EVANORA

Chinese whispers have a tragic way of affecting people in a small school and by the time the truth gets to someone who was not intended for such delicate information it can be so grossly distorted it isn’t worth repeating and if it is...it is very damaging to the recipient. Evanora was ashamed of her father because in the eyes and minds of all the kids at her school he was the town drunk and the fact that the rumour started that he was responsible for killing her mother didn’t sit well with her or make lunch time any more pleasant because of the rumours and bitching that took place over a ham sandwich.

“Your dad killed your mother” said one.

“Your dad is a soak” said another.

“Her dad is a bum” said a teacher.

These are statements that were fired at Evanora every lunch time and on the bus on the way home every day. It was no wonder that she suffered unendingly from self doubt and self worth issues and then to come home to the person that the entire school knew was a drunk and to have him touch her in such an indecent manner only drove home the point further in her mind that she must defend herself and learn more about this orange colour that came out of her eyes when she was extremely upset. She went to the school library but the books there were infantile in nature with no real adult content about defence spells or witchcraft. Evanora was still in the junior school and would have to wait until she went to grown up school to ferret through the library there to get the information she required.

She became very adept at tuning out to the viciousness of the school kids at lunch time. She would look at them and see their mouths moving but all she heard inside her head was her mothers voice and the voice did in no way match the kids yelling at her at all. It was a gentle and loving voice and there were times when she would smile back at the kids and be in such a dream state that the kids she smiled at would attack her because they thought she was poking fun at them. More bruises to her body matched with split lips and manure rubbed into her hair. Never a day went past when she wasn’t the brunt of someones maladjusted behaviour or a teachers scorn because of her fathers reputation. If only they knew what he was like for real.

They were only privy to the distorted Chinese whispers from their parents but if they were to live in Evanora’s house even for 24 hours they would see how truly evil he really was. Evanora put the lunch she made herself away in her bag and walked back to her classroom with a throng of young girls singing hateful songs behind her back and pushing her every so often to drive home the fact they hated her...and her father. She hated him as well and couldn’t understand why the kids at her school hated her as a result. They were completely bereft of empathy and compassion towards her and it was all starting to compound itself in how she behaved back to them. There was no where to hide at school. She needed a safe place to regroup and get stronger, to defend herself not only against the kids at school but also her fathers octopus like tentacles that wrapped around her when he come home drunk every night. On the bus ride home there was the usual hair pulling and spit balls that landed on her clothing and when she stood up to leave the bus she was tripped up and fell to the bus floor.

Not even the driver got up to help her while kids willingly kicked at her while she was down on the bus floor with tears welling in her eyes. The whole town was against her because of her fathers drunken behaviour and while she brushed the tears from her eyes and walked home she decided to take a walk into the forest instead of doing what she usually did when she got home from school. She left her school bag on the front porch and walked into the back yard and stopped when she saw the forest looming up before her. For years she was told by her mother and father not to venture into the woods because there were things there that would do her harm. This fear that was installed into her had lasted until now at the age of 10 years old. Now she was ready to stretch her little wings and explore for herself because there was something inside her that told her she would be ok.

She would be protected.

Evanora scaled the back fence with eeze and made here way through the long grass towards the forest. Her mind was clear and for the first time in a long time she was looking forward to being somewhere different. Once the long grass came to an abrupt finish she was standing underneath the hug bows of 100′s of really tall pine tree’s. The smell was amazing. Pine trees have a distinct smell about them and as a way of showing how happy she was she went to the first tree in her path and hugged it for all she was worth, feeling its jagged bark against her face and the sticky sap beneath her fingers. It all felt wonderful.

Instantly the pine tree she was hugging fluttered beneath her body raining millions of pine needles down on top of Evanora and she laughed. Something she hadn’t done for many years. She danced around as the endless needles fell to the ground around her. Then when they stopped she lay down on them and looked up into the branches and at how tall this tree really was then she smiled and said “Thank you...that was amaaaaazing” in a very quiet voice to the tree.

At once she heard the tree she was laying near bend and creek sending off a chain reaction throughout the forest. All the trees began making the same noise as if speaking to each other and telegraphing Evanora’s arrival, ....finally....., to the forest that would be her 'favourite' place to come to when ever she was sad or lonely or scared to death because of her father. The tree’s had welcomed here back in their way, a very old way with more knowledge to impart to Evanora than she knew and they were telling each other that this was the child that would be their new apprentice and she would become very powerful but as yet she was naive to the magic that would be given to her and so as not to frighten her more than she had been the forest treated her very gently and helped her to see where she should be, so the trees closest to the path that Evanora was to follow all bent back to allow some light into the forest and light up a trail for her.

She wasn’t silly she saw it straight away and headed off a fast paced walk touching each tree on the way in as if to say hello. The further she walked the trees arched back and shut off the way back to her home and disguised any sign of her being there at all. The light on the path vanished and was extinguished by the trees either side of it.

The forest was protecting her now and it was her time to learn how to defend herself and fight back. She did not realise how powerful she was but the tree spirits would see that she did.