My Turn!

There was a rumor going around that you could summon and talk to wolves who were dead. In fact, according to his brother Corbin, his younger sibling had done just that! Alex had to admit - he was pretty impressed that Cor had managed such a thing. Especially when his brother had managed to summon Melanthios, his father’s cousin, and get to speak to them. From what Gavroche had told them Mela was a hero, standing up for the right thing, even when they had gotten hurt for it, banished, and lost their future. It was a lesson that sometimes standing up for the right thing could be the hardest thing, and Alexander could understand that. That was why, when he woke one morning before anyone else, he decided that he was going to try and summon Melanthios too! Maybe they were still around?

The sun had just barely begun rising above the horizon when Alexander stepped out from behind the waterfall. Spring had come to Auster and thus things were starting to become more lively, or that was how he understood it anyway. The grass had become green, more leaves were growing, and insects came back in full force. The boy liked the bugs, but that wasn’t what he was doing today. Corbin had said he managed to summon Melanthios from the pool around the falls but… what if they had started to move around? He came to stop in front of the pool of water, his green gaze thoughtful.

“Melanthios?” The boy questioned, staring at the area of the pool where the water was the calmest. “Can you hear me? I heard that you had talked with my brother, Corbin, and I was hoping that maybe I… maybe I could talk to you too. You sound like a real hero, the type of person you expect to come to save the day when everything becomes scary and seems hopeless…” The boy furrowed his brow. Was that how you summoned a ghost? Hmm… he moved closer to the pool of water and tried to gaze deep down into it. Maybe they were under the water? But wouldn’t that make them a fish? Corbin had said that they had taken the form of a frog last time.

“My dad says he wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you. You’ve done a lot for him, and he’s sad that he can’t do the same for you. I’ve heard him mention you sometimes in private, you know. I think he misses you. How come you haven’t shown yourself to him, too?” The pup asked, tilting his head to the side. It seemed strange. Out of all of them, Melanthios had the closest bond with his father, so wouldn’t it make sense that they would try to contact him instead? Or maybe Mela really had to be summoned before they could speak to anyone? So if he could summon them, then maybe Melanthios would be able to speak to his dad after all! Alexander’s chest puffed up as he got to his paws.

Now, how on earth did you properly summon a spirit? Could Melanthios hear him now, but just couldn’t get through? The boy paced back and forth in front of the pool of water, gaze shifting to how it fell from the rocks and furrowed his brow. If he was a spirit, he’d come back if someone offered his favorite things… but what did Melanthios like? The boy wasn’t sure. They had been gone before he was born so he’d be shooting in the dark. Maybe candy? There was plenty of the sugary stuff in the cave they called their home. Eagerly Alexander darted back into the cave, careful to not disturb his sleeping parents or his siblings.

Once Alexander got to where he was going he set to breaking a piece of the rock candy away, mainly by licking the base of where he wanted to break it off. It took a while but he finally managed to get it off. Then, taking the rock candy in his maw, he raced back outside and tossed it into the pool where he believed Melanthios to be resting for some reason. His gaze widened a little as he saw bubbles start to show where he tossed the candy, believing that Melanthios was receiving the offering he had tossed into the water.

“Melanthios!” Alexander cried, his green eyes shining with excitement. “If you are receiving my gift then please, come out and join me on the land! I want to be able to talk to you, just like you talked to my brother. Please!” The child wiggled on his paws and looked around, hoping to see a sign of the tri-color wolf he was trying to reach. Would they take the form of some other creature? Or would their spirit be able to pull through this time?

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Word Count: 815 Words

"Family"