Read Touchstone 1 - Stray for Free Online Page B

though, and even have a few knives. They’re not very sharp, and the handles have all fallen to pieces, but I have a few ideas on how to fix that. In a few days I’ll have a go at making covers for the windows. I also want to make another blanket: if it wasn’t such a lot of work I’d make a mound of them. Though I suppose I’ll have plenty of time to try.
    My eyes are still strained. Not everything is blurry, and not all the time, but I’m starting to wonder if I’ll end up needing glasses. That’s annoying, but I’m more bothered by a sense of being watched all the time. I’m forever feeling there’s someone standing just behind me, or trying to catch movement out of the corner of my eye.
    It’s not the cats, or not so far as I can tell. There’s a few about, but they’ve never been very interested in me so long as I stay away from their amphitheatre. I’ve been taking a lot of interest in the birds, hoping they have some nests in convenient spots. After weeks living mainly on red pears and washews I’m really interested in the thought of eggs. I’m also going to experiment more with some of the other possible foods I’ve found – I’ve been a bit too scared after the vomiting day, but now I’m starting to wonder if missing out on some of the food groups was the reason I was so sick.
    Today’s mantra
    There are no black things
    Creeping
    In the corner of my eye
    And
    There are no claws
    Glinting
    In the shadow of that door
    But
    There’s nothing wrong with
    Me
    I’m just fine, I’m
    Sane
    Normal
    Not seeing things.
    Friday, December 14
    Laying their plans
    Mum has a CD of this old musical version of War of the Worlds . On that, the Martians make this incredible noise, this ‘uulllllaaaaa’ howl which is so totally unnatural, not a noise anything on Earth would make.
    I’m looking for tripods on the horizon.
    The noise isn’t the one from the CD, of course, but it is super weird. A mournful wail so deep I feel it more in my bones than my ears. I’m sitting on the roof of my tower, listening, watching, but I can’t see where it’s coming from. It sounds like the hills are moaning.
    Whatever it is, it’s big. Could even dinosaurs make a noise like this? After spending the last couple of days convinced that something’s been watching me, I was creeped out enough already. I wish tonight was a moonfall, or that I’d at least figured out a way to make a light for overnight. I’m not up for fire-lighting. I’m lying here with my pippin statue, pretending it’s company.
    At this point, I can’t decide whether it would be better to be going nuts, or to really have things lurking around every corner, stalking me.
    Mouse-like
    Is there any difference between being eaten by a bear or a big cat and being eaten by a huge and spooky monster? The monster might even be quicker. You could say that the bear would be more ‘natural’ I suppose – but that’s just familiarity. Bears and cats are the predators which are real to my world, but does it make a difference if the teeth belong to a dragon?
    There might be monsters that kill you slowly, though. Or, if there is any kind of soul or afterlife, things which kill you ‘wrong’ so that your soul is damaged as well.
    So can you tell I spent the night obsessing over what was going to come galumphing up to kill me? For all that, it was a good night. The noise stopped when the sun went down, and everything felt lighter somehow. The feeling of being watched had gone, and then the animals came back. I hadn’t realised, but the more I felt I was being watched, the fewer animals I saw. Like they were all hiding, while I wandered stupidly around.
    The town’s main population is all on the smaller side. Sometimes the grey terriers show up and chase things, or the deer or mondo elk wander through, but I don’t think they like staying here. It’s very open compared to the forest. Birds dive-bomb the little animals and it’s easy to see anything approaching