Ember Heart: The Revival

Chapter 3 - Everything Blows Up

Now that Isa had upset both of her parents, it was harder to move around the house without running into them. Instead of risking another uncomfortable conversation, Isa slipped out of her window whenever she was hungry, using cash she had received on birthdays to pay for cheap, gas station food.

One morning, Isa woke to the sound of the car rumbling in the driveway. She sat up and peered out her window. She saw her parents climb in and watched the car clamor down the road and out of sight. Perfect.

Isa emerged from her room. She needed an area with lots of space for what she planned to do. Unfortunately, no such space existed inside the house, so she stepped out into the backyard. The yard wasn't large by any means, but it was better than inside. It was a patch of grass a little bit bigger than Isa's bedroom, surrounded by a tall, wooden fence.

She stood in the middle of it and closed her eyes. If no one would help her, she'd just have to figure magic out for herself.

Isa wasn't exactly sure what to do. When she saw the boy use magic at the supermarket, it seemed to effortlessly flow out of him. She extended her hand to the side. Nothing happened. She waved her hand through the air, circling her head multiple times. Still nothing. She tried her other hand. Nothing.

She continued trying various ways to wave her limbs in the air (at one point she took her shoes off and tried with her feet), feeling the frustration build up inside her with each failed attempt. Maybe she couldn't use magic. Maybe there was something fundamentally wrong with her that prevented her from using it.

Isa looked at her hands. I can do this, she thought, then decided to say it out loud.

"I can do this. I want to do this."

She balled one hand into a fist, then slowly opened it, pouring all of her concentration onto that hand. Her thoughts slowed, slowing time along with them.

A small, blue light appeared in her palm.

Isa looked at the magic in her palm as if in a trance. It was beautiful. The magic itself was pale blue with rings of light encircling it. Isa felt her swell lurch the longer she looked at it.

Once she had gotten over the initial shock, curiosity washed over her. She turned her hand around and upside down. The magic stayed in her hand.

Isa remembered that the boy in the store had been able to send his magic away from him. Her palm still facing the ground, she pushed her hand downwards. The magic slowly fell about a foot from her hand before evaporating.

Her body was not used to producing such a force, and her muscles began to ache. This is what it felt like to have her life trickle away from her. Isa ignored it. A tiny bit of magic wouldn't kill her. She still had more exploring to do.

Isa approached the fence and pressed her hand to the wood. Like before, she put all of her concentration onto her palm. Though she couldn't see it, she knew she had done it again from the slight warmth she felt on her hand. She carefully pressed the magic into the wood.

Curls of smoke escaped through Isa's fingers. The wood was burning, but Isa couldn't feel any intense heat on her hand other than the pleasant warmth of her magic.

A loud slamming of a car door sounded from the driveway. The sound scared Isa, who jumped and yelped. Her sudden movements created a loud BOOM of their own, and she saw a large, smoking hole where her hand had been on the fence.

Isa's mouth dropped open. But she didn't have time to be shocked. She could hear footsteps on the front porch. Not bothering to collect her shoes and socks, Isa bolted in the house and into the safety of her bedroom. She knew her parents would figure out that she burned the hole in the fence, but she didn't want to be discovered at the scene of the crime. Isa didn't notice her shaky hands or ragged breathing.