Our Quest of Greatness [Arch]

[Sky Danna Winters]

Some peace and quiet. That was all that Sky Winters was really after. She had slept poorly the night before, Rajah providing a loud roaring growl that she was presumably supposed to fall asleep to. She pulled her pillow together to cover her ears. A moment of silence caused her to peek open her eyes and she spotted a tuft of orange and black fur. Rajah had manifested himself into the real world and was grinning at her from the other side of her bed.

“Raj...” She groaned and leaned over to check the clock. The tiger cocked his head to the side, grinning with all of his teeth bared. It was way too early for this kind of madness. She lay there for 30 more minutes, desperately trying to ignore the spirit that was licking her face. Finally, around four AM she decided it was no longer worth it and slid out of bed. She didn’t bother to fumble around for the lights; this had happened enough times over the past week that she had memorized the steps she needed to take to get the snack she wanted. She crossed over to the tiny kitchen area of her apartment and poured herself a bowl of Fruit Loops cereal; her favorite. Her fingers found the handle for the fridge and she opened it. The light of the refrigerator made her draw back a little, but she managed to grab the gallon of milk and close it before she completely blinded herself.

The padding of feet behind her alerted Sky to Rajah’s presence in the kitchen. He growled low, not angry...Hungry. Sky rolled her eyes, pulled out another bowl and poured milk into it, “Sometimes you make me feel like you’re my child.” She set the bowl down on the ground and immediately heard Rajah lapping at the bowl. She was still amazing by how no one else could see her spirit, and yet, he could so clearly interact with her world.

She picked up her bowl and tiptoed around Rajah, feeling her ankle crack as she did. Sky plopped herself down on the ratty couch in the middle of the room. She flipped on the television and watched infomercials as she shoveled the cereal into her mouth. Her mind drifted off for a couple of hours: she thought about how she had signed her name to be a quester. She wasn’t even sure what that meant. What kind of quests was she going to go on? Was she going to be in any danger? Further and further from reality she went until she was snapped out of her trance by her alarm going off in her bed room. She hopped up, barreling toward the bedside table. She hit the off button. And fell back onto her bed in exhaustion.

A whimper from the front door made her prop herself up and stare at Rajah. His face looked scrunched up as if he was trying to hold something in. She furrowed her brow and then it hit her. Rajah had to go....out, “Oh!” She said loudly and struggled up from her fluffy bed.

She had decided that it was good idea for her to finally get out of her room and start meeting people, so she might as well let Rajah come with her...it wasn’t like she had a choice. She had spent the majority of her first week sitting in her room, wondering what exactly all of this meant. Sky picked up her canvas backpack and threw some granola bars inside, not exactly sure how long she would be gone. She was about to walk out the door when she saw her camera sitting on the coffee table. She ran over and threw it around her neck. She donned her favorite pair of sunglasses and finally walked out of her front door, making sure to double check the lock as she left. It was a nervous habit, always locking and re-locking things. Her mother was a meddler.

She walked down the short pathway to the street and then headed in the direction of the main part of town. Her eyes drifted to Rajah who was wandering a few feet in front of her, sniffing people as they walked by. People here. People there. Rajah growled when someone came a little too close. Someone yelled something. Sky got a few waves. She could feel the anxiety building up in her chest. Her irrational suspicion of people was beginning to peak through and it manifested itself on her face as an uncomfortable grimace. She probably looked like she was in a lot of pain.

Instead of heading straight into town where she knew she would see more people, she took a sharp left on one of the street. Instead of continuing to walk, she took the time to let her eyes scan the long cobblestone path, and upon finding it deserted, she finally began walking. The path seemed to topple off at the edge of a grassy area that seemed to stretch for miles. She pushed her sunglasses up on her head, looking over the....flat land.

Rajah bounded away from her and started rolling around a few feet away. Sky couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculousness. He was happiest when he was outside. These were the days she wished that she could capture her spirit on camera. With a shake of her head, she walked toward Rajah and sat down in the grass near him. She pulled out her camera and focused on a spider that was dangling off a blade of grass.