The Prophet's Daughter by Kilayla Pilon Page B

from the forested side and over to the right side of the road, but for much longer this time, having nothing to say betwe en the two of us. I had questions, of course, but I didn’t want to bother him, have him think of the past and make him even more upset than he already was. I knew I wouldn’t be too happy if he asked about my parents, too. It’d be nice to talk about them, but I just wasn’t ready. It was ironic; however, that I spent most of the silence dwelling on the horrors of the past and dreading a future I knew would forever be without the two people I had trusted the most.
    Isaac came to a sudden stop, peering over the edge of the road we had been walking beside. I shuffled over to stand beside him and leaned forwards, gazing at a long stretch of blackened iron metal rods at the bottom – they looked like someone had laid a large, long and wide latter along the ground.
    “W hat’s that?” I questioned, blinking. It seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite recall the name belonging to the long ladder-like object.
    “It’s a rail road track, or train track, trains ride it. Listen -” Isaac grabbed my head, moving it so that my head was tilted to the south of us. A low rumble echoed and I furrowed my eyebrows, the sound remaining as familiar as the strange bars stretched across the ground. “There’s a train coming, and it’s heading the way we’re going, I think. Want to take a chance and ride it? See if it’ll take us further north?” Isaac said a mischievous glint in his green gaze. I opened my mouth, but I had nothing to say against it.
    “It couldn’t hurt, I guess,” I responded, looking down the hill,
    “how long until it gets here?”
    “I figure we have maybe two minutes at the most.”
    “How are we getting on? Will it stop for us?” Isaac looked at me, holding back a laugh at my question.
    “We’re going to jump on it,” he said, as if it was obvious.
    “Oh.” I blinked, chewing on my lip.
    “I’m real glad we didn’t bring the cart now,” Isaac said, a grin on his face as he ran down the hill. I watched him go, his legs moving so fast I was surprised he kept upright. I followed suit, closing my eyes and clamping my mouth shut, holding tight to Jumper, who had been quiet and snuggled against my chest the entire walk, I felt my body begin to soar.
    The ground beneath us wasn’t level and my legs rocked with each step, struggling to keep my body upwards as we stepped on large humps within the ground, but I couldn’t control myself as I ran, plummeting downwards, and feet slamming hard and jarring my legs. I almost flung my arms out, trying to keep my balance as I held back a scream of terror and exhilaration, my heart roaring in my chest, the wind and the sound of my blood beating consuming my entire consciousness. I began to stumble forwards and opened my eyes to see the ground coming up fast – I was falling.
    “Gotcha,” Isaac said as something hard slammed against my stomach. Jumper had long leaped out of my arms and was sitting beside me, staring up at me with round pupils, ears perked and head tilted. I laid against Isaac’s arm for a moment before I stumbled backwards, clutching onto his arm, panting and trying hard to steady my frantic breathing.
    “T-thanks,” I stamm ered, a laugh bubbling out of my chest as I moved to stand up straight. My legs went numb and I swayed, stepping forwards as my vision blurred and the world seemed to tilt, but as soon as it had begun, everything returned to normal and I stood still in front of Isaac, wide-eyed and hair a mess with Jumper’s loud chirping purr rumbling up to me.
    “That was fun, you have to admit it,” Isaac said, grinning and giving me a pat on the back. I smiled, holding back a strong burst of laughter.
    “Yeah, it was,” I gasped, lips pulling into a wide grin. We stared at each other for a few minutes as I regained my breath, the train speeding ever closer. I turned to see it barreling towards us, a large