2017 Inklings Book Contest finalist: Maia Goel
Today we are featuring Inklings Book Contest 2017 finalist, Maia Goel! Maia finished 7th grade this past school year. The story she submitted is called “Elements” We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did!
Leave a comment below on what you thought!
Elements
by Maia Goel
One Sunday night, a flash of blinding white light lit up the office building of Illumination Middle School. From this light emerged a tall woman with dark ringlets, skin the color of hot chocolate and bright white fingernails. She had an interesting demeanor about her, mysterious, while at the same time being quite warm and welcoming. She carried a small flat device with four dots on it, all pulsing different colors. As the woman watched, each dot swelled, one by one, starting with the blue and ending with the red. She smiled, showing off pearly white teeth that contrasted sharply with her skin tone, switched the device off and pulled a cellphone out of her pocket.
“Hello?” she said into the phone. “Yes, everything is fine. I just got here, but I can already see that they are extremely powerful. The water elementalist will develop first.”
There was a pause. “No, I don’t know if they are girls or boys, what their marks are, or how old they are. You know perfectly well that the device you gave me does not tell me that.”
There was another pause. “Of course I understand, you’ve been saying the same things for the past three days, so stop asking questions!” she exclaimed, obviously getting aggravated. “I’ll be fine. Goodbye.”
* Jasmine *
At the end of my first class of the day, Social Studies, my teacher Mr. Salon was droning on and on about the Greeks.
“And that is how the Greeks worshipped their gods. You better remember that, class, because you have a test on Wednesday on every aspect of the Greeks that you have learned,” he announced. “Of course,” he continued when the protests of the students grew too loud, “I would have told you about the test sooner, but I just found out it was moved to Wednesday since you have a science test on the day it was supposed to take place.”
In the five minutes I had in between classes, I raced to the bathroom. Up until a few years ago, we used to live by the ocean. The pounding of the waves on the shore always lulled me to sleep, and the feeling of the water around me washed away any worries that the day had brought. Even now, three years later, any time I touched the water it calmed me down, and it had become part of my routine to touch water on Mondays and brace myself for the upcoming week. I turned the tap on and let the silky, smooth, ice-cold water run over my hands. I breathed in and out slowly, letting any panic I had pool into my fingertips and flow out with the streams of water running off them.
After a few moments, I reached up to splash some water on my face and noticed a small image on the inside of my right wrist. I brought it closer to my face and saw that it was an intricately drawn sea-green wave, bright against my tan skin. Alarm welled up in me yet again. I had definitely not drawn it, so how had it gotten there?
I was quickly distracted from the mark when the tap started to go crazy. It sprayed me with water, and, however hard I tried, I couldn’t escape the jets of melted ice. By the time I had battled through what seemed like a solid wall of water and turned the tap off, I was soaked from head to toe.
I wasn’t sure what to do since I couldn’t go to math as a soggy mess. Deciding that the office was my only option, I ran as quickly as I could to the office building, shivering in the cold and arrived right as the final bell started ringing around campus.
I rushed into the office, taking my time once I was enveloped in the warm air of the room. An unfamiliar dark woman with a bright, friendly smile was sitting at the front desk, almost as if she was waiting for me.
“Hello there. I’m the newest member of the office staff, Ms. Carno. Am I right in assuming that you need to be dried off, and perhaps a late pass?” she asked.
“Yep,” I answered. “I’m supposed to be in math right now, but I had a teensy little accident with a tap and…” I gestured helplessly to my dripping wet apparel.
“Well, I’m sure we can get you dry and on your way to class in no time. Just come around to the back and there is a little heater you can stand in front of while I go dig up a towel for your hair.”
I looked at her dubiously when she mentioned getting me dry ‘in no time.’ Could she not see me dripping and forming a puddle so big that it was practically a lake? Nevertheless, I followed her to the back where, as promised, a small heater was cheerfully blasting hot air into the room.
Ms. Carno disappeared through a doorway, presumably to find me a towel. The heater must have been extremely strong, because, as she exited the room, a blast of air enveloped and warmed me instantly. It was very weird, but when Ms. Carno came back, towel in hand, to find me almost completely dry except for my hair she just laughed it off.
“Well,” she started as I wrapped the snowy white towel around my shoulders, “at least we know the heater works. Now that you’re dry, you should probably get to class. I’ll write you a late pass. Come back at lunch to give me the towel back. Don’t come at brunch, since your hair probably won’t be dry by then.”
I nodded, and she quickly filled out a pass.
“There you go,” she said brightly. “Be wary of disobedient faucets!” Laughing, I got two steps out the door before I walked straight into Jake.
“Oomph! Sorry,” I apologized quickly. He smiled. He had bronze skin, cocoa-brown hair, and bright green eyes. It was an interesting combination, but not unpleasant.
“It’s fine. Why were you in the office and not in math?” he asked.
“Oh, a tap decided to attack me,” I answered nonchalantly.
“Well, good luck in math. It’s a disaster in there,” he told me.
I had been about to say goodbye when he dropped this little bombshell. “What…?” I questioned, but he had already turned around and was heading to the office as if he didn’t want to talk about it.
“You’ll see!” he called over his shoulder. I heard the sound of the office door opening and closing, so I turned around and left. Only then did I realize that I never asked him why he was there.
* Jake *
A small ‘oomph’ escaped me when I ran into Jasmine, my mind occupied with the seemingly impossible task of taking in what had just occurred in 2nd period Algebra.
I was in a good mood when I walked into math that morning, since I had just had science and next period was brunch. That is, until Ms. Stoneten uttered the two most dreaded words in a student’s life.
“Pop quiz!” Ms. Stoneten announced. “Take out a pencil and sit down. I’ll bring the quizzes to you.” I groaned as I sat down at Table Six, my fingers already scrabbling at the zipper on my backpack to take out a pencil. Sam, my best friend, had already sat down and was currently fishing through his own backpack for a pencil. I predicted that he would have little success since Sam lost a pencil everyday, if not two. Ella, another Table Six member, already had two pencils out and was ready to start the quiz. I idly wondered where Jasmine, the final member of our group, was.
“Does anyone have…,” Sam started, but was cut off when Ella shoved her extra pencil at him. “Oh. Thanks!”
“Jake, is that a sticker?” inquired Ella.
“What? What sticker?” I replied.
“The one on your forehead, duh,” Sam chimed in. “You know, the one that’s all swirly and white? Kind of looks like a non-invisible gust of wind?”
“You mean a visible one?” I asked, trying the mask the confusion I felt. What on earth were they talking about? There was nothing on my forehead. I even felt it with my hand, but found nothing.
I was quickly distracted when Ms. Stoneten arrived at our table with the quizzes, bringing with her a need for silence. Ignoring my friends’ questioning glances, I set about starting the breathing ritual I performed before every quiz and test. I closed my eyes and began breathing in and out, making each intake and expulsion of air last as long as I could make them. Once, I thought I felt a cool breeze on my cheek, but ignored it and blocked it out, focusing only on my breathing.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was in for a nasty surprise. The classroom was in complete disarray, books and papers everywhere, students yelling, a ferocious wind making everything worse; basically complete chaos. I seemed to be the only exception. I was in the eye of the storm, not a hair on my head disturbed. It must have seemed like I was the culprit, because I was the only one not affected, and Ms. Stonemen started shouting at me.
“JAKE LOWE!” she screeched. “GO TO THE OFFICE RIGHT NOW!” Not wanting to risk the wrath of my teacher, I left as quickly as I could. As I walked, I wondered what was going on. How had I been the only person not affected? How had that even happened in the first place? My mind wandered back to the supposed sticker on my forehead, but when I went into the bathroom to check the mirror, there was nothing there. Deciding that my friends must have been trying to trick me, I continued on my way to the office. That’s when I ran into Jasmine right outside the door.
Conversation with her ensued, although my mind was only half paying attention. She had tan skin and long, dark hair that usually spilled over her shoulders, although now it was damp and hung limply on top of a towel down her back. Her dark eyes seemed to sparkle as she told me she had been attacked by a sink. I guess that’s why her hair was wet, although it didn’t really make any sense to me.
When our conversation drew to a close and I had walked away, I opened the office doors and entered. A tall African-American woman with curly hair was sitting at the front desk, typing something onto a desktop computer.
“Oh hello,” she greeted me. “What are you here for?” I explained my current predicament and told her that I had no idea what was going on and that I was in no way to blame. Strangely, she didn’t look surprised.
“Well, I believe you.” she stated. I was confused. Why did she believe me so readily? I had only just met her.
“You do?” I asked.
“Yes. You don’t seem like the type who would lie. I’ll talk to Ms. Stoneten at brunch and try to make her understand that you had nothing to do with that. You may come back at lunch to find out what she decides and if you will be punished for this. I think that you had better stay here for the remainder of the period. You can sit in that chair in the corner and quietly work on homework or read.” She said this all quite warmly, but the dismissal was obvious and left no room for discussion.
I nodded and went to sit in the corner, my mind spinning with confusion. What had happened in math? Why did the lady at the desk seem like she knew exactly what was occurring? What was going on?
* Alex *
“And…GO!” my P.E. teacher Ms. Golder shouted. I took off running, my arms and legs pumping in sync. And then I felt a rock in my left shoe, digging into my foot and slowing me down. I ran for a few more seconds and, seeing that no one else was around me, I sat down and pulled my shoe off. I fished around for a few seconds in search of the offending object when I was distracted by something on my ankle. The small pebble that had been bothering me so much forgotten, I peered closer to get a better look. There was a small brown blob (maybe a rock?) and a green seedling inked right on my skin! I was confused, but decided that I would deal with it at brunch. I shoved my shoe back onto my foot and stood up.
My friend, Ryan, snuck up to me and tagged me on my shoulder as I stood up and, giving a shout of surprise, I ran after him until he slowed down.
“Hey,” I greeted him casually.
“Hi Alex. Let’s go destroy everyone else!” Ryan responded.
“Yeah!” I agreed and, just like that, we were off, running across the field in search of a victim. Soon, we targeted Kaia, a seventh grade girl who was in my science class. She was incredibly fast, and it was hard to get close to her.
‘Come on…stop!’ I mentally begged her.
Suddenly, Kaia stumbled and fell forward. “Are you OK?” Ryan asked, rushing forward to help her.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she told me, sitting up on her knees. “It’s like I got stuck in the ground or something.” Ryan got up and started examining where she had ‘gotten stuck’ only to find nothing. Not mud, a hole, or even a footprint.
“That’s really weird,” he commented touching the ground. “There’s no trace of anything. Are you sure you’re fine?” he asked Kaia.
“Yep. I can still get away from you guys.” She smiled, got up, and took off running before either us had anytime to react.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Ryan shouted at Kaia, taking off running after her. I stayed behind, thinking about what had just happened.
It was like my wish had been granted. Maybe I…. No. It was just a coincidence. I don’t have any magical powers or anything.
It took me a few moments to notice that someone was calling my name.
“Alex Thompson! Alex Thompson come here!” It was Ms. Golder calling me over while simultaneously waving a small blue slip of paper in the air. Uh oh. That small, innocent-looking, azure piece of paper meant that someone in the office wanted to talk to you. As I jogged over, I mentally ran over everything I had done in the last few weeks. There was nothing that I had done that warranted a trip the office. My face was still creased in confusion when I reached Ms. Golder.
“This is for you,” she said rather unnecessarily, handing the slip of paper to me. I nodded and scanned the paper quickly.
‘Please come to the office at lunch,’ it read in an unfamiliar neat script. That was it.
“Thank you,” I told Ms. Golder, preparing to rejoin the game I had just left. She nodded, and I jogged back to my game, contemplating why in the world I had to go to the office at lunch. I would just have to wait to find out.
* Emelia *
I, Emilia Garcia, half-Spanish, half-Italian, and born in Spain, am freezing. It wasn’t just a little cold, a little frost in the air and a small bite in the wind. No, it was breath-hanging-in-the-air, if-it-was-raining-it-wouldn’t-be-raining-it-would-be- snowing-or-hailing, I’m-going-to-freeze-to-death-even-though-this-is-California cold. I wasn’t even exaggerating. Not the tiniest bit. Ok…maybe I was exaggerating a little, but in my defense, it really is freezing out here. Shouldn’t my fiery red hair mean that I was fire and therefore never cold?
“Tengo muchisimo frio,” I told no one in particular. My friends, accustomed to my habit of sometimes talking in Spanish for no apparent reason, just looked at me. “Mis manos son como hielo, y mi chaqueta no está ayudando. ¡Oh! Pienso que tengo sopa para almuerzo. Puede ser que eso me ayudará.”
“Em, you know that we can’t understand you,” my friend Ella responded.
“I’m really cold, my hands are like ice, my jacket isn’t helping, and I think I have soup for lunch which might help,” I translated.
“Ok…” my other friend Rose muttered. Accustomed to my craziness as they were, they chose to just ignore my meaningless rant and instead sit down at the empty table we had just found.
I quickly unzipped my lunchbox, took my thermos out, and opened it.
“Yes!” I cheered. “Soup! Victory is mine!”
“Good for you,” said Rose before changing the subject. “So, how was fourth period?”
I listened to Ella talk about how glad she was that English was perfectly normal, seeing as her math class had been quite eventful, while I tucked into my warm soup. Somehow, I managed to get some onto my hands, and I went to wipe them when I noticed something on my left wrist. I brought it closer to my eyes to study it, and soon discovered that it was a small red-orange-yellow flame.
“How did that get there?” I wondered out loud. Ella and Rose, now engaged in an animated conversation about Social Studies and the upcoming test, didn’t hear me.
I was still thinking about the mark and how it had gotten there when I returned to eating. The soup wasn’t that warm, which I expected. I mean, even a thermos can’t keep soup piping hot all day, but I wished it was.
Quite suddenly, the thermos got red-hot, and the soup began to boil. I, unfortunately, had been holding the thermos when this occurred, and had dropped it, spilling its contents on the ground.
“OW!” I shouted, and my friends turned to look at me.
“What’s wrong Em?” they enquired in unison. In response, I simply turned my palms upward so they could see them. They looked quite horrible. My palms, I mean, not Ella and Rose, though I guess their expressions were quite horrible too. They were red and raw, with blisters already forming. It was incredibly painful, and I was blinking back tears.
“What happened?” asked Ella gently while Rose left to find an adult.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled through the pain. “One second I was drinking my soup, and the next, I had burnt hands.”
Right then, Rose returned with a tall, authoritative, African-American woman.
“I’m Ms. Carno,” woman said, carefully taking hold of my wrists to examine them. “You’d better come to the office with me. I know that we have some burn cream that will fix you right up in the first aid box. You two don’t need to come,” she told Rose and Ella, who were about to offer to do just that, “I can take care of her. Come on.” With her final words, she gave my wrist a gentle tug and I stood up, focusing on trying to block out the pain.
How had the thermos burned me? Why did Ms. Carno seem like she knew exactly what had happened and why? Who was she?
* * *
The water elementalist arrived first, an Indian girl named Jasmine, carrying a damp white towel in her right hand and humming a tune under her breath. Next came the air elementalist, an African-American boy named Jake, with piercing green eyes and a hopeful look on his face. He greeted the water elementalist with a smile, and she replied with one of her own. The earth elementalist, an Asian boy by the name of Alex, with dark hair, pale skin, and brown almond-shaped eyes entered next. His expression was apprehensive, and he was clutching a piece of wrinkled blue paper in his left hand. He greeted the other two with a tilt of his head, to which they responded in kind. Finally, the fire elementalist, Emilia, a European girl with violently red hair, freckles, and blue eyes, arrived alongside their guardian.
Their guardian, whose name was Lena Carno, took the towel Jasmine offered her and carried it to her desk. She returned with a tube of burn cream and squeezed it over Emilia’s hands.
She then spoke, “If you would stay, I have something to explain to all four of you. First of all, Alex and Jake, you’re not in trouble. I explained everything to Ms. Stoneten, and that slip was from me.” The boys looked relieved, while the girls just looked at Ms. Carno, waiting for her to continue. “My name is Lena Carno, and I am your guardian.” She held up her hand as if to convey that any questions were to wait until the end of her explanation. “You are each an elementalist, meaning you have certain powers related to your element. You all have had strange experiences today, and I’m sure you have all found your mark. Jasmine, you are a water elementalist. Your mark is either a water drop or a wave and is found on your right wrist. Alex, you are an earth elementalist. Your mark is a rock that is sometimes accompanied by a seedling, and appears on one of your ankles. Jake, you are an air elementalist. Your mark is a curl of wind and shows up on your forehead. Emilia, you are a fire elementalist. Your mark is a flame and can be found on your left wrist. I am an air elementalist like Jake.” An image of a gust of wind, similar to Jake’s briefly appeared on her forehead before disappearing. “That’s how you got dry so quickly Jasmine. I enveloped you in warm air. I am the guardian for all four of you. This means that I shall be your mentor in the Fours, where you will learn to control your power.” She looked at each elementalist’s face, whose expressions ranged from confused to disbelieving. “Now, if you each take my hand, I have something to show you.” All did so.
Lena pulled a small flat device, now blank, from her pocket, and made sure that she was holding everyone’s hand.
“We will be visiting the Fours for a brief amount of time,” she announced. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back before the end of lunch.” Leaving no time to react, she clicked a button on the device and all five people disappeared in a flash of white light.
