I awoke to the sound of a door creaking.  I sat up sharply and hit my head on the cabin ceiling, lay back down with a wince of pain, and sat up again, more carefully.  It was pitch black in the cabin, and no one else had woken.  Still, I wasn't exactly going back to sleep, so I climbed down my ladder, cringing every time it creaked, then Marie my way to the door.  It was closed tight.  When I had to painstakingly open the door inch by inch, it was prominent that the hinges really needed some work.

Even with my jacket on, it was freezing outside.  I looked around quickly, then randomly decided to go toward the dining hall.  I made it about two steps when I heard another door creak, this time for real.  I darted around the corner of our cabin, catching my shoulder on the wood in the dark, and poked my head back around to look.  A flashlight startled the peaceful night atmosphere, and illuminated by it were Riko and Toran.  Smiling, I followed their light as it bobbed toward the dining hall, then passed it to a small building behind it.  So this is where the councilors sleep, I realized.

Riko and Toran continued into the trees, talking in whispers, but I was more intrigued by the soft conversation coming from inside the councilors' cabin.  I padded to it, then knelt beside one of the walls and began to listen, confident the darkness and ever present fog would shield me from stray eyes.

"Melanie," Mr. Phoenix was saying soothingly, "they'll be fine.  We've never had even the slightest accident."

"Wait," Ms. Silver said in a confused tone.  "Wasn't it just last month that-"

"That turned out fine, remember?" Mr. Phoenix pushed smoothly.  Last month that what? I wondered, feeling a tiny fluttering begin to circle through my chest.  "No one was hurt and nothing was damaged."  He paused, then continued slowly and carefully.  "In fact... what happened again?  I'm afraid I can't quite visualize it."

"I'm not sure," Ms. Silver said thoughtfully.  "Was it that... no, I can visualize it now!"  She giggled excitedly, a sound I never thought I would hear her make.  "You're right, it was nothing. Just a stupid misunderstanding."

She seemed so different when she wasn't working with us.  Around other adults, she seemed more... childish, and more insecure.  Of course, my first thought was, hey, that would make a neat change to the teacher in my book!  I laughed silently at myself.  I was always a writer, even when I was trying to busy myself with recreational activities like eavesdropping.

"Good night then!"  I started, turning my attention back to the voices.

"I've got something fun planned for them tomorrow," Jared said mysteriously.  "Good night!"

I made my way quickly back to my cabin.  According to my watch, it was 4:30.  I had a little more time to sleep.  I crawled into my bed, keeping my head unnecessarily low to avoid any possibility of bumping it, and lay down.  Despite my hardest efforts to fall back asleep, my mind spent the rest of the night whirling about the conversation I had heard.