Waking up Just Got a Little Too Weird for Me

"But I don't want to put that dress back on! It smells funny!" I whined as the dress was shoved into my hands.

"You stand out to much, Casey. You have to put it back on," Robin said.

"It's itchy. It smells funny. I'm tired," I complained.

"Well you shouldn't have gone out into the woods last night," Robin replied.

"Well how come Will and Allan got to go back to bed?" I asked.

"Because you dragged them out into the woods," he said.

"I didn't drag Allan out there! He followed us," I defended.

Robin looked at me skeptically and I tried to convince him with a look and failed miserably.

"He really did," I said, looking around as Much got up.

"Why are you up so early?" I looked suspiciously to Robin.

"I was up visiting Marion," he said, not skipping a beat.

"Oh. Does she still believe I'm lying?" I asked.

"Why do you assume that we spoke of you?"

"Cause I'm the talk of the town!" I replied.

"No one knows about you," he answered.

"Yeah but you and Marion know and I'm probably the biggest news you've ever heard about," I said.

"Now who has a big ego?" he smiled.

"No one has a bigger ego than you, Master," Much said sleepily as he sat down on the log beside him and started a fire.

We all sat silently for a while until Much decided that the fire was big enough and went out to get some water.

Djaq got up and came over to the fire. She sat down beside me and stared into the fire. Much came back with the water and started to boil it.

"Teach me how to cook," I said to Much.

"What?" he asked, confusion etched across his face.

"Teach me how to cook," I repeated.

"Okay. Well come here then," he answered.

I went over and sat beside him and just watched.

"Okay. First you have to let the water boil. Can you check and make sure it's boiling while I get the vegetables?" he asked.

"Gotcha," I said as I peered into the pot.

He came back into the cooking area and sat down.

"Boiling. Check," I said.

"Okay. Now you cut the vegetables up and stick them in the boiling water," he said as he handed a knife and vegetables to me.

I began to cut them up and wouldn't you know that I cut myself.

"Ow! Dammit!" I cried as I tried not to look at the blood I knew was pouring from my finger.

I tend to get a little nervous at the sight of blood.

"Oh dear. Ew. Robin! I need a cloth!" Much sighed as he grabbed my wrist.

Robin came over with a piece of spare cloth and kneeled down beside me.

"Oh no. That looks like it might need stitches," he said, examining it.

"Ah! Please don't tell me that!" I yelled, almost in tears.

He looked up at my nervous face and smiled.

"Don't worry. I'll get Djaq to do it."

"She's not a doctor! I don't want your medieval style medicine! I want a real doctor. From Harvard," I added, tears streaming down my face.

"Djaq is the closest thing to a doctor we have. Don't worry. You'll be okay. She's stitched us up plenty of times," he reassured me.

Or tried to anyway.

"You mean you get injured like this all the time? Oh my god! I hate blood! I'm going to be sick!" I screamed, trying to run away.

"Hold still while I look at this," Robin said, not letting go of my wrist.

"No! Let me go! I want to go home! I hate blood! I'm going to be sick," I said, looking down at my finger.

I tried to hold it in but couldn't as I puked all over beside me.

"We're going to need someone to hold her still," Robin said as he held me up so I wouldn't fall over.

"You hold her. Much go get a needle. I'm going to need your boiling water to sterilize it," Djaq said, coming over and taking charge.

Robin sat with me in his lap as Much brought Djaq the needle. She grabbed my hand and was about to start when I stopped her.

"Wait. Do you guys have morphine? Vicodin? Anything?"

They looked at me oddly and I sighed.

"Anything for pain?"

"It's a few stitches. It won't hurt that bad," Much said.

"It'll hurt me," I complained.

"You'll get over it," Djaq said, putting the needle to my skin.

"OW!" I screamed, waking up the rest of the camp.

"I haven't even started!" she said incredulously.

"Are all people from the 20th century babies?" Robin asked.

"21st!" I corrected angrily.

Everyone else wandered over to watch as Djaq put the needle to my skin once again and I looked away in horror.

"Just think about something else," Little John said comfortingly.

I thought of the 21st century, where my family was probably worried sick. My mother, my father, my older brothers, Jason, Michael, and Robert. Actually, my brothers probably don't even care. They laugh at my misery. Maybe my costars. I thought of one of my favorite bands, Cobra Starship, and without even realizing I was doing so, began to hum one of their songs.

"Look at that! We're done!" Djaq said happily, showing me my newly stitched finger.

I opened one eye to look at it and smiled. It didn't look half as gross as the stuff you see on TV.

"Wow. Nice job," I said, slightly hoarse.

Little John pulled me to my feet and then pulled Robin to his. Much went back to his cooking and everyone settled around the fire. I went to go pick up the knife to continue working when Much grabbed my hand.

"Maybe you should work on something else. How about you go get water to replace what we used to clean the needle?" he suggested.

"You gotta be kidding me. I cut myself one time and you won't let me use the knife again?" I asked, getting slightly huffy.

"It wasn't one little cut. Now go get some water so we can eat," Allan said, closing his eyes and leaning back against the tree.

I hadn’t even noticed when he had come out of his bunk.

“Well I couldn’t very well sleep with you screamin’ about could I?” he asked as if he’d read my mind.

I heaved a sigh of anger and got the bucket from Djaq. I stomped off into the woods and wandered around for a bit until I found the river. I don't know what they were thinking sending me off by myself to get this water because I sure as hell wouldn't be able to find my way back. I turned around to try and retrace my steps when I noticed a boy standing a few feet behind me.

"Hi," I said awkwardly, waving slightly.

"Hello," he replied, not looking away from me.

"Uh, is there something you need?" I asked.

"No," he said, not breaking his gaze.

"Okay then. Well, goodbye," I said, walking past him and back in the direction of the camp.

I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around to see the boy following me.

"Yes?" I ventured.

He just looked up at me expectantly.

I turned around and kept walking and he just kept on following me.

"Okay little boy. Don't you need to be getting home?" I asked, getting a little irritated.

"No," he replied simply.

"Okay. Well you need to stop following me," I said.

"Okay," he answered.

I turned and began to walk again. I heard him walking behind me and walked a few paces and then turned around.

"Seriously, kid. Shoo," I said, waving my hands at him.

He looked at me with puppy dog eyes but I so wasn't fooled.

"Go away," I said.

This went on until I was almost back into the camp.

"Go home, dude," I said as I made my way up the hill.

He kept following me as I walked into the camp and sat down. He came and sat down beside me as everyone looked at him oddly.

"Who's he?" Much asked as I handed him the water.

"I don't know. He wouldn't stop following me," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Kinda like you?" Will joked.

"Oh har de har har," I laughed sarcastically.

The kid just stared at me and wouldn't look away. It was slightly unnerving.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, getting fed up with him.

"You," he stated.

"Oh. Well...stop," I said, taken aback by his straight forward answer.

"Okay," he said, not looking away.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Michael."

"Hey! That's my brother's name!" I said as if he had stolen it.

"You have a brother?" Allan asked.

"I have three," I said.

"Wow."

"Where are your parents, Michael?" Robin asked, ignoring the conversation about my brothers.

"Dead," was the short reply.

"Oh man," I said miserably.

I was mean to a kid who just lost his parents. I felt just about horrible.

"Really?" Djaq asked with sympathy.

"No," he replied.

"What?" Allan asked confused.

"I don't get it. Are his parents dead or not?" I asked, confusion etched across my face.

"No," Michael answered.

"Then why did you say that they were?" Allan asked.

"I dunno," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"So where are your parents?" Robin asked again.

"Nettlestone," Michael said.

"Isn't that far away?" I asked, looking around.

"That is very far away. What are you doing all the way out here?" Much asked.

"I dunno."

"Do you know anything?" I asked, getting more than a little frustrated.

"Yes."

"GRRRR! I hate kids!" I yelled, standing up and trying to walk away but Little John grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

"Michael, how did you get out here?" Robin asked with his never ending patience.

"Walked."

"Why?" Robin asked.

"I dunno."

"Can I hit him?" I asked.

The kid just looked up at me, no emotion in his face.

"He's kinda creepy," I said as if he weren't there, leaning away from his gaze.

"He's sitting right there, Casey. He can here you talking," Will responded.

"He reminds me of Damien from the Omen," I said, ignoring Will.

"The Omen?" Djaq questioned.

"A movie about a demon kid," I replied, getting into what could only be described as a staring contest with this kid.

I started making faces at him and he didn't even flinch.

"Yep. Your new name is Damien," I decided.