My brain can register

he snorts humorously. I choose to ignore him and concentrate on getting back on my feet. The ground is uneven and I have been sitting in the same position for far too long. Needles and pins creeping up to my ankles and into my calves, further up my thighs numbing my legs.

Before my brain can register what is happening with my body, I take a big step towards him and land flat-out in a sprawl at his feet. I feel the blush pushing into my face at approximately the same time as half the earth rips through the skin on my palms and the other half repeats the process on my knees. The gash from my knee towards my shin angrily spits blood back at the rocks in protest.

"Gods!" he growls at me furiously through clenched teeth and tight jaw, "Let's give them blood too, it will help your case a lot!" Before I can say another word he is standing by my side. A big hand grips below my palm, lifting me from the ground. Kicking out to find something solid to connect with, I find nothing. Gulping down mouths full of air the size of tennis balls which get stuck in my lungs while I try to control the anxiety blistering through the fiber of my being. "Put me-" "No." "I am fine-" "And slow."

He answers while passing me from one hand to the other. My arm and shoulder aching under the tension of suspending my entire body from it. "You are so rude!" I now shout at him, fuming. "Go on." the sarcasm drips into my mood resembling hot wax. "Bleed some more and let's make more noise. Ought to get you the attention you seem to so desperately want," he taunts me.

I swallow down any rebuttal I could have as the heated fury give way to a sickening feeling because of the speed we're moving at. The realm is whizzing past me imitating a bicycle ride. The landscape around me looks like someone's vindictively smeared all the colors in one direction on an oil painting; dark shadows sweeping up the olive and auburn colors. Either he is exceptionally tall, or supernaturally fast.

My heart races along with his strides, scarcely keeping up and I search for anything to help me find my way back home. "Both. I can take you home later," he says and I snarl in response. "Very-" "-Rude.

Yes, you said that already. If you don't have anything of value to contribute I implore you to sing your song again. It is half entertaining." I snap my mouth closed and resolve not to speak to him again. I want to go home. "And where is home?" he asks in the velvet-covered tone. "Valley-" I start and then remember too late I wasn't going to talk to him.

The snicker slinking down from just above my head grating at my mood. "I'll get you back there." "Mind reader hey?" and "Particularly strong" and "Now dearie, don't sulk, it is so unbecoming and he is ever so handsome!" It is easy to ignore the voices sneaking in their opinions.

The thing about these voices is in the habit they have to unnerve me and appear at random. I hear what they say yet I'm always superbly careful not to acknowledge them. They seem to be more persistent in taking the front stage if I do.