The Elementals

Following the muddy footprints and soggy leaves keeps me busy for about an hour or two. Then they start to disappear as the boy dries off. The trail stops abruptly and I growl softly. I want to keep searching but I don’t want to leave the tracks in case I get lost. In vain hope, I search the tree branches nearby, but it’s useless. I stomp around in circle, but still can’t find any trace of the kid. By nightfall, I’m fruitlessly wandering around the pile of boulders by the last few footprints.

Ready to scream out in frustration, I sit down behind one of the larger rocks. The stone is still warm from the heat of the sun. I lean my head back and try to sleep when I hear a snap from close by to my left. It sounds like a fire being started. I should know, I shared a room with an older, slightly pyromaniacal girl in the orphanage. I shudder. She freaked me out. I creep slowly around the boulder towards the sound, giving it a wide berth just to be safe. I come closer and closer until I see the warm glow of a campfire. Moving in farther still, I see that no one is there.

Who goes through the trouble of lighting a fire, then leaves it?

Someone makes a slight ahem from right behind me so I whip around and punch. Obviously expecting this, the person ducks, chuckling. That only makes me angrier. I move back then side step around their back, shoving them into the light of the fire.

“Chill out, Flippers, I’m not going to shoot you.” Mud Boy from the lake is standing there, holding up his hands in surrender.

“Says the guy who attacked me a few hours ago,” I snap, not sure what to do now. “And my name isn’t Flippers!” I add.

He sits down calmly and pokes the fire with a stick. “Touché, Flippers.”

I’m about to walk away or punch him again or both, when I remember why I tracked him for two hours. “Why did you attack me, and then run away?” I ask.

“My name is Coal, nice to meet you,” he says, disregarding my question and motioning for me to sit down.

I stand there, arms crossed, glaring at him until he gets the point.

“Alright then, have it your way, Flippers,” Coal mutters, continuing, “I couldn’t let you go with those other two girls.”

“So you shoved me down a hill,” I say. “Yes, that really makes Breeze and Terra seem like horrible people. Nice job.”

“Well, you’re here aren’t you?”

I fish for a snarky reply that isn’t there. Sighing angrily, I sit down.

“There you go, Flippers! Now anything else you want to know?” Coal smiles broadly but that somehow makes me more irritated.

“Why couldn’t I go with Breeze and Terra? What does “so you’re the water one” mean? And my name is Tide,” I fire off, still sitting a distance away from him.

Coal motions for me to slow down. “I couldn’t let you join Dorothy and Chatterbox because then you would be easier to track,” he says, continually proving that he doesn’t know how to use a person’s real name. “And as for the water one— you really don’t know?”

“Does it sound like I know?” I say drily, rolling my eyes.

Coal grins. “I like you, Flippers.”

I throw a rock at him.

“Yikes,” he says mildly, dodging the projectile. “You’re an Elemental. The water one to be exact.”

“A what?”

“An Elemental. Someone that controls one of the four elements— the Greek ones,” he interrupts, like it makes some sort of difference— “wind, earth, water, and fire.” It’s listed patiently, as if it’s no big deal.

“So… Breeze, Terra… me... and—?” I’m slowly connecting the dots.

“Yours truly,” Coal says, smiling.

“You?” I ask and he nods. “You’re fire?”

“Mmhm.”

“And I’m water.”

“Yes.”

I frown. “So your brilliant plan is to get me, the water thingy, to join you, the fire thingy. Doesn’t that sound the slightest bit counterintuitive to you?”

Coal’s smile falters.

“And why should I believe you?” I demand.

“I was hoping you would ask that,” he says, though it’s dry and tired. He stands.

On guard, I shift slightly into a position that’s easier to leap up and run away from. Coal drops the stick he’s been prodding the fire with and glances at me. The flames create shadows across his face and it looks downright creepy. Then he picks up a log.

Not very exciting, I think. But then I realize the log is on fire. The wood is charred and red. And Coal is holding it. The flames crawl up his arm and suddenly, his entire body is one big fireball. He’s just standing there like it’s nothing, though I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open. Then, just as fast, the fire is out. The clearing is plunged into darkness. I get up onto my feet and glance around nervously. The campfire has been reduced to some smoldering ashes. I get closer to see if I can re-ignite it.

“Boo!” Coal is right next to me, his face illuminated by tongues of flame in his palm.

I jump about a foot and he cackles evilly. “Stop doing that!” I snap.

“Then stop reacting so hysterically.” Coal blows the ball of fire in his hand to the ground and the ashes alight with flames.

“You,” I say, trying not to scream, “were on fire.”

“If you could see your face right now—”

“Normal people don’t catch on fire and stay alive,” I say.

Let’s sum the situation up. I have just been told that I have superpowers by a kid who just set himself on fire.

Noticing something, I ask, “Why are your clothes still intact?” before wanting to swallow my entire hand.

He peers at me, unsure of what to do with the question, and then shrugs.

“Is that why you’re named Coal?” I ask.

He goes quiet then nods curtly. “I was found in the rubble of a burned down house after a volcanic eruption in Hawaii.” He sighs. “Coal the lava boy.”

His head is lowered a bit in submission, and his frown shows all the teasing that I know so well. I get it. It wasn’t just Celina who had made fun of my name.

“It’s better than Tsunami Girl. I almost prefer Flippers,” I say and sit back down across the fire from him.

Coal looks at me and his grin returns. “A tidal wave? You know, I changed my mind; you’re not the water Elemental. I have absolutely no idea why I ever thought that.”

I roll my eyes. “I can do it, then? Control water, just like that?”

“Well, it takes practice,” he says.

“Can you teach me?” I blurt and then regret it when I see the smug expression on Coal’s face.

He smirks, and then yawns. “Tomorrow. Maybe.”

He turns over onto his side, snaps his fingers and the fire goes out, like a light bulb. Within minutes he’s snoring, leaving me to sit there in the dark thinking that he’s probably the most obnoxious person I’ve ever met.