Daily Writing Challenge, Day 4

Sielu picked up the totuma bowl that Tuatara set next to the calabash tree. The leaves and flowers on the calabash tree were larger than Sielu typically saw. There was another, nearly identical tree just a few paces away. The topmost branches of each tree leaned to the side, mingling with the leaves and fronds of the other so that the two trees together put Sielu in mind of a doorframe, with no building attached. Sielu wondered if that had anything to do with Tuatara’s power.

“Do you need the tree for this?” they asked.

“Yes and no,” said Tuatara. “I need the gourds to make the bowls. But I don’t have to put the totuma bowl next to the tree when setting this up.”

Despite that, she set another totuma bowl upside down, next to the second tree.

“Though, the first time I did this, it wasn’t with the bowls,” she said. “You see how it kinda looks like a portal? I noticed that the first time.”

Now standing between the two trees, Tuatara stretched out her hand. If the trees together formed a doorframe, she would be placing her hand just through the threshold. Except that her hand disappeared just above her wrist.

“And that’s how I started teleporting.”

Sielu nodded. It seemed inconvenient to them, as compared to light disks they used, but it did have one important advantage.

“I always end up making portals by accident,” they said, then half-grinned. “I end up talking with my hands and next moment—”

Luckily, Tuatara was a good bit taller than them, so she didn’t need to lean far to grab Sielu by the wrist and pull them back. The light shimmered next to their fingers, just where they had been making a circle with both hands to demonstrate. Had Tuatara waited any longer, the light might have solidified into glass and swallowed Sielu up.

“Yeah see,” said Sielu. “Just like that.”

Originally written 4.3.2024