Activity

@j-a-penrose Well, I’ve decided to just continue this same idea I began with for all of these lessons. Maybe way later on I can organize it into an actual story. 😂 But for now, here’s my own (attempted) take on our lesson. I made up the name for the new person, and Microsoft Word says it’s not a real word. Oh well.

I scurry along the dirty street, head down. Questions whirl in my mind. Who is the doctor? And how do I find him?

Suddenly, I feel something catch my foot, and am sent sprawling. “I am so sorry!” I hear a voice exclaim from above me.

“No problem,” I mumble, trying to push myself up. My hands slip on the slick ground, and I fall again, hitting my chin hard on the pavement. I blink as tears smart my eyes from the pain of biting my tongue.

“Here, let me help you,” the voice replies, sounding genuinely concerned.

A hand reaches out to help me up, and after hesitating over this unusual act of kindness, I reach to take it. Just as our hands connect, the person’s sleeve slips up, revealing a small tattoo. It’s a small fish hook surrounded by a circle with lines pointing out of it. A hook with the sun.

I almost freeze at the sight of it, but the hand I’m now gripping pulls me to my feet. “Sorry about that,” the voice says.

“No problem,” I squeak again. I have to get out of here. They’re a Sun Catcher.

I finally raise my eyes to their face, and then almost freeze again.

No. Please no. Not Tylan.

But he doesn’t recognize me. Of course he wouldn’t. Not in my current state, not after what I’ve been through.

I lower my eyes again, withdrawing my hand from his. “Good day, kind sir,” I mumble before turning and fleeing at as quick a pace that I dare down the slippery street.

Spying eyes seem to peer at me from every shadow. My breath comes in shallow gasps, and I resist the urge to break into a run. That would look suspicious.

As I hurry past a stall by the side of the road, I see out of the corner of my eye the old woman handing her wares – cabbage, it seems – to her customer. Her own sleeve slips up a little, revealing the same tattoo as Tylan had. Another Sun Catcher.

I walk faster, my heart thrumming to a beat that I wish I could match with my pace.

I pass stall after stall. The road gets more choked up with people as I get to the more crowded part of the market. I push and shove through the crowd, using my knees and elbows when necessary.

I almost knock over a person by shoving them too hard. I quickly catch them by the arm, heaving them back to their feet. “My apologies,” I say, knowing I just have to get out of the market.

The person glares at me, tugging at their cape a moment too late. I catch sight of their tattoo before it disappears under the folds up cloth, and the person walks away.

Am I too late as well?

They’re everywhere.