Chapter 1

Luka opened an eye. The absence of an alarm clock remained unnoticed due to the constant barrage of noisy car horns on the Chicago streets below the apartment window. The bed was positioned in the only matter that it could in the small room and the light came in just right to sting Luka’s tender eyes. Her brother Mark had worked day in and day out to manage the tiny, inhospitable apartment, which halfheartedly remained intact. She pulled the frayed blankets over her head to diminish the merciless glare. Mark was also practicing his rendition of her missing alarm clock in the kitchen. He smashed his cooking pots together, hopefully, to pester her enough from slipping back into sleep. He yelled out just to be sure, "Luka get up!" He threw in a small incentive to draw her out. "I made toast." She rolled over and stuck her head beneath the lumpy feather-filled pillow to drown out the nags.

"Luka! If you don’t get up, you’ll miss the bus again," Mark grumbled, giving the pots another smart clap.

"Why can’t I get the car?" she moaned, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"You know I need it today. Now get up."

Luka bounced on the bed trying to fool him into thinking that she was getting out. She was wide-awake but stared blankly up at the ceiling. It, like everything else in the apartment, had a crack. The ceiling leaked, the air conditioner hummed (if it even worked), and the shower hardly ever gave hot water. She yawned and stretched her legs. Flipping over again, she caught a glimpse of the clock.

"I know you’re not up yet. I’m not saying this again," he threatened.

Luka didn’t listen. She knew her brother would say it five more times before he came to get her. This time, he proved more impatient with her. He said it only twice more. Rushing in with a skillet in his hands, he tapped her gently with it and threw off her blankets.

"Seriously, I can’t take you anywhere today. If I’m late, there is no way I’ll get the job and we won’t be able to pay rent. It would help if you could contribute something once and a while." He took a glance at his watch. He was always in a rush, and his gold watch was the first thing he put on in morning. He held the watch in high regard; it being the only gift their father had given to him. "Great! You only have fifteen minutes and you’re not even dressed. I can’t stand any more of your daydreaming."

Luka sighed apathetically, curled up in a ball, and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "I told you to wake me up at five till."

"Aloahluka!" he said angrily, then took her hand and yanked her out of the bed forcefully. Luka didn’t dare aggravate her brother any further, when he called her by her complete name.

"Fine, I’m up." She quickly slid into an old pair of jeans. She loved how they fit her like a pair of well-aged sneakers; she had worn them into perfection. Tossing on a shirt and grabbing her bag, she rushed out of the bedroom. She took a piece of the toast and plopped into one of the upholstered chairs at the table. As usual, her brother had set out her favorite cereal, Yummy Tummies. She poured out a healthy portion into a blue, chipped bowl while quietly humming and swaying to the contagious tune, which played on the cereal commercial.

Her brother shook his head as he fried an egg. He had on an interesting ensemble, consisting of a grease-stained apron over a gray striped suit. Luka could always tell what he was doing by the color of his clothes. A gray suit meant he was going out for another interview.

Luka enjoyed their struggles in the mornings. He had been like a father to her ever since their parents split up. Luka had chosen to live with her brother since neither of their parents had a clue on how to raise children. It was a mystery to her how Mark turned out the way he did. At only the young age of twenty-four, he had already acquired a good job and was looking for a second. She had always hoped he would find a nice girl to date, but every time she tried to set him up, he would say he was too busy.

"I like you’re outfit. If you go in like that, I’m sure they’d hire you right away. The apron adds a homey touch." She winked at him and shoveled in the last bit of cereal.

"You be quiet and stuff your face." He looked at his watch again. "You’ve got ten minutes now and you still need to brush your teeth and hair."

"Don’t worry. I’m done." She was used to his maternal nagging in the morning. Although she was sixteen and could easily take care of herself, she never fought back. An argumentative teenager was the last thing Mark needed to deal with. Luka pushed her stool out and scurried into the bathroom. Luka held her nose every time she entered. The intense cologne that Mark wore, pungently reminded her of poison gas; it was deadly to breathe. She swore that it sunk into the walls, causing the bathroom to have a continuous smell of a retiree home. She rapidly maneuvered through her grooming rituals, finishing off with pulling her light, copper hair into a ponytail. She preferred to wear it up since her brother always poked fun of how frizzy it was. On occasion, it did have a mind of its own, but today it was behaving more or less. She rushed out and threw on her backpack, weighted down with books.

"Thanks for breakfast." She closed the door but burst back in immediately. "I almost forgot! Don’t wait up for me after school. I’m going to be with Silane."

"Just get out of here," he yelled, taking one final look at his watch. She blew him a kiss and slammed the door. Mark sighed as flacks of white plaster fell from the ceiling.

Luka ran down three flights of stairs and nearly landed on top of a girl that was waiting for her at the bottom. As usual, she darted out of the way before an all to common collision occurred. She had a friendly smile that matched her charming, red, muddled hair.

"Good morning, Silane," cheered Luka, in an overly optimistic mood.

"If you’re wondering, you missed the bus." Silane had a way of crushing Luka’s high hopes with only the beat of a few swift words.

"Oh great! Now I have to walk," Luka complained, letting the smile droop from her face.

"Don’t worry about it. I have my car."

"You mean that piece of junk?"

"It’s a car that works, which is more than you have!"

They got into the putrid brown colored car. Silane drove while Luka tried to get the air conditioner to work by beating on it. "Stop that! You’re going to demolish the car if you hit it too hard. You must love the car, and it will love you back." Silane ran her hands over the cracking leather of the steering wheel and giggled.

Luka looked skeptically at the tan interior. She stroked the vents lovingly, but in seeing that Silane’s method was not working fast enough, she bent close and yelled, "Can you hear me you stupid car? I want cold air!"

The car sputtered and died, filling the air with the smell of gasoline and burnt oil. "What did you do?" Silane asked.

"I’m not the one driving. What did you do?"

"Give me your cell phone. I’ll call the tow truck. They know me, so it won’t be a problem." Silane dialed the mechanics number that she had memorized by heart and after a short conversation, handed it back. "We’re just going to have to walk." She looked down at her watch. "Or better yet, we should run!"

Silane and Luka were accustomed to arriving at their high school just as the tardy bell caught them. Running, full speed into the classroom seconds after the bell, was neither a new thing for the girls or the teacher. The only operation that could break the seemingly never-ending mortality of schedules and homework, was a weekly visit to the mall.

"Hey, Silane!" yelled Luka. Silane turned abruptly. She was in a sour mood due to the length of time she had been waiting.

"Luka, where have you been? I’ve been here for over an hour."

"Sorry. They have penguins in the mall now! Isn’t that great? They’re so cute.

"You never cease to amaze me. Shall we get going?" Silane asked in a jaded tone. Silane slowly walked to the windows of every shop peering in at all their merchandise and lusting with insatiable greed.

Luka would run all over the mall screaming and pointing. "Look, look Silane! Can I have it?" Silane would groan and pull her away from all the stores while thinking the same thing, only never voicing it as loudly.

"You know very well that both of us are dead broke."

"I don’t understand why we come to the mall with no money. It’s like self-inflicted torture."

"It’s getting late. What do you say to heading home now?"

"Fine by me. Mark will worry if I don’t get back by dark."

"I need to get up early anyway to assess the damage to my car."

Luka snorted. "You need to stop looking at what’s damaged and find out what actually works."

While passing through the food court and drooling over the french fries and hamburgers, Luka spotted a large poster on one of the walls. "New arrival," Luka read. "The mall will be opening a new decorative fountain in the lower level. It will be opened on March twenty-fourth. That was yesterday!"

"Come on Luka," Silane groaned, shifting her weight from one sore foot to the next. "I’m not really in the mood to see a fountain right now."

"I just want to take a look. By the sound of this, it should something worth seeing. It’s supposed to have a plant display and have a fire basin, whatever that is."

Silane’s eyes scoured the poster and slowly curiosity over took her nausea. "It is in the direction we’re heading. We can take a quick look."

Slowly, they made progress down stairs to the fountain. They always used the stairs after Luka’s little escalator accident a few months back. She never did get her shoe back.

"Wow!" gasped Luka as the grand fountain came into view. It reminded Luka of the displays at Las Vegas and made her wondered if it was a bit overkill for the old-fashioned mall.

The fountain had a lush forest of shrubs and flowers around its base. Silane and Luka walked all around it, studying the plants. They stopped at a particularly unusual flower. "It’s so pretty," said Luka. "I’ve never seen anything like it." It had five bright red petals that grew lighter to an almost bright pink as they reached the center. As they looked at it, a fly flew past the plant. With a lightning fast strike, a second flower shot up out of the center and grabbed the fly.

"It must be some rare species of a Venus Fly Trap," said Silane a little frazzled. She’d never seen a plant move with such speed and accuracy.

The water of the fountain poured down in a waterfall. It resembled a lush willow tree as the water cascaded to the pool below. The water was pumped to the top by a gold pipe that ran up about thirty feet. At the very crest of it, there appeared to be a sort of bowl. Luka scooted back from the fountain to get a better look. With her eyes full of wonder, she glimpsed the top of the fountain. The basin held roaring red tongues. The fire was small so as not to set off the smoke detectors in the mall, but it was a nice touch to the elegance of piece.

"I can’t believe they were able to install this so quickly," said Luka as she ran her hand over the smooth white marble, adorning the pool. "I haven’t heard or seen anything about it until now."

Silane shrugged. "It doesn’t appear that they did a very good job. It’s sparking over there." Silane pointed to a spot on the inside the waterfall. Sure enough, Luka could see sparks running up the golden pipe. "That must be a hazard with all of this water."

Luka gazed around at the others in the mall. "No one else seems to really enjoy it as much as we do."

"What do you mean?"

"Just look at everyone. No one stops to look at it or even glance toward it."

"It’s getting late. Everyone is probably just trying to hurry up and get their shopping done. But look there, those two girls see it. In fact, we to should be leaving." Silane looked into the clear water. She could see her smiling reflection clear as a mirror. Suddenly, she noticed something that was unusual about the fountain. She quickly walked around it scanning the water.

"Luka give me a penny, quick."

"Why?" Luka whined "The only one I have is my lucky penny."

"I’ll buy you a new one. I promise."

"Fine, here you go." Luka handed her a shinny new penny. "What’re you going to do with it anyway?"

"You dummy! What do you think I’m going to do with it?"

"I don’t know. You can’t buy much with a penny." Silane tossed the coin gracefully into the water. "That was sure a waste of money," Luka groaned. Silane sat down on the side of the fountain.

"That was the first coin. If I can’t get a wish with that, I’ll never get one. Have you ever thought about what you want in life?"

"Sure, I want a prince charming," she scoffed. "But besides that, I want my penny back!" Luka dove into the fountain with the recklessness of a toddler.

"Luka, you’re making a scene!" yelled Silane while she got into the water. "Get out before we get into trouble."

Suddenly the fountain began to rumble and shake violently. The water rushed out, taking the two girls with it. No one in the mall saw them or heard their cries.