Rainboots
A Short Story by Stew Stunes
Chapter 1: The Boy on the Top of the World
A distant rumble in the sky alerted the small village
that the beginning of the rainy season had come. Early morning purple
light highlighted the first faint drips of mist landing softly on the
window pane young Elisa was watching from. For a long time, she lay
there looking out of the window, content to watch the deep clouds
roll down the wide valley towards her village. Her bright curious
eyes traced the rim of the mountain range as it narrowed on both
sides coming to a point on the tallest mountain behind her village.
Her head turned away from the window and her wandering
thoughts, as she heard her mother call. “Come on Elisa, It’s time
to get up. You have to get ready quick. You have a lot of people
waiting for your help today.”
Despite not really wanting to move from her perfect
contemplation, Elisa smiled at the thought of completing all of the
day’s tasks in record time. Jumping to her feet, Elisa rushed all
around the small house eager to start her day. She barely sat for a
moment as she swallowed her breakfast in what seemed like one big
bite. Following a quick peck on her mother’s cheek, Elisa slipped
on her most prized possession, her red-polka dotted rainboots. She
was ready for the day.
With a gust of great excitement, Elisa skipped out of
the door and grabbed onto the post that held up their small porch.
She swung into the street, only her feet never once touched the
ground as she continued to skip through the air; bouncing from side
to side as she flew towards her first task. Her face was marked with
determination as she raced through the air towards her family’s
farm where her father would already be busy tending to the many
animals they kept. People in the streets waved to her with big smiles
on their faces, there was something more than magical at seeing a
young girl full of such energy and joy.
She landed with a wet smack in the pig pen right beside
her father. He thrust another scoop of food towards the noisy oinking
pigs, before turning to smile at his eager daughter. “Good to see
you up so early. I almost never get to see my beautiful daughter
before noon.”
Blushing at his casual joking, she nodded, her pony
tail flipping wildly around, and asked. “What do you want me to
help with today?”
Her father started listing off chores, but watched as
his daughter’s attention quickly changed from him to the large
mountain behind him. Her eyes looked up into the heavens trying with
all their might to peer beyond the ever present ring of clouds that
kept the top of the mountain hidden from all below.
“Pay attention, Elisa.” Her father reprimanded.
“I wonder if I could fly to the top?” Elisa said
still day dreaming about the mountain.
Sighing heavily, her father responded. “You’ll
never get to try if you don’t finish your chores. Now, chop chop.”
Elisa spent the rest of the day flying around, tending
to the cows, the chickens, the pigs, the horses and the goats. She
then helped an elderly lady by doing her food shopping for her. Just
as midday was rolling around, she finished her last task, which was
to help the village leader hang lanterns in the main streets of the
village. She had completed everything so fast she could hardly
believe it. Normally she was not done before the sun started to dip,
but now she had the rest of the day to fly wherever she wanted.
Her eyes looked back up the tall mountain. It stretched
so tall into the sky; it seemed unbelievable to actually make it to
the top. With a swell of joy in her chest, she decided today was the
day. She would fly to the top of the world.
Tearing out her ponytail, letting her dark hair spill
out wildly, she raced
back to her house for lunch. Before her mother could say a word,
Elisa had half a sandwich down her throat and was running back out
the door. “See ya mom! I’m going to the top of the mountain!”
A faint echo of, “Oh dear,” was all her mother
could say before her daughter was but a speck in the sky speeding up
in the air.
Elisa tore through the sky; she quickly entered the
clouds that always kept the top of the mountain hidden. She had never
gone this high or this far before, but the higher she climbed the
better she felt. This was her nature; to be in the sky, among the
clouds, nothing short of total freedom.
The clouds grew darker and thicker as she climbed.
Looking back down, the village was but only tiny dots on the land far
below and yet she knew that she had much farther to go. As the clouds
became so thick and so dark that she started to wonder if they would
turn into solid forms, she burst through into dazzling sunlight.
Soaking up the warm sun rays, she spun with delight,
kicking at the white tufts of cloud as she skipped towards the top of
the mountain. As she drew closer she noticed something that looked
very strange. There was a building on top of the mountain. The closer
she came to the building the more detail became clearer. It wasn't just an ordinary building; it was actually a giant castle. Tall
turrets rose above the main structure, reaching even further into the
sky as if they could not get high enough.
Elisa flew around the castle a few times before going
closer, mixing in and out of pearly clouds. She dove under a bridge
that separated the main structure from one of the tall towers and
followed the twisting stone up to the very tallest peak. A blue flag
whipped in the harsh winds as it stood taller than anything else.
Having too much fun, she held on to it with her hands and spun around
on it like a twisting dancer.
With a great exhausted sigh, she landed on the shingled
top of the tower, letting her feet dangle in the air. Her red
polka-dotted rainboots carelessly smacking against each other as she
looked all around, her wild eyes looking at the strange new place she
had discovered.
“I wonder who lives here?” She asked herself out
loud. As she contemplated why someone would build a castle on top of
a mountain, she had the feeling that someone was watching her. Her
head spun all around trying to find the peering eyes she knew were
out there. She must have looked at every block of stone that could be
found, twice, before a little cough gave away the person’s
location. Someone was right below her dangling legs.
Like an acrobat, she did a flip over the front side and
came face to face with a boy just about her age. They both seemed
just as surprised to see one another, as they openly gaped at each
other.
The boy shocked and nervous grew red in the face before
suddenly bolting back inside the castle, slamming the door shut on
the balcony and Elisa’s face.
“Hey! Come back, who are you?” Elisa yelled,
confused and hurt by the boy’s rash actions. After waiting a minute
and getting no reply, she floated off with a disappointed frown. Why
had the boy run away from her? She wasn't that scary looking was
she? Her thoughts did not improve as; she suddenly lost the joy of
being the first person from her village to see the top of this
mountain.
With one last look back up at the castle, she wondered
if the boy and her could be friends. Sinking into the cloud’s gray
cocoon, a feeling of deep sadness overcame her.
The mist that had begun such a wonderful day for Elisa
had now turned into a steady downpour.
Chapter 2: Escape With Me
“Whoa! Careful there Elisa.” A man selling hand
woven garments from local flowers warned as she accidentally bumped
into him. She had been drifting along the road not paying attention
to what was around her and had nearly run over a friend of her
fathers. She apologized to the man, and continued on her way all the
while still sulking. She could not figure out why,
but she was transfixed on knowing more about the boy on top of the
mountain. The worst part of it all was that no one would listen to
her stories about the boy and the castle. They all told her that she
was making things up. And no matter the amount of promising and “I’ll
show it to you’s,”
no one would listen.
She felt completely alone in her small village. The
more she brought it up to her family, the more frustrated they became
with her,
and there were no other children in the settlement for her to play
with, so what was she to do. All she could do was try and hold it in
and forget about the boy on top of the mountain.
“I wonder what his name is?” She began wondering
again, forgetting about the task at hand and nearly spilling all of
the things she was carrying from the field to her father’s farm.
Recovering, and even angrier at herself,
she sped along to complete her work.
Feeling defeated and worse than ever after nearly
causing a stampede with the cows, she slowly floated behind her
father as they made their way back home for dinner. She could tell by
her father’s silence that he was unhappy with her. Wanting to
argue, she tried to speak, but was at a loss for words.
They washed their hands and sat down with Elisa’s
mother to eat. The meal almost passed without an argument,
but Elisa was once again not paying attention, and murmured out loud.
“I wonder what food the boy eats if he lives on top of the
mountain?”
This was apparently the final straw for her parents, as
they both turned to her with very serious expressions. Her mother
started first. “Honey, I don’t want you to take this the wrong
way, but your father and I are worried that you may have developed an
imaginary friend or something.”
“People are beginning to talk in town, and they say
you are lying and making everything up to draw attention to
yourself.” Her father concluded sharply.
Elisa was instantly furious. How could her parents doubt
her, she had always been perfectly honest with them. The
anger bubbling over, she shouted.
“They’re jealous!”
Her father held up a single finger, it was enough to
quiet her, for now. “Now hear us out. We love you Elisa, but we
also understand where these people are coming from. They are
accustomed to watching you fly all
around helping everyone. And, unfortunately, this week your help has
been more of a danger.”
“We just want to talk with you and make sure
everything is okay, Elisa.” Her mother added softly.
Although Elisa knew deep down that her parents meant
well, she was too furious to listen.
“No!” She yelled, viciously stomping her foot on the
ground to seal her statement, while simultaneously standing up from
the table knocking over her chair. “I’m not going to sit here and
let people say I’m making up lies and being untruthful. I will go
back up the mountain and I will bring proof of what I saw.”
Without another look back she was out the door and off
into the dimming light. Elisa braced herself as harsh rain pelted her
in the face while she flew upwards towards the storm.
Before she had even passed into the first layer of
cloud, she was over being angry at her parents. However, she was not
over being furious with the people who thought she was lying about
her adventures for attention. Her temper was not the reason she
continued on through the nasty rain. For her own curiosity and
wonder, she was
determined to meet the boy and learn about him and his castle in the
sky. Elisa had to make sure that it was all real.
Her stomach rumbled with nervous worry as she realized
that she had flown up as high as she needed too. The castle should be
right there, but the storm had moved in and had swallowed it with
dark clouds. Trying her best to peer past the dark shadows, she moved
cautiously towards the direction she thought the mountain should be.
Letting out a small yelp, her face came within an inch
of colliding with a brick wall. After letting out a deep breath at
her close call, she let out another cheer of excitement that the
castle was still there and not a figment of her imagination. While
Elisa was drifting between the dark storm clouds, she had begun to
worry that she had made it all up. Her hand traced the outline of the
castle, as she crept up to the tallest turret.
At last she had made it back to the strange castle.
Elisa landed with the faintest of sound on the balcony where she had
first found the boy. Her stomach was filled with butterflies as she
reached out with her lanky arm and knocked on the door.
She waited all of two seconds before impatiently
wrapping her knuckles against the door many more times.
A jiggle of the lock indicated someone had heard her
ruckus. After letting out a huge gulp of air, the door swung open and
instead of the boy she was expecting to see, a short and very elderly
looking lady stepped out.
“What are you doing out in this terrible rain little
girl? No child should be up here in this weather, and I believe you
have classes at this time. I’ll have your teacher write you up for
skipping.” The old lady grumbled and grabbed her by the wrist
pulling her inside the castle.
Elisa wanted to yell and protest, but was quickly
quieted as the lady led her at a remarkable speed down many flights
of stairs. They crossed hallways, and entered more doorways and
passageways than Elisa could count. They switched back, left, right,
so many times that Elisa began to think they must be going in
circles, but they were in fact walking deeper and deeper down into
the mountain. Instead of being dark and scary, like Elisa had
imagined the inside of the castle to be, it was filled with light
from candles and fires in nearly every direction. Bright paint of
many different colors made each room feel bigger and more open than
their dimensions suggested.
Eventually, the lady stopped at an ornate stone carved
door and wrenched it open. With a final tug, the old lady sent Elisa
spilling into the room.
“I found this one outside on top of the north tower,
while it was raining!” The old lady squawked at a tall and stern
looking teacher.
Everyone in the room gasped at the news. The teacher set
the book she was using down on a table, and marched over to Elisa
picking her up off the ground. “You’re in very big trouble. Five
detentions! You know the rules.”
Elisa could only nod solemnly, as she had no idea what
the rules were, but felt that it would be a mistake to tell them that
not only was she was not a student but she wasn’t from this
mountain at all.
After another round of scolding by both the old maid and
the teacher, Elisa was sent to the back of the classroom to sulk. She
put her head down in shame. For some reason she felt like she had
absolutely deserved the scolding she had gotten from them. This made
her think of her parents and she instantly felt worse that she had
not said goodbye or been nicer to them. They had only been trying to
protect her from rumors and village gossip.
With the resolution to complete her mission, she raised
her head to look around the room. All the other kids were looking
towards the teacher as she droned on about stone formulations and
math rock, but Elisa could tell that many eyes were daring to drift
back and stare at her. The teacher may have been oblivious enough to
notice that the girl she had just yelled at was not one of her
students, but all the kids knew that there was someone here that did
not belong. She watched as many of them squirmed in their seats
trying to think of where they might have seen her before. Smiling to
herself, she enjoyed watching them figure out that she was not from
inside the mountain and start to panic a little bit as the
realization hit them.
Her eyes swung around the room as a handful of sneaking
eyes all averted her gaze. She noticed a familiar looking boy sitting
right beside her. It was her turn to jump and have a moment of panic.
Elisa had wanted to find the boy, but had failed to even notice that
she was sitting next to him.
Using slight and cautious movement so to avoid the
notice of the other children, she waved to him. But frowned when she
noticed that his eyes were wildly darting around the room. Unlike
everyone else in the room that was trying to get a better look at
her; this boy was doing everything in his might to act like she was
not there. His head swiveled around pretending to be interested in
something on the far wall, but it kept snapping back for a quick
glance before not-so-sneakily finding another spot to be interested
in.
The rest of the class passed in much the same manner.
She tried to get his attention. He tried to avoid it, and all the
other kids tried to not be the first one to freak out.
Like in any other school a bell rang to signal the end
of the class. There was a rustling of papers as all the kids leapt up
to chatter. The boy tore a piece of paper in half before shoving it
into Elisa’s hands and darting off into the crowd.
She uncrumbled the ball of paper and read, Meet
me on the balcony at midnight. Elisa smiled
and avoided the long stares from everyone as she made her way out of
the classroom. She did her best to remember how she got down this
far, but it had all happened so fast. Figuring that as long as she
kept moving upwards, she must be going the right way, she walked and
walked along many passageways, through doorways that led to
entryways, across many hallways and up what felt like thousands of
stairways.
Somehow and with much guessing and luck, she made it to
a set stairs that spun in a spiral up inside a very tall tower. Elisa
figured this must be the right one and started running through the
air on her way to the door. Just as a new day began, she swung the
door open and stopped short as rain and wind smacked her in the face.
The boy was not there.
“Oh no!” She whined and could feel a familiar
feeling of disappointment seep into her heart. “I guess he really
didn’t like me.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw something moving.
Looking up, she saw the boy jumping and waving to her desperately
from another balcony on the exact other side of the castle. She had
gone up the wrong tower.
Laughing at her own mistake, she bounded across the
distance and landed like a ballerina on the balcony next to the boy.
As soon as she saw him standing in the rain and the
wind, she forgot all about the questions she had in her head to ask
him. Once again they stood absolutely still, the rain and wind
tugging at them, staring at each other as if trying to make sure that
the other was real or imaginary.
He was the first to speak. “I know you’re not from
here. I saw you flying around yesterday like an angel.”
Elisa laughed a little at the thought of being an angel.
“I’m no angel silly. I was just exploring. Who are you?”
The boy hesitated but she could tell that he was just as
curious about her as she was of him. “My name is Booker and we all
live in this mountain and I kind of thought that no one lived
outside.”
The way Booker had said the word outside indicated that
he was terribly frightened about it. After a slight full-body shiver,
he quickly recovered and continued on. “We’re not really allowed
to be outside or want to go outside. But yesterday I just had to get
away from...well this was the only place I could think of where no
other kid would dare to go. So I ran up here, fully expecting to get
caught somehow and to my surprise I see you flying all around with
more happiness than I think I’ve ever seen in my life. I hate
living in the dark.”
Elisa felt sorry for the boy; she could not image not
getting to go outside let alone not fly. “That sounds so hard and
boring being cooped up under the mountain your whole life. Why don’t
you leave?”
Booker’s knees clapped together as he nervously peered
away from her into the dark clouds and the spraying mist that flew
into their now soaked faces. “They say it isn’t safe to venture
outside or go below the clouds as floods can destroy everything that
matters to a person. It happened to our people long ago, everything
that we cared about was washed away. So our leaders decided the best
way to save us from ever having this happen again was to build an
entire city inside the mountain. Safe and dry, away from any kind of
weather. Eventually we kept growing and soon enough our diggers broke
out from under the earth and here we are standing on top of the world
where nothing can hurt us. But sometimes I think that we need to
leave the darkness, it feels suffocating to me.”
“Shh.” She put a finger on his lips to quiet his out
of control worry. Placing her hand on his holding the balcony
railing, she said to him. “Escape with me. Let me show you the moon
and the stars, let me show you the land below the clouds and above
the ground.”
Despite not entirely sure what he was agreeing to he
shook his head yes. They both smiled wide as Elisa kicked off the
ground, grabbing onto both of Booker’s hands and pulling him up
into the sky with her.
She laughed as Booker’s feet flailed all around trying
with desperate exasperation to
remain on the ground. Internally, she marveled at his bravery for
trusting her so soon after only meeting a few moments ago.
“Hey! What’s your name?” Booker yelled up to her
trying to keep his mind away from the fact that the safe balcony was
getting further and further away.
“My name is Elisa. What would you like to see first my
friend?” She asked.
He looked up at her in awe of the confident girl
casually flying them through a terrible rain storm, “Show me where
you live. I’d love to see that. I’ve been thinking about it since
I saw you flying above me.”
Elisa nodded and sped down the mountain towards her
village. They broke through the clouds; all that could be seen from
her small village was the sparkling fire-light. The village appeared
like faint stars in the sea of space that manage to poke through and
grant a lucky wish to anyone who might care enough to look upwards.
“That’s my house.” She said pointing in the
direction of a small house and farm closest to the mountain on the
edge of the village.
“It’s amazing!” The boy shouted in amazement. “I
can’t believe it; people do live on the outside of the earth.”
They were now flying at the same height, all he had to
do was keep holding her hand and he was free to look in any
direction. “What is that?”
“Oh that?” She answered bemused. “That is a cow.
My family raises them for food. What do you eat?” She asked as she
envisioned all the people in the mountain stuffing their faces with
worms and night crawlers. She grossed out a little at the terrible
image in her head.
“Oh the important things, vitamins and minerals!” He
answered matter-of-factly without explaining how you eat a mineral.
“What else can I show you, Booker?” Elisa asked as
they flew over the rest of the village.
He pointed up. “On our way back, can you show me the
moon and the stars? I’ve only seen the outside during the day.”
“You’re in for a treat; it’s nearly a full moon
tonight!” Elisa hollered with joy before switching directions and
blasting upwards, back through the unbroken wall of rain and clouds.
Wisps of grey matter tugged at them, as they blew past every layer
until they popped out above the clouds.
They were both amazed and awed at the sight before them.
Clouds spread out in all directions as far as the eye could see, but
looking up was the truly awe inspiring thing. The stars shone
brighter than Elisa had ever seen them, the moon illuminated half of
the night sky with its opulent brilliance.
Elisa and Booker lay on their backs to watch the sky as
their bodies drifted with the natural current of the sky. For a long
time, neither of them spoke as in that moment they were both the
happiest they had ever been. Perfectly content to allow the night to
last it’s maximum, they drifted until the sun began to peak over
the edge of the cloud spilling warm light on them. The sun’s rays
mixed with the grey clouds turning their twinkling night into a
beauty of orange hues and soft pink overtones.
“This is what it must feel like to be at sea. Nothing
around for miles and miles, just you and nature.” She whispered
beside Booker.
“What’s a sea?” He asked, having never heard the
word before.
“Something you probably aren’t ready to see yet.
Someday you will be and someday I will take you there and show it to
you. I’ve never even gotten to see it, but I see paintings and hear
stories about it all the time. It must be the most beautiful thing in
the world, but it’s very far away from here.” Elisa told him.
“I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than what
I’ve seen tonight.” He confided as they sank below the clouds to
return home.
They drifted back to the balcony in complete silence.
The clouds re-soaking them from head to toe again. As Booker’s feet
touched back down on the balcony, he looked very sad for a moment. “I
can’t tell anyone about you or how amazing you are or how wonderful
the world is on the outside.”
“And neither can I as they don’t believe that a boy
could live in a castle on top of the mountain.”
Booker rubbed his eye, “But that doesn’t matter
because we both know each other exist and is real. We’ll always
have that.”
“You know this isn’t goodbye.” Elisa grinned.
“It’s not?” Booker questioned, still doubtful.
Placing her own two feet on the ground so that they
were eye to eye, she responded. “It’s a short goodbye, not a
forever goodbye. I promise to come back here every night at midnight,
until I have shown you the whole world. How does that sound?”
Booker’s moment of self doubt was washed away with
complete relief. “Thank you. You’re the only friend I've ever met
and you're already the best friend I could ever imagine.”
She watched as he slid into the building careful to not
slam the door and alert anyone to the fact
that he was outside.
The night had been perfect as Elisa recalled while
floating in dreamy bliss back towards her village, this time she had
a smile so big and genuine that she was certain her face would get
stuck and that nothing could ever be done to remove it from her
expression.
Chapter 3: The Light Comes to You
Elisa was true to her word, every night at midnight she
knocked on the door of the balcony and out came Booker. She flew him
north and south, side to side, and sunset to sunrise.
All the while they talked and talked, sharing every
story they could think to tell each other about the way they lived
their lives before meeting. It was like living in the best part of a
dream with nothing that could break them apart or stop them from
waking up. When they weren’t flying around together, they were
constantly planning out their next adventure. Elisa had started
completing her chores twice as fast as before, just so she could have
extra time to plan something new to show Booker.
It had been one full week since they first flew off
together and after returning from a night of exploring the far side
of the valley Booker asked her a question. “Aren’t you worried
about all this rain? Since I’ve met you it hasn’t once stopped
raining.”
“I’m not scared,” she responded bravely. “It
usually rains like this every spring for a month or so and then it
dries up quickly.”
She started to float away from him, but his grip on her
hand tightened. “Elisa, I want to show you something!”
Excited and intrigued, Elisa agreed as Booker led her
inside the castle. For a third time, Elisa passed through the maze of
hallways, doorways that opened to stairways and entryways that
descended onto new landing bays. This time though, they went further
and deeper than Elisa had ever thought was possible. Walking for what
felt like miles and miles, down and down they went. All the while the
lighted path grew slimmer and dimmer.
“Here’s the place,” Booker announced as he slid
between a crevice in the rocks that Elisa would never have noticed if
it had not been for Booker’s guidance. They snaked their way along
a very rough path that seemed more of a natural formation than the
work of skilled diggers. At the narrowest point, they were forced to
suck in their stomachs and just as Elisa began to think that they
surely couldn’t go further the narrow passage ended and they found
themselves standing beside a rushing waterfall.
The shimmering waterfall was a lit by emerald rocks that
glowed in the dark and gave the place a vibe of calm and enormity.
Elisa peered over the edge and watched as the water spilled far into
the depths of the cavern.
“This is where I usually come when I’m feeling sad
or need to escape. Hardly anyone comes this far down anymore,” he
explained to her.
Feeling inspired and daring, Elisa asked, “Would you
like to see what’s down there? I bet it’s beautiful.”
Booker agreed with a smile as she caught his hand and
leapt with reckless abandon into the abyss. They rushed down
following the sparkling emerald waterfall towards the bottom.
“Look out!” Booker flinched and screamed as Elisa
pulled up inches away from slamming into the still water.
“I gotcha, I gotcha,” she soothed as she sat the
frightened boy down on a safe and dry rock. They both stood quiet for
a moment looking up at the rushing water fall, craning their necks to
see the top.
“I’m sorry, I know it won’t hurt me but all I’ve
heard my entire life is how dangerous water can be when there is a
lot of it.” Booker tried to apologize for his outburst.
“Take your time. I can’t imagine being as brave as
you are being right now. I’ve been fortunate to grow up wearing
these boots and being able to fly around. All in a week you’ve gone
from a boy scared of a little rain to someone brave and mighty, who
isn’t really afraid of anything.” She said before skipping off of
her rock and skimming across the dark lake.
As she glided over the water, her boots dragged behind
her making cute ripples and tiny waves. While she was having fun
crossing the lake like an elegant ice dancer, Elisa looked back
towards Booker and shouted. “Hey, what do you do for fun down
here?”
“We have a game called rolling rock,” he answered
happy to get his mind off the water for a second. “Basically the
objective of the game is to roll a rock down a tunnel and knock down
these pillars. There are 13 pillars that a person can knock down
during his turn. If you only get seven down, then that’s how many
points you get. If you get all 13 down that’s called an avalanche.
The goal is to get the most pillars down in ten rounds.”
“I think I’d have to see it to understand, but it
sounds fun.”
“Are you ready to explore with me?” She asked as she
skipped across the lake towards him.
“I think so,” he answered,
looking much steadier and as if he had a
renewed sense of excitement to continue.
She gracefully held out her hand for him to take as she
shrugged in the direction of the far side. “Come on there’s a
bright light over there that I want to look at.”
Pulling him across the lake, Elisa marveled at the
serene experience. As they moved further away from the rushing
waterfall the water became still and calm so did Booker’s dashing
pulse that she could feel in the tight grip he had on her hand. The
glowing rock made it appear like they had discovered their own secret
treasure room and the growing silence made it feel like they were the
only two people alive in the entire world.
As they drew closer to the bright spot they had to avert
their eyes as the light seemed far too bright after being in the dark
interior for so long. They quickly learned that the source of the
bright light was actually a hole just big enough for one of their
heads to fit through in the side of the mountain.
Elisa let Booker look out of the hole first. “Wow!”
He exclaimed. “You can see your village from here.”
“Oh let me see,” Elisa asked as Booker rescinded his
spot to allow her space to look through. He was right; it was like
the village was underneath them as they were still far up the side of
the mountain.
She felt water tickle her legs as it rose slightly
higher inside the cave. Pulling her head out of the hole, she was at
once struck with the fear that Booker and his people had felt their
entire lives. Holding her mouth shut she was too afraid to put the
words out there. She looked into Booker’s strong eyes and saw the
same worry and understanding.
It was at that moment that the mountain rumbled like a
tree about to fall. The hole that had let in the smallest of light
collapsed in front of them, cutting off all sources of light, leaving
them in complete and total darkness.
“Don’t panic,” came Booker’s reassuring voice.
It was Elisa’s turn to be afraid and she would have to trust Booker
if they were going to get to make it out.
“What do we do?” She whispered in what she hoped was
the direction Booker had been.
“It’s dark but it’s not total blackout. Allow
yourself a moment and the light will come to you,” he explained
calmly. “That’s what the elders teach all of us young kids to do
in a situation like this.”
Elisa felt like it was taking an eternity to wait for
the light. She wanted to run and fly, she wasn’t made to sit still
and wait. This was entirely against her nature and yet she knew that
if she ever wanted to run and fly again she would have to trust
Booker’s advice.
“See here it comes,” Booker said as the faint white
outlines of his eyes came into her view. It was still all she could
see but at least it was something, a sliver of hope.
“Now, I don’t want you to panic,” Elisa
instructed, despite her own internal panicking. “But I think the
mountain is filled to the maximum with the water from this terrible
storm. It’s filled to bursting and I’m afraid that if it does
burst it would wash away my whole village.”
The twin flickers of brightness that Elisa recognized as
Booker’s eyes came much closer and filled up her entire view. He
reached out with a timid and meek movement and kissed her.
“Don’t worry,” he assured after pulling away. “As
soon as we get out of here, we will go straight to my father. He is
on the council of leaders. He will help us. I promise.”
Too shocked to respond, Elisa pulled him along as they
made their slow journey back to a place that had some sort of light.
All the while, Elisa held him a little bit closer and wanted so badly
to break out in a smile but her fear of the mountain of water ready
to wash away her village outweighed the joy she felt with her first
kiss.
Chapter 4: Waterfalls
Once they were above the waterfall and they could see
the light from the hallway, they wasted no time as he pointed in the
direction they should go while she flew them at top speed. Nearly
crashing into the same old woman who had scolded Elisa before, they
had arrived at their location. Ignoring the old woman’s cursing
they ran past her and charged through the closed door into a very
formal looking meeting.
“Dad!” Booker shouted as if their noisy entrance and
the screeching old woman wasn’t enough to alert everyone in the
room of their arrival. “Dad, we need your help.”
“What is the meaning of this disturbance?” The man
that looked like an aged Booker bellowed from the center of the
court. “Do you not realize you are interrupting terribly important
proceedings. If this is not an emergency that your mother has passed
away due to some freak accident then I want you to march right back
out of this room and we will pretend that this never occurred. But if
you take one step further you tempt my own and the council’s
anger.”
“Please dad,” Booker begged. “It’s not about
mom, but it is equally important.”
“Then speak like a man of age and raise your voice to
the entire council,” his father championed.
Elisa squeezed his hand for reassurance, she hoped his
father was just being hard on him, but had a sinking feeling that
they would be treated unfairly.
Booker cleared his throat before speaking to the entire
room. “We were just down near the waterfalls and discovered
something bad. The whole cavern is filled to the top and about to
burst and it will completely destroy the village below that my friend
calls home. I think we can stop it from happening but we have to act
now there isn’t much time.”’
At once Booker’s father slammed his hand on the stone
desk in frustration. “You know it is forbidden to go down there. I
will hear none of this talk of outsiders and water. You’ve
distracted us enough already. Leave this session; I will talk to you
about your friend telling you lies after we are done here.”
“It’s not a lie!” Elisa shouted and stamped her
boot.
The entire room fell silent at the sudden outburst from
the fiery young girl.
“I would like your help and it is your choice to give
and also your choice to not give aid. I pray that you do, but if you
don’t then I guess I will have no choice but to try and save my
village alone. I’m fine with that, but I will not stand for you
saying that your son is a liar. Booker is a good and honest person.
I’ve only known your son for a week now, but I feel like we’ve
always been friends. I can stand being ignored, but I cannot stand
being made out to be a liar. You must help my people. I beg you,” she cried before bowing to the council’s judgment.
Booker’s father remained silent for a moment as he
considered her words, before responding in a much gentler manner. “I
wish for a moment that the words you have just spouted at me were
remotely true. You are a person of great spirit and fire, but the
council can hear no cases rooted in fantastical villages on the
surface of the earth. All life on the surface has been washed away
ten times over. Leave now, before the council grows angry with your
tirade.”
“I need to go now. I need to save my family,” Elisa
excused herself with a heartbreaking crack in her voice.
“Elisa, I’m sor…” Booker never got to finish his
sentence as Elisa was gone with a rush of wind replacing the warm
space she had once occupied beside him. She blasted out of the
castle, this time not slowing for any doorways, passageways, hallways
or any other barrier ways that might get in her way. Going as fast as
she could, wind and rain ripped at her small body careening down the
mountain at top speed towards her village.
Just as day was breaking over the mountain tops, like a
whirlwind she blasted through the door of her home into the very
anxious and worried faces of her parents.
“Where have you been?” They both demanded at once,
but dropped all questions as soon as they saw the near-to-tears look
on her face.
Huffing and puffing, her message managed to spill out.
“There’s no time to explain, but there's a lot of water trapped
inside that big mountain and I think it’s going to burst very
soon!”
Her parent had no idea how to respond. It sounded too
preposterous to be real. Her father was the first to reply. “When
you weren’t in your bed this morning, we thought you ran away for
good. You had us worried sick.”
Elisa’s mother nodded in agreement, but before Elisa
could make an apology a deep rumble from inside the earth make
Elisa’s heart skip a beat.
“Oh no, I’m too late. Run for the hills it’s
happening now!” she shouted before rushing out the door with her
parent’s right behind her. The earth shook and thundered all around
them.
They all shouted in astonishment as they saw the mass
chaos of boulders the size of the entire village being pushed by a
wall of water. It was too crazy to comprehend as the tsunami sized
wall of water rushed towards their peaceful village.
Elisa jumped in the air and picked up the first few
people she could grab and rushed them towards the mountains on the
other side of the valley. She dropped them on the ground in her rush
to turn around to go back for more people.
The wall of water was moving faster than she knew she
could go. Her boots weren’t made for speed, but that did not deter
her from rushing head first and as hard as she could towards the
village. All the while hoping to be faster, to have a chance of being
able to save someone, anyone. Like watching a collision in slow
motion, she couldn’t look away as the wall of water tumbled over
her village erasing it in an instant of terrible finality.
Her flight trajectory sent her over the flood of water,
searching for any sign of life that could be rescued. Nothing but
rushing water was visible for miles around. Despite knowing that her
worst fears were coming to a reality, she circled around the scene of
destruction hoping for any sign of life.
The entire valley was now covered in deep water. A
single tree remained standing above the torrents of ragging flow.
Elisa settled on the tree, feeling more defeated than ever, numb and
beyond tears.
For a long time she sat and watched the water rush by
her. The long missing sun spilled over the valley, breaking up the
storm clouds that had hung over the valley for so long. Her skinny
legs swung in the tree and with a last look back to where her home
and village should be she was finally overcome with the grief of
losing everything.
Without any forethought of her actions she leaned back
in the tree and tugged off her red polka-dotted boots. Elisa held
them in her hands, looking at them as if she never really owned them.
“Why couldn’t you fly faster?” she asked the now
muddy looking boots. Elisa held them over the rushing waves, ready to
release them into the frothing waves below her. A tear ran down her
face, about ready to let go of it all, she heard a familiar shout.
“Hey!” A shout echoed across the valley and into
Elisa’s ears.
Refusing to believe that anything good could happen on
such a bad day, she did not turn around.
“Hey!” The boy shouted louder. “I think you don’t
want to lose those rainboots. They saved your life.”
Still half expecting it to be a dream, she turned around
to see the boy and all the people from her village in some sort of
large bubble. The bubble had risen out of the turbulent water and was
floating on top of the rough water as if it were perfectly calm.
Elisa tilted her head to the side as she noticed that
the boy was wearing his own pair of green striped rainboots. He waved
to her. “Yours let you fly so you can escape; mine make a shield
that nothing can break.”
Overcome with tears and emotion at having watched her
family be washed away in a flood and now seeing that they were all
perfectly okay was too much for Elisa as she accidentally let slip
her rainboots. Without any hesitation, she dove into the water after
her rainboots. Swimming hard with the current, she was able to grab
onto her rain boots as a wave swept her under the water.
The village and the boy held their breath, hoping that
the young girl would surface. Anxious faces looked on, unable to
cross the fast moving river to help.
Elisa rolled in circles under the water. All the while
struggling to pull her boots on; like a key finding the right lock,
her feet slid into the familiar boots. As soon as she had her
rainboots on her feet, she was above the water and already colliding
with her family holding them in an embrace that would never break.
Only when Elisa was completely convinced that this was
all real and not some part of a terrible afterlife dream, she
released her hug on them and grabbed onto Booker.
She kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear.
“Thank you for saving my family. I couldn’t have done it without
you, Booker.”
The young boy smiled with pride at his accomplishment
and blushed at the kiss he had received. “As soon as you ran out of
the council, my dad realized he was wrong and gave me these special
rain boots. He said that they had been a gift to our family long ago
and I was only to be allowed to wear them when I grew into them. I
guess after hearing the good words you said about me, he decided that
my feet would fit them now.”
Elisa pulled him into another deep hug, thanking him
with an expression beyond words. Clearing the tears out of her eyes,
she said to him. “Come on, now I have a promise to fulfill. Let me
show you the sea.”
Booker never had to reply as his bright smile was enough
of an answer. They leapt into the air together and flew above the
wide valley that was now filled with water from side to side. The sun
reflected off the water perfectly, giving them their own personal
sea.
“I have to admit,” said Booker. “I was expecting
something even more amazing than this the way you were talking about
the sea.”
Elisa nudged him playfully. “Well then I guess we’ll
have to fly to the real sea and find out for ourselves.”
They laughed as they sped past the wide valley, past
sunrise and sunset, beyond moonshine and turbulent skies, and onto
further adventures.
The end.
11/09/14 - Official release date for
The King's Challenge, my second full length novel
^Special thanks for my readers if you follow the links above
