halas0304

@@@@@I couldn't be all day I thought I heard something behind me when I reached the octopus-like juncture where all the sleeping halls metI looked back, but I couldn't see anyone in the dim cavePeople were beginning to stirSoon it would be time for breakfast and another day of workIf they'd finished with the stalks, the ground in the east fields would need to be turnedMaybe I would have time to help? later? I followed the familiar path to the underground rivers, my mind in a million other placesI couldn't seem to concentrate on anything in particularEvery time I tried to focus on a subject?Walter, Jared, breakfast, chores, baths?some other thought would pull my head away in secondsMelanie was right; I needed to sleepShe was just as muddledHer thoughts all spun around Jared, but she could make nothing coherent of them, either I'd gotten used to the bathing roomThe utter blackness of it didn't bother me anymoreSo many places were black hereHalf my daylight hours were lived in darknessAnd I'd been here too many timesThere was never anything lurking under the water's surface, waiting to pull me under I knew I didn't have time to soak, thoughOthers would be up soon, and some people liked to start their day cleanI got to work, washing myself first, then moving on to my clothesI scrubbed at my shirt fiercely, wishing I could scrub out my memory of the past two nights My hands were stinging when I was done, the dry cracks on my knuckles burning worst of allI rinsed them in the water, but it made no noticeable differenceI sighed and climbed out to get dress