Meeting Tepnos

Andrew thought her to be a curious girl. She always sat in the same seat on the third floor of the library. She had long hair the color of ash. She was always reading. Her clothes were various shades of orange, red, or yellow under a dark red school robe. The robe had the school emblem in black embroidery over the left breast. Andrew would often sit across from her while he worked on his art. There was something about her he found alluring.

It was because of the mystery around her he decided to create a fictional character based on his two favorite mythical creatures—the phoenix and the griffin. For days he sketched a mix of both creatures. But no matter how many variations he tried, Andrew felt he lost one or the other. Finally, he stopped and bullet-pointed the qualities, quirks, and temperament of his character. Then, based on how he'd described it, he tried once more to draw his griffin/phoenix mix.

The strange girl already sat in the leather seat across from him, legs folded under her while she read. She was out of place and yet seemed content. Andrew on the other hand always felt out of place. He never really felt at home in his skin. He had buzzed, copper red hair. There was a bald patch on the left side of his head above the ear. The skin was darker in tone and almost lumpy. Rarely did he look anyone in the eye, too afraid of what they would read in his own eyes. He was solidly built; stocky in appearance because of the oversized clothes he wore under his snug fitted black school robe with a red embroidered school emblem over the right breast.

The girl put her book away as he turned back to his last attempt to draw the phoenix/griffin combination. She shouldered her bag, slipped on her shoes, and started to leave.

Andrew sighed.

The girl stopped. "It's well done," she said from behind him.

He turned to her in surprise.

"The phoenix and griffin," she continued. "Good combination."

"Y… you can tell what it is?" he asked, distracted by her flame red eyes.

She nodded. "Is the design your own?"

"S… sorta." He looked away feeling a little embarrassed and ashamed. "I've been trying to create a character based on what I know of these mythical creatures."

"You draw very well. I wish you luck."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Then the girl left.

Andrew tried a couple more variations on his creature. They didn't look as good as the one the ashen haired girl had commented on. He put his drawing and notepads away. He left the library and headed home to eat dinner with Grammy.

"How was school, Andrew?" Grammy asked.

"Fine," he replied.

"And your art project?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"No. Just needs a lot more work."

"Alright. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know."

"I will, Grammy."

That was Grammy. Always checking in to see what help she could provide. Grammy was a thin, silver-haired woman who didn't look more than 50 years old. She moved with ease and had the grace of a swan. From which side of the family she was related to him, he could never remember. Grammy had taken him in; raised him since he was a baby. His parents had been murdered—mutilated by some unknown hand. During his early school years, Grammy did her best to expose him to the many career options he had available to him. But, most often, he found it easiest to get lost in a drawing or creating a life for a fictional character. The more his grandmother encouraged him to try more extroverted things, the more introverted he became.

During Elementary school, and all through Junior High school, Andrew had been able to make one friend. Kenny Lanterne. Kenny had been an odd kid, too. A geek with glasses. He had been a bigger kid. But he knew computers and gaming systems like the back of his hand. He was often bored in school and would program games or upgrade already in use software. The teachers were always calling him on it, but when he could give them the answer they wanted they left him alone. Andrew liked Kenny because he could bounce ideas off of him for character development and in turn, Kenny would develop 3-D images of the characters Andrew created. He even put the characters on a flash drive so Andrew had a copy. That was until the fire.

Kenny and Andrew had been role playing in an old barn—acting out mock battle scenarios to help Andrew with one of his stories and to help Kenny finish a world conquering game. They practiced crossing blades with a shovel and pitch-fork. As they got to know and understand the moves of the other, they picked up speed. Sparks came off the tools as their mock battle continued. A shower of sparks flew off the pitch-fork as the shovel scraped across the outermost tine to deflect it.

A barrel exploded igniting Andrew's hair and blowing Kenny to the other side of the barn. They hay and old wood was lapped up in the greedy flames. Andrew beat out the flames and felt dizzy, but he needed to get Kenny out. He stumbled to his friend's side. Kenny's eyes were wide and staring. His head bent at an awkward angle, his clothes burning. Andrew smothered the flames then dragged his friend from the barn. Another barrel exploded, consuming more of the barn. Sirens and voices came distantly, but Andrew was aware of nothing. Nothing but his friend's broken body and staring brown eyes.

After Kenny's funeral, Andrew had to go to court. It was the second worst day of his life. A day he would not forget. He was put on parole for the next several years. He obeyed the rules and buried himself deeper in his stories. He took to wearing Kenny's clothes as a remembrance/punishment for what had happened in the barn. Even now, four years later, Andrew still had nightmares of the fire even though they had diminished in frequency as time had passed and his parole ended.

Tonight, however, Andrew could not stop thinking about the girl who sat across from him in the library every day. Her hair, her eyes. Never before had he met someone whose features were very different from the norm. Yes, he had seen young people—very young people—with gray or white hair. Yes, he had seen albinos. But this girl didn't need sunglasses to block out normal light as albinos did; nor was the shade of hair color close to those whose genetics led them to have gray hair sooner.

Who was she? And how was she able to pick out the mix of phoenix and griffin? Even to Andrew it just looked like a demented griffin. How was he to add phoenix traits to a half lion/half eagle being? How was he going to mix the two so others would see what that girl had seen? He always saw her reading something. What was her major? And what did she know about mythical creatures? Know enough to be able to identify his mix. Andrew thought about her long into the night, eventually falling asleep to the image of her face.

Andrew woke early. He rushed through his morning routine to see if she would be in the library before classes started. He ran to campus, through the tree lined paths to the library. Several students were waiting outside. The ash haired girl was not among them. He waited outside the doors until he needed to attend his classes.

Andrew had creative writing and an advanced sculpting class today. It was for his sculpting class that he was trying to perfect how the giffin/phoenix looked. He wanted to sculpt it for his final project. He'd need to finish his design soon so he could build it. He had to have it built, cured, and painted in twelve weeks. It would then be put on display for the next semester. An opportunity he'd like not to miss out on.

Once classes were over, Andrew grabbed a to-go sandwich and juice at the student center. He scarfed them down before going to the library. He skipped up the steps to the third floor. He had to take a deep breath before walking over to where he sat. The girl wasn't there. He glanced at his watch. He wasn't there any earlier, despite his rush. Frowning, he took his seat.

Andrew tried once more to find a good physical balance for his griffin/phoenix mix. He had drawn the general outline for the griffin when the girl arrived and sat down with a book in hand. She slipped off her shoes and set her bag down. She sat in the chair and folded her legs beneath her. Her movements were graceful, almost majestic. She opened the book and slowly scanned through the pages. Andrew flipped to a blank page and started to draw her. Once he had her general face shape he spoke.

"What's your name?" He glanced between her and his drawing pad.

"Tepnos Griffoenix," her mezzo-piano voice replied as she continued to scan the book she had. "And you?"

"Andrew. Andrew Townsend."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Andrew."

"It's nice to meet you, Tepnos." He drew in her nose, her mouth. "What's the origin of your name? It is Gaelic? Celtic?"

"It's origins are unknown," she replied.

"Are you sure it's not Greek or Latin?"

"If only the world were that simple."

Andrew gave a slight nod and continued to draw her. He would glance at her from time to time, hoping to catch the details of her red eyes. Tepnos continued to slowly scan through the book.