was watching is over and has moved on to another one. Railey sees me on the couch stretching and waking up. "Couldn't sleep?"
"No, you?"
"Yea. Did you at least get a little sleep?"
"Not good sleep but some."
"Want a snack?"
"Sure."
She wanders to the kitchen to return with a couple of grain bars for me and beef jerky for her. They're raisin ones which are one of the best ones. The only thing that's better is the chocolate ones but I horde those. We sit and watch the terrible movie that's on while she gnaws on her jerky and I nibble the granola bar. We both sit there and sigh back and forth at one another for the length of the movie. Or maybe it's a documentary. The volume's not high enough for us to listen and it seems to taper between events and almost standstill. I look over at Railey who's not 100% there. Her mind seems to be away while her body continues eating the jerky. I look over on occasion until she catches me once, "What's up?"
"Hmm, nothing."
"You keep looking at me funny."
"You're just funny looking."
There's a slight scowl on her face but it's not angry, just not amused. "You're a dork, Blue." She goes back to her jerky while I finish my bar. An hour passes before I even know it and I start to get tired again. "Hey Railey, I'm going to bed. You should try to at least."
"Hmm, we don't have to get up tomorrow."
"I know but still, it's late."
I leave her sitting on the couch as I head back upstairs to go to bed. My mind is finally tired enough that I feel like I can sleep. Laying down I already feel my eyes closing and before I know it, I'm out.
It's the weekend so there's no rush to wake up. The sun wakes me up at first but I roll over grabbing my pillow to get a few more hours. A couple of hours pass. I'm not sure how much of it I was actually asleep but I feel well rested and still warm from the sun. I roll over to catch a large mass of fur in front of me. I scoot back to find Railey laying in my bed next to me still in her clothes from last night. I poke her nose gently with a soft voice, "Railey, Railey~. Time to wake up." She rustles herself to avoid my poking but I persist until she rolls over away from me. She's right on the edge of the bed so with a little more bothering by poking the back of her ear, she moves her head forward and the rest of her body rolls off onto the floor taking some of the blankets with her.
The fall onto the floor wakes her up but barely. She was groggy but up, "What happened? Where am I?"
"You fell asleep in my bed last night. No idea when or how but you did."
She slowly begins sitting up, "I was so tired."
"You couldn't make it the 10 feet to your bed?"
She nods her head, "Mm Hmm."
"Railey?"
"Hmm?"
"You awake?"
"Mm~no."
"Because you stayed up too late?"
"Mm~yes."
Sometimes I really wonder how old she really is. Right now, she's about 5 years old and I have to help her get herself together. "What time did you go to bed?"
"I think… 4-ish."
"You were up for another two hours. Railey, you need to sleep."
"But I couldn't."
"So you snuck into my bed?"
"It helped."
"Oh, Railey. What am I going to do with you?"
She rolls around the floor for a bit as she starts to wake up more and more. I wander around my room getting ready for the day while she's off in her own world. On occasion, she starts nodding off again while sitting up doing that sleeping head bob where she drops her head and wakes herself up for a moment before doing it again. About half an hour goes by before she finally has her eyes open enough to finally see everything around her, "Why am I in your room?"
"Oh good, you're awake finally. You snuck in her last night because you refused to go to bed."
"Oh yea, I had issues sleeping."
"Why did you jump in my bed?"
"Well, I helped you fall asleep so many times so why couldn't you help me?"
"While understandable, I should be awake next time so you can ask me."
"But you snuggled right up to me without a fight."
I put on the straightest face I can. Not disapproving of what she did, just a little worried for her. "You're weird." She just smiles at me laughing it off, "Well don't worry. I'll pay you back for it one day."
My plan for the day is to go for a walk. Not as far as the one I took earlier in the week but enough of a walk that I'll be able to relax. I've been restless recently and I'm not sure why. School is going well for the most part, the home life is good, and life is good, yet here I am unable to sleep and worried about nothing.
The weather is nice. It's that later in the season spring weather where there are a few clouds but the sun's still out with a nice breeze keeping it cool. It feels good to let it blow under my wings and ruffle the feathers a bit. The nice thing about where we live is that there is a big part of town that bring in a lot of large events and keeps thing lively. While on the other side, there is almost a small quietness to it where everyone seems to know everybody. It's a perfect mix of big and little city but there are problems with it.
The only problem I have is that I leave the house for hours at a time and Railey gets worried. I don't have a phone that she can get a hold of me at any time but I eventually wander home before the day is done. It's about 3 pm when I return. She is sitting on the couch talking to a rather old-looking Barn Owl. I've never seen him before but Railey looks familiar with him.
I come around into view and Railey gets up to me, "Hey Blue, come sit down." I'm a little uneasy about it but I sit in a chair opposite of them. "Blue, this is… Sorry, I'm bad with names."
"It is ok dear." He talks very simplistically and slowly. "I am Master Lii Hou."
I'm still uneasy but there's no need for rudeness, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Hou."
"It is an honor to meet you Blue."
Railey chimed in, "Master Hou and I have been sitting talking about you while you were out."
"Talking about me? What about?"
"Just you as a person and what you do."
"OK, Railey, what's going on?"
"I don't know. He said he needed to talk to you about something important."
I'm beyond skeptical. I've never seen this man before. I've never heard of him. And yet here he is, learning about me. "Ok, Mr. Hou…"
"Please, no need for such formalities yet."
"…ok, how can I help you?"
"I was sent here to let you know that after graduation you will be under my care for the summer by order of The Fox, Red."
I feel my temper beginning to flare up and Railey can clearly see it, "Blue, let him finish."
"Thank you. I was instructed that for one year, you will be training under me to learn everything that I can teach you."
There are a lot of questions beginning to pop up and I don't know where to start but he continues; "You will be moving in after you finish school as your education is important. I will return after graduation and give you a few days to get ready before we leave."
Railey has begun to lose her cool. I can see her sitting behind him looking between him and me trying to figure out what is happening. It's abrupt and with school ending in a couple of months that is not a lot of time to adjust to me suddenly moving out. "What if I refuse?"
"If you refuse..." He pauses, "I am not sure what would happen. I imagine someone other than myself would show up. If you refuse them then Red himself may visit. I only assume as I do not know for sure."
"Something so important that Red would show up for me. What does he want in this?"
"I do not know. He did not say but he did let me know that when the time comes he would tell you."
The Fox, Red would arrive in person to talk to me about taking me away from my home for a second time. I don't like this. "Well, Master Hou, I regret to inform you that Red and I don't see eye to eye so I must decline."
"Ah, you have a couple of months to think about it before I return. Think about it."
"I will, but because you are here on business from Red, I have to ask you to leave."
"I understand. Railey, it was wonderful to talk to you, and your hospitality is most appreciated. Blue, it was a pleasure to meet you and see why you are so interesting. I hope you and your family are filled with good fortune."
He slowly walks to the door to leave. I walk out after he shuts the door but he's already gone. As slow as he moved he should not be able to just disappear like that. Back inside Railey looks about as confused as I am. "OK, Blue, I'm trying to figure out what happened. Is there something that you caught that I seemed to miss?"
"No, I think we both know about the same on this one."
"What was that about Red?"
"He said that Red was interested in me or something like that. That Red ordered him to take me to train. Train in what?"
"I don't know but he seemed wise. There may be some merit to his age."
"But why? Why me? Why now? Why did Red ask for this? I just don't know and I don't like it. Railey, we need to keep our guard up."