Hopscotch - Game 1
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Hopscotch - Game 1 |
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across the river to the shore. Over and over he went, and his fingers
felt cool water each time they grazed the surface of the river. He was
a few feet from shore and upside-down when all of sudden something
frozen snatched his wrist. Alec could not move, and to Cynthia it
looked like he was frozen in time. Alec was suspended in the air for
one terrible moment, and then he was slurped under the surface. The
water was warm, but Alec felt like a million tiny needles were
pricking his skin. Soon he started to feel numb, and then his head
started to hurt, as if two big rocks were being ground together in his
head. Just as it felt like the rocks were about to be ground
completely to dust, the numbness enveloped him and then -- splash!
Something warm gripped his wrist and pulled him ashore.
"Alec, what’s wrong?" asked Cynthia. Alec didn’t know what had happened. His body felt so heavy for some reason, and when he opened his eyes he knew something wasn’t right. He pulled himself up on his hands and knees and saw something dark staining the ground beneath him. It was his shadow. He got up and walked away, leaving Cynthia standing alone. The sun was still shining, and the birds were still chirping, but Alec just stared straight ahead. |
He did his best to ignore the flighty shadow trailing behind him. Life went on much as it had before for Alec, thought it seemed to go by much faster. He found himself looking in mirrors more often, and rearranging his room on sleepy afternoons. Also, he didn’t see his old friends quite as much, and he found himself talking to Cynthia much more than he used to. A few weeks later, Alec was walking through the woods with Cynthia and their friend Tobin. Cynthia’s shadow had found her also, only a few days after she had pulled |
