Olivia's Canvas

My cousin and I are email-writing a story. Here it is so far:

Look, over the years I have just learned to trust people because people are looking over your shoulder all the time. : /

Behind every corner there is a choice. One will lead you well, the other will not. :|

You are very capable of following directions so take my advice and read the first words of each paragraph. :O

When I was 6 years old I learned to look for hidden messages. They can lead to treasure like in fairy tales, but most often, they lead to trouble and heart ache. I should know; the first one I ever found informed me that my father and mother had died in a fire. That was seven years ago, and every time I start to remember, I forget over night. Now that I'm older and smarter, I think people must be giving me a memory drug while I sleep. I don't even remember what they look like. My alternative? Don't sleep. It's even harder than it sounds.

I need to tell you a few important things about myself for this whole thing to make sense.

1st. I live in a shed. Not one of those tiny ones, but one maybe a bit bigger than your closet. It's in the woods. No way would I turn myself into an orphan

2nd. I have a German Sheppard as a guard dog. I found him and he acted like we'd known each other all our lives, so now he's mine.

3rd. I practically own a library. I keep thousands of books in my shed. They used to be my parent's and they're quite helpful. Many of the Shakespeare ones, I have found, have codes.

4th. I kill my own food. I also eat vegetables which are much easier to get.

5th. I don't really know anyone, and I like it that way. Kind of.

6th. I instantly trust anyone I meet. I'm DANGEROUS because of that.

7th. I’m just a little bit of a show off when I go into town, because I can do most anything.

If you don't mind me asking, what number of things did I tell you? I WONDER. What number OF things in THE WORLD did I tell you? I believe you know where to go now.

Now that I'm 13 I know to trust my dog, Confiance, it means trust in French, to... well... trust him. As I go into town that day with Confiance, he starts to growl. "Yep" I say which for us means that I have heard him. I look around just with my eyes so that no one can tell that I am looking. Then I spot a dark shadow in the ally way. I nod my head towards that shadow and he barks twice which means "Yes". As I head over there a woman grabs my shoulders and starts to tell me something, but I think that she was trying to stop me so I started to run. She yelled after me in a strange tongue that I didn't know, but it did sound familiar. I head toward the shadow, twisting this way and that to dodge passing people and I accidentally knocked over a person. "Sorry" I yell over my shoulder and keep running. I had almost caught up with the shadow, but then I lost it. I growled in frustration, then looking at my dog's brown eyes I said "Alright lets go home. We'll catch him next time." If there is a next time I thought to myself.

As soon as we got home, I got all my English to any-other-language dictionaries out. What had she said? Er ich etwas zu euch. What had her accent sounded like? Swedish? No. Swiss? Uh uh. Russian? Could be. I checked the Russian dictionary. Nope. How about German? German could be right. I flipped around in the phrases area. Then I found it, and the words below said, HE WILL LIE TO YOU. That was the only one in capital letters. What could that mean? Then I looked more closely at the page. It had a note in faint lettering. It said, Believe the woman, Jewel. Jewel, a nickname for Juliet. Of course, now I just go by J. I know that if all the boys in town were smart enough to know that, ugh...Juliet is my real name, and J is just a nickname, they would never let me hang out with them. But I do not want to even talk to the girls in town. They're even bigger creeps than the boys. They're always spying through the bushes when boys walk past. Creepy!

I thought about the message over and over in my head. I scrambled around the letters and could only think of "I, Elite. You, Howl", but there was still the extra "L". Oh well, I thought to myself. Since this all started in town I decided to start there.
As I walked into town with my dog by my side, no one was there which was strange because today was supposed to be a busy day. I looked around and I saw the cloaked person again. Right when I saw the cloaked person I started to run to it, but it started to run away. "Wait!" I yelled after it. "I don't want to hurt you." And surprisingly it stopped. Then it pulled off it's clock and it was a girl and she said "Hi my name is Elite, but my friends call me Little Red riding Hood."

I stare at the girl for what seems like forever. "Why do they call you," I stop abruptly. "The extra L." I mutter under my breath. "What was that?" I ignore her. "I didn't catch what you said." She says, louder this time. That's when my instincts kick in, and I instantly trust her, "Nothing. I'm Jul- I mean J." "Well hello, Jul- I mean J." Now, I don't think I like her as much anymore. If she's going to be rude about the choice that I made of not sharing my given name (Not for security reasons, but because all the boys are more fun than the girls, who I like to make odd faces at.) then, I don't want to be friends with her. "Look, I heard a boy yelling earlier, and I didn't think much of it but now I want to check it out. And, do you know where all the people went?" "Actually, I saw them running up the hill on the other side of the river. I think I heard the shout come from over there. I'm going to go tell that boy not to yell... wait, I think he cried... WOLF." Her eyes widen and I'm sure mine do too. "Well, we might as well go see the corpse." I say. "My dog can sniff him out, if he hasn't been dead for long." And so we go.

Some people just need to tell the truth. This kid was absolutely disrespectful to all people who have gotten killed by a wolf. He is a waste of time and energy. I was ashamed that I knew him, and had actually thought he was decent. So much for trusting people. He was laughing ridiculously by the time we got there

I rolled my eyes in pure disgust. "Come on Red," I said "Let's go." and we went on our way. "Wait!" said the boy. "The wolf dropped this," He handed me a piece of paper and it only had one word on it "Howll". The missing "L" I thought. It's right here.

"Thanks." I say sarcasticly. "We'd just love to take your trash." But I do take it with me. Halfway down the hill, I say quietly to Red, "We're going to my place. Come on." While we're crossing the river, (The hard way, not over the bridge, but in the water.) she shares something with me. "Can I tell you something?" She says. "Trust me, you can trust me." I say, and then I giggle. "Well, I live alone. My parents were killed by the wolf. I was five. They told me to run and hide. That they would take care of it." She started crying. "When I came back downstairs, into the living room, hours later, they were gone, but there was blood all over the floor." I wanted to say something to comfort her, but I was really bad at this stuff. "I'm so sorry. My parents are gone too. They died in a fire when I was six." She looked up at me. "Do you miss them?" A milisecond later, I feel hot tears on my face. Now, I'm not much of a crier but, for the first time in my life, I really, truly, missed them. I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but there was a huge knot in my throat. I shook my head yes. I wiped away my tears and quickly recovered. "You can sleep over. We'll talk more then." I say

I let her inside and lend her some pajamas. "You sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor." I say. "No, It's fine!" She protests. "Sleep in the bed." I say more firmly. Surprisingly, she doesn't protest. "Okay," I say, "Why would the wolf drop a paper. Do wolves write?! Do wolves read?!?! I'ts so... weird." "Do you think... Do you think he could have written it himself?" Red asks. "The boy, not the wolf." "Well, It's possible. We could get a sample of his writing." I answer. "Brilliant!" She says.

Surprisingly, it wasn't him. "Well there are a lot of other boys." I say. Still, I'm a bit disappointed. I go to Even Hughs and hand him another piece of paper. "Write the alphabet." I demand. He doesn't do anything but stare, which is sort of surprising, because I was expecting him to kick me. Yes, kick me. Just for suggesting that he do anything I ask of him. "Excuse me! I want you to write the alphabet on this piece of paper." I say slowly, like he's incredibly dull. (Which he is.)

He just looked at me some more and then he grabbed the piece of paper and wrote down the word "No," but he did this all very slowly. I looked at his eyes and saw that he was in shock. "Oh. Um... Okay I guess we'll ask later then?" I said looking at Red. But she did nothing so we went on our way.

"Well, I guess we have the 'o' but a fat lot of good that will do us." I say. But it's weird, my voice doesn't sound like my voice. "He looked kind of scared. But, not guilty. I don't know, I think he's in shock or something, and I don't understand why he couldn't just say no." I tell Red. "I think he likes you." She answers with a smug look. "He was looking at you." "So a boy was looking at me, that's um, like an EVERYDAY occurrence." I say, blushing.

Then I get this weird feeling, like a tingling in the pit of my stomach. "I think I should go back there." I say. "Oh, well then, I'll just let you go by your self because I want FOOD!" She says. And we go our seperate ways. I come back to the place where I found Evan and I see him crying. Not sobbing but a little stream of tears are falling down his face. "Are you okay?" I ask. He stiffly shakes his head no. "Why are you crying?" He shakes his head again. I hand him the piece of paper. "Can you write it?" I ask. He takes the paper and writes slowly, My folks are dead. Killed by the Wolf. I stare at it and croak, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry." What I do next surprises me. I... hug him.

"Hasn't someone taken you to the orphanage?" Now he talks. "Obviously not, I mean, do you see an orphanage. I haven't told anyone." "Well you can't live by yourself." I say. I know that I do, but I'm strong. Then, an idea sparks. "You can stay with me and Red!" I offer. He looks at me. "Stay with... girls?" "I have a room divider. You can stay on one side, and we'll stay on the other." I say. He thinks for a minute. "Okay." "Let’s go then."

I blush beat red as I show him the room he will be staying in. The Red come out of the bathroom drying her hair and I'm wondering if it was such a good idea. "And there is a door on either side so we never have to wait on the other." "Um... Okay. Thanks." he says. "Yep." was my reply.

"Uhh, What is he doing here?!" Red whispers, as she starts to change out of her bathrobe, once we put up the room divider. "His parents were killed by the wolf and I felt bad for him. He's kind of in hiding, because he doesn't want to go to the orphanage." "What were you THINKING?! He's a... BOY!" She whisper-yelled. "I was thinking that he might be able to help. And, that you'd understand because for goodness sake's, it happened to you!" I whisper-yelled back. "But I'm not a boy!" She's practically whisper-screaming now. "I'm SO sorry! He needed a place to stay, we have one!" I say. She doesn't argue back, just plops down on the bed in her night-dress. I glance at the divider and notice an odd shadow, a face turned side ways as if listening. Evan, It's really hard to defend you when you're listening in! I think. Sorry. What was that? Did you just read my thoughts, and even more surprisingly, did you apologize to me?! I think again. I... think so. I hear via brain. "Wow!"

I look at Red to see if she noticed, but she just sat there. "Okay so we are all going to get a job. Evan you can be blacksmith. Red you can hunt game. You know like deer and rabbits." "I know I'm not stupid and I can set traps." Wow, was she moody! "And I'll help people like a nurse. Tomorrow we will go and sign up then." Nobody said anything so I took it as a yes. Yippee I thought.

Yippee? Really? Ugh! What if he listens in when I think about my crush on- never mind! Go away! I think. I wish I could! I just learned that you have a crush on... me. How does he know that?! I stopped myself from thinking about it! You still think about it even if you don't realize it. Like, If I were to ask you what your favorite color is, you'd think about it automatically, even if you don't realize. How annoying! It's no picnic for me either!

Whatever, I think. Let’s just go to bed. Then I heard or thought or whatever you call it when we talk to each other in our heads that he likes me too. Yes! I think but I was also thinking No! Will this make it weird or not? So confusing!

How far away do we have to be for it not to work? I... ask/think. How should I know! He thinks back. Let's test it tomorrow. Right after my 5:00 AM push-ups and jog. I think. "No way am I getting up at 5:00 AM!" He says aloud, like really loud! "What? Why would you be waking up at 5:00 AM?" Asks Red. No reasons pop up in his head, I know that for sure, and pretty soon we're asleep. Evan's dreaming about me! Except, I have a witch head and evil cackle. Yes, I do!

I wake up the next morning, and Evan is tying his shoes. "I thought there was no way that you would wake up at 5:00 AM." I say. "That's why I woke up at 4:30." "I'm taking a shower, you're make our breakfast." I say as I lock the bathroom door. I take the fastest shower in the world, and then come out in my bathrobe and quickly grab my jogging clothes and head back to the bathroom. I get changed and put my hair in a ponytail. I step outside right as he's taking the eggs off the fire. "You're not that bad at cooking eggs. They look good." I say. "But do they taste good?" "They're good, just try 'em." "Fine." I say. I close my eyes, hoping they're good. Well, not all dreams come true. "They're great!" I say, and yes, I'm lying. They were terrible! Then I stop myself, because I remember the whole thought thing. We finish our eggs, (When Evan's not looking I feed a lot to Confiance.) and I say, "Let's go then, and um... try not to listen."

As we head off to our different jobs I think about all the different things that I could do as a nurse and before I knew it I was at the hospital. I went to the front office and it was crowded! "Take a number." the woman at the office says. "Actually I'm here to sign up and you know get paid." I said. "Oh!" she said "You want to work? Here?" "Um... Yes?" "Is that a question or a statement?" she asked. "A statement" I said. "We'll put you to work right away. Follow me please." and she set up a sign that said Take A Number. We'll Be Right With You. I stifled a giggle. My job was to clean all the items that the doctors use. I was so caught up in m work that when Evan said "Hi" in my head I jumped. The women around me looked at me. "Sorry" I said. "What do you want" I thought to Evan. "I don't know I'm on my lunch break." "Oh" I think stupidly. "Well I have to go back to work." he thinks. "Um, okay." I think dumbly.

I wondered how Red was doing. We decided to have her sell half the game she killed, and save the other half. As I picked up a particularly bloody tool, I thought of Evan. Could he really be trusted around fire? Hey! You are RUDE! He thinks. I'm doing better at my job than you! I think/say. How would you know?! I roll my eyes. You just got a second degree burn on your wrist, and earlier you made a horseshoe into a squiggly line. To this I here an angry retort; Well, how hard can it be to wash bloody screw drivers all day? Oh, dear. Doctors don't use screw drivers! I think/say. Who cares?! Again, I roll my eyes. Probably the patients! That ended our... conversation?

Seriously he is a pain in the butt. "Hey" "Hey is for horses." was my remark. "Whatever. Why are you so mean!" he yells/thinks. "OW!" I said out loud. Whoops! "Don't yell it hurts my head." I said/thinks "Sorry." he says/thinks. I gasp. "Did you just apologize?" "Yeah, so." He said/thought. "But you never apologize to anyone." "I'll talk to you at home." Home, I think. "Okay." but he never replied.

My ears are still faintly ringing as I walk home with Red at 6:00 PM. "Can I tell you something weird that you're not going to believe?" "Well, if I won't believe it then I guess it doesn't really matter." She says. "Okay, then, I can read Evan's mind." I say quickly. "And now you think I'm crazy." I say. "Well, actually that's been happening to me all day." I can hear your's and Evan's thoughts." She says. Really? I think. She nods. "Then, how come we can't hear you?"

"Well" she starts out. "I have know about my 'gift' for a while and have made it so that no one can hear my thoughts."

"How do you control it? How long have you known?" I ask. "I've known since I was five, the day my parents died. They told me that morning about my 'gift'. Ever since then, if I stay under the same roof as someone for three hours, they get the gift. But we can only read each other's thoughts, and it spreads like a disease. I control it like this: first, take a deep breath and close your eyes for seven seconds, then imagine locking up you brain, like with chains and everything. And then you're done, and when you want to let them in, just unlock it."

"Really? That's it?"

"Okay." I say and try it. "IT WORKED!" I yell. "Calm down, jeez." Red says to me and we walked home.

"I've got to tell Evan about this. Why do you act like your gift is a curse? I mean you say 'gift' all gingerly like you hate it." "I'ts not so nice to know what people think about you all the time. I mean, yeah, sometimes it's cool, but I once stayed at my aunt's and uncle's house, and they hate me."

"Oh, well when you put it that way I guess it is ." "yeah." She said and that was the end of our conversation.

We walk for a while until we get to the shed. "I was thinking about beef brat wursts for dinner. And spinach salad. How 'bout it?" I say. "Okay, I hope Evan likes beef. I shot a really SMALL calf today. I still have a lot of it left. I could twist 'em into sausages and you can cook them. Evan can make the salad. I don't exactly trust him around fire." "That's what I said! I suppose I can trust him, but, he cooks terribly." I say the last part in a whisper. She smiles and giggles. Not really a giggle, I guess. Just a soft laugh. I can't imagine her giggling full on.

We walked in silence the rest of the way home. It wasn't an awkward silence, just silence. When we got home Evan was washing his hands in the sink and their was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. "Diner will be ready in a few minutes!" He said. "I just have to make the salad." I looked at Red and she looked like she was about to laugh. "You can sit down and relax." Evan told us as he cut up the tomatoes. "I got my first pay today and bought a chicken from the store. I put some seasonings on it and put it in the oven." The oven bell chimed. Evan went over to it and pulled out a huge chicken! Red went over and put plates on the table and I put forks, knives, and napkins on the table. After we said our thanks to God for our food and blessed it we ate and it was delicious! I looked at Evan and smiled. "Who are you and what did you do to Evan." He looked at me with wide eyes. "W- What do you mean. I-It's still me." He said. I looked over at Red with big eyes of my own. Evan has never studded. She nodded once and then we jumped on Evan. He struggled but we healed him down. Then Evan's appearance wavered. As I looked closer I saw that it was the wolf! No wonder why the chicken tasted so good! Then I thought back the Wolf didn't eat any of the chicken! "It was drugged!" I yelled to Red. "What was?" she asked. "The chicken" and that was when I blacked out.

I woke up in blackness. "Red? Red are you there?" "Yea, but stop yelling my head is killing me." "Quiet in there!" A deep voice commanded. "Wolf? Is that you." "Shut up!" he commanded again. "It's Paul."

I was knocked out again!

I wake up, hearing sound of ripping meat. I open my eyes, and see Red tied up. I look down and see likewise. Red's asleep. I look left. The wolf is eating. But then it's not the wolf. It's a man. "Go back to sleep!" He growls. I close my eyes, listening to the sound of meat. Surprisingly, it's a calming sound. *rrrrrrrip-slossshhh-chommmp-gulp* I nudge Red with my foot. "Brrrrruhh!" She yells. "Let me send you a message!" I hiss. She closes her eyes. She opens them again. I send the message. Where is Evan?! I ask. How should I know? She thinks. We're dead meat!

That's ironic since you know he's eating meat." I think to Red. "Wait what kind of meat?" She thinks back. Good point I think to her.

I have an idea! I think. Well, I'd really like to hear that piece of information - now, please! She think/yells. If we think to Evan, we can learn where he is... or if he's - you know. I think.

Dead. She thinks back. Yea I think. "You know i can hear you right?" Paul says this prison is enchanted so I can hear every word you're thinking."

Ugh, he is so annoying! And really getting on my nerves, what with kidnapping us! I think. "Well you're no fun." He says, pretending to feel hurt. A fox strides into the room importantly. She acts as if she would like to rip us apart, but I can see it in her eyes, she's taking pity.

Paul strokes her head. She sits down, and suddenly shes a girl, about fifteen. "How are you, hon?" He asks, not surprised at her sudden change. "I'm fine, father." Father?! Wow, did not see that coming! Red thinks. "What will you do with us?" I say, with a certain braveness in my voice that I know I don't really have. "Well, let's see. You little brats can't have much worth. No one is going to pay a heavy ransom. My guess is that they'd give up if it's more than five dollars. You could be rather nice dining, but, if there's something else I could use you for?"

"Or maybe we should just get rid of them. They don't have any real strength." Paul says. "Oh yeah," starts Red "How 'bout you let me out of this cage. Unless you're scared." Red says with anger in her voice.

"Hmm, I do think they must be good for something, father. A paper weight, perhaps. Oh, oh, father, I know what to do! We can sell them to pirates on the dock! Some are real light on slaves right now!" "That might be a good plan, Alice!" I can tell Alice loves getting attention from Paul. Her face brightens immensely. "Well, done." Paul says

"Slaves. Ha, as if I'm going to be a slave." said Red. "I'd rather be a pirate. Brave, talented and fearless." "Too bad your a prisoner." Spits Alice. "Now, Now, Alice they are our guests." said Paul softly. "Ooh, and do you always lock your 'guests' in a prison sell?" asked Red with sarcasm dripping from her words.

"No, just the rude ones." Paul replies calmly. "We'll take them down to the shipping dock tomorrow." "Will it be an open auction?" I ask. "Why?" "Well, if I'm going to be a slave, I want to know if I will be the slave of any pirate who offers enough gold." I say. "Yes, it will be an open auction." Paul says. I look at Red, and I can see no fear in her eyes, but her hands are shaking ever so slightly.

I can't believe this was happening. "Why are you doing this?" Red asked. "Why not" was his reply and he left.

That night we huddle together to keep ourselves warm. "What's going to happen to us?" Red keeps saying, more to herself, it seems, than me. I think of Evan and where he might be. Paul is in the corner with his his back to us. He seems to be saying numbers. I think foolishly of a child in a game of hide and go seek, counting down the seconds until he go to find his friends. But he turns around every few minutes, and his face reminds me of anything but a small, innocent child. I think of Evan again, and no matter how hard I try not to, my mind always jumps back to an image of a coffin. Don't be silly. I tell myself. Evan is fine... hopefully.

Then there was a clink down the hall. Both me and Red jumped up in surprise. "Sit down!" commanded Paul. "And don't go anywhere." Then he left through the door to go investigate. We heard a grunt and then a loud thump. then a face in the door. "Hello ladies." "Evan?" I asked the stranger. "In the flesh. Now, how to get you out of here?" It's Evan he's alive and here. I snapped out of my trance. "I saw a set of keys in his pocket." Evan went over and grabbed them. He unlocked the cage and as I stepped out I tripped over the him of my skirt and fell into his arms. I blushed ferociously and he laughed. I stood up and muttered "Stupid dress." under my breath and Evan laughed harder. "Thanks." said Red. "Now lets get out of here."

As we walk out like we own the place, Red and I fall a little bit out of step. "You talk to your dress?" She whispers. "No." I snap. "Ugh, that was SO embarrassing! What was so wrong with the mind of the utterly absurd human who made the first dress?" I whisper, hoping for sympathy. Instead, I get a cackle. "The girl who talks through her mind is laughing at the girl who made a comment about the intelligence of the inventor of this torture device. Wearing dresses? How medieval. You'll see, in a couple hundred years, people will only wear dresses for the Sunday services." I say passionately. "Yeah, right. That'll be when women rule the world!" Red says sarcastically. "But won't they?" We walk in silence for awhile, and then the question that we've all been waitin g for comes in the form of Red's stomach. "So, what's the plan? Where are we going to stay, and, more importantly, what are we going to eat?"

Evan laughed. "How about going to the Old Key?" he asked. "What's that?" i asked him. He laughed again. "Only the best and only restaurant in town. Unless of course we want to walk for about 20 miles?" Red's stomach growled again. "Nope lead the way Evan."

"So it's an inn to?" I ask. "Well, kind of. The sign says Restaurant and Inn. But the quality says Restaurant? and the Shack on Top of It. There's only two, dirty rooms." Red and I give each other looks. "We don't have any money." I say. "Please, continue to state the obvious. They're happy to offer a room not rented out for a couple of nights free of charge." Good. Well, that will be a big help won't it? I think. We walk for about two miles until we reach the dimly lit eating house. As we approach the door, the strange and sort of blunt smell of mashed potatoes wafts toward us. Then the stew. It's an odd smell. Almost burnt, and yet, raw. We enter the crowded restaurant. This is the first second of the rest of our lives.

As we walk to the front counter, we see some very... eccentric people, including a man dressed like a llama. We ask for a room and they show us the one we can have for two days. It IS dirty!

Do you like it? It's just the first draft, and we'll probably change somethings once we're done. It's really fun to write a story with my cousin. Her name is Katlynn. You should see her blog, katlynnhanks.wordpress.com.

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