Elemental Quest~ rmzucker

PROLOGUE

The plane had exploded on impact.

50 dead. 49 on the plane, one from the house the plane had crashed onto. A fire fueled by a natural gas line continued to burn long after, like an eternal flame.

I sit in the back row of chairs, my head bowed in grievance, my eyes raking over the words in the prayer book but not taking anything in. The mournful low voice of the rabbi barely reaches my ears as he addresses the congregation from the bimah, leading the Shabbat service that so suddenly twisted into something more like a funeral service when the first list of those aboard the plane had been released and the cantor’s name had been on it.

The list of names on the television screen seem to go on forever as I frown at it from the comfort of my couch, thinking of all the families whose lives were suddenly forced into grief. It would be a while before the accident was sorted out, before the reason for the crash was truly discovered, before all or some of the bodies were recovered, and before the wounds of those affected began to heal around the edges. The clock ticks its way to midnight as the newscasters continue to discuss the crash. My eyes close, the frown still burrowed into my face.

There’s a smile on my face as I shut the door of my boy friend’s car, waving goodbye, in good spirits as seeing a movie with him. A horror movie-it was actually quite horrible, a waste of $9.50- but it was better than just sitting indoors, watching TV or going on the internet, where the crash was still the top headline.

I sit through the news with my mom as the latest news from the crash is released the next day. There’s truly no new news, and nothing is mentioned about the cantor. I scowl and turn off the TV, deciding to go to bed to brood over things, still a bit mad that the movie was so bad- almost in a funny way. After the events of last Thursday, something about a crazy guy on a killing spree with a machete seems pretty scornful. But an afternoon with a friend could be enjoyed no matter how bad a movie is.

We hang out the next day too, inviting over a couple other people- the crash seems to fly out of our minds as we scoff at each others miserable Tetris skills and laugh at the funny videos on you tube. So normal. We never saw it coming.

It’s a warm day for February. So we all go outside to play a bit of Frisbee. We have a week off from school; our spirits are high, and so are the number of insults flying around as our aiming abilities force their way out on to the road of the cul-de-sac in front of my house.

“Geez, ‘Chill, were you aiming for me or the tree?”

“…the tree…”

“Oh, sure.”

“Yeah, you should talk, Ray. At least I didn’t make an epic fail of myself trying to do a cool throwing move!”

“Well, let’s see you try it, Julie!”

Julie quickly changes the subject as she launches the Frisbee a bit too forcefully in Ray’s direction. I chuckle and tense, ready to catch it if it’s suddenly blown off course by the breeze. It ends up turning onto its side in midair and hit’s the ground rolling, slightly to the left of Ray. It makes a wide circle and Julie grabs it, to try to redeem herself.

“Ray, use your awesome jumping skills!” Julie shouts sarcastically as she flicks it high over our heads. It’s a good shot, Ray’s fingers just miss it, and it lands lightly on the grass behind him. He nabs it and throws it to me.

The five of us, laughing perhaps a bit too loud, indifferent about the fragile car windows in the vicinity, continue to try to best each other. It’s my throw that lands in the neighbors fenced-in front yard, and my friends make sure to point that out.

“Way to go, Rachel, “ Julie rolls her eyes and points as if to say ‘Go get it now.’ Dan, Ray, and Mei both smirk and give me that look that lets me know it’s my fault. I narrow my eyes and jog off to go try to get the stupid Frisbee.

It’s too far in the yard for me to reach in and grab, and there are no loose branches long enough to help me. I shrug and consider climbing over, secretly hoping my neighbors don’t think I’m trespassing or something stupid like that- the embarrassment was definitely not needed. So I prepare to turn around a shrug it off as a lost cause and that we’ll just do something else, when something shiny catches my eye.

It distracts me as I lean in to see what it is, just a bit cautious. It looks like a ring- but it’s stuck on the slim trunk of on of the bushes lining the other side of the fence. It’s polished silver, or at least, or at least coated, and there seems to be a diamond or something like it held by small prongs. I furrow my brow, suddenly a lot more interested in this than the Frisbee.

“Hey, what’re you looking at?” Mei comes over to squat beside me, and sees the ring seemingly super-glued onto the bush. “Weird,” she whispers, and takes a flimsy willow stem from the ground to poke it. By then, Julie, Ray, and Dan had joined us.

“I don’t see anything…” Dan mutters, and I point to the ring. “Look at that. It’s stuck to the bush.”

“Uh, yeah,” Ray stands back up. “Just get the stupid Frisbee. Jeez.”

“Looks expensive,” Mei mutters, and I roll my eyes at her. “I wonder if I can…pluck it out.” I mumble, and everyone, even Ray, leans in to see better. I reach in with a finger, my hand just small enough to slip between the wrought iron bars of the fence.

For some reason, the image of the plane crash site pops into my head at that moment. Maybe it is because when I glanced down, the dirt and woodchips seemed like a mini-aerial shot of the much bigger wreckage, the scene that was still haunting the news every night. I hesitate, thinking of my cantor, then frown, and touch the ring with the tip of my index finger, the fleeting grief already passing in the stronger moment of curiosity.

A white hot pain suddenly shoots through my whole hand, and I hiss through clenched teeth, eyes watering. I suddenly become very much aware of my surrounding for a fraction of a second- the smells of grass, dirt, road tar. The sound of birds, my friends’ breathing. The feel of cool wind, sweat in my sneakers. It seems overwhelming, and though I feel no fear, my heart begins to race and the senses that had just been so close seem to speed away, until all I can really hear is the pounding of blood in my ears, like a drum; all I can really feel is my own tensed up muscles and the breeze; The colors of the world seem to blur together and darken, and my nose seems congested. The wind seems more forceful and picks up speed all of a sudden, but my eyes don’t water from it, nor does my hair fly away from my face. But in those few seconds after touching the ring, my senses, my whole being, goes chaotic--

There’s a bright flash of white light that blinds me, and I can feel air whipping around my body, the g force now knocks me back onto my heels. My hands automatically jerk back to stop my fall, but never meet grass. All I can see is white, all I can hear is my own heartbeat.

Then everything just-

Stops.