Immortal by Lacy Armendariz Read Free Book Online Page A

the stream.
    He took one last look at Gabriel and drove his tiny buggy to it. He got out of his buggy and hobbled to the stream. “It’s a sign! It’s a sign from my Emerald,” he exclaimed.
    Gabriel turned, and stood hands on his hips, with a wide smile watching him as he jumped up and down trying to grab the emerald.
    Finally, Jasper jumped high enough to grab it and held it in his tiny hand. He kissed the emerald and then took a better look.
    The emerald was large and soft. The emerald had a pair of red lips on it this is what it said, “I am not just a gem, not just another jewel. I am a timeless treasure. Ah yes, as love flows through your veins so does the stream flow below me. Timeless. You claim your love is true, but do you trust enough to take a bite of me? If you do, please do not hesitate. Love may be a timeless treasure but how long do you have to prove to her how you feel?”
    “It’s true! It is a sign from my precious Emerald!” He wiggled his legs and twirled himself in a circle. He kissed it again, this time on the lips, and then took a huge, juicy bite. The juice from the gem dribbled down the sides of his mouth. Jasper felt a strange sensation immediately.
    He took a seat on a large rock and tried to gain his composure. But, his composure could not be gained so easily. Jasper could not rid himself of his spinning head, his racing heart, or the hallucinations that came with his error.
    His head began to move in a circular motion, not just in his mind, but the effect was apparent. A low grumble startled him, and he looked over his shoulder to find the creeper staring up at him.
    His brows furrowed, his eyes widened; he tried with all of his might to focus. “It’s the pig!” he blurted. He attempted to step off of the rock, but he fell instead. “Hello pig!” he said. He patted the top of the creature’s head and smiled.
    The creeper turned its head and began to walk to the stream. Jasper rolled from side to side on his back, and held his gut as he giggled. He pointed at the creeper, who swooshed its head around in the stream. “Gabriel!” Jasper called. “Your pig is thirsty!”
    But, Gabriel was nowhere to be found. He had already begun his search for Isis with the witch. It didn’t matter much to Jasper. He rolled over and hopped to his feet. “Here, piggy, piggy!” he called. The water looked like hot lava to Jasper in his drugged state of mind. “No piggy! That’ll burn your mouth!” he cried.
    He hobbled to the stream and threw his arm around the creeper’s mouth. He began laughing again, which annoyed the creeper. The creeper growled low.
    “Snake! You have a snake wrapped around your mouth!” said Jasper, referring to the vine that was wrapped around the creeper’s mouth.
    The creeper lifted its head up and down. Jasper stared at what he thought was the face of the snake, which looked like it was smiling at him. “Oh yes, you are a nice snake, are ya?”
    He began unwinding the vine from around the creeper’s mouth. When he was through, the creeper snapped at him. Jasper jumped and rolled over backwards and back on his feet. He held his hands out in front of him and slowly walked towards the creeper. The creeper realized that his mouth was free and crawled down to the stream where he began to drink.
    “There ya are! Drink up little pig! I will go fetch some grasshoppers for you and my lizard!”
    “Grasshoppers?” The creeper turned to face him. “I would much rather take a bite of you!” Jasper paid him no mind. He grinned and skipped away from him to a field, and hunched low to the ground to stake out some grasshoppers.
    The ground began to move beneath him. Jasper held his arms out on each side of his body. He saw a grasshopper and tackled it to the ground.
    He rolled over on his back and stared at the sky. What Jasper saw was different than what others could see. Jasper saw the sky turn a plum shade of purple, and what Jasper saw were grasshoppers floating on pink