Small Town Magic

01

  "It's been a while, hasn't it mom, how have you been?" Looking into the familiar dull blue eyes of my mother her face fell into a look of overwhelming sadness as her trembling hands clasped softly over her mouth. "Rina is that you?" As the wind blew across the baseball field sturring my hair her trembling hands reached out to me. Running into her warm body I clasped my hands behind her in a tight hug as overwhelming tears of joy streamed down my face. "My baby, where have you been?" She cried hugging me just as tight as I was hugging her if not more as I nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck taking in the smell of spices she always wore. Pulling away I wiped the tears off of my face before sighing happily seeing her face again after so long. "Oh, mom I hope you don't mind but I brought some friends to watch the game." Stepping to the side I held my right hand out gesturing at my friends who stood behind me. "This is Lena and Aura we met while traveling, girls this is my mother Ericka." Smiling happily I spotted my brother sitting on a bucket near the exit of the dugout putting on his catching gear. Quickly running through the gate on the home side I jumped onto his back laughing happily as he began to freak out. "Get off of me I have a girlfriend!" He yelled standing up as my feet barely touched the ground supporting my body as I hooked my arms around his neck. "You're not so little anymore little brother." Smiling softly I let go and stepped in front of him with a soft smile as his eyes widened in shock before he pulled me into a tight hug. "I thought you wouldn't come back, Rina." His body slightly trembled as he nuzzled his face into my neck, the breath he let out as he whispered to me tickled my neck softly. "I would always come back for you guys, there was no way in hell I would miss my little brother's senior year." Pulling back I gently cupped his tanned stubbled  chin in my milky white hands as I looked up at his handsome face. Hearing him sigh in relief I let go of his face before reaching up with my right hand to ruffle his soft curly brown hair. "Does mom know you're here?" Stepping back I clasped my hands behind my back as I nodded gently jerking my chin toward our mother who stood on the other side of the netting behind home plate with tear-filled eyes. "If I came back and y'all lose I will kill you, Raisa." Gently punching his shoulder with my left hand I left the field through the gate and sat down in a chair next to my mother as the game started. "So how did y'all meet?" Glancing at my mother before focusing on the game I leaned back in the pale blue camping chair as the wind stirred the dirt on the field in front of us. "We met in Japan at a bar around a year and a half ago." Flicking my eyes toward my friends they nodded happily with huge smiles on their faces. That was a lie we met during a government experiment nearly two years ago. It was my Junior year in High School and I had gotten a chance to travel to Japan for winning a digital art competition. I remember that day vividly the smell of a fire burning all around me, the excruciating heat that exuded from the flames, and the way I felt so hopeless. On a particularly hot day, I had gotten lost in the mountains of Japan, and while trying to find the path home I got caught up in a government secret. Before I realized what was happening I had stumbled down a secluded path and landed at the feet of a baby pink-haired guy with equally pink bunny ears and a tail. He stood tall against a giant black monster with red cracks spreading across its cat-like body. "What are you doing here? No one should be allowed through the barrier!" He shouted crouching down to check on me as my body trembled under the eyes of the monster in front of me. "Oi human, can you run?" He yelled shaking my shoulders violently snapping me from my fear as I stumbled to my feet and ran down the hill without looking back. Nearing the bottom of the small hill on the mountain a loud explosion caught my attention as a gust of air washed over me nearly causing me to fall. Turning back my heart dropped as the pink-haired man desperately struggled under the massive clawed paw of the cat monster. Despite my better judgment, I ran for the monster grabbing a rock on the way before breaking through the trees and chunking the rock at the massive monster in front of me. The being's eyes rolled back into its head before it blinked like a frog and set its attention on me. "Get out of here now!" The man grunted dropping into a kneeling position as the weight of the paw almost crushed him. Picking up another rock I hurled it at the left eye of the monster feeling a sense of pride spread through me as the cold hard object met its target. As it removed its paw from the man it sucked in a huge amount of air before a spark of fire filled its mouth and the flame shot out of its mouth aiming at me. Barley jumping to the side I felt a burning pain spread through my body as a scream escaped my dry lips. Everything around me went up in flames as my hands nervously rested on my side feeling burnt flesh beneath my cool fingertips causing me to whimper in fear.