Moonways pt 1

"Mona, Mona! Wait! Damn." The younger girl had taken off beyond hearing, though she was still visible, her pink dress bobbing wildly as she skipped down the path. Lily had asked her to stay nearby, but as soon as they got beyond the front fence she was off like a tiny, chubby brunette rocket. There was a little creek rambling through the park and Lily didn't want Mona going too close.

But Mona had stopped and Lily wondered at hearing Mona's voice. Who was she talking to? Suddenly a head poked up from the edge of the creek, with a shock of messy blonde hair and a curious, dreamy face. Lily hurried over, worry creasing across her forehead. The strange girl waved and grinned, holding up something shiny for Mona to see.

"It's a diamond," she declared, then held it out in the palm of her hand. Lily could see it was a shard of glass, worn smooth by the wash of the water. Nonetheless, Mona gasped and her eyes widened in delight. The girl winked at Lily then passed her other hand over the glass, making it vanish. Mona let out a squeal of delight, but her expression was worried.
"Dai-mun come back?" Lily noticed that the other girl's eyes were a light brown, almost golden. They danced with amusement.
"But you took it!" Mona shook her head.
"Never did!"
"Well, what is it doing in your pocket then?" Out came the shard of glass from the pocket in Mona's pinafore, causing another squeal and excited clapping.

The girl straightened up, dusting off her rather grubby knees, and Lily realised they were probably about the same age. She was thin and somewhat lanky, still growing into her arms and legs. She held out a hand for Lily to shake. "Amber." Lily took the hand somewhat hesitantly, and murmured her own name.

"What were you doing in the creek anyway?" Her voice was faintly reproachful, eyes straying to the dirt and mud clinging to Amber's bare knees and feet. Her summer dress wasn't faring much better; it had long thin green and brown stains from treebark. Climbing trees? At their age? Honestly. If Amber noticed Lily's haughty expression, she didn't show it.
"Looking for diamonds of course! And rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds and..." She stopped short, seeing Lily's frown, and met it with a wide, toothy white smile. "I need to pay the Gate Man you see. And he only takes jewels." She sighed expressively.

"But I just gave my only diamond to the fair princess Mona here, because such a pretty girl deserves all the diamonds in the world." Mona blushed and tugged on her dress happily.
"Are you a fairy?" For a moment, Amber's smile faded. Then she grinned even wider.
"Of course I am. I'm looking for the Moonways. They'll take me back to my home. Will you help me find them?"
"Come on Mona, you know Mama only said five minutes. Dinner'll be ready soon." Lily interrupted the strange girl's tales quickly. Mona looked mutinous, but met with Lily's stony expression she wilted and held out a chubby hand.

"It was nice to meet you," Lily said stiffly, and Amber nodded, looking suddenly thoughtful.
"Yes, it's always nice to meet me. I'll see you tomorrow." Affronted, Lily was about to reply but the girl had already taken off, bouncing lightly like a deer across the shallow creek and up the other side. Snorting her derision, Lily took Mona home.

"Where have you been?" The voice was harsh, cold.
"Just down by the creek, Mama... just for a moment. Mona wanted to." Lily resisted the urge to shrink down from the doorway to the kitchen where her mother sprawled in her chair, puffing on a hand rolled cigarette, her fingers drumming twitchy tunes on the battered table.
"You take orders from a three year old?" Her mother's sneer smelled of cheap rum from that close, and Lily quivered, but didn't respond.

After another moment of hard scrutiny, she was released. Mona had shuffled back, hiding slightly behind Lily's dress. In the tense silence, Lily served out the tinned spaggheti and sat Mona down on a chair. Neither girl dared to interrupt their mother's reverie; it would probably only earn a string of curses.

Later, when Lily was tucking Mona in, she smiled as she spotted the "diamond". In the near darkness of the bedroom, it looked much shinier and clearer, almost sparkling. Blinking, Lily looked again. It was just a shard of glass, nothing else.

Sleep was late coming and fitful in the stifling summer heat, and in the morning, Lily could remember the edges of very strange dreams about rivers made of moonlight. She shrugged them off with a frown, then headed outside. Mona had dressed herself and was sitting quietly on the back veranda, playing princess with her grubby doll. That was enough to get a smile out of Lily, until something caught her eye. It was Amber, leaning on the low back fence, smiling that mischevious smile.

It was a choice between waiting for Mama to wake up with a sore head and ferocious temper, or slip out before she even noticed.Mona made up both their minds by seeing Amber and leaping up, running down the stairs and out onto the footpath. Lily followed, reluctantly, wondering what strange things Amber would say this time.