Rising Tide

Prologue

Maria Louis was always adventurous as a child, but now she was able to travel. At the age of 22, she was pregnant, and even though the doctors begged her not to go on the trip, she didn't listen.

Incidentally, as she was snuggling up against her husband, Trip, sipping hot cocoa and watching TV in their hotel room, she went into labor.

Rushing to the hospital, Trip laughed, cried, and shouted as he helped Maria into the taxi, not knowing what to expect, and nervous as well as excited. They finally reached the hospital, and the next thirteen hours were a mixture of encouragement from Trip, curses from Maria, and shouts from the doctors. But from that came a beautiful baby girl, who chucked and cried as she was gently placed into Maria's arms. She named her Olive, since the olive branches represent peace.

Suddenly, a small dot of glowing orange appeared on her belly, which started growing, which the aghast and horrified doctors watched until her whole body was of this color. Then, somehow, Maria's arms caught on fire, while the spectators, transfixed, watched her burst into flames. Next it was the whole hospital bed. And the nurse. And Trip. And the fire kept spreading, and not even all the water in the Pacific Ocean could stop it. Panic surged through the building as patients' and doctors' screams were put out by the fire rushing into their throats. The hospital ended up collapsing, and everyone inside perished.

But wait...

By now, all of the dust had been cleared. There was a field of rubble that went on for acres, with ashes of the deceased accompanying it. And in the middle of this mess was that newborn girl, back to her normal skin color, unscathed, lying there and giddily playing with some ashes. One American traveler saw her, and, horrified, ventured out onto the black, singed pasture and took her in as her own, and brought her back to her house in New Jersey. She called the girl Summer, since nothing too hot could ever harm her.

But the God foretold this. To combat with the evil of what has become of the ice, Summer was his, and Earth's last and only hope.

But not yet. And as God saw how his plan was executed perfectly, he chuckled, sat down, and put his hands together.

"In due time," he muttered, "In due time."