บท 6: Dead Again? Oh well.

Sometime after my third birthday, I began to exercise my right of minimal independence. I figured that I should follow the normal path of development and become unbearable, basically; I wouldn't want to deprive my parents of that joy.

Ok, I wasn't that terrible. I had become really bored of our small two-room house, however, and wanted to explore more of the outside world. Our house consisted of a kitchen/living room and a bedroom. There was a tiny outhouse for our necessities, and a basin for our teeth and washing our hands and faces. If we wanted a full bath, we walked to a nearby river. It was not the height of luxury. Fortunately, as a 3-year-old I barely noticed it. Maybe it was because my body was smaller, but I didn't feel as deprived without modern conveniences.

I started off small. I explored the house first. Here's my parents' bed, with its beige quilt and matching pillows. Next to it is my cot. Then the window that overlooks the back garden. There is a small bookshelf with a few storybooks and a few history books. I tried to read the history books once, but the words were too complicated so I put them on the mental task list for after I had improved my literacy. The copper basin sits on a stand in the corner on the other side of my parents' bed from my cot. There's no mirror anywhere in the house.

In the kitchen there is a rudimentary stove and a second basin for washing dishes and vegetables. Mom and Dad use magic to fill the basins, so I always need their help if I want to wash. Pots and pans hang from hooks above the stove, and a block holds a few carving knives high enough that I can't reach.

In the same room, there is a wooden table and three chairs with only a simple flower vase as decoration.

'This is not… much. I guess we're poor?' My formal inspection was completed in about a half an hour. My pudgy arms crossed over my chest, I surveyed the entirety of the biggest room with my back to the front door. I could even see my parents' room through their door. There's not even a dresser for our clothes, just one big chest for theirs and a smaller chest for mine. Not that I have a lot of clothes.

"Ah!" The door had knocked into me, easily pushing me across half of the room before I could stop myself. My dad scratched his head in the doorway.

"Molly, what are you doing?" Closing the door, he squatted next to me.

"Looking." I responded seriously.

"Looking…at the kitchen? Is there something there?"

"Not now. Mommy's out, so I'm in charge." Yes, that was the actual test. My mom had wanted to go out to work in the garden, and I had insisted on staying by myself in the house for the first time in my life. Neither of my parents had ever let me out of their sight. I needed to convince them to trust me before I could explore.

So far, I wasn't sure that it was working. My dad's eyebrows dipped over his nose as he pursed his lips.

"Where's Al'na?" He picked me up and glanced out the window. I swear, they barely let me stand on my own two feet. Was this even normal? I had always been good! It wasn't as if I had tried to wander into the forest or broken anything. I think the only thing I had ever broken was the shell of my egg when I hatched. It was so boring!

"She's in the garden." I pouted and tugged at the tuft of hair hanging over his ear. "She said I can be in charge."

"I'll have to talk to your mom about this first, sweetheart."

"Daaaaaddy! I can do it!" I added a little extra whine for effect. "I'm a big girl!" No, wait. Wrong argument. "I mean, I'll be good! I'll stay in the house!" Why was it so hard to figure out an argument for my maturity when I had already lived for more than 80 years?

He chuckled. "You're a very good girl. But even the house can be dangerous. What if a wild animal climbs in through the window and eats you while we're not here?"

"Don't scare me. That won't happen!"

"And why not?" He arched an eyebrow. Sitting at one of the chairs, he settled me sideways on his lap. "As long as we're with you, you're safe. But if you're alone, you won't be able to defend yourself."

I harrumphed. Even though we had talked when I was unborn and they knew I had been reincarnated, they still treated me like a kid. I wasn't going to be scared by his teasing. But fine, if he wanted to stick with that route, then I could use it to my advantage.

"Then teach me magic. When I know magic, I'll be able to defend myself and you can leave me alone. And you and Mommy can go on dates! We'll all win." There we go, previous experience to the rescue. What parent wouldn't jump at the chance for some alone time without their kids?

He chuckled again and gave me a hug. "We will teach you magic when you're older, I promise. Right now, though, you're too young; your body wouldn't be able to handle channeling spells." He pinched my nose. "Come play with me for now. You'll be older and independent before you know it. Keep your dad company until then."

And that was the end of that.

No, not actually. If they weren't going to cooperate with me, then I didn't have to cooperate either. It took some patience and a little bit of planning, but I finally managed to sneak off by myself.

A few weeks after my conversation with Dad, it was a bright sunny day. Dad was off as usual, and Mom was feeling sleepy, as she tended to be when it was too warm outside. During our afternoon lessons, I took the opportunity to offer to refill our juice. While her back was turned, I slipped the sleeping herb from our garden into my mom's cup. I wasn't an herbalist in my past life, so this wasn't some brilliant talent that I had been storing away. What I was is a good eavesdropper. My dad occasionally had trouble sleeping, and so my mom had cultivated this particular herb for taking at night. She kept a bottle of it dried and crushed in the bedroom by the basin. All it took was sneaking a handful out and into my mom's cup. I made sure to use three times the amount that she usually used for my dad. Her ears were sharp, and I didn't want her to wake up suddenly while I was out.

An hour later she was tucked in her bed and me in mine for a nap. I watched her carefully, waiting for her breaths to deepen into sleep. When she tucked her hands under her checks, I knew she was truly asleep and it was time to sneak out.

One foot over…a second foot over… plop onto the ground. My legs were way too short to be graceful. I bit back a cry of pain and carefully rubbed my butt, which had accompanied my feet to the ground. I can't make noise. This might be my only chance…

I tip-toed around my parents' bed, and paused at the door. Still sleeping. Carefully opened the door, slowly made my way to the front door. Paused again. I couldn't underestimate my mom's hearing. Still sleeping. Finally, out of the house.

I blinked in the fierce sunshine. All of the world was open to me. This might be my only chance to explore, since I wasn't sure if I could keep my disobedience hidden from my parents.

So, I had already seen the river when we went to bathe – that wouldn't be interesting. I wanted to see something new, like the forest. My parents never took me to the forest. I bet there were tasty flowers in there, and fluffy animals. I almost never saw animals! I wanted a pet squirrel. Maybe even a fox. Were there foxes here? Time to find out!

The grass was soft underneath my feet. I had forgotten to put shoes on before I left, but I couldn't go back now. Since I was half-elf, though, I should start working on getting used to the bare ground. It would make sense if elves ran through the forest barefoot, right? It's their natural environment after all.

I felt my grin splitting my face in half. The forest towered above me, the darkness self-contained and inviting. Birds sang out of sight, and the leaves shook with their passing. I could hear several small animals crawling around in the underbrush and a bigger animal a little further on. Here I come, fox!

I broke into a run, pumping my arms vigorously to make up for my short strides. As soon as I passed by the first few trees, I felt the sunshine depart my skin abruptly. It was like being back in my egg, surrounded by a wavering light. For a moment I hesitated. Maybe I should go back to my house.

Then I shook my head. I had eighty plus years of experience! I wasn't going to be scared by a few shadows.

Fallen sticks and hidden stones soon joined the grass, and it was no longer soft. I tried to ignore the sharp, digging pain with each step. I wasn't going to give up now. Further in, further in. A blue bird flitted by me and I stopped to watch. I'll follow it, I decided.

I had been walking for what seemed an hour when I came across a fallen tree. The trunk was right in my way, and it was too long to walk around comfortably. I was going to have to climb over it.

As I approached it, I heard another small animal under it. I was still getting used to the various sounds that I had never encountered before in my short life here, so I often wasn't sure what I was hearing until I could identify it by sight. I crouched to get a look at the owner of the sound, squinting at the indistinct shape.

Slowly I saw a brown diamond-shaped head sliding out, with a forked tongue waving in the air. Our eyes met, and I slowly recognized the shape.

Oooh, a snake! I had liked snakes in my old life, and that had seemed to continue into this one. I contemplated catching it to take home as a pet. It wasn't fluffy, but maybe that would be better because it wouldn't shed. Its eyes reminded me of my dad's, so maybe he would like it.

I should ask my dad first. But in the meantime, I could at least pet it, right? It was so cute!

"Come here, snakey…" I remembered that you're supposed to approach animals slowly and let them sniff you first, so I put out my hand. "Come here, cutie."

The snake slowly raised its head, still watching me. It stayed very still as I walked closer. Then it began to raise its head until it was almost my height.

{Poison Bite}

What?

Where did that come from? Was that a voice? No, wait, it sounded like my voice?

I stopped walking towards the snake, and looked around for the source. A sudden pain flared up in my hand, worse than anything else I had experienced. It was both sharp and hot, ripping through my arm and into my chest. I stumbled back and clutched my hand to my chest. It was turning black.

This wasn't good.

I glared at the snake. I was just trying to be nice to it. Did it have to bite me like that? Now I would need to go tell Mom what had happened so that she could fix my hand.

The snake didn't seem to care as it flicked its tongue once more and slithered back to the trunk.

'Fine. I didn't really like you anyway.' I was feeling a little weak, so I sat down. It was getting hard to breathe and the pain was getting even worse, if that was possible. I should just sleep for a bit. Mom was going to be sleeping for a while longer anyway, so it wouldn't hurt if I took a nap too and then walked back after.

I curled up where I sat and fell asleep with the pounding pain driving me deeper and deeper.