Summer of Elves

by Joanne Vruno

  “Grandma, this is so good,” I said, realizing my body could not take another forkful. I wondered how well I was going to move in my practice, being so full.

  We all helped Grandma clean up the kitchen before the training started. Dolph and Berg agreed to be my guinea pigs so I could practice transporting them to the village or into the back yard. Berg volunteered to go first. Grandma was the instructor and told me to try repeating in my head for Berg to go to the backyard.

  I closed my eyes and repeated: Berg, go to the backyard, Berg go to the backyard, Berg, go to the backyard. I opened my eyes to see if he had gone, but to my dismay, he was still in front of me.

  Grandma asked what my wording was and I told her. “Aly, this time don’t say it as a command to Berg. Instead state it as a wish, or a want, and try keeping your eyes open. If you master this only with your eyes closed, you are leaving yourself vulnerable to an enemy.”

  I kept my eyes open and I looked right at Berg. “I wish for Berg to go to the backyard, I wish for Berg to go to the backyard, I wish for Berg to go to the back—” Poof! Berg was gone.

  We all ran to the back door and out into the yard. Lunt was in hysterics laughing, as we found poor Berg in the fish pond. Luckily the water was only up to his chest and his head was not under the water. I ran to the side of the pond to lend him a hand as he climbed out.

  “I’m so sorry, Berg. I didn’t mean for you to land in the pond. I just said the backyard. I had no idea you’d land in the water,” I said, as I looked at Berg dripping pond water.

  “Well, I can tell Lina I took my bath for the week. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go in and change now,” said Berg holding his head up high. His shoes made squishing sounds as he walked into the garage to enter the house.

  I felt awful. The others chuckled. Frustrated at their teasing, I looked at them and declared, “I didn’t request that he land there, and it’s not funny! He could have been hurt. I don’t want to do this again. What if I seriously hurt someone!”

  “Aly, remember to stay calm. You have the ability to be more specific in stating your wish. Include where exactly you want the individual to end up. Next time just be more precise. But think about it: if Berg ended up in a pond, think of where the dwarf yesterday may have ended up. He could have landed in a lake or swamp,” smiled Dolph at me, “or picture him on top of a hornet’s nest.”

  That did make me smile. That dwarf was deserving of landing in a bad place. “But Berg didn’t deserve to land in the pond. How can I know for sure where I send someone?”

  “You will, after we practice enough. This was your first try. You need to keep trying, or you’ll never know where anyone ends up. Remember, Berg volunteered for this, knowing full well he could have gone anywhere. I think it was a shock for him, and our laughter it didn’t help the situation. Next time we’ll try to hold our laughter, all right?” asked Grandma.

  “I guess I just hope nobody gets hurt.”

  “I don’t think any of us will end up physically hurt. Maybe our pride will be bruised, but that mends quickly. Now it’s my turn. I know! Send me right in front of Silver, I love to surprise her.” There was mischief in Dolph’s eyes as he said that.

  I looked at Dolph and said in my head: I want Dolph to appear in front of Silver, I want Dolph to appear right in front of Silver, I want Dolph to appear right in front of Silver. Dolph suddenly disappeared.

  “How will we know where he ended up?” I asked.

  “You’re going to call him back now. Just repeat for Dolph to return,” said Grandma, looking at me in amaze­ment. I felt she was proud of me at that moment.

  I looked to the sky as I repeated in my head, I wish for Dolph to return, I wish for Dolph to return, I wish for Dolph to return. Dolph reappeared in the spot he had just left.

  “I have never seen Silver jump so high!” Dolph exclaimed with a devious smile. Then he turned to me. “Don’t worry, Aly. I told her it was my idea to surprise her, not yours.”

  Berg came back outside with clean clothes and another pair of boots. I continued transporting both Dolph and him all over. I found it was easier to send them inside a place rather than outside. I figured it was because I used specific indoor locations; the outside was too vast. By the end of the day I was exhausted, barely able to move. I had never been so tired. Grandma said it was the result of using my mind in such a powerful way, that it drained energy from the other parts of my body. All I knew was, I was not going to have a problem sleeping.

  Chapter 19

  I was happy to know I had stayed an­other night where I belonged. I felt my transporting lessons were going well, and I wasn’t as worried I would make any major mistakes. My thoughts quickly changed, as I entered the living room and found Dolph in his pajamas on Grandma’s Lazy boy recliner.

  “This chair is really comfortable,” he chuckled. “I was mysteriously was transported here at one o’clock this morning. You must have gotten into such a routine of moving us all over the place that your subconscious moved me here in the middle of the night. I was just glad I ended up on something soft,” said Dolph, with a huge grin.

  “I moved you while I was sleeping? I wasn’t aware I did that!” I felt mortified that I had actually “sleep transported.” I quickly called for Berg and was relieved to see he hadn’t also been transported in my sleep.

  “Did I dream it, or how does my mind do it?” I questioned Grandma, Dolph, and Berg, who were all in the living room.

  “We don’t know. Nobody knows how the mind works as we sleep. My guess is you were so focused yesterday on your magic, it couldn’t be turned off as you slept. One good thing though: you only moved me, so that means whomever you’re working with might experience this,” said Dolph.

  Grandma thought about Dolph’s words and then said, “We will have to watch you carefully tonight, then. Today, Aly, you’re going to transport yourself. So I think we keep it to nearby places—maybe just the yard, house, and garage. Then if your mind does decide to move you tonight you end up close by.”

  Anxiety started rising inside me. I wasn’t expecting I’d be transporting myself so soon, and the thought of sleep transporting was not sitting well with me. I realized my mind was starting to swirl with fear. Calm down, Aly, calm down, calm down. Suddenly my fear left, but my curiosity took over. “Grandma, can my powers control my feelings? I was getting nervous about transporting, and then I repeated in my head without trying to, ‘Calm down, Aly,’ and the fear left.”

  “I’ve never tried that,” said Grandma, “but it might have been your doing. Try it the next time you get scared. Or try saying, ‘Don’t be scared’ to yourself. It may be your special powers or it may be just will power. Either way, if it works, use it!”

  “Aly, will you do me the favor of sending me home so I can change? Please don’t bring me back for half an hour. I want to be sure I’m fully dressed, and would like time to explain to Silver my disappearance last night,” said Dolph.

  I looked at him and repeated in my head, I want to send Dolph to his home, I want to send Dolph to his home, I want to send Dolph to his home, and he vanished. I hoped he had arrived safely and in the right place. The unknown locations of where everyone landed did leave me with an uneasy feeling.

  After half an hour had passed, I started practicing my calming techniques and then summoned Dolph back. I was glad he had made it home fine though he stated he had given Silver quite the scare as he had been popped right on top of her as she sat in a chair. “I think I squashed her a bit,” said Dolph with a smile.

  My first transporting of myself for the day was to the basement. Lina and Berg were in the basement waiting for my appearance, as Dolph and Grandma watched me from the main floor. Grandma’s house was a rambler style, so it only had those two levels, which I was thankful for. I did not want more choices for my directions.

  I ended up
standing in the middle of the laundry room, where Lina and Berg found me right away. I realized that the transporting process happened almost instantly. It felt as quick as the blink of an eye. I wondered about other aspects of transporting: If one was seated right before being transported, would one land in a seated position or standing? I landed this time standing, but my very first time I had landed lying down. But that time I had requested to go to my bed. I would have to ask Dolph and Grandma. I requested the living room and poof! I was standing there in the middle of it.

  I decided to test the sitting or standing landing. I sat down on the couch in the living room and transported myself to the kitchen. I arrived standing up, so I figured my body must adjust to wherever I ended up.

  After eight transports I was exhausted. Grandma informed me that transporting others or myself takes a toll, so she had me rest.

  “Other than my training, I have only transported back and forth twice in one day. The energy it takes from your mind and body can make it grueling. So know that the number of times in one day is limited. For me, the amount of bodies in the transport hasn’t affected me. Dolph, remember when I had to transport that group of elf healers that got stuck in that muddy area? Aly, there was a band of six that went out to work on a marsh area and got too close to the wetland. They ended up stuck up to their waists in muck. The more they tried to get out, the worse it got. Luckily for them, a scout out on patrol spotted them and I was notified. I quickly transported them to the village before they sank too deep. I thought it would take a toll on my strength but it didn’t. Not any more than transporting one elf,” said Grandma.

  “They were so glad to be back at the village. Since then they know not to get too close to the edge of a marsh while they’re working to repair it,” said Dolph.

  I started wondering what experiences Grandma and Dolph had had as I fell asleep on the couch.

  Chapter 20

  It was morning when I awoke. I had slept all night and half of yesterday. I guess transporting eight times yesterday did drain me! I was also starving, and was grateful Grandma was in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead. I’m glad you woke up. I was just about ready to wake you if you didn’t. Here, have some bacon and eggs. The protein in them will revive you. I told Dolph I think you have mastered transporting, so he isn’t coming today. Instead, I think you should rest a bit more. When you feel strong enough, we should do some work on the yard. I’m afraid your mom may stop by some day and wonder what we’ve been doing. Lunt has helped getting some things done out there, but there’s much to do. So I’m going out to cut the grass first, and when you feel ready, you can come out and join me.” Grandma smiled at me as she grabbed her flowered hat and headed out the back door. Grandma always felt everyone should wear a hat when they were outside. She even had a basket of hats so no one visiting her would have to go out without one.

  I felt bad that I was actually getting paid for training and had forgotten what I was supposed to be doing at Grandma’s. I knew Grandma wasn’t upset about it, but she also knew we couldn’t risk blowing our cover. Mom would be expecting the yard to look really nice. I drank another glass of milk and put my dishes in the dishwasher before taking the tan canvas hat and heading out into the yard. It was a gorgeous day with partly cloudy skies and a forecast in the low eighties, which was always my favorite tempera­ture in the summer. Big billowy clouds floating by always seemed magical to me. Well, at least until now, when I actually knew magic. I chuckled at that thought. I stayed on the path to the gazebo and started weeding the flowers bordering it. I knew Grandma would need to get to the grassy areas with the mower, and I did not want to get in her way.

  As I weeded I realized that today was another normal day, or a “human” day—I was losing the definition of normal. What was my normal life now? Will I fit into my old normal life again? Would I seem different to my friends? I hadn’t really spent any time with them. I had only seen Lily when we went to the mall, and that day had definitely not been normal. I guess I’ll find out on Monday when I start summer hockey.

  Grandma and I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the yard as we weeded and visited. My strength was returning with the sunshine. It ended up being a pleasant day, until Mom called around four o’clock to tell me she was coming to pick me up. It seemed Dad had smashed his hand at work and had been taken to United Hospital for x-rays, so Mom needed me to go home and watch Emily while she was at the hospital. She knew Grandma had had me for two nights and was probably too tired to watch both of us.

  I gathered all my things together and was ready when she arrived ten minutes later. Emily was in the car with Mom. “How’s Dad. How did he get hurt?”

  “A shelf fell in the concrete lab, and Dad reached out to catch it. It sounded like a reflex movement. The shelf was full of supplies. The weight was more than one person could handle, and your dad’s hand took the full impact as it fell No one knows if bones are broken, just severely sprained, or worse. Joe took him to the hospital and Jill called me.”

  My dad was a civil engineer and he would tell us about different projects he was working on. He had worked at a place known for being one of the top companies for testing building structures, and they had a huge concrete lab. Joe and Jill worked side by side with my dad and were two of his closest friends.

  My dad needed his hands to do his job and also to play guitar. I kept hoping he would be fine after hearing what Mom had said.

  Emily and I both told Mom to give Dad a hug from us as we exited the car. We knew Mom wanted to get down to the hospital as quickly as possible. We hurried to unlock the door of the house so Mom could drive away. Both of us decided to just watch TV while we waited to hear more about Dad, though our minds were more on him than on any show.

  Three hours later we heard the kitchen door open, and we both ran to hear the news. Mom and Dad were laughing as they entered the house. We both stopped and looked at Dad’s hand. It was wrapped in an ace bandage and his fingers were moving fine. He went straight to the fridge for a bottle of water.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, watching his hand move.

  As he unscrewed the top of the bottle with his wrapped hand, he answered, “Yeah, your dad is Superman. I’m fine,” he said smiling, “We all thought it was worse than it was. It was just bruised a bit, and even the coloring started to look normal before they let us go home. I guess I’m a fast healer.”

  I smiled at that and gave him a hug.

  “Why do you have it all wrapped up?” asked Emily.

  “The doctors want him to rest it a few days, so they wrapped it. They took x-rays and found nothing broken. They said it may swell up tonight, so Dad needs to ice it. Have you girls eaten?” asked Mom.

  “No, we were just watching TV,” I answered.

  “Well, let’s order pizza!” said Dad. It was obvious he was hungry, as he reopened the fridge and grabbed a yogurt.

  The rest of the evening was spent watching a movie while we chomped down two pizzas.

  Chapter 21

  Grandma came out to our car the next morning as I was being dropped off at her house. Mom had called her the night before to let her know how Dad was, but Grandma wanted more infor­mation. Mom explained the strangeness of the injury. When Dad got to the hospital, his hand looked contorted and was quickly swelling up. The doctor initially thought he had torn the tendons between his thumb and the rest of his hand. They were icing it when Mom arrived. Then his hand started looking better on its own, while they were waiting for an x-ray room to open up. The doctor was shocked when he unwrapped it. Before they took Dad down to x-rays, the swelling was already going down. When the results of the x-ray were read it was decided that it was only a slight sprain.

  Grandma just said, “How strange.” She looked at me. I agreed it was strange, but I was happy Dad was all right.

  After Mom drove away
and we entered the house, Grandma turned to me and asked, “Aly, did you wish or hope for your Dad to be healed?”

  “Yes, I thought that. Why? You don’t think I made him heal, do you?” I was shocked at that thought. “Do I have the ability to heal, too?”

  “Well, yes, I think you most likely healed your dad,” said Grandma. “I’m just stunned how quickly your powers are arriving. It was over a year before I got all of mine. It’s as though you’re on an accelerated path. I keep wondering what power will arrive next? This is most peculiar. Both Silver and Dolph can’t get over how fast these powers are coming for you. It’s almost as if all your powers are coming alive at once. Even before we can teach you.”

  “I can heal people?”

  “Yes, and this is the hardest power to control. It would be wonderful if we could heal all of our family and friends when they’re injured, but we can’t. We can heal all the mythical creatures without it seeming strange, but the human world is much more complicated. The elves, tomtes, and gnomes all know we’re here. They have witnessed our powers, so healing these creatures is a normal thing. It’s not normal in the human world for people to be mysteriously healed. The medical community would wonder what happened. If they had x-rayed your dad’s hand before you made your wish, the results would have raised suspicions. The doctors would’ve wondered if files had gotten mixed up or if a miracle had happened. If the mysterious healing only happened with your family or with someone connected to your family, soon someone could put the pieces together. So, this time it could be perceived as a fluke, an injury that looked worse than it was. But next time they might test your Dad for abnormal physical traits. They may want to test his blood or examine to see why he heals more quickly than other people. They might even analyze his brain waves or test other possible theories to see what could explain this healing ability. He would become a medical study, and in turn, so would you and Emily, since you’re his offspring. We can’t have you become the focus of a medical investigation.