Chapter Twenty Six
“Oh my goodness, are you okay? Ma’am, oh no, please wake up. I have no idea what to do to help you!” I exclaimed as I tapped the unconscious woman and tried to think of something helpful.
Shaking her was ineffective. She was still out cold. I couldn’t recall how long Boo and I had hiked. So, I didn’t know how far away we were from Sunridge Automotive.
When she didn’t respond to me, I screamed for assistance. My shouts echoed through the forest. No one can hear me. We are out in the middle of nowhere. The only noise I heard was Boo playing with his toy soldiers beside the creek. He didn’t even look at us. It could be that he doesn’t recognize this woman. Maybe, he’s not allowed to talk to strangers?
No, that can’t be the case…I was a stranger and he spoke to me. I guess Boo doesn’t understand that this lady needs our help. He continued to play as if we didn’t exist in his world. I tried calling his name, but he ignored me.
I tried to will the light to come back although I had no idea whether it would help the situation. Nothing happened. Frustrated and near tears, I considered my options. I couldn’t leave an unconscious woman unattended for a number of reasons. She might wake up with a head injury and move around. That could possibly injure her further. Even if I left her here to go find someone, how could I find my way back to her? I had no idea where I was. That means I would probably get lost trying to find my way out of the woods. Then we would both need help so I scratched that from the list of possible solutions.
Suddenly, I had a crazy idea. I didn’t know if it would work, but it was the only thing I could think of. I ran back to the creek bank and kneeled down. I listened for the music of the forest. When I heard it playing faintly in the distance, I plunged both of my hands underneath the freezing water’s surface. The light and rainbows reappeared as if they had just been waiting for me to return. The wind responded as it stirred around me. I felt the power rise again.
I spoke directly to the wind and hoped it might carry my message.
“Tray, I need you. Please come find me at the creek…”
The words seemed to float in mid-air for a few seconds before they were swept away. Boo continued to line up his soldiers as if they were preparing to battle an enemy army. I forced my hands to stay underneath the water’s surface because it was the only way I could control the wind. It was a struggle because the icy water tingled around my skin. Just when it became intolerable, I heard my salvation.
Two sets of footsteps were running up the narrow pathway through dead leaves and downed tree branches. I wanted to shout “halleluiah” but I was too cold to speak. I finally yanked my hands out of the freezing cold water. They were a brilliant, flaming red color. It was kind of ironic. My hands felt anything BUT fiery, at that moment.
“Ember! Where are you?” Tray shouted and I started to cry.
“We’re here…” I shouted between sobs and uncontrolled shivering.
I figured Tray would freak out the instant he saw me. I’m sure it looked like I was having convulsions, but I could not stop shaking. Ice cold water and pure adrenaline will do that, every time.
Tray was the first person to arrive on the crazy scene. He was followed closely by a man I could only assume was Rave Jansen. The man rushed passed Tray and fell down beside the fallen woman. He had a look of genuine concern on his weathered face.
“Celeste, honey…” he said softly as he tried to rouse her.
He lifted her head into his arms. When she didn’t respond, he turned to me and asked, “What happened this time?”
“I’m soorrryy… didn’t reeeaaallyyy see…she wasss behind mmeee…fffaainttted I thhhinkkk…” I offered in a shaky voice.
I tried unsuccessfully to get my emotional status under control. My brother looked frantic. He was kneeling in front of me and rubbing my hands between his own. He was trying to warm them although I still felt only icy tingles. I could barely see around Tray to talk to the worried man, but I did my best to look at him.
I waited for Mr. Jansen’s accusations or questions, but they would never come. He didn’t say anything, only continued to cradle the woman’s head in his arms as he tapped her lightly on her cheek. Then, he leaned in close and whispered something to her. I couldn’t hear the words he spoke.
The woman slowly regained consciousness. She looked at the man with long held love in her eyes. She whispered something back to him in a quiet tone as she reached up to hug him.
“I’m sorry. Tray takes care…of all our…medical emerg…encies…even…his own. I…didn’t know…what to…do,” I told them with red rimmed eyes that match my freezing red hands.
“You must be Ember, right? No worries. This isn’t the first time my wife has passed out, likely won’t be the last either. It’s a trait of her heritage. It always happens when she gets overwhelmed,” Rave offered with a kind laugh.
I heard the sincerity in his deep voice, but I still felt guilty all the same.
“Are you okay, Little Girl? Your hands are like ice cubes? What on earth were you doing sticking them into the creek at this time of the year?” Tray continued to rapidly ask questions in his usual ‘inquest’ style.
It was fortunate for me that he needed a few minutes to calm down because I needed it too. I used the time to warm up a little. By the time he wound down, at least my teeth had stopped clattering.
“It all happened really fast. Boo asked me to take a walk. He wanted to show me this beautiful creek. I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have wandered away without telling anyone,” I said and lowered my eyes to the ground.
Tray had asked me so many questions that I couldn’t remember them all. Most had been about why I had my hands in the water, but I felt compelled to apologize for wandering away first. I also couldn’t explain what I had been doing in front of the Jansens’ anyway.
I thought about how nice it would be if I could lift my inner fire to warm my throbbing, ice cold hands. It stubbornly remained stationary.
I glanced over to the little boy. He had remained silent this entire time. He continued to play with his soldiers like he was in his own world – all alone. I could still see the faintest glow of his light blue aura dancing around his body. That happy color certainly suited him. I suppose no one else paid attention to it since they were all looking at me because no one had mentioned the blue glowing boy. Tray couldn’t see Boo from his angle, but the Jansens’ could see him clearly. I decided that I urgently needed some psychiatric help because I was certain that if they saw an illuminated boy they would say something about it.
I had no idea what to say in this loony situation. Then, I became frightened of the psychotic words that might come out of my mouth. I felt them trying to escape. I held my breath to stop them from rushing out and looked at the ground.
“Boo wanted you to walk, huh? I’m sure he led you right up this path too. This is his favorite place to play. We’ve tried everything to keep him away from this creek, especially when it’s this cold outside. But we haven’t been successful, obviously.
“The kid has always been able to find a way to sneak out and this is where we find him. Never been able to keep that boy away from the creek and I suppose we never will either,” Rave said and helped his wife stand back up.
“Ember, you were supposed to be telling me about your hands, remember? Why on earth were you playing in icy creek water? I’d really love an explanation…” Tray reminded me and he sounded exasperated.
Boo still continued to shine with a dim blue light and I felt insane. I tried to ignore him as I offered my explanation to my brother.
“I wasn’t playing in the creek…Boo asked me to swim. I told him that people can’t play in the water like ducks can right now because it’s too cold. So I put his duck in the water, and then I handed the leash to him. But he kinda got distracted by something when he was holding Heaven’s leash. His duck started to
float away and I had to react fast if I wanted to catch him.
“Then, I lost my balance and sorta fell forward into the creek. It can’t be considered playing when I was just trying to get Heaven…” I explained and watched them all look at me with confused stares.
I became uncomfortable when they didn’t respond to my explanation. They were all speechless. I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to explain some more.
“Don’t worry; I caught Heaven just in time. You can see for yourself – Heaven’s fine…” I pointed out the obvious.
Their confused stares continued. All three of them looked at me like I had just morphed into an alien from outer space and my head had just spun around.
“Boo told you to take a swim in the creek? You’re sure he said that?” Tray asked me and seemed puzzled.
“Well, technically, he said “Ember swim,” but I kinda understood his implied meaning. It wasn’t rocket science, Tray,” I replied sarcastically and felt the angry blood pumping through my throbbing, frozen hands.
I must have sprouted horns and tentacles to match my alien-head-spinning act. They looked at me like I was no longer human. I was flipped out, but I still had no idea what was happening. I gave my brother a desperate look because I needed his assistance. He was pale as a ghost and didn’t say anything to help me out in this crazy situation.
Eventually, he regained his composure enough to ask me something. Still looking perplexed, he silently mouthed the word “Heaven” to me and pointed skyward.
“No, no – not Heaven up there – Heaven the duck,” I finally offered after a small eternity of being on display as ‘alien-possessed-Ember.’
“Boo spoke to you – out loud with words?” Tray asked like I was pulling his leg.
“Well, um yes, he said a few things – just kid stuff. I promise I’ve kept a close eye on him the entire time. He’s such a sweet little guy and we’ve had fun. He introduced me to his duck, Heaven. Didn’t you already know his duck’s name?” I asked them and now returned their puzzled expressions.
They know Boo and the fact that he plays at the creek, but they don’t know his duck’s name? Maybe it was supposed to be our secret. I looked at Boo with a worried expression, but he didn’t seem to notice. I was totally confused and no one would explain anything.
Tray was still kneeling in front of me, white as a blank sheet of paper. He had one hand clamped over his mouth like he had been stunned by a new revelation. I was clueless about what had him so shocked though. He couldn’t see the glowing little boy behind him.
He held my hands together, painfully with his other hand. He was clearly over the edge and I went along for the ride. Suddenly, I couldn’t say anything either. The three of them continued to openly gawk at me and I returned the favor. The earth seemed to stop moving.
Having no idea what the problem was, I waited in silence. Then, the earth would start moving again when the little boy started talking.
“Water likes Ember,” Boo stated happily as he put his soldiers back in formation. “Likes Ember…likes Ember…water likes Ember,” he said in a sing-song fashion.
Everyone’s attention was suddenly riveted on Boo. Although I knew they didn’t see the blue around him because it was only part of my mental disorder, they did look at him like he had morphed into an alien too.
Why are they so traumatized?? Nothing bad had happened – not to anyone – unless we count the woman fainting. Nothing bad had happened to Boo though. He appeared to be perfectly normal to me – talking, singing and playing without a care in the world. I seriously considered running away from this crazy, unknown scene, but where would I go? Tray was my only means of escape and he was still thoroughly astonished.
Celeste rushed over to Boo and then cupped his face in her hands. He smiled up at her for one brief second in acknowledgement and said “water likes Ember” again. Then, he pulled away from her hands and resumed positioning his army.
A tidal wave of tears streamed down her face. She stood up and walked in my direction. I braced myself for whatever she was getting ready to tell me.
She didn’t say a single word to either me or Tray. She only motioned for him to move out of her way. Then she placed her hand on my forehead and held it motionless. I felt a strange energy flow from her hand into my body.
I watched in surprise as she started to glow with a blue haze, just like the little boy. Suddenly, my inner light was being drawn out of me. It combined with her light blue aura. They radiated around my body until she removed her hand from my forehead. Then, both lights quickly faded.
Celeste nodded toward her husband, wordlessly. She stood up and motioned for us to follow. When Boo noticed that I was leaving, he dropped his soldier on the creek bank and ran over to grab my hand. We all obediently followed Celeste as she led us back down the mountain, out of the woods and back to Sunridge.
Boo released my hand as soon as we walked into their house and went into what was probably his bedroom to do something. Celeste watched his every movement as if he had just earned a gold medal at the Olympics.
“I don’t understand,” I finally stated.
Their collective silence was maddening – especially Tray’s.
“You don’t understand yet, but you will, Ember. I promise you will,” Rave stated from behind me.
“Yes, you will understand soon,” Celeste finally spoke and exited the room.
Rave followed his wife. My brother and I watched as he disappeared around the corner.
My hands tingled with electric waves of pain. I rubbed them together and looked back toward Tray. I gave him our famous ‘what in the world is going on here’ look. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Boo is autistic. He’s never said a word the entire time I’ve worked here…”
His words flooded through my awareness. I was shocked beyond belief. Then my world turned upside-down and I was the one that fainted…
Ember Rising Light (Book One) Page 30
