~Flashback~
Cleo's POV
(six years old)
"Fire! FIRE!" I looked out the window, it was Mrs Brown, my neighbour, and her house was on fire!
My mom and dad were already outside, rushing to Mrs Brown's house as I ran down the stairs. Mrs Brown's house was up in flames. Mrs Brown was with my mom, trembling. "You have to save my baby!" She begged.
"The fire department's on their way." My mom consoled her.
"Please, my baby's trapped in there!" Mrs Brown tried to dash back into the house but my parents stopped her.
"Colin, Anne, let me go, please! Please, James is stuck there!" Mrs Brown struggled with their grip, crying.
"Rachel, please, you'll only get yourself killed!" My mom said.
My dad tried to step into the house but there was no way, everything was collapsing, pieces of wood were blocking his path. He didn't realise that I was right beside him and quickly told me to stay away from the fire.
"But... James is in there!" I protested. "We have to rescue him!"
"We can't do anything, Cleo. We need to wait until the firemen put out the fire. Come on." He gestured me to follow him.
I noticed a hole that was small enough for me to squeeze through, I didn't even think, I ran straight into the burning house.
"CLEO!" I could hear my parents scream.
In the house, everything was falling apart, the fire was everywhere. I could hear the soft sound of a baby crying. "James, I'm coming!"
For some reason, I knew exactly where to go and where to avoid. I made my way to a room and could see James' crib. I quickly carried him out, just before the ceiling collapsed.
"I got you, I got you James." I said, looking left and right for the exit.
The fire was all the way to the front door. I looked around for another exit but the way to the back door was blocked. There's no other way to go. I took a deep breath and dashed through the hall of fire.
I expected myself to have burned alive as I ran, but the fire didn't burn me, it wouldn't harm me. I ran all the way out of the house and nearly crashed into my parents.
"Cleo! Oh, thank goodness." My mom hugged me tight.
I smiled, revealing that James was with me, Mrs Brown cried in joy and picked James up. "Thank you... Thank you..." She sobbed, hugging James.
My parents made sure that I wasn't hurt, surprisingly, I really wasn't. Not even a scratch. I looked back at the fire, it's as if the flames and sparks danced together, waving at me.
Aidan's POV
(seven years old)
"AHHHHHH!" I was screaming, running past the thick green. I was on a field trip but I wandered off from my group, got myself lost in the woods and there was a bear chasing me!
I climbed a tree and begged for dear life. I looked down, the bear was nowhere to be seen. Good, I've lost it.
"Be very careful, stay with your group, do not wander off no matter what! There are wild animals here, as long as you don't go into their territory and provoke them, you'll be safe. Don't worry, we won't be going anywhere near there." I remember my teacher saying. How I regret that now not following orders.
After about ten minutes, I had the courage to come back down. Now, I really need to find my way back. I was terrified, even at the slightest sound. I accidentally stepped on a twig and snapped it, that was enough to make me jump out of my skin.
"Aidan.... Aidan..." I heard a voice. I looked around in excitement, hoping someone had finally found me. But there was no one.
"Hello? Anyone there?" I called out. "Can someone please help me? I'm lost!"
It was eerie silence. I began to panic, what if this place is haunted?! I quickly took off without looking back.
"Aidan... Aidan..." I heard the voice again.
"Leave me alone" I screamed. "HELP! HELP!!!"
I slipped and fell in front of a tree. I swear I saw the tree had a face and I backed away from it.
"Aidan... Listen..."
"Who are you?!" I demanded. "What do you want?!"
"We're here to help... Please, you'll only get hurt if you keep running without knowing where you are."
I began to shiver. Sure, I knew nature would surprise you sometimes, but not freak someone out! There's a ghost talking to me!
"We're not ghosts." The voice said, as if it could read my mind. "Take ten steps east, you'll spot a hump of leaves on your right."
For some reason, I actually decided to follow what the voice said. I didn't even question where it was going to lead me to.
"Good, now step on it. Think of your friends, your teacher, your group."
I bit my lip and stepped on the hump of leaves. I thought of my group, I wish I was with them right now, I wish I didn't wander off.
I swear the forest had a mind of its own. The ground shook a little and a strong breeze blew leaves to the left and right, creating a path. I stared at it in amazement.
"Go on Aidan, there's nothing to be afraid. Follow the path and you'll be safe."
"Who are you?" I asked again.
But my question was not answered. I then walked on the path. Did the voice just do that? Move parts of the forest?
"AIDAN!" My teacher and my friends rushed to me. "Oh thank goodness you're all right."
"I'm sorry I wandered off." I said, extremely relieved to see my friends again. I hugged them tight.
I turned around, hearing the voice again.
"Remember, nature is always with you..."
Darrel's POV
(five years old)
"Yes mom, I'll be sure to be careful." I rolled my eyes, walking out of the door. That's the what, tenth time she's told me that?
I met up with a couple of pals, we were going swimming in a nearby lake. We brought our swim suits and water guns, we're gonna have so much fun!
We cannonballed into the lake, filled up our water guns and splashed water at each other. We completely lost track of time, it only seemed like minutes.
"Darrel, let's go!" Tristan said, wiping himself dry with a towel.
"Oh come on, a couple more minutes." I pleaded, not quite ready to go.
"My mom's gonna kill me if I come back late! And it's already late! Come on, the rest have already headed back." Tristan packed his stuff.
"You got first then, I'll catch up. Five minutes, I promise." I said, dunking my head into the water.
"Be quick." Tristan nodded and walked off. "See you tomorrow."
I sighed loudly. Why does time seem to fly so quickly when you're having fun? I glanced at my bag then grabbed my water gun that was still floating and threw it to my bag.
All right, I'll swim that tree and back, then I'll go home. Satisfied, I took a deep breath and swam.
Did I forget to mention that I absolutely love swimming? I just can't get enough of it. My parents told me that the first time I was brought to a swimming pool, I didn't want to leave. I loved the water.
"Owwwwww!" I screamed in pain, grabbing my leg. Muscle cramp! I struggled to keep my balance and my leg was really painful. I slowly sank into the water, oh no, one of my worst fears, it's coming true, I'm drowning! My hands splashed everywhere and my leg is just trying to kill me. The water level was already at my mouth.
I blacked out for a couple of seconds but I felt myself being lifted up and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, beside my bag.
"Wha... What?" I blurted out, chocking on a bit of water, not quite knowing what on earth just happened. I massaged my leg until the pain finally stopped and was about to go back home when I realised my charm that I wore on my neck was missing. It was extremely important to me, my grandmother had given it to me.
"Oh... It could be anywhere!" I stomped, looking at the lake.
I walked into the lake, taking a few breaths and looked underwater. Great, just great, Darrel, good job on losing it!
Suddenly, the water began to move, like it had a mind of its own. A large wave formed and it went to the left followed by another large wave which went to the right. The lake separated itself, creating a dry path. At the end of the path just before the water, was my charm.
Baffled, confused and stunned at what I saw, I walked and picked up my charm. I quickly put it on my neck and walked back. What on earth is going on with the lake?
Just before I reached shore, the waves collapsed and water was restored on the path. Even more confused, I quickly dried myself and was ready to go home.
I looked back at the lake, I saw a water wave, waving at me.
Ethan's POV
(six years old)
It was a lovely and windy evening, I took my kite out and ran around with it.
The wind had suddenly died, my kite fell down and it hit someone on the head. I gasped and rushed to the boy. "I'm so sorry!" I said, picking up my kite.
The boy glared at me. "This," He snatched the kite. "Is yours?"
"Y-Yes. Can I have it back?" I reached out my hand to take the kite but he held it higher.
"You want it? Take it!" He said. I had to jump to get it but there was no way I could jump that high.
"Can I please have my kite back?" I begged.
"No can do, you mess with me, I'll mess you up." He said.
"I'm sorry, it was just an accident." I said, not quite knowing how I still have the courage to talk to him. He might beat me up real badly.
"Oh yeah?" He challenged, stepping towards me. I gulped, backing away. Two more of his friends showed up, he whispered something to them and they glared at me.
"It's not my fault the wind died." I said.
"Oh, so we have a tough one eh?" One of the friends asked.
"You're so dead today if you're gonna continue talking like that." The other one said.
I looked at my kite that was in the leader's grasp. I figured I could make a dash at the kite and run straight home. But then now there's three people surrounding me, I'm trapped! It was easier with just one.
I backed all the way until a tree. I pressed my back against it. "Aw, looks like you got nowhere to go now." The leader teased.
I could feel my heart beating quickly and loudly as I looked at the three. The wind came back, but it was really strong. Storm's coming.
I think all of us noticed it, the wind was a bit too strong, it wasn't natural. The leader was just about to slap me when suddenly, the wind had caused leaves from the branches of the tree to fall off and the leaves swarmed the three of them. One of them got poked in the eye by a leaf. I looked at the tree, it's as if a hurricane just happened, the tree's leaves had all fell off. The leaves were somehow attacking the bullies. Or rather, the wind was attacking them, using leaves.
I wasn't attacked for some reason, I decided to run back home. I ran no more than 10 steps when my kite suddenly flew over and smacked me in the face. I grabbed it and ran as fast as I could back home.
Just before I went inside, I glanced at the sky. The wind had blew the clouds into a shape, no wait, a word.
It was "Ethan :)"
Isabelle's POV
(six years old)
One evening, I was outside playing with Cleo. However, it suddenly rained heavily, thunder boomed everywhere and lightning crackled. We ran and found shelter under a tree.
"Isabelle, it's not safe here, we gotta go!" Cleo said.
But we could barely see what's ahead of us, the rain was too heavy. Then there's me, who's extremely scared of lightning. I shut my eyes and closed my ears when I saw a lightning strike.
"Isabelle! We need to leave!" I could barely hear Cleo's voice.
She grabbed my hand and looked at me in the eyes. "Come on! It's dangerous to be under a tree right now, we need to go! Don't worry, I'll be right beside you, ok?"
I looked at her, terrified with another lightning striking.
"Ok, on the count of three, we run." Cleo instructed, pulling me to her side.
"I'm scared..." I said, backing away.
But the rain had drowned our voices, we could barely hear each other. "One, two, three! Come on, let's go!" Cleo dashed into the rain.
At first, I ran but another lightning stopped me, I was petrified and stopped in my tracks. I went back to underneath the tree. I buried my face in my palms, crying. Thunder roared in my ears.
I suddenly blacked out.
When I opened my eyes, I was on a hospital bed. There were tubes and wires hooked up to machines. What happened?
I looked at one of the machines, my hand brushed against the bed railing and suddenly the readings went up sky high then fell immediately. My eyes widen as I looked at the machine which made an alarming noise.
I didn't notice that Cleo was right beside me, she was awoken by the noise of the machine. "Isabelle! Oh thank goodness you're awake. I'll go call your parents and the doc-"
"What happened? How am I here?" I cut in.
"Well... A lightning bolt struck you. But it's a miracle, you're not injured at all." Cleo explained. "Why didn't you run?"
"... You know me." I muttered, ashamed.
"What's important is that you're all right-OW!" She held my hand but quickly let go of it. "Static."She explained. "Anyways, I better get the doctor." She rushed out the doors.
I looked at the readings, it was still wacko. The door burst open, revealing my parents with tears in their eyes and a doctor. Cleo was behind them.
The doctor looked at the machine, obviously stunned. I got worried that my life was in danger. I weakly waved at my parents. Suddenly, the readings went to normal.
The doctor inspected the machine and wires, then looked at me. "It was an electrical problem, probably just a short circuit."
"So, how am I?" I asked.
"Well, it's a miracle, kid. The lightning bolt could have killed you, I can't explain how you're fine. You could have had cardiac arrest, or go into a coma, or third degree burns. It truly is a miracle, not even a scratch on you. It's as if, you weren't even struck by lightning." The doctor explained then turned to my parents. "She'll need to stay for further inspection."
I glanced at the machine's wires and I swear I thought I saw the electricity in the wires.
~Flashback~
Third Person POV
A streak of Cleo's hair turned red and the symbol of fire appeared on her palm.
For Aidan, a streak of his hair turned green and the symbol of a leaf appeared on his palm.
A streak of Darrel's hair turned blue and the symbol of water appeared on his palm.
For Ethan, a streak of his hair turned silver and the symbol of wind appeared on his palm.
A streak of Isabelle's hair turned purple and the symbol of lightning/electricity appeared on her palm.
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