Cosium Adventures- chapter 2
The sun was starting to set, making them both stop on their tracks in the middle of the perfect place to set camp. An opening between bushes and the tall trees that they had been walking through for an insane amount of hours. To them it wasn’t as tedious as it would be for most, though; specially if you can keep up a fun conversation between siblings.
The young wolf turned to look at his sister, brows furrowing as he noticed her fur started to change colors.
From the usual vibrant turquoise, softly it started to fade into a dimmer lavender.
It was the usual, still... nor him, nor the rest of her family had gotten used to it.
His thoughts were broken by a heavy thud which came from a small box she had suddenly dropped into the grassy area that seemed most suitable. After a moment it started to unfold into a petite pink tent automatically.
Amelie was always amazed by this contraption that her father had come up with, even half asleep already she never got tired of the way the little cube turned into a comfy place to rest in a matter of minutes.
“It’s a good thing we made it to this point before night fall, huh?” She said, the energetic tone in her voice already becoming more slow than how it had been in the morning.
“Y-yeah..” he responded and sighed while putting down his stuff as well.
His eyes once again turned to look at her figure already slumping down and trying to keep herself awake as the tent still needed four of it’s ends nailed tightly to the ground; and so she started to hammer them slowly into place.
The sound of the clinking metal came to a halt when Tino let out the same old question. She tried not to groan and let him ask away.
“Doesn’t it ever bother you? That you can’t enjoy the night anymore?”
All that followed was a small nod as the clinking continued.
“Sometimes... but I can’t let it bother me always” .
She turned to look at him with a tired but reassuring smile.
After a minute or so, her head tilted slowly to the side. Her expression shifted to a more serious one as her mind struggled to process her thoughts but ultimately failed to do so.
The foggy sensation that started to cloud whatever her mind was conjuring up was getting thicker.
“I kind of... also think it’s a good thing.. in its own way, So I can’t complain”, She finally let out.
True, she had suffered severe insomnia for almost a year before she developed this rare condition.
To her it had become unbearable to stay awake every night.
All alone, all cornered by her thoughts which aggressively kept her from getting a wink of decent sleep for an entire year.
She had wished so badly to be able to open her eyes once the sun was up for a change instead of watching it come up from the horizon time after time to welcome yet, another day followed by increased tiredness that plagued her to no end.
It was like an eternity, an endless cycle of dread. She had started to lose whatever sanity was left during the day time.
Then suddenly, something in her snapped and the sleep which she had wished for so long had manifested itself, but it was more than what she bargained for.
It could only be described as a weird hibernation state that appeared out of the blue and never left after it stroke her down the first time.
Her fur started to lose it’s color after a few months of it as well and settled for a purple hue that somehow matched the sleeping spell that she was put under, though by daytime she mysteriously returned back to her normal color.
Nothing could awaken her once the sun disappeared completely except for the break of dawn, which had worried sick everyone around her until her eyes opened the next morning when it first occurred.
Maybe it was a stress induced comma, or maybe...
“Ever wonder if something else might’ve caused this?”
Her focus was now back into answering her little brother who was patiently still waiting for an answer and still hadn’t taken his eyes off her to make sure she wouldn’t hurt her thumb hammering the last nail into place. Annoyed by the fact that this was still brought up even though It only happened that one time... well those two! - maybe three...’ she gave up on defending herself because the more she thought about it, the more times she was reminded of the times it had happened and lost count.
Once finished, she went to the back of the tent to change.
“We should have this conversation in the morning, I’ll forgetting everything about it as you’re already aware.. I’m more than ok.” She said in a forceful tone trying to make the sentence coherent while it felt like her head was spinning all over the place.
She came out with a simple night gown to match the tent and started setting up her sleeping bag.
Silence was all that followed until it was interrupted by the small tweeting of a chorus of nearby frogs welcoming the night’s fresh air.
A light chuckle and giggling from both when the same memory came across their heads.
“Remember how we used to go frog hunting? When we were smaller?”
Tino was now remembering how Amelie’s mother complained that she should stop wearing her pretty clothes to catch the critters she found fascinating and cute.
“Frogs, lizards, snakes, iguanas.., squirrels....,,,”
Her eyes were already out of focus, struggling to stay open as eyelids gradually became heavier and heavier, the battle to keep them from closing was futile at this point.
“I’ll start the fire and scout around the area a bit until I get tired” he got up and looked back once more.
It was funny how her brother was literally the opposite at this point, still full of energy and ready to take on even a bear if he happened upon one. Hopefully no unfortunate bear would come across his path.
He also had the same little tent in a box that his sister carried with her at all times for when he was ready to hit the hay, except his was for camping rather than a back up like it was for her when slumbering spells caught her off guard... as seldom as that happened.
It had become a hit item in the market after uncle Sergio had started to sell them.
It wasn’t his intention to make them for marketing, but after witnessing it in action various requests poured in for him to sell these conveniently incredible little things, even for people who didn’t suffer Amelie’s condition.
He had commissioned his uncle for one as well, and the knowing ex-Atlantian had decided to make it a dark red color, like most things his nephew owned. He could be awkward at times but he knew his family well, and as hard as it was for him to express himself when it came to his emotions, his feelings still reached out.
Sharp sparks ignited around the boy’s gloves, after her was done pondering about his past and because of the excitement of the new adventure he couldn’t help but to let out a fired up
“alright!” to mark the beginning of his nightly scouting of the perimeters to secure a path to follow into their destination which would ensure enough daylight to spare the next morning.
The feeling was hilariously answered by a meager attempt of agreement from the barely awake self proclaimed unicorn, who kept Mumbling quietly before slowly succumbing to sleep.
He watched as she lost consciousness for the night and then decided to start his quest to look for branches and pine needles for the fire once he quickly made sure that it was safe to leave her alone in that spot.
“Maybe one day we’ll find out how to cure this rare condition of yours, I think..”
Footsteps disappearing into the depths of the woods was the last thing she heard.
She thought to herself before everything faded into black.
