The Earth's Secret 3: Last Fire

Year Without

The sun was shining and the birds chirped loudly as I walked home. In front of my house, the flowers were blooming and the grass was cut. The house was looking brand new with the new renovations. I walked in the front door, to my empty home. My siblings left and started their own lives and I'm close to doing so myself. It seemed to me that I was the first one home. Mom was probably staying late at work for some overtime. My feet quickly hopped up the stairs and went to my room. Midnight the cat and Yasmin the dog were sitting next to each other silently talking. They looked at me for a brief moment, then continued on with their conversation. I put my stuff down and worked on my homework. Then they stared at me for a bit with worry on their face. Of course, they start to worry because I haven't spoken.

"I'm fine, the school day was fine, I have a lot of work to do."

"The homework club is still open. You haven't visited the house in almost a year, " Midnight said.

"No need, I can take care of myself. Though tell everyone I said hello." Both of their ears went down, I am being cold. Midnight started climbing out the window as Yasmin jumped out. I put my work down and jumped out after them. Midnight's fur fluffed up as she flipped away from me. "I suppose a short visit shouldn't hurt."

"What made you change your mind?" Yasmin asked.

"It's almost summer, I don't want to spend it inside my house." We walked over in silence. The trees were full of lush life, the forest has just been thriving ever since spring. It makes other guardians worry about this place, it's not supposed to look like this. Which makes me surprised. Around the house, it looked busy as usual. People were walking in and out the door as loud music was heard from the inside. It made me smile to see this place again. Of course, Kris and the team talk to me during school but it would only be small talk. Other than that, they tried to make sure I was still ok with everything. My team is also in the school now too. They keep low profiles like I ordered but we still hang out like we did in elementary school. I walked up the stairs. People around looked at me in surprise and awe. I still can't believe it has been a year. When I opened the door, Ike and Amethyst were talking on the couch as Andrew and Anthony were walking down the stairs. Time slowly came to a stop as everyone stopped what they were doing. Midnight jumped onto the couch, Yasmin stayed by my side. "Is now a bad time?"

"No- no of course not! I'm just surprised to see you here, " Amethyst shouted. She jumped up and hugged me tightly. "What made you visit?"

"Well, I was wondering if I'm still going to camp again. I didn't want a remake of, last year, but still wanted those s'mores." They laughed slightly as the twins walked on either side of me.

"Well, of course, you can, don't be a stranger, " Anthony said.

"This time we shouldn't alert the park ranger, " Andrew said. I shrugged with a smile.

"So what have you been doing with all your time alone?" Ike asked as he shifted on the couch.

"I have straight A's, got into field hockey, which I am now the captain, and started a writing club. So this is gonna be a nice year for me, not to mention colleges are already scouting me out." They stared at me in awe and excitement, Andrew already looked confused.

"You are just flexing being alone aren't you? I never imagined you being a scholar like that, " Amethyst joked.

"You are a fierce player though, next time don't knock someone's teeth out, " Ike insisted.

"Not my fault, she should've watched her back." We continued to laugh and joke. The twins are on the basketball team. They were wearing their jerseys and basketball shorts now. They are green and yellow which are the school colors. Ike says they've been wearing them for a week now. Amethyst just got into lacrosse and in SGA as Vice President. Though she was just wearing short sleeve black shirt with some jean shorts on. "Ike, what have you been doing?"