Word: Eminate

 

emanate

\ EM-uh-neyt \  , verb;

1. to flow out, issue, or proceed, as from a source or origin; come forth; originate. Synonyms:  arise, spring, flow.

2. to send forth; emit.

***************************************

Leon leaned against the trunk of a tree and took in the sites of nature.  Jeff, on the other hand, trudged up the slope, gasping for breath the entire way.  Once Jeff had caught up, he very nearly collapsed.

               “You know, this wouldn’t be nearly as tough for you if you took my advice and exercised every now and then.” Leon said.

               “Yeah well…shut up.” Was the only thing Jeff could think to say. 

               “No really, I mean it.  This isn’t exactly a mountain you know.  Anyone with a reasonable level of physical fitness can make it no sweat.” 

               “So you keep telling me.  It doesn’t make me any more eager to be covered in sweat and risking unnecessary injury.”

               “Then why’d you come out here with me?”  Leon asked.  Jeff’s eye twitched.

               “Because you hid all my power cords!  I can’t do anything without those and you know it!”  He said with a sudden recovery of air.

               “That is just not true.  Sure I gave you to option of coming with me, but that doesn’t mean you had to.”

               “If I want my cords back I do.”

               “You could have gone out and bought more.”

               “You would’ve just taken them again.”

               “There’s no way you can know that.  But besides that, there’s plenty you could do without interacting with a screen.”

               “Name one.”

               “Read an actual book.  Get some exercise.  Interact with real people.  I can keep going if you want.”  Leon said with a grin.  Jeff said nothing.  “No?  Ok then, let’s keep going.”  Jeff groaned as Leon started moving again.  “Oh quit your whining, we’re almost there.  Listen, you can hear the river.” 

               Jeff hadn’t been paying much attention to the sounds around him, in favor of his own thoughts.  But when prompted to, his ears tuned in to their surroundings.  Small songbirds chirped almost constantly from the trees.  Wind blew through the various plants, rustling their leaves.  And sure enough, the sound of the flowing water from the small river reached his ears.

               “Ok, yeah, I hear it.  But are you sure we’re close?”

               “Oh yeah, positive.  I’ve been up here like ten times now.” 

               “If you say so.” 

               Jeff followed Leon up the forest trail as well as his short, pudgy legs could.  He soon fell behind again.  Minutes past before anything else happened though, but soon enough Leon stopped.  Instead of looking back to wait for Jeff though, he just stared ahead.  Apparently, this was the destination.  Jeff trudged up the last few feet of the hill to join his roommate. 

               Before them was a small lake with crystal clear waters, seemingly untouched by any kind of plant life.  The water flowed steadily downhill through a few small gaps in the ground, quickly gathering speed and becoming the river.  In the exact center of the lake the water bubbled up, as if there was a weak water jet on the bottom.

               “So, what do you think?”  Leon asked.

               “It’s a lake.  I’ve seen them before.”

               “This isn’t just a lake.  It’s a spring.  This, my friend, is the exact spot where the river begins.”

               “So?”
               “So?  So?  How can you say that?”  Leon asked, almost angrily.  “This is an amazing thing we’re seeing here.  The actual beginning of a river.  It’s like where an entire body of water is born or something.  How can you act like it’s nothing?”

               “It just looks like a lot of water to me.” 

               “Alright then, come on.”  Leon grabbed Jeff’s hand a pulled him towards the lake.  He knelt down by the surface and cupped some water into his hands.  He drank the clear water quickly.  “Now you try.  I promise you’ll never have any water like this ever again.”

               Jeff shook his head, but did as he was told.  The water was cool and refreshing.  It was also surprisingly clean.  He had assumed it would be muddy and filled with imperfections, but it tasted like it was almost completely pure.  He had to admit; even bottled water wasn’t quite like this.

               “See, pretty good right?”

               “I guess.  It’s still just water though.”

               “Ok fine, be like that.  I bet you’ll change your mind after a quick swim.”  Leon said as he peeled his shirt off.

               “Wait what?”  Jeff asked. 

               “Well, you didn’t think I’d drag you all the way out here just for a drink did you?  Come on in.  It won’t hurt you, I promise.”  Leon said, already wading into the lake.  Jeff took note of his current state.  He was hot and sweaty, and the water had been refreshingly cool on his skin when he touched it.  He started taking off his shoes and socks.

               “It’s not too deep is it”  He asked.

               “Six feet tops.  You won’t drown if that’s what you’re asking.” 

               Jeff eventually got enough off that he was able to wade into the water, where he was cooled off almost immediately.  Leon encouraged him to get in deeper, where he immediately began trying to rope Jeff into some kind of water game.  Jeff simply let him do as he wished not wanting anything to do with the juvenile antics. 

               After he got used to the water, he looked at the small upward surge of water that indicated where the spring was.  Curiosity was getting the better of him.  He dove down underwater to see the exact point of origin of the spring.

               At first, it was somewhat underwhelming.  It was simply a hole it the ground through which the water emerged.  He couldn’t even see the upward currents.  He was about to surface when something caught his eye.  There was something lodged in the rocks around the hole.  He swam down and pried it out before coming up for air.  The object was a small blue ball about the size of a marble.

               “Hey, what’ve you got there?  Sunken treasure?”  Leon asked playfully as he swam over to look.

               “I have no idea.  It was by the opening of the spring though.”

               “Huh.  Never noticed it before.  Oh well, it’s still pretty neat.”

               Suddenly, the water seemed to come alive.  The entire lake churned and swelled as if it was a living creature.  Massive amounts of water rose up around them in a massive swell.  The surge of water lifted them both and forced them out, pushing them roughly out passed the limits of the lake.  Once there, the wave dissipated just as suddenly as it had appeared.

               With the absence of water to support the, the two dropped to the ground.  Jeff’s head impacted with the ground hard enough to stun him.  Leon though, was unlucky enough to hit a small rock.  He slumped over, unconscious as Jeff tried to clear his head.  As the darkness closed in on his sight though, he could have sworn he saw a person stepping over Leon and place a hand covered in what looked like some kind of billowy blue fabric.  It was the last thing he saw before blacking out.

*****************

Oooooo, mysteeeeerious.  Yet another group of recurring characters with a solid storyline?  Mmmmmaaaaaaayyyybe.  We shall see what words the future has in store for us.  As with all my continuous stories and recurring characters, it will be entirely dependent on that.