Went to school today early. Like 7:30 or so. I waited for like 30 minutes and probably finished off the battery of the mp3 player before I finally got a number. I got # 845 by the way. I came just after Zoilo. So anyhoo, after paying, I went to Starbucks and got myself a tall Vanilla cream, but the girl said that they have this Halloween promo in which they upsized my drink to Grande by paying only for tall. Lol. Then my sister texted me and asked to buy her food. I got her my favorite Chocolate Belgian Waffle and a chicken pandesal. I passed Economics by the way... 2.5. At last! Thank God! *crosses fingers* I checked it on the computers in Prom A but I'm kinda scared... because my grades in Economics still did not appear in my online grades thing. Oh fear be banished!
Went to Ever afterwards where I saw The Smashing Pumpkin's Siamese Dream and Machina, the Machines of God. I saw a really nice flat shoe, some corduroy/suede garment and it's brown but I have no monies. :( So yeah, we bought mango tango roll cake and chocolate marble ice cream. Dad called btw and he said that he's passing by the Philippines.
Anyhoo, last night, as Nestor and I are on way to Ate Norji to get my Lost dvd, we passed by a deserted street where you can only see candles. There was even a candle stuck on top of the dead end sign and me and Nestor where joking about the way of the dead and stuff like that. And on the way home, I saw my very first live owl. It's white and big with a sort of circular head. Like a snow owl. I'm excited coz I saw one but then I felt bad because they shouldn't be here in the city. They should be back in the woods. :(
Nanowrimo news: Was able to finish Chapter two! Current word count: 3832. I'm still in half of Chapter three...
Chapter Two of the Winter Horse. COPYRIGHT: L. Aranas.
Chapter 2: Glimp & Glomp
As Lillian rode Winter Horse, she was able to observe her surroundings and realize how strange her environment seemed to be. She knows that she doesn’t remember anything about her, but something tells her that this is not how the world around her should look like.
It was winter, she is sure of that, the trees shouldn’t have leaves but the trees in this forest still have leaves. Leaves now covered with hardened ice. They looked like trees blooming in spring, when suddenly, a cold blast of wind had frozen them and left them entrapped inside the wintry frost. The clouds never stopped to swirl and looked like its going to rain any time now. Then it started to snow. The snow fell softly to the ground. The fall of snow seemed to last an eternity for Lillian and she constantly feared that Winter Horse’s feet would be trapped in the soft snow and that he wouldn’t be able to trudge through it but to her surprise, she saw that Winter Horses’ hooves never touched the ground! He was drifting a few inches from the snowy ground… and the falling snow, they never fell exactly to the ground but fades when they reach the same level as Winter Horses’ was drifting at.
Winter Horse knew what things crosses Lillian’s mind. Therefore he decided to tell her things about the world she is currently in.
‘In this world, the seasons start with the Winter, then the Autumn, then the Summer, and lastly, Spring.’
‘Oh.’ She replied, dreamily.
Winter Horse kept on telling her things about the land, and Lillian listened. This world, these surroundings seemed strange to her but she found it fascinating. The frozen roses in bloom made her stop Winter Horse.
Winter Horse stopped and bent down so that Lillian could get off him. ‘You cannot pick anything though.’ Winter Horse warned.
‘Oh I won’t pick anything… I don’t have the heart to!’ Lillian replied as she kneeled in front of a red rose bush. Her hands tracing the delicate blooms of a rose frozen in ice. ‘How sad, sad for such beauty to not enjoy the warmth of spring!’ She thought. She was lost in her own thoughts when a small voice brought her back to the ground.
“… Yo! Winter Horse!” A small, but shrill voice tore the silence of the forest.
Lillian looked around but could not see anyone in sight. Winter Horse, on the other hand, smiled and looked up a pine tree.
“You both were late. Glimp and Glomp.” Winter Horse replied, haughtily.
Lillian looked at the direction Winter Horse was looking and saw two fat, furry, spotted white and brown hamsters that look almost exactly the same.
The sight of the two hamsters caught Lillian off guard. Then suddenly, a vision crossed Lillian’s mind. She was running, running inside a house, there were walls, dark ebony walls… then she opened a wooden door… bright light spilled into the room… then she saw a man, a man whose feet she only could make off, then she went to a table… there was a parcel… she opened it, and inside were a cage... she was lifting the iron cage… then a bright light shined through… brighter than the one which was spilled in the room for this light emitted a certain kind of iridescence as it shimmered, and burst into a thousand glimmering prisms… Lillian felt dizzy and almost fell if it were not for Winter Horse who supported her. She saw the two hamsters on the ground now, but they would not go near her. Lillian’s eyes hurt, they felt strained and tired and her head felt like a thousand tons… she couldn’t make out any of her surroundings anymore.
“… not her, again…” the Glimp was saying.
“She is one of the lost now.” Winter Horse replied.
“… but Winter Horse… she is still… her.” Glomp protested.
“That is why she is here. You have your orders coming from the Master.”
"Hush now, she's coming to her senses…" said Glimp.
"Hush…" replied, Glomp.
Lillian struggled to get up. As she stood firmly, her eyes searched for Glimp and Glomp but they were nowhere in sight. Lillian grimaced, she was sure that they were there before.
"Glimp & Glomp, where are they?" asked Lillian.
"Glimp, Glomp… come out now." Demanded Winter Horse.
Glimp and Glomp came out behind a boulder and scurried behind Winter Horse and climbed on his tail.
Lillian saw Glimp and Glomp climb Winter Horse's tail, smiling, she came up to them but Glimp and Glomp looked at her with fright in their eyes.
"Don't be afraid, Glimp and Glomp. I wouldn't hurt you". Said Lillian as she opened her hands for Glimp and Glomp to jump in.
"Go on, you two sluggards. Lillian can't hurt you now." Said Winter Horse.
Glimp and Glomp jumped into Lillian's hands. "Do you want to go with us, Glimp and Glomp?" asked Lillian.
The two hamsters looked at each other and nodded. A look of distrust crossed their faces, sighed, and nodded again.
"We are meant to go anyway." They both replied at the same time.
"You want to hang into Winter Horse's tail, mane or stay warm in my pocket?" said Lillian, kindly.
"Stay in her pocket, you two, since I don't want fleas hanging on any of my locks." Said the cheeky Winter Horse.
Lillian gently put Glimp and Glomp in her pocket, folding some of the seams to make them feel warmer and comfortable. "Hang in there you two, for Winter Horse is a swift rider. You don't want to fall, don't you?"
"Don't worry about us, Madame." Chorused the hamsters.
Lillian looked dreamily ahead. "I wonder, where did you two come from?"
Glimp and Glomp looked questioningly at each other.
"From the Ash tree over there you mean?" said Glimp, pointing one tiny furry hand into an old, unnoticed Ash tree whose bark looked twisted and burned, a stark contrast to the white veil of Winter.
"Yes, but we also used to live in #109 Rochester Ave, East Port, Daineshire, in Unumterre." Glomp interrupted as he tugged Lillian’s pocket tighter.
“What happened? Why did you guys leave? It must be utterly warm in that place.” Muttered Lillian as she climbed Winter Horse.
Glimp and Glomp gave each other a quirky look, finally, Glimp replied “We’d rather not tell, for it was a grim memory.”
Lillian was about to ask the hamsters another question if not for Winter Horse telling them to hold on tight as he started his speedy gallop, following the road, if ever there was such a thing seen through the snow.
“Aye, Winter Horse, where are we going?” Asked Glomp.
“See, Winter Horse, I’m not the only one curious here.” Said Lillian with a naughty smile in her face.
Winter Horse sighed. He was instructed not to tell, under all circumstances, but then, there were those so called ‘special circumstances’. Winter Horse frowned, almost all the Fallen have ‘special circumstances --- those which need exceptions.’ Inwardly, Winter Horse thought that everything were farce, but then again, it is the all knowing Master to whom his services are bound. Then again, he has to make this exception now…
“To Sir Nicholas de Montmorency.” Winter Horse answered with a defeated groan.
“Aye! That madman!” chorused the hamsters.
“Madman?” asked Lillian.
“Yes, madman. Raving, insane, crazy crackpot of a young knight.” Said Glimp.
“Aye yes, more than that! And even worse! He does not have anybody else in his estate, but him alone. Poor, wasted young knight. Good looking yes he is, blonde hair…” said Glomp.
“Yes, hair the color of maize in a bright summer afternoon.” Said Glimp.
“Eyes, eyes as blue as the tropical blue sky but most of the time, it has the dread of the midnight sky.” Said Glomp.
“But poor boy, he thinks scare crows are his soldiers…” said Glimp.
“And mannequins as peasants…” said Glomp.
“Dear me, he must’ve been through something… depressing, indeed.” Lillian mused.
Winter Horse had been listening to the conversation of his riders while he gallop swiftly on to the de Montmorency estates. ‘Those two who had fallen before the new Fallen. They knew a lot, so it seems. They really are, I dare say, inquisitive and such, pardon the boldness, but rather, loquacious.’ Mused Winter Horse.
‘Glimp, Glomp, my dear friends, remember what we have talked about?’ said Winter Horse effervescently.
Glimp and Glomp swallowed and blinked their tiny eyes in the cold, they had almost forgotten.
“Oh so you guys know each other… like, really know each other eh?” said Lillian, her triumphant smile crossing her face once again, the smile that hints of finally getting to know the things that surround her, the mystery of this weird place and Winter Horse, the speaking Hamsters Glimp and Glomp… she is finally getting close to the truth… or so she thinks. If there is ever a truth, or such a thing as truth in this place. Unfortunately for her, Winter Horse knows her thoughts, for Winter Horse had watched and known her even before she can say that she knows herself. In short, Winter Horse, whose real name was Asrafael, had been her silent guardian, throughout her whole life in Unumterre, even before she had become one of the Fallen. But of course, that fact, that most important fact, is unknown to the Fallen Lillian. She can only thrive on what was given to her, in order for her to reach the fork in the road, that is, if she can redeem herself and succeeding in whatever circumstances that Master might think of giving her what was due. And the first circumstance, was Sir Nicholas de Montmorency.
“Yes, dear Lillian. I know them. As I know everyone and everything.” Replied Winter Horse.
