Post by siren on Nov 10, 2007 20:40:15 GMT -5
Open
Brenda was homesick.[/blockquote][/font]
She hadn't seen Jared, like, once, considering he was apparently in a different house and was still too new to the school to be attending classes... Something like that. There'd been no letters from home. Not even a stray owl saying "Great job at Durmstrang, Karl!" Brenda was fine when she was in classes and stuff. But away from everyone else, she was really, really upset.
So today, a Saturday, had been officially declared an exploring day by Brenda herself. That was how she got into that spectacular room. She'd been thinking about her home so much...
And then she opened a door and was there. Everything was there. There was the big house she lived in, at the edge of the big ranch. The almost endless field constantly cut short with magic that was perfect for raising horses, both winged and muggle. And it was a nice, sunny day, not too warm, not remotely cold as it was at Hogwarts.
Brenda looked around from the top of the hill she was at. There was a door, innocent as ever, standing there, at the very top. There were no walls to either side of it. A sign hung up on the door:
WARNING: Extended visits to The Wandering Room is hazardous to the health. Please refrain from staying twenty-four hours or longer.
She peered at it, wondering if it was real. After a moment, though, she turned back to face her farm. Her family's ranch. Her legs moved her by themselves. They were eager to get to the familiar place. I wonder if Meika will be here...? she thought vaguely, the thought of being at her home still stunning. It seemed as if there was no one else there. How could they be? If any students wandered in, they'd be in different places, right? And her parents obviously weren't at Hogwarts.
But maybe... The horses were there...
Sure enough, she saw a group a distance away, tethered to a post near a riding paddock. There was a whole wild flock grazing in an open field. (There were magical wards that kept the domesticated ones in, but it didn't apply to wild or feral horses.) She found herself racing to get there, and she didn't get tired. She was past her house, past the stalls, and scrambling over the fence in her school robes to get to them.
Where was Meika? She looked around for the large Granian. There she was, prancing delicately around with a black gelding. Brenda could tell by the exact pattern of her blue-roan coat, looking more soft and wonderful than when she'd last seen the horse.
"Mei!" she called, overjoyed, and the Granian lifted her head away from the black male. She trotted over, recognizing her friend. Brenda stroked the horse. Yes... Her coat was even more silky than she remembered. And Meika was warm, so very warm. "I missed you so much," she informed the horse, who snorted politely. "You need to tell Mum and Dad to send me and Jared more letters, all right?"
She was barely done saying that sentence and being buffetted by an understanding flap of the great wings when she heard a door open, eerily close. Brenda brushed her hair out of her face and peered at the door on the top of the hill.