How Was Your Day? - Chapter 20.1

By the time a week had passed, Finnley relaxed. He no longer watched Mia like a hawk, as if waiting for her to run wild into the forest. He no longer checked to make sure his pocket knife was secure in his backpack. But he didn't stop waiting for Monica to come back.

He'd been looking out for her for a while now, but to no avail. She'd said she'd be a week, but maybe it would take longer. Maybe she was just hiding.

The days were getting shorter and the shadows longer, stretching towards Halloween. Finnley tried not to think of what would happen on that day; he didn't look forward to seeing children dressed as monsters when he had already seen two real monsters this fall. Instead, he focused on his training with Mr. Vaughn, which he found oddly comforting.

The inside of the shop was always warmly lit, and Finnley would sit on the couch upstairs and work with Mr. Vaughn. He couldn't do any real spells yet, but he was building up to it. He was learning how to properly draw out the spells, what the symbols meant. He had to learn the magical language a bit, which took most of his time. In addition to writing it, to activate the spell he would have to state his intention in the language.

Finnley was good with the theory and liked learning it, and Mr. Vaughn was pleased with his progress. Every once in a while, Henry, one of Mr. Vaughn's old apprentices, would come for a visit and show Finnley his unique way of doing things. When his spells were activated, they turned neon yellow-green, a far cry from Mr. Vaughn's calm blue.

One afternoon while coming back from Mr. Vaughn's, Mia ran up to him excitedly.

"Woah, Mia!" Finnley said, startled but happy it was her. "Where did you come from?"

"Was waiting for you," she panted. "Maybe got a little sidetracked and had to get here quick."

Finnley had to smile at that. It was so like her to get caught up in something. She was always on the run. "Your house is almost done, right? Aren't you moving back in this weekend?"

"Yeah," Mia replied. Her impatient tone and agitated body language told Finnley that she had other things on her mind. Her jacket was tied around her waist and she kept fidgeting with the sleeves. "But Finnley, I've got something to show you, I think I'm onto something!"

"Alright, what is it?"

"Come on, I'll show you. Let's go!" Mia started off at a run and Finnley panicked slightly, remembering how athletic she was and how long it had been since he'd actively participated in his gym class. Luckily, she remembered too, and slowed to an intense speed walk, which was a little bit easier to match paces with. Finnley has long enough legs that he didn't have to walk so aggressively fast.

"What is it?" Finnley tried to ask again, but Mia would only walk purposefully forward. When the turned the corner and his friend headed straight for the forest, Finnley stopped. "Mia," he said, "I thought you weren't going to go into the forest? It could be dangerous!"

"I wasn't going to, but the other day I thought I saw something..." she replied, glancing between him and the dark eves of the forest. "I just took a few steps in. I swear I didn't go looking for a monster!"

"But you found one?" Finnley asked, deadly quiet.

"I-- I don't know what I found," she admitted. "Come on, just a few steps. I just want to see what you think."

"Fine," Finnley sighed and walked forward. He didn't want to tell her, but the curiosity was getting to him. A few steps wouldn't hurt -- besides, the pocket knife was still there, safe and sound.

He checked both ways, even though no one was driving down the quiet neighborhood street, then darted across the road with Mia. There was the forest, menacing yet beckoning them in.

Mia lead him inside and, true to her word, it was just a few steps on the light soil littered with pine needles. She stooped to the ground and pulled out a flashlight -- it was getting dark, though Finnley tried not to notice that.

"Look, just there." She indicated a spot on the ground. Finnley studied the imprint for a moment.

"A deer footprint?" he asked, then corrected himself. "No, deer have cloven hooves. A horse, then?"

"Exactly," said Mia, expectant.

"And what did you see? Was it a horse?"

"Well... I suppose... At least it looked like one," Mia said, playing with her jacket's sleeve again.

Finnley had to hold himself back from sighing. It was Wyoming. Horses weren't hard to come by. A black horse in the forest in the evening seen by a girl looking for monsters... It was an understandable mistake. He couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed.

"Come on, let's go home," Finnley said, pulling Mia up by the elbow. She didn't protest, and the two walked back to her neighbor's house in silence. He couldn't help but notice how many times she glanced back at the forest. In all honesty, he wanted to look back too, but he forced himself to keep his eyes forward.

She still looked anxious when he dropped her off at home, but her father pulled her into a hug and her shoulders drooped. Finnley knew she was fine, just looking too much for things that weren't there.

He headed off to his own home after that, no more worries about the forest. He did his homework, Rory at his side (much to Mrs. Bale's chagrin) and worked on his magic theory. His mother was very interested in that, both for his own safety and because it was a strange new thing, but eventually even she got bored. Stressed out from another hard day at work, she headed for bed and Finnley trudged upstairs shortly after her, sneaking his rabbit up to his room with him.

He went to sleep in a heartbeat, and everything was fine until he was awakened in the middle of the night by his phone ringing.