Alyson Harps stared at the leaves swaying above her head. All parts of her body felt painful, especially the burning pain on her heart. She knew that she does not have much time left. She panted heavily and she tried to distract herself by thinking something else; it does not work out well.
It was summer holiday and her family had decided to visit an island. This news astonished Alyson at first and she was not as happy as her twin brother. Without having any other choice, she was forced to pack her luggage and with a heavy heart, she went with her family who were in a very good mood. It’s not that she disliked having a trip with her family. It’s just that she felt that something terrible will happen during the trip.
Time past by quickly and school will reopen a week later. Alyson had threw away her superstition when she first step her feet on the island. Everything there was so stunning. The view was different from the cities Alyson had visited before. Forests, lakes, huts and houses were seen. Alyson was quite fond of forests and when she heard there was a mysterious forest in the island, her mind soar over the clouds. But the forest was strictly forbidden to enter and this news had dragged Alyson from soaring over the clouds with happiness to disappointment.
“Aly, mum rearranged our holiday schedule just to go see the sun rise with them,” said her twin, Aaron with protest. “She should leave us here; I don’t want to be a disturbance to her date.”
“Same feeling here but I think she wants to share the sunrise with her family, not only to her husband but also with her daughter and son.” Alyson said with a smile.
As Alyson was about to leave the white fur sofa, Aaron’s last word puzzled her.
“Aly? Please be careful. I don’t know why I am saying this but I have a terrible feeling about today.”
She rose from the white fur sofa and followed her brother to the cliff, which was located not far from their cottage. Her brother’s words left an effect on her and she quickly shook away the thought. She never once got tired of watching the sun rising from its slumber and it helped with banishing the words Aaron told her. It was a beautiful views; watching the land slowly bathed with gold light and how the streams shone from the light.
Alyson went to the edge of the cliff and stood there, enjoying the gentle and cool wind. The wind playfully tangled into her mother’s long, straight, light-brown hair. She ignored her mother’s warning. Her mother did not like her standing near the edge of the cliff.
“It’s dangerous. What if you fell from the cliff?”
Alyson always listened to what her mother said but she did not know why but today she ignored the warning. Something inside her wanted her not to heed what her mother said.
She said to herself, “Just this once.”
Darkness was chased away from the land and replaced with light. Soon, only Alyson was left on the cliff. As she was about to leave, a swallow suddenly flew near her. She was surprised that she took a step backward and she fell. As she fell she glimpsed her parents and brother shocked look and also the look of fear.
Her last thought was, “So this is Aaron’s bad feeling about today.”
When she woke up, pain and stars were what she had and leaves were swaying up her head. She knew that she was badly injured. It’s a logic statement as no one can escape with minor injuries from such a fall.
She tried to stand up but no luck. She just lay there and looked at her surroundings, just trees and the sound of insects. She breathed heavily and realized that she was bleeding. She tried to move but the pain was so intolerable that she decided to just lie there and not moving. She calmed herself, saying that a search rescue were on their way to save her. The pain was still there and soon she fainted, unable to withstand the pain.
Moments later, two creatures emerged out from nowhere. They were centaurs, creatures that people thought of as myth. Their upper part was of human body but as you look down, their lower part of the body were the body of horse.
“Adam, look what I had found. It’s a human,” said the female centaur.
“Why is such frail and heartless human doing here?” said Adam with scorn.
“Adam, I can’t agree with your resentment towards humans,” said the female centaur.
“That’s because you never been kidnapped and treated badly by them,” countered Adam.
The female centaur sighed and decided to let it go. She inspected the surroundings and the trees. “I think this human girl fell down from the cliff. Look at the tree, some of its branches is broken.”
“Leave her be Elaine,” said Adam. “We have things to do.”
Elaine shot a sharp look towards Adam. “No. I will not let her die.”
Elaine gently lifted Alyson up and slowly trotted, afraid that Alyson might felt uncomfortable. Blood dripped down from Alyson body as they trotted. Adam was fury with Elaine but he did not say anything more and followed her. They went back to their tribe. Elaine place Alyson in her small, wooden hut. The young centaurs were curious at Alyson for she is a human and Elaine chased them away for fear of disturbing Alyson. The chief of the tribe went into the hut when he received the news that Elaine had brought back a wounded human.
‘Elaine, my daughter, what is your intention of bringing this human girl to our place?”
“Father, I want to heal this human with the healing water.”
Some of the centaurs disagree with Elaine but most approved Elaine to save the girl by using the healing water. As for the chief, he agreed and Elaine smile to her father with gratitude. Elaine summoned a healer to take good care of Alyson while she went to get the healing water. The rest of the centaurs went back to their own doings.
After half an hour, she was back with a small vial of healing water. The healer accepted the vial and pours the content to Alyson lips but she did not swallow it as she was unconscious. Adam, who was silent since the beginning, suddenly grabbed the vial and sipped it. Then he placed his lips to Alyson’s and Alyson swallowed the water. Elaine stared at Adam with disbelief.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Adam asked Elaine with frustration and embarrassment.
“It’s just that, just now you…” Elaine said hesitantly, trying hard not to grin.
“Do not breathe a word about this to anyone,” said Adam with a threatening manner.
Finally Elaine can’t help but laugh out loud and Adam felt like killing her. They were about to squabble more if the healer had not asked for their attention.
“How is she, Helen?” asked Elaine with concern.
“Even though her wounds are healed, she is still in a critical condition. She had lost a lot of blood and will die if she did not receive any blood transfusion.”
Elaine was shocked at the news. She paced back and forth in her hut for a while then without hesitation, she told Helen to transfer her blood to Alyson.
“Are you crazy Elaine?” shouted Adam. “You do know that our blood differs from the humans. It is said in our history that once there was a centaur who gave away his or her blood to a human and the human died from the transfusion. Our blood is unique and humans cannot bear it.”
“But it was also stated in the history that there are some humans who survived from the transfusion,” said Elaine. We don’t know whether the girl will survive or not if I gave her some of my blood but we do know that she will die if she did not receive any blood. I have made up my mind and I won’t let you stop me.”
Elaine took out a blade from her body and cut her palm deeply. Helen quickly get a cup and let the blood flowed into the cup. Helen nodded to Elaine when the blood is enough and Elaine swayed a little due to the lost of quite an amount of blood. She almost fell down if Adam had not support her.
“She has drunk the blood,” said Helen. “Rejection will occur any minute now if her body didn’t accept the blood.”
After a minute, Alyson body started to react strangely. She kept of tossing in the bed and sweat heavily. Elaine tried to ease her movement by gripping her but with difficulty. Within a few minutes, Alyson stopped trashing around. With a shaking hand, Elaine place one of her fingers near Alyson nose. She sighed and smiled with relief when she knew that she is breathing.
‘She’s alive. She survived through the transfusion,” said Elaine happily.
“Elaine, now that her wound is healed and she is well now, we better send her back to her world,” said Adam to Elaine.
Elaine looked at Alyson for a while. She caressed Alyson cheek and touched her hair. Then she nodded.
“Yes, we must send her back. Let’s go.”
Elaine embraced Alyson and together with Adam they went back to the place where they had found Alyson. They placed her down and covered the dried blood and the traces of hooves with leaves. They do not want anyone to know that Alyson was badly injured and that she miraculously healed. They also do not want any human to know their existence. They will be in danger if humans knew that magical creatures still existed in the world.
Elaine whispered to Alyson ear before she went back to her tribe. “May the god protect you, human girl.”
