Sand and Wind

 

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Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my Nanowrimo submission for this year. This is a rough draft and there are bound to be errors and plot holes to fall into. For that, I would like to extend my apologies, but if you are willing I invite you to please, come and explore the adventure that Taliyah is taking me on and to enjoy the ride. 

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Chapter 1

Beep-do-do-beep beep-do-do-beep

I groaned and stretched out my hand, turning off the alarm clock. I let my hand linger there before retracting it and stretching both of my hands towards the headboard, letting out a big yawn as I did so. Betelgeuse ran jingling into my room, letting out a rather loud meow.

“Good morning to you too, little monster,” I said to him as he jumped up and rubbed his face against mine, purring loudly. Laughing, I pet his head, “Oh Betel, what wicked dreams I have been having. Last night, I spent it dreaming about family members that I don’t even have. We were having a family meeting and it just wasn’t going very well. I don’t remember much beyond that. I wish that I could have had a family to have arguments with.”

He meowed and ran off. I smiled, Betel was right it was time to get out of bed. I got up and started working through my morning routine, starting with an early morning workout. I pulled on my running shoes and stepped out the door, my earbuds in and my hair pulled up into a high ponytail. The brisk morning breeze blew by me and I breathed deeply. The city air reeked slightly, but I pushed that from my mind as I began my jog.

The wind felt like it was speeding me along, as my feet pounded the path through the park, up the stairs and on to the wooded area. It was in this part of my run that I always felt the freest and the most at peace. The grass under my feet, the wind in my hair, and the trees soaring all around me. A beautiful twenty minutes of running took me through my peaceful little world before unceremoniously dumping me back into the park with it surrounding skyscrapers. A sigh passed through my lips as I kept running.

My phone interrupted me slightly and I answered it as I rounded the bend to my house. “Hello?” I breathed into the headphone mike.

“Hey there Tal. I hope I didn’t interrupt your run too much,” a familiar male voice sounded in my ear.

I stopped outside my door and stopped to stretch. “No, not that much. I just finished. How can I help you Jeff?”

My boss started hemming and hawing, “Well you see…”

I interrupted, “Let me guess, your latest employee, Mila was it, decided to quit because she couldn’t take handle your crap?”

“Hey now, you know it’s not like that! She has been late to every shift this week because of her new boyfriend! I gave her adequate warning. And it wasn’t my issues that were causing the situation this time, thank you!” He laughingly defended himself.

“Uh huh, if you say so. So, what do you need Jeff?” I asked, know the answer. It was the banter that I enjoyed.

“Well, if you could pick up some of the slack and help with this now growing mountain of papers that need grading, I would be grateful,” he said.

I grimaced and stood to unlock my door and go inside. I could hear Betel on the other side, yelling for attention. I rolled my eyes as I answered Jeff, “Sure, just as long as you aren’t expecting me to skip class.”

“I wouldn’t dare. You would quit on me without a second thought if I did that,” his voice carrying a horrified tone in it. “In all seriousness, could you cover her evening shift? It’s just from 6 – 9pm.”

I pet my cat on the head as I entered the house and closed the door behind me, “Really, you know that with those three hours, that gives me a nine-hour shift, right? I start working at noon today.”

“I know, I know. Please Tal, I really need somebody in here who knows how to close the center properly. Please, I’ll get help as soon as possible.”

I chuckled, “Alright. I’ll do it, but you owe me!”

He paused, pretending to be thoughtful, “Well, I have this friend who is interested in you…”

I groaned, “No Jeff! I must go now, and you are under no circumstances to try to set me up on dates. I am not interested, so thank you, but no!”

I hung up on him before he could give a retort. Him and all my friends and family seem to think that to be a complete person, I must have a significant other. None of them could quite understand my choice of celibacy in this day and age. I just simply do not feel romantic stirrings towards anyone. It is matter of contention since my parents have always dreamed of having grandchildren, and being an only child, this leads me to bear the weight of their dreams. I don’t hate them for putting all their hopes on me, but it does make conversations with my parents difficult.

I glanced at the clock on my way to my room. Oh dear, my first class starts in an hour. I need to get a move on. I shucked my clothes in a hurry and took a quick shower, then dressed up, and grabbed an energy bar for the ride there. As always, parking was hard to find, even at this early hour of the morning. I ran to class and slid into my seat just as the clock ticked over to 8:30.

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Chapter 2

I stopped in the Union on my way to the Center. A bit of a boring name, I know, but it was better than calling it the University Center for Grading and Tutoring. It also encompasses the main library on campus, with us sharing the basement with the tutoring center. Along the side of the building to the stairs that lead to the outdoors entrance to the Center, I could hear the other students as they enjoyed their lunch break on the lawn between the two buildings. The emotions held in the words were mixed and it made me smile as I opened the door, with a twinge of guilt for the grading that I was about to undertake.

Once inside, the noise level decreased dramatically. There was a quiet buzz from the tutors who were busy working with the students, an exclamation as a student figured out a problem, a groan as another did not. These sounds are the background soundtrack to my grading. I entered the small office that housed the graders. Jeff was sitting there, waiting for me to come in, an impish grin on his face.

“Hello Jeff. What have you done?” I asked, despite not wanting to, as I placed my sandwich on the desk and took off my bag.

“Oh, I don’t know, I was only just chatting with one of the math professors and he said that you have the aptitude to teach if you wanted to do so.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” I asked confused.

“He was reading through the feedback that you provided, and he said that you were very thorough.”

“I am sure that you misheard him. He probably said tutor, not teach. In either case, I am not interested. I have other plans with my future. Besides, I would have to change degree tracks and I refuse to do that. I will get this engineering degree that I have dedicated my last three years of my life to and nothing that any teacher says is going to change that!” I found myself uncharacteristically upset with Jeff and this unnamed teacher for trying to derail me.

He put his hands up, “Whoa Tal! I was just trying to share with you the compliment that the teacher shared with me. In fact, hold on just a moment.” He stuck his head out of the door and I saw his body posture stiffen as he withdrew into the room. “Now, Tal, I should let you know…”

A voice interrupted him, “There was no way that you were going to be able to warn her in time, Mr. White. Ms. Archer, is it?” I nodded tersely at this man standing in the doorway. His frame cut a rather nice shape, reminding me of an old Greek statue- perfectly muscled and lean. The artist part of me wished that I could ask him to pose in contrapposto so that I could draw him. I shook the mental cobwebs away and returned to the conversation before me, his piercing blue eyes watching my every little movement.

“Well Ms. Archer, I think everyone in this room can say that we all know that you do not want to be a teacher. However, Mr. White did not relay our whole conversation. I said that with training you could become a skilled teacher, after you had gone out and had your adventures in the world.”

I blushed, embarrassed that he and the rest of the Center had heard my outburst. Keeping my tone even, “My apologies Professor, I had meant no offense towards teachers. I feel that being a teacher is undertaking the most important job on the earth. Teachers mold the minds of their students, and are responsible for teaching the next generation how to be great thinkers. Theoretically, teachers would also prepare students for life after school, but that is not the case when it comes to high school education. The subject of teachers and teaching is a hot topic for me, something which Jeff may have been unaware of.”

Jeff smiled a little at me as the Professor gave me the smallest glimmer of a smile. “There is no need for apologies. Just keep in mind that you too have the power to shape minds. You give guidance when the students take a wrong turn and the harshness of your grading reflects whether or not you believe that the student is ready to move on from the class that they are taking. Whether or not you understand the concept that they are meant to be learning.

“As much as I would like to continue speaking with you, Ms. Archer, I have a class to teach. I would invite you to come speak with me later, I am curious what your plans are for the future.” And with that, he disappeared from the doorway.

I stood stunned for a moment next to my cooling sandwich, my boss still sitting on the desk with an almost gob smacked look on his face. I threw a balled-up napkin at him, “Hey, earth to Mr. White.”

He gave me a pointed look, “You do know that he is more than just a math teacher, right? He can help you make connections with the real world and probably help you to get a job.”

“Well, that’s nice. I don’t even know his name.”

“Niklaus Montgomery,” his voice had a bit of awe in it. I looked at him closely, this teacher had Jeff star struck, a look that was certainly not befitting Jeff.

“Well, I’m not sure that Professor Montgomery was entirely sincere in his offer. I think that he is going to look back on this and regret offering to help me. Besides, all I want to do with my life right is eat my sandwich and grade papers.”

Jeff shook his head slowly, “You are making a mistake dear, but I shall respect your decision in this. I would just recommend not making any rash decision when it comes to this.” With that, he hopped off the desk and left the room.

I don’t know what has gotten into everybody today, including myself. The new girl just randomly quits, despite giving every indication that she would be around for a while, I lost my cool at Jeff, and this overly mysterious Professor has taken an interest in me.

I settled in, my sandwich perfection as I devoured it. Thankfully, my shift passed without further incident, the papers flying from pile to pile. Five came around an I left the Center briefly to retrieve dinner from the Union, a nice bowl of teriyaki chicken and rice from the resident Chinese place. My shift’s end came faster than I expected and the next thing I knew, I was locking up and beginning the trek back to my car.

I had finally started to relax from the stress of the day, when I heard a bone-chilling howling begin. The first voice sounded close, but it was joined by a second and a third. A primal jolt of adrenaline startled me out of my leisurely pace as I realized the howls were all around me and they sounded like they were closing in on me. I was too far from my car to make a run for it, hoping that I could make it, but it was my only option. All the buildings near me were closed for the evening and my key card couldn’t open them. I looked back the way I came, just to make sure I was making the right choice. I was too far from the Center, where my key card would work. I am not sure how I knew this, but my feet started running once I had made that final determination.

I was running faster than I can ever remember running before. My feet felt like they were flying, my bag weightless, and air flowing into me, filling my lungs and infusing my being. It was a strange sensation, this extremely fast sprinting. However, I wasn’t fast enough. I was within feet when I was knocked into the asphalt. I cried out as I skidded along the rough ground, the asphalt cutting in to my arm and leg.

Paws pushed down on me and I could feel the hot breath on my arm in the moment before the dog bit me. I screamed and flailed, trying to hit the dog, which had attached itself to my arm. It didn’t let go, instead feeling like it was biting my arm harder. My screams were soon mingling with the howls of the other dogs as they closed in.

Suddenly, the dog had let go as it went flying off to the side, another canine body ripping viciously into it. I scrambled back, my fear overwhelming strong as I saw these canines fighting. One of them was a tremendously large, sleek, black hound and the other was strange. It looked canine, but its ears were large, like a creature adapted to the searing sands of the Sahara. However, its snout looked like to should belong on an aardvark rather than a dog. A name from my youth tickled at the back of my mind as I observed this bizarre scene.

Wait, there were three things howling after me. As this realization hit, I scrambled up off the ground. The dog, which had been on the ground saw this and let out an unearthly howl. The others answered as I clutched my bleeding arm to my body and ran as fast as my body would let me. Thankfully my car wasn’t far, and I didn’t take me long to reach it. I fumbled for the keys as the second and third hounds were bounding across the parking lot after me. I managed to open the door and clamber in as the hounds me. I reached into the back seat with my good arm and pulled out one of my wooden practice sticks. I rapped one hard on the snout and he pulled back with a yelp of pain. The other made a play for my leg which was near it. I saw that and kicked out at it, hitting it square in the nose.

In that instant, I slammed the door closed, just as they began recovering and coming after me again. Now that the door was closed, and they couldn’t get in, I took a moment to look at my arm. It looked like a great bloody mess, and I was losing blood fast. I pulled my sweatshirt out of the back seat, tore it into strips and quickly bandaged up my arm. A stop gap measure, but hopefully it would keep my arm together long enough for me to get out of here. I started the car and drove back to where I had left the first dog and the strange canine. The dog was laying on the ground, lifeless, and the creature was next to it, panting from the struggle. I glanced back to where I had been parked and the dogs were standing there, like they were thinking and deciding. I made a quick decision, put the car in park and reached over to open the passenger side door.

“Come on, quickly get in!” I called to it. It ran into the car and jumped in. I closed the door and pulled my seat belt on. “Alright, hold on buddy. Let’s get out of here.” He sat down and flicked his tail around. I sped out of the parking lot and drove home. My arm didn’t hurt too much, and I am certain that it isn’t broken, much to my surprise. I pulled up to the house and the creature followed me closely.

That’s it, he reminds me of a Set creature, one of those strange beasts depicted in Egyptian mythology. I let us in and he, for he is most certainly male, sat daintily in the tile entrance. He saw my hesitation at leaving to go check out my arm and he got up, moved behind me and nudged me forward. I pet his head and went to my bathroom, warming the sink water, and then pulling out my first aid kit. I started pulling off the bandages, wincing as each one came off. The world spun as the bandages came off my arm, and I tried to steady myself and I fell into the deep darkness and collapsed onto the ground, my arm bleeding out.

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