A Lumen Ripple | An Elemental Story

Chapter 16 - Be-All, End-All

THWACK!

On the other side of the stress spectrum, Ember found herself hard at work in the midst of a busy open day. The fact she had the luxury of a 'quiet' study room didn't mean she wasn't prone to incessant chatter grinding away at her composure. As a result, her workflow simply wasn't present.

"A house? ...a house?! How in flame am I gonna build a house in a working day?" she stressed to herself.

After hours of sitting, she dropped her pen in fatigue, resting her head on the desk in front in frustration. Little was she aware that her fiery hair lit a small trinket on fire. She sharply looked up, frantically standing, gusting to blow it out. It quickly extinguished. She let out a heaping exhale, hunching over. As she did so, she looked up to her right at a clock on the wall...

2:56 pm

It dawned on her; she had nothing. Not a single idea in the few-hour time frame since starting at 9 am. Her already peaked stress from all the sudden events - including the exam - didn't help her worker's block.

She looked over at her blueprint sheet; blank almost in tease. She slithered back onto her chair, exhaling and digging her head into her hands.

"I-- I can't do it. I can't do it," she stressed.

One to be prone to stress, she began to hyperventilate. She clawed her hands on the table, bruxing her teeth.

BZZT-BZZT!

Before she could spiral any further down into full purple territory, her phone interrupted. She sharply grabbed it out of her pocket expecting a useless spam message. But, to her joy, she lit up at what she saw...

"Hey, Em. Guess... what?!" it read.

She looked side to side, unsure if she was allowed to have it out or not. She covered her phone with her left hand, texting with the other.

"What?" she replied

"I... just got the afternoon off! I'll see you at home as soon as you finish!" the sender replied.

Ember flashed white in relieving joy, a big smirk abroad on her face.

"Yay! That's great, Wadey! I cannot wait for tonight! <3" she replied.

She slid her phone into her pocket, leaning her arms on the table back and stretching back. She took a breath, wearing a stupid grin, spinning around in her chair in joy. She spun back to her desk, scooching close and picking up her pen.

"Okay. Only a couple of hours to go. Come on... I can get something outta me." she reckoned.

Knowing a second wind was present, she just had to get it out of her. It had a bit of fight left in it however as Ember looked back at her blank paper. Was it back to square one? A feeling of daunt grew knowing she was on the precipice of something.

That something came... but not in the way she expected. Instead of drawing with her pen, she began to do it with her mind. Hallucinations painted their way onto the blank blueprint. She let out a curious smirk, looking closer in intrigue. Then, she saw it...

It was her father's shop. Specifically the front counter. She saw her own hands rebuilding the glass cover for the counter. Amazed, irreality began to draw her into the paper some more.

She then envisioned one of her earliest memories with Wade; glassing up the gates for the ship catchment. It was gorgeous; like reliving it all over again. Her very real smirk grew in nostalgic glory, and it would only continue to.