A New Beginning

Chapter 12

Tessa's POV:

I tugged at the mat again, but it didn't move. It was even heavier than the cantaloupe.

I tried getting help from the Blood Memories again, but they only provided information about things – they couldn't come up with ideas or plans. I was on my own.

My head turned towards the window, checking to make sure that I wouldn't miss the Morning Song, but I still had time before the sun rose. Dirk continued to sleep, and I didn't see Mom, Dad, Taureen, or Aeria.

Taking to the air again, I glided around the room. This time, I focused on objects in the room as I searched for soft things I could move. Everything I saw was just too big or too hard.

Maybe there was something in one of the other rooms.

Altering my glide, I banked towards the hallway, this time going towards the other rooms. Three doors were closed, leaving two open. My wings were getting tired, so I landed on the floor to continue my exploration.

The hidden memories identified the first room as a bathroom. I entered the dimly lit area, hoping to find soft things. A basket had some sort of cloth inside, and I trotted over to it. With a big jump and a wingbeat, I landed on the neatly-folded material.

It would be soft enough! My ear tufts drooped as I realized just how big the basket was. There was no way I could move it. With a sigh, I jumped back down to the floor.

The basket rolled away from the force of my jump.

I spun around in shock, unable to comprehend how something so big moved so easily. Sniffing the bottom, I pushed my shoulder against the basket, and it rolled away. There was a gap under the basket, so I wasn't sure what was holding it up.

That didn't matter though – I could use the basket to get the cantaloupe down! Bouncing behind the basket, I began pushing it out of the room. I walked to the side, intending to push it down the hallway, but it kept rolling!

With a quiet thump, it bounced off the wall and came to a stop. There were two corners between here and the counter, so I would have to be careful when I got to those points.

Eagerly, I began pushing the basket down the hallway. I craned my long neck around the side – it was hard to see around something this big!

It took me a bit of time, and two more wall bumps, before I had it pushed against the counter. Breathing hard, I laid down on the floor to rest for a moment. It had been hard work pushing it all the way here!

Once I caught my breath, I flew up to the counter and – very carefully – landed on the treacherous grey surface. I quickly walked over to the cantaloupe and began slowly rolling it over to the correct edge of the counter.

My feet skidded again as I brought the oversized snack to a stop. I stuck my head over the edge to make sure the basket hadn't moved. Thankfully, it was still where I left it.

This was it. I gently pushed it over the edge and watched it drop. It landed in the basket with a soft thump, but it landed along the edge, causing the basket to topple over with a louder thud.

The cantaloupe slowly rolled out as the cloth in the basket fell out behind it. I quickly glided down to the floor and trotted over the basket. A quick push didn't budge it. I took a peek at the bottom and saw round things on the bottom. Something like wheels, whatever those were, but different.

But I didn't need the basket anymore – I could roll the cantaloupe!

I went after the cantaloupe and began pushing it towards the living room. It didn't want to go in a straight line, and I spent a lot of time making it go where I wanted it to go. The basket had listened better.