Gotta Know Now

I met Aylese a few days before my 12th birthday. It was an early spring day and I spent it in the woods across from my house in Papillion, Nebraska. The woods, such as they were, were a small patch of land that sat between our sub-division and the flat lands that once had a railroad line, with wooden beams, metal plates and rusty track spikes being the only remnants of that time. In the middle of the trees was a creek that during the summer and fall was near dry but in the late winter and early spring it was very deep and had a swift current.

I usually walked to a location down the street where one could climb over a set of culverts and over to the other side, behind the ghost train tracks, but on that day, I took an alternate path: I simply tried to jump as far across the water as I could and grab onto an exposed root on the opposite bank. I missed though and fell into the frigid water. A few thoughts came through my mind:
My cartoon physics model that I used was totally off.
I was glad that my friends were not around and couldn’t relay this story to everyone in my sixth-grade class
The water was cold, and I couldn’t think to stretch my arms out to grab onto the bank, so I bobbed along with the current. My brain was still locked on the fact that I had missed the edge and my body was freezing. I closed my eyes and thought that I would eventually reach a large root or some piece of wood to grab onto, but I also thought I might drown too, so the urge to kick rose and I tried to swim-against the current.

I threw my hands up and down into the water, causing me body to jump out of the water for a moment and at that moment I saw a girl with long red hair running along the side of the water. She had large eyes and an odd gait to her run, like she was floating more than using her legs.
“Lle anta amin tu?”
“Yes!” I replied, even though I wasn’t exactly sure why I understood her.
“Mani marte?” She asked as she reached out and pulled me to the side of the water. I scampered away from the water’s edge and laid out on my back. “Mankoi lle uma tanya?”
“It seemed like a good Idea at the time.”
“My name’s is Aylese, and you’re an idiot.”
“I’ve been told that a few times,” I replied.

She had insulted me, but she had also saved my life, so I allowed the insult. She was also kind of cute too.

“Was it some sort of bet, or do you have a death wish?”
“A little bit of both.”
She then drew out a large dagger and spun around to see Skully.
“Kela!”
“He’s with me,” I said, still out of breath.
“Yea, I’m with him,” Skully replied and then blew a chewing gum bubble that was as large as the opening in his cloak.
“A human harboring a dark spirit.”
“You’re not much of an angelic being yourself, toots!”
Aylese flew into the air and shoved Skully back.
“I am the daughter of the Holy Elvin king!”
“And I’m the high Rama-lama. Stephen there’s the ding-dong.”