Chapter 162: Day 161

Day 161,

I picked up fresh soap from the market as planned without incident.  However, now that the time has come to make the walk back to the house I find myself feeling hesitant once more.  I wanted to think that I was better by now.  I’d hardly thought about the incident with the sprites all week (Cass still doesn’t know about it), but now I can feel my heart beat faster just considering making that walk alone.  I suppose I could technically ask Lin or Vernon to accompany me, but I hate to bother them with my being needlessly anxious.

Sigh…  Nothing else for it then.

 

I made it back home, not without incident, but no worse for the wear.

It didn’t take long after losing sight of the Village for the nature sprite to make an appearance.  As it often does, it first made itself visible in the peripheral of my vision.  Once I noticed it, it moved more fully into view and matched its pace to mine, shuffling along beside me to the left and half a step ahead.

When I stopped, it stopped.  When I took a step back, it looked over its shoulder.  When I turned back to walk toward the Village calmly as I could and began walking that way, it turned around and returned to its place walking beside me, now on my right.  When I briskly reversed course again and picked up my pace hoping to leave it behind, it matched me effortlessly once more.

A small part of me wanted to shout at it.  Ask what it wants, if it hadn’t had its fill of tormenting me already.  Hurl imprecations at it.  The rest of me was too busy trying not to scream and run as fast as I could.  And so we simply walked in silence that left me free to be deafened by my pulse too rapid for my pace and to struggle not to imagine all the terrible things it could do to me.  None of which came to pass.

Just before we came in sight of the house the sprite stopped for a moment and then dispersed into leaves, leaving behind a small, oblong object on the ground.  The lost soap.

I must have stared at that worn down bar for a solid minute without moving so much as a finger before I finally crouched down to pick it up.  It seemed normal enough.

A few steps further and I heard Maiko call out to me.  It seems she’d been watching for my return despite claiming that with my not appearing yesterday evening she’d assumed I wouldn’t be coming today.

She said I looked even more bloodless than normal.  Asked if something had happened.

I described my walk back to her much as I just did here.

She asked if I wanted her to wait closer to the Village next week to walk back with me.

A long pause of consideration.

Desperately wanting to say “Yes!” and throw my arms around her in gratitude and joy that someone cares.

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I told her she needn’t bother herself and risk being seen on my account.

No more was said on that.

A pause.  A change of topic.  It was nearing noon.  Time for lunch.

We agreed to leave the returned soap in a bucket on the porch instead of bringing it inside the house though.

It is now somewhat past noon.  Laundry needs done and there’s still time to do it.  

 

No other incidents today.  Will be going to bed soon.

I considered using the basin and washboard once more but ultimately decided against it.  Doing so would have felt too much like letting the nature sprite win.  Win what, I don’t know, but today short-term stubbornness and spite beat out fear and caution.

That said, I followed Maiko’s suggestion to do my cleaning at the edge of the spring rather than my usual spot along the stream.  She said she’d been checking on the location daily since I left and hadn’t seen any more signs of visitors.  That pattern held true for today at least.  

And so I made for a fresh batch of clean clothes undisturbed, if somewhat more slowly than typical from frayed nerves and repeated glances in Maiko’s direction.  We figured that with her in proximity, unless maybe something happened in one of the brief periods she was underwater catching dinner, I should remain sprite-free.  That appears to have been the case, but it didn’t stop me from jumping at birdsong any time she was beneath the surface.

Maiko finished her chore long before I finished mine.  It seems most weeks she was either taking her time to allow me to finish or was waiting around helping herself to a serving or two in advance until she judged it was time to meet back up.

As I said, tasks completed with no further incident.

Now, as I consider attempting sleep, I find myself wondering about the purpose and nature of today’s encounter - as much as one has any hope of understanding a sprite’s motives.  Was this an indulgence by the nature sprite, realizing that it’s mere presence was now enough to frighten me?  Or was it once more playing the role of guardian, sticking close and putting itself between me and the deeper woods?  Was its gait more subdued than normal?  Was the returned soap an apology or a threatening reminder of the other night?

I fear these questions will be surfacing, circling, and resurfacing as I lay my head on my pillow and try to sleep, for I have no means by which to answer them.

 

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