Page 55 of Curse of Immortality
“Hmm,” Annabel answered in a distracted tone.
Looking back over her shoulder, Althea saw Annabel with her arms crossed and her gaze on the treetops. Lowering her voice, Annabel muttered, “Is it just me or do we see that black eagle often?”
Pressing the side of her hand to her forehead, Althea shielded her eyes from the sun and focused on the lonely eagle watching them. “Maybe it has a message for us?”
“No. I’ve reached out and invited it to communicate with me several times, but it doesn’t respond. I’m starting to worry that it might be a Fader keeping an eye on us.”
Raising her eyebrows, Althea asked, “A Fader. Really?”
Mentally, Althea reached out to the bird, but it sat there passively watching them.
After that, they noticed a black eagle at least once a month. In the beginning, it worried Annabel, who feared Faders, but as the years went by and nothing happened, it became their inside joke that the bird was a spy and sometimes, Althea even caught herself talking to the eagle despite its silence.
Overall, life was good for Annabel and Althea. They had each other and made a difference in people’s lives. Rose had taught Althea to read, but Annabel taught her about selling her services and always thinking ahead. Books were a rare and precious thing, but they were good at swapping the ones they had read to get new ones that fed their minds with ideas and a deeper understanding of the world.
The year Annabel turned seventy-four, a shift happened. She became withdrawn and showed no desire to see new places. As an Earthen she didn’t get sick, but it was like her appetite for life wasn’t there anymore and it worried Althea how rapidly Annabel lost weight.
Wherever they traveled, people now assumed that Annabel was Althea’s grandmother. The decline of her functions happened gradually but by late fall, she was too weak to sit on the bench when they traveled and instead lay sleeping inside the wagon.
Althea wouldn’t think about losing Annabel, but her denial made no difference and before the first snow hit the grounds, her dearest friend and mentor passed peacefully in her sleep.
The day that Althea buried her, she carried her body into the woods and picked a beautiful site for her to rest in. She stayed and sang Annabel’s favorite songs and talked about their adventures together. When day turned into night, she lit a fire and slept next to it to be close. For forty years, Althea hadn’t slept alone and now she had not a single friend left in the world.
Waking up the next morning, she cried for what felt like hours, but in the end, she had no other choice but to continue the life that Annabel had taught her to live.
On her travels, Althea was so lonely that she began having long conversations with the animals she met. Tobias was long dead, and her new horse Adrian listened to her long rants about longing for friendship and companionship.
Of course, her pretty looks drew the attention of human men in the villages and towns she visited, but she knew all the tricks to avoid them getting close to her.
Seven years into her time alone, Althea felt so deprived of companionship that she confided in a fox that came to drink from the same lake she was bathing in.
“Where’s your family? Are you alone like me?” she asked while she submerged her body under water leaving only her head above the surface to see the fox that sat by the edge of the small lake.
The fox kept an eye on her but continued drinking as she babbled, “Being alone is no fun. Don’t you feel lonely sometimes?” Leaning her head back she let her wavy curls turn straight as they touched the cool water. “I do. Last week, I was so desperate for a hug that I considered asking the blacksmith for one. He was changing Adrian’s shoes and seemed so friendly when he joked and made me smile.”
The fox sat down and stared at her as Althea raised her head from the water and ran her fingers through her wet hair while she pretended that the fox took part in their conversation. “Yes, I know he’s a human and we can’t get too close to them. You don’t have to remind me, but you don’t understand how much I long to feel someone hug me. It’s not like there are any Earthens for me to hug.” Standing in the lake with her feet on hard rocks and only her head and collarbones above water, she felt her chest squeeze with emotions and when her tears came, she clutched Annabel’s necklace that she carried around her neck every day to remember her friend. “Rose used to hug me every day and for twenty-four years I slept with Maeve every night. Then I lost them, but Zosia helped me find Annabel and I wasn’t alone.” Althea’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she spilled out her grief to the quiet fox. “Zosia doesn’t answer my pleas. Now, I have no one to laugh with or be close to. No one to talk to.”
The fox tilted its head when Althea stopped crying and gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that you don’t say much, and you can’t exactly hug me back, can you?” Walking out of the water, she wasn’t surprised that the fox stayed put when she passed it. Animals typically felt at ease around Earthens. “You know what, I feel like you’re judging me. Is it what I said about the blacksmith? I didn’t actually hug him, did I? I’ll have you know that every time a human man offers me his… physical closeness, I stick to the lies Annabel taught me.” Her eyes glazed over. “But you can’t blame me for wondering what it would feel like to accept such an offer, can you?”
Holding out her hand she turned the ring on her finger. “The blacksmith flirted with me, but I told him I’m married and that my husband is the jealous type. You know the saddest part is really how good I am at lying, but I guess that’s what happens after decades of telling the same stories. It’s become such a habit that sometimes I lie even when it’s not necessary.”
The fox scratched behind its ear and seemed uninterested in her confessions.
“I like your fur,” she told the fox. “You have an orange glow to your red coat, which makes you a redhead like me.” Putting a dress on, Althea began untangling her newly washed hair while looking at the fox. There was something in its eyes that made her walk closer and squat down. “Hey, beautiful, wouldyoube my friend?”
The fox blinked and looked to the side.
When she reached out her hand, it sniffed her fingers and placed its head on her palm. “Aww, I’ll take that as a yes.” Eager for contact, she used her other hand to stroke the fox’s back.
That was too much for the wild animal and it scuttered out of her reach.
Disappointed, Althea apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Standing back up she sighed out loud. “I really need to find some real friends. I think I’m losing my mind.”
Closing her eyes, she prayed to Zosia like she had so many times since Annabel died. “Please, Zosia, I beg of you. Help me find other Earthens the same way you helped me find Annabel. If there are no Earthens left, please, please take back the eternal life you gave me. I do not want to live alone and be unloved.
Like so many times before, there was no answer. All Althea got from nature was the connection to the beautiful fox who sat watching her from a distance with an intense gaze.
With another sad sigh, Althea put on the rest of her clothes and led Adrian back to the wagon.
