by Emmy Oakes
*
Polly Sian, unaware of the events that had taken place on her home planet, was beginning to feel tired. She had been leading her group of girls for over two hours. They had been searching for shades or other evidence of Temorvick but soon found out they were too late. The streets were deserted.
They were too late. Every person they came across was as vibrant as a stick. Their personalities had been overshadowed by the soul leeching shades. Despair haunted the girls as they trenched through the concrete streets, their footsteps the only sound for miles.
Polly stopped walking and leaned against a lamppost. She turned to the women. “I don’t think there’s any point continuing. Regrettably, we are too late. It seems that most people have been taken over by the shades.”
Disappointed groans sounded out from the crowd.
Polly kept talking. “Earth, as we have known it, is lost. Temorvick will gain complete control and there’s nothing we can do.”
“There has to be something.”
“It’s too dangerous for us to stay here any longer. It won’t be long until the shades take complete control of their victims and attack us.”
Alexia, Lacier and Amosa arrived on Earth. They had left Cynthia and Gina back on Siania where they should be safe. Nobody could usually penetrate Siania unless they had the amulet which was now safely in Alexia’s possession.
Alexia looked around. They had arrived outside her crumpled house. The street was empty and eerily quiet.
“What do I do?”
“I’m not sure. You could try saying a spell.” Lacier said.
“I’ve never done a spell before.” Alexia thought about all the movies she had seen which show most spells to be complicated sinister affairs.
“It’s just like what Adair was doing. Just say what you want to happen.”
“Okay.” She cleared her throat and held up the amulet. “With the power of this amulet, I command that all of the evil that has invaded this planet, the dark shades, be released from the people of Earth!”
They waited silently. A small clear box made from what looked like plastic appeared in front of them. It sat on the middle of the road, empty.
“What’s that?” Amosa asked.
“Don’t know,” Lacier said, peering at the box.
A faint buzzing sound was heard. It gradually got louder and sounded like a swarm of bees. Black shadows flew out of houses from all directions. Long, thin transparent shapes traveled speedily toward the box.
Thirty seconds later, the box was full. A lid formed over the top of the box and it disappeared.
“Wow,” Alexia said, stunned.
“You did it,” Amosa said.
“Let’s hope that everybody is okay.”
*
Ava and Ronda had been sitting silently in their house when the shades were banished. They didn’t know what was going on until Ava’s mother finally relaxed her body and her appearance returned to normal.
*
One month had passed since Temorvick had died. A lot had changed in Siania. And a lot had changed on Earth. Humans had no memory of ever being possessed. As a gift to Alexia, Amosa had snuck into the news stations and taken all records of the report that exposed Alexia as magic.
Sianians now had no purpose to spend their lives as guardians so had more time to enjoy life.
Alexia sat at a giant table crammed full of food. There were roast turkeys, hams, stews, soups, vegetables and of course desserts. Layered cakes as tall as small children took pride of place on a special table. Polly hadn’t taken her eyes off that table. Lacier had to tell her off several times for trying to cut the cake before they had finished dinner.
Cynthia sat opposite Alexia, holding on tightly to her floating chair so that she didn’t fall into the water. She was delicately eating the delicious food feeling grateful that she hadn’t had to cook for once.
Alexia's favorite shark who she had named Makie, circled the table, enjoying every scrap of food she threw him.
Lacier stood up and yelled for everybody’s attention. They quietened down. “I would like to say a few things.” She cleared her throat. “First, I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to bring about Temorvick's. Demise. Second, I want to dedicate this dinner to our fallen sisters and propose a moment of silence to honor their memories. And last but not least, I want to thank Alexia. She has taught us all to live and to love. And we thank her for volunteering to undertake the tedious job of painting our portraits. To Alexia,” Lacier said, raising a glass of wine.
Alexia felt her cheeks grow hot. Something furry rubbed against her face. Adair was purring loudly, looking very content. He had moved in with Alexia and was the model pet. He no longer had to endure long, lonely nights alone.
Everybody clapped and cheered, raising their glasses to Alexia. Polly stood up and clapped extra hard. She was especially proud of her granddaughter. And then everybody bowed their heads and had a minute of silence.
Alexia couldn’t help thinking about everything that had happened. Lacier had tracked down Alexia and Amosa’s father. He still loved her and moved to Siania much to everybody’s surprise. He is the only man on Siania but doesn’t seem to mind. Besides, the way things were going with Joey, he might not be the only man on the planet for much longer.
Alexia smiled. She looked at Amosa who was busily chatting to Cynthia. And then a horrible thought dawned on her. “Amosa!” she yelled.
Amosa looked up, surprised, and said, “What?”
“We forgot about Mrs. Crock!”
