Chapter 7

Instructions

Chapter 7 - Pearl Moonlight filtered in through the closed window. Particles of dust spun around in it, highlighted by the beams of gray falling in between the curtains. The darkness of night slowly crept back into the far reaches of the room. Everything was peaceful, serene. The scene was interrupted by a loud alarm. A pile of blankets on the bed in the corner suddenly sprang to life. A hand reached out, feeling for the beeping alarm. Eventually it was found, and the stop button pressed. A groan came from the pile as the hand went limp. After a few moments of indecision, Pearl finally emerged. She rolled out of bed, falling flat on the floor. She almost fell asleep again, but finally convinced herself to get up. The digital alarm clock read 12am. Stretching, she got up from her position on the floor. It took a few moments for her to stumble her way to the door. As always her room was quite messy, It was often hard to stay organized with three dogs running around. She slowly dragged herself to the kitchen. Still not turning the light on, and almost falling asleep trying to make a bowl of cereal. Tilly padded from her bed in the corner of the living room and sat on the floor next to Pearl’s feet, followed by Milly and Billy. Pearl looked down at her dogs. “I guess you three want food too, huh?” She bent down, and scratched behind Tilly’s ears. Tilly let out a happy bark and bounded to the food corner, as Pearl’s parents liked to call it. She got out of her chair, and walked towards the array of bowls and bags of food, two for each dog. She was greeted by three wagging tails and a handful of barks. Judging by the otherwise silent house, her parents seemed to have left already. They left early in the mornings, often coming back hours after Pearl had gone to bed. Pearl didn’t mind, she liked being on her own anyway. Though she had to admit that having some friends might be nice. With the dogs fed and watered, Pearl returned to eating her cereal. Once finished, she decided to take the dogs for a walk. The leashes hooked to the individual collars with a click, and they were off. The moon hung in the sky casting its gray light on the dark street. The sun still hadn’t come up quite yet. A cold wind blew around Pearl, uncommon for the generally warm summer nights. It took quite a while to get to the forest. The dogs sniffed at every little thing they saw, from fire hydrants to trees. Occasionally stray animals would come to investigate and the dogs would bark until they skittered away. Houses slowly fell behind them as they walked. The occasional small tree planted in a manicured lawn started to give way to bigger more gnarled ones. Less and less houses appeared on the side of the road, giving way to grassy fields. A while longer and they stood at the edge of town. Large trees fully covered Pearl’s vision, blocking out the light of the moon. She hesitated barely a second before striding into the trees. Shafts of moonlight cut through the leaves, guiding the way. The trip was largely uneventful. Other than the occasional creeper, skeleton or spider she had to avoid. Once while hiding behind a tree, Billy had accidentally stepped on a branch, alerting a nearby skeleton. It had been a very close call, but the four had been able to dash through and narrowly miss being hit. Pearl’s parents hated when she went into the forest, for obvious reasons. She very often disregarded their concern. They didn’t have to know, and anyway this had been where she’d found her dogs. A large gnarled tree appeared in Pearl’s view and she adjusted her course slightly, pulling on Milly’s leash to keep her from sniffing the tree. The observatory was close. A few turns and one climb up a hill later and she was there. The tower stood upon a hill, overlooking the treetops. It was a marvel that no one could see it from the city, tall as it was. It wasn’t terribly broken down, despite its supposed age. Pearl supposed that being made of stone made it able to withstand the elements well. She opened the door, hinges screeching. Spiral stairs led towards the top of the tower, windows on the sides letting in select amounts of moonlight. Pearl let the dogs off their leashes once she closed the door. Milly and Billy bounded up the stairs, but Tilly stayed behind, accompanying Pearl as she went up. After a lot of stairs Tilly and Pearl finally arrived at the top of the tower. A glass dome covered the entire space, letting them see the stars and moon. A small telescope sat on a stand in the middle of the room. Pearl had asked for a telescope a while ago for her birthday. Her parents still occasionally wondered where it had gone. Over time Pearl had set up a small living space in the room. It was complete with a sleeping bag, two fold up chairs, a fold up table, and a few bits of food. She sat in one of the chairs, Tilly in the other, and stared into the dark sky. v Continued in N&C v