Closed Skipping Rocks

[Penelope Zatare]

Penelope had to admit she was lonely. Even if it was only to herself. She still didn't trust anyone in this school, but being surrounded by so many people and watching them all, seeing how they all bonded and cliqued and built up lives, it irritated her. How could people just do that? How could they even manage that? Trying to blow off steam in an easy all-by-herself way, she walked to the lake. She gathered about a dozen or so rocks on the way down, and once she'd arrived she spent a bit finding more. Once she had a good little mountain of stones, she set to work, taking up a station at the edge of the lake and skipping them out over the water. She found a nice little sense of satisfaction in counting the ripples over the water. She felt herself relaxing, and didn't even fight the little twitch of her lips into a small smile.

 

[Aroha Blenheim]

Aroha still had mixed feelings about the lake. It'd been over a year, but she was so used to the ocean that a lake still seemed a little bit weird. It was still on calm days for one thing; that was unusual. No waves, no crashing against the sand. Something completely different. Still, it was the only body of water for miles around and Aroha found herself refreshed by water. Lakes, seas, rivers - it didn't matter which as long as she got to just observe; soak in the wairua* or whatever it was that made it feel so refreshing. She was coming up to the lakeside when she saw someone with a mountain of rocks, skipping them over the water. That looked kind of fun, if Aroha was being honest. She walked up to the person in question, a smile already on her face. "Hey! You skipping stones?" she asked, though it was obvious that's what she was doing. "Do you mind if I join in?" It was only polite to ask. Aroha didn't really know how to skip stones but that wasn't important. It couldn't be that hard, right?

*wairua, a Māori concept that basically means 'spirit' or 'life essence'.

 

[Penelope Zatare]

Penny tensed when she heard someone speak, and sighed in frustration. "I hardly own the lake," She snapped, pointedly not looking at her visitor. She couldn't make the person leave, but she wasn't going to invite her to stay either. She was feeling too stubborn to leave, and instead of saying anything she just grabbed another rock and flicked it out over the water, counting as it skimmed over the surface. One, two, three, four, five...