SPRITES: Legacy of the Black Phoenix

Chapter 8 : Reflections

Vidaj pulled his hand back, making all the shadowy layers vanish, leaving nothing but air in their place.

Through the open spaces, the light reflected off each layer of water. Both boys stared at the rainbows in awe.

"All right, I'm not going to lie," Briggs said. "That does look pretty cool."

Briggs pulled his hands back, making all the layers of water plunge back into the lake. The water splashed onto the boys.

"What did you do that for?" Vidaj yelled. Briggs pointed to three or four fish flopping around on the dock.

Briggs grinned as he gathered the fish. "No need for fishing rods."

They headed toward the lake shore, where Briggs grabbed some dry branches. Meanwhile, Vidaj took out a knife and started to scale and gut the fish. He quickly cut through the fish, as he'd done several times before. Briggs extracted a bottle of lighter fluid from his backpack and doused the branches before he started a fire with a lighter. After Vidaj had finished scaling the fish, he impaled them with sticks and suspended them over the campfire. As the fire roasted the fish, the boys sat there, waiting patiently.

Briggs scanned their peaceful surroundings. "Even though it takes a lot of time and work, we should do this more often."

Closing his eyes Vidaj took in aroma of their campfire and nature surrounding them. "If the others saw the beauty of what we just did, maybe they'd come out with us."

"You know they'd only get in the way, and we'd end up doing double the work."

A smile escaped from Vidaj who was still taking in the camp are. "That's probably true, but we should give them a chance anyway. You never know. They might actually surprise us."

"All right, maybe you're right. Besides, think about all the fun we could have with Ian and Felix. I'd make them start a fire without the lighter fluid and lighter." Briggs was animated in his response.

"They'd probably try to rub sticks together or something. I'd have Lana and Blake scale and gut all the fish by hand. I know you've seen how squeamish they get every time my brother cuts the meat at our barbecues." Vidaj glanced over to the fire and jumped up. "Hey, I think they're done."

Briggs grabbed the fish from the fire, and then Vidaj put out the fire with some sand from the shore. By the time he had finished, the fish had cooled off enough for them to eat it. Though it had taken quite some time for them to get the fish, it took only a few minutes to devour them. After they were finished eating, Vidaj pulled out two large water bottles from his backpack and tossed one to Briggs.

Briggs held up his bottle. "Cheers to a great day."

Vidaj lifted his bottle and tipped it toward him before gulping it down.

Briggs glanced at his cell phone. "It's probably time to head back."

The boys quickly packed up and made their way to the bus stop.

Forty minutes later, as they boarded the bus, Briggs asked Vidaj, "Are you ready for that field trip on Monday?"

Vidaj raised an eyebrow. "Field trip?"

Briggs nodded as they sat down. "You forgot about it, didn't you?"

Vidaj sighed. "Yeah... I guess so."

"Our school's first trip to the botanical gardens."

Vidaj looked perplexed. "We're going to a plant museum?"

Briggs smiled as the bus rumbled up a steep hill. "Yeah, I think it should be pretty interesting."

"You're kidding, right? Sounds like the most boring trip in the world. Who cares about plants?"

"Well, we get a lot of our medicine from them, so they're pretty important."

"I guess that's cool for future doctors like you, but what about the rest of us?"

"Give it a chance," Briggs said, with another grin. "Who knows? Maybe you'll actually enjoy it."

Vidaj shook his head. "No way! Who decided on this, anyway?"

Briggs rolled his eyes, his head shaking. "It was a class decision. You and the rest of the gang were all goofing off in biology while the rest of us voted."

"What? You're kidding me! So this is actually our fault?"

"Hey, I tried to call you guys over to vote."

Vidaj sank into his seat. "What were the other options?"

"Visiting a space station, going to the zoo, or taking a tour of the Global Army headquarters."

"And the class chose the botanical gardens over all that?"

"Hey, you said it yourself. It's your own fault for not paying attention!"

"Yeah, but all those options sound so much cooler, even the zoo," Vidaj muttered.

Briggs narrowed his eyes. "Whoa, are you an animal hater too?"

"Are you kidding me? They have those anti-gravity chambers at the space station, and they probably would've set up some kind of cool military show for us at the Global Army headquarters! No animal can compare to that!"

As the bus came to a halt, Briggs stood up to leave. "Well, this is my stop." He grabbed his backpack and lifted it over his shoulder. "There's no need to worry about it now. Just make sure you wake up on time for it."

"Whatever..." Vidaj reached out and shook Briggs's hand. "All right. See you Monday."

As Briggs got off the bus, Vidaj heaved a sigh and sank even lower in his seat.