The Cinders of Dezu

8th: Manifestation (3)

It seemed Cairo was incapable. He was now gathering the potatoes in a pile, sweeping them together awkwardly with his outstretched fingers. Julian could tell, even from a distance, that they were collecting street grime. The embarrassment was palpable as the stand owner and his son watched him. They looked rather irritated. This went on for a painfully extended period of time. Julian was so caught up in his friend's plight that he hadn't noticed the hooded figure that had now circled him and the fountain nearly three times.

Cairo's leg seemed to stiffen before he fell over into the pile of potatoes he had clumsily and painstakingly mounted. They rolled all over the ground again. Julian couldn't handle it anymore. He ran back to help him.

"You okay?" he said, with a laugh in his throat.

Cairo was on his back on a lumpy bed of raw potatoes.

"Yeah, no I'm great, man. What does it look like?"

He reached his hand out and Julian took it to lift him. He immediately lost his grip.

"Dude, your hands are freezing!" he said, "Why are they slippery??"

He could see in Cairo's eyes that amongst the frustration they were tinged with fear.

"There's something wrong with me, " he whispered.

Julian could see little flecks of white forming on his eyelashes. He knelt down and put his arm around his shoulder to lift him up. It looked like both of this legs were stiff now. They held their position as Julian brought him to his feet. They acted like jointless prosthetics all the way up to his hips.

Julian apologized to the wagon driver and his son as he carried his hobbling friend away. He made it back to the fountain through the hustle of the people. A few shot concerned glances in their direction and a couple stopped to watch. Cairo slumped to the edge of the fountain and peered in at what he could see of his reflection.

Julian touched his leg.

"Homie, you are FREEZING! Your legs are hard as rocks!"

Cairo looked him in the eyes. He looked very scared. Julian frowned. Then he put on a brave face. He reached down into the fountain briefly to check the temperature again.

"Here," he said, as he grabbed Cairo's cold slick hand and put into the water.

Cairo leaned over and put his other hand in. He began shaking and rubbing them together under the surface to rinse them. It didn't seem to do much. Cairo pulled his hands out and rubbed them together and then put them back in. It wasn't helping. It actually seemed to be getting worse. A strange particulate began to form in the water around his fingers. Julian started to see it too.

"Uh... that's not... "

The particulate grew and grew. It was like crystals forming in the water. Cairo felt his hands getting harder and harder to rub together. His eyes widened as he felt them completely stiffened up. They were stuck together, surrounded by something. He began lifting his hands out of the water when in a flash the water changed. It was clear to both of them now, as the fountains contents completely solidified.

"Ice!?" said Julian

Cairo's hands were now frozen mid pull from the water. But the water didn't just have a sheet over the top of it. The entire fountain had one solid block of ice now fixed inside it. Cairo began yanking his arms back. His hands were stuck firmly inside. He pulled and pulled with grunts of desperation.

"Julian!!!"

Julian began looking around frantically for something to break the ice with.

"Right, right! Okay! Uuuhhh..."

A crowd began forming quickly. It wasn't long before people started shouting and calling others over. They looked at the solid clear block and Cairo stuck in it, with some touching the rock hard surface just to check. It wasn't until the ice began slowly crawling up the young man's arms that people began shouting.