The Elementalists

COOPER

As soon as the tree house door closes behind me, I get to work. I close my eyes and picture the forest in my mind; somehow an aerial view of it appears in my mind. I see trees getting ripped up, and I see the giant tornado spinning around at who knows how many miles per hour.

Whenever I watch a tree get ripped up, I picture roots coming out of the ground and pulling it back down. This works rather well at first, but then trees start getting ripped up faster and faster, more and more at a time.

I begin to sweat at the effort of "re-planting" the trees from such a long distance away, and when I think I can't continue, I feel a hand on each of my shoulders. I open my eyes and look up to see a girl and a boy standing on either side of me, smiling.

For some reason, the names Iris and Hunter pop into my mind.

"They're going to help you," I hear a familiar voice say. I move my gaze to the area in front of me and see none other than Angel standing there. He's smiling at me as he continues with, "Just keep it up, Cooper. You're doing great. Robin is trying her best; you should, too."

I nod, speechless, and Angel laughs and begins to fade away. I snap out of my daze and cry out for him to come back, but it's too late. He's already gone.

I look over at the two transparent figures who were next to me, but they're gone too. I begin to panic—I was told they would be helping me—until I hear a girl's voice say, "It's alright, we're still here. You just can't see us."

For some reason, the fact that I can't see them makes me panic even more.

"Close your eyes," I hear a boy's voice say.

I close my eyes, and the vision of the forest as it is returns into my mind. I begin to re-root the trees as I had before, but this time I notice that the trees I haven't started on yet are being re-rooted. And whereas the roots that I see myself using are brown, the other roots are either green or yellow.

And I realize that Hunter and Iris are helping me get this done three times faster than I would have if doing it alone. If I could've kept it up this long, that is.

The task is a lot easier with the two helping me, and I'm finally able to relax a little. The pain in my arms and head lessens, and more and more trees are being saved from the wrath of the tornado.

I don't know how long it's been when I hear the girl—Iris—say, "It's time for us to go, Cooper."

My eyes fly open, and I immediately begin to argue. "No, you can't go!" I complain. "I need your guys' help! I can't do this alone—"

The boy—Hunter—interrupts me with, "Cooper, close your eyes and look."

I open my mouth to argue but then think better of it. I close my eyes and realize what the two were trying to tell me—the tornado is gone.

I open my eyes again and look around for the two before remembering that I can't see them. So, instead, I ask, "Why did the tornado stop?"

I wait for a reply, but when none comes, I assume that the two have gone. They decided that their job here was done, I think. And then, in a whisper, I say, "Thank you..."

Then I slowly try to stand up and realize that I used a lot more energy than I originally thought. As soon as I get to my feet, I fall down again. I try this with the same result several times before I give up trying and just remain seated.

"I leave the rest up to you," I say quietly, thinking of the others. And then I do the only thing I can do as of right now.

I wait.