Girl Takes The Oath (An Emily Kane Adventure Book 5) by Jacques Antoine
Authors: Jacques Antoine
Ads: Link
thump—like some primal beat of the world—louder, deeper in her ears. Then, especially on the other side of the canal, tiny taiko drummers sounded the resonant four-four of her life-force, her chi . Two-two when she meditated quietly by herself, four-eight when she ran with her friends, but always beating, echoing in her ears, sloshing with the blood in her veins. Soon she heard the thump-thump-thump of her friends, first their feet, then something beating deeper within, their dreams and their anxieties whispering to her. Her breath stretched out beyond them, reaching the delivery van rumbling by in the twilight on Hanover, and then the car crossing College Creek on King George Street.
Eventually, her thoughts drifted off to the familiar scene: a tropical forest, she knew not where, other than inside her heart. She saw herself place one foot in front of the other, padding along quietly, forest soil and leaves crinkling under her toes. A light beckoned to her up ahead, bright, warm, glimmering through the lower fronds of an enormous fern, the gatekeeper. She pushed through to the meadow beyond, bathed in sunshine, summer insects—dragonflies and butterflies—flitted above the grass, a light breeze and the sound of water in the distance. Before she could find the waterfall, clouds covered the sun, and a whirlwind swept up across the graying hillside, rain pelting her face. By the time she saw the little girl riding the darkening wind, water ran down her cheeks, augmented by the tears flowing freely from her eyes. The girl glanced at her, reaching down a tiny hand, mighty as the wind, as if she would scoop Emily up and carry her off. And then she was gone, a giggle singing on the last wisp of the breeze. Emily blinked at the dragonflies, and smiled at the sun.
“Hey, Em,” she heard Zaki’s voice call out. “We’re running out of land.”
She shook her head out of the dream and laughed. “Sorry, guys. I got lost in a daydream for a moment there.”
“What the hell, Em,” CJ moaned. “You didn’t say we were gonna sprint the whole way. I’m like totally winded.”
“It’ll be a better workout this way,” Stacie cried out, huffing as badly as CJ and Zaki.
“Stacie’s right,” Zaki said, “more like battlefield conditions.”
“The only conditions that matter are the ones inside your heart,” Emily said. “Weak, strong, rested or tired, fearful or resolute—those are all just states of mind.”
“Really, Em,” CJ said, one eyebrow arched into a peak of sarcasm. “You’re really gonna go all zen on us?”
“I will if I have to. But, seriously, you can’t waste your time wishing for the perfect conditions. When a fight breaks out, the conditions are always bad. You have to depend on what you find within yourself.”
“And just how do we do that?” Zaki asked. “I was in a couple of fights in high school, and I remember really well what it’s like, that first time you’re in a scrap. When someone hits you, I mean really tags you, it’s like your whole brain goes numb, and you break into a cold sweat and you can’t focus on anything.”
“That’s exactly what happens,” Emily said. “And you want to make sure it happens to the other guy, not you.”
“So you’re saying we should be super aggressive?” CJ asked.
“Uh… that’s not what you said in the advanced hand-to-hand class,” Stacie said.
“It’s not about aggression. It’s about initiative. Stacie, you know what I mean, right?”
“Not exactly,” she said, looking less confident than someone with all those muscles usually does.
“Remember what your sensei told you about sen ?”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think I ever really understood what he said about that.”
“Okay,” Emily said, as she took a deep breath. “Let’s talk it through. We can take CJ as our example, but what I have to say will be true for you, too, Stacie, and to a lesser extent for Zaki. What do you do if someone picks a fight with
Eventually, her thoughts drifted off to the familiar scene: a tropical forest, she knew not where, other than inside her heart. She saw herself place one foot in front of the other, padding along quietly, forest soil and leaves crinkling under her toes. A light beckoned to her up ahead, bright, warm, glimmering through the lower fronds of an enormous fern, the gatekeeper. She pushed through to the meadow beyond, bathed in sunshine, summer insects—dragonflies and butterflies—flitted above the grass, a light breeze and the sound of water in the distance. Before she could find the waterfall, clouds covered the sun, and a whirlwind swept up across the graying hillside, rain pelting her face. By the time she saw the little girl riding the darkening wind, water ran down her cheeks, augmented by the tears flowing freely from her eyes. The girl glanced at her, reaching down a tiny hand, mighty as the wind, as if she would scoop Emily up and carry her off. And then she was gone, a giggle singing on the last wisp of the breeze. Emily blinked at the dragonflies, and smiled at the sun.
“Hey, Em,” she heard Zaki’s voice call out. “We’re running out of land.”
She shook her head out of the dream and laughed. “Sorry, guys. I got lost in a daydream for a moment there.”
“What the hell, Em,” CJ moaned. “You didn’t say we were gonna sprint the whole way. I’m like totally winded.”
“It’ll be a better workout this way,” Stacie cried out, huffing as badly as CJ and Zaki.
“Stacie’s right,” Zaki said, “more like battlefield conditions.”
“The only conditions that matter are the ones inside your heart,” Emily said. “Weak, strong, rested or tired, fearful or resolute—those are all just states of mind.”
“Really, Em,” CJ said, one eyebrow arched into a peak of sarcasm. “You’re really gonna go all zen on us?”
“I will if I have to. But, seriously, you can’t waste your time wishing for the perfect conditions. When a fight breaks out, the conditions are always bad. You have to depend on what you find within yourself.”
“And just how do we do that?” Zaki asked. “I was in a couple of fights in high school, and I remember really well what it’s like, that first time you’re in a scrap. When someone hits you, I mean really tags you, it’s like your whole brain goes numb, and you break into a cold sweat and you can’t focus on anything.”
“That’s exactly what happens,” Emily said. “And you want to make sure it happens to the other guy, not you.”
“So you’re saying we should be super aggressive?” CJ asked.
“Uh… that’s not what you said in the advanced hand-to-hand class,” Stacie said.
“It’s not about aggression. It’s about initiative. Stacie, you know what I mean, right?”
“Not exactly,” she said, looking less confident than someone with all those muscles usually does.
“Remember what your sensei told you about sen ?”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think I ever really understood what he said about that.”
“Okay,” Emily said, as she took a deep breath. “Let’s talk it through. We can take CJ as our example, but what I have to say will be true for you, too, Stacie, and to a lesser extent for Zaki. What do you do if someone picks a fight with
Similar Books
