RUN - James Potter

Chapter 10

They skies in Australia were always brighter, with the blades of light cutting through brunches of trees with no leaves, the raw energy of the sun reflecting off the oceans gentle current and the warm breeze that tickled the back of your neck. The skies were always brighter in Australia.

As if they lived in a summertime day dream, the sun always shined... and when it couldn't... a new glow would radiate off the dry, sweltering white and brown trees. The leaves flickering to the broken soil... there was no water left.

Water came from the bodies of all life, the sweat slowly dripping off their foreheads as they dared the weather to become as hot as volcanic ash. The nature took its dare, and behold... the heatwaves that wizard folk around the world could never handle.

The lathering of white cream was a necessity, as you did not tan in the Australian sun, no, you burned. The backs of those who refused to listen to natures call, turned a bloody red, with blisters so painful... that even the lights turned on in your room was too much. Too hot.

Dangerous as the weather, were the beings that roamed the land down under. They defied all, but never the two legged kangaroos. There was something beautiful in watching an entire country burn with its surroundings.

Until... until you were standing in front of the fire.

It was only meant to be a small holiday, a trip to see her father's family and their ginger cat. A gathering to celebrate their favourite celebration, Christmas Eve, where the outdoors became the hotspot for a sausage or two. She was meant to be playing with her cousins, a game of cricket in the backyard, with her parents, aunts, uncles and all those over 18, enjoyed the large assortment of muggle drinks.

Though the Fortescue's being apart of the Australian pure-blood circle, they could not deny that the Australian muggles celebrated in the best ways... surrounded by laughter, booze and a friendly game of cricket or monopoly. 

She could still remember her father standing behind her, trying to help her hit the ball that was being hurtled her way. Her father would yell, Rupert that's a terrible throw... again, and his large hands would cover hers as she let herself melt into him. She would have never hit the ball if it wasn't for him. 

The threat of heatstroke was nothing, no, it was ignored. It was the one day of the year that everyone forgets their hats, or their sunscreen. Only wanting to feel the tickling sensation of the heat from the sun, it was electrifying, a feeling that even Antonella craved.

It was identical to a mothers touch, a warm embrace, a welcoming hug and a reminder that the sun loves all that lives under it. The one day of the year, none of them protected themselves, all believing the sun would spare than of her ruthless attack on their skin.

 Fate works in a funny way, their skins were spared from the sun's gaze... but it was her children that attacked.

A day doesn't go past where Antonella forgets that it was her fault. She had begged her father and uncle to take them down to the local park filled with an assortment of trees and dried up leaves. The stumps of chopped down trees and archways made from broken branches were too appealing for the likes of a young girl, who still dreamed of finding her prince charming in a forest.

In a some sort of drunken faze and with the tradition to turn the radio and television off for the week they stayed with their relatives. They had missed the fire hazards.

Their property, completely isolated, did not notice the red hues coming from the nearby hills, as they were too busy paddling their feet in the water. Why would you look to the sky, when the Sky would just consume your eyesight?