Handy Hiding Place (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Chapter 12

When Amelia returned to her house, she decided to finish reading the book. She lay on her bed, flipping through its pages and wondering what she might find.

I have been to many universes and many places in time, searching for the kids who could be Seasons. In every place, there are four children with seasonal powers. Summer has the ability to always be warm and to warm their surroundings. I have even witnessed a Summer produce fire. A Winter tends to enjoy colder environments and does not radiate the warmth of a Summer. One might notice, upon touching Winter’s body, that this person is cold. Winters can make it snow, make areas colder, or freeze their surroundings. The Spring and Autumn do not radiate noticeable hotness or coldness, but they tend to favor their seasons. A Spring likes the spring and an Autumn likes the autumn, much like Summers like summer and Winters like winter. A Spring can make flowers grow and bloom. Animals and children are often fond of a Spring. An Autumn can change the colors of the leaves and create a cool breeze.

Despite their seasonal powers, there is something very special about the Seasons, for their combined powers can create a--

Amelia turned the page to find that it was blank. Alarmed, she flipped through the pages, discovering that they were all blank. No way. Where did all the chapters go? Hurriedly, she called Lexis, who was higher up on her contacts list.

“Hello?” Lexis answered.

“Lexis!” Amelia exclaimed. “A bunch of book pages disappeared!”

“Huh?”

“That book we were reading, the pages are all blank--”

“Oh, what? Really?” Lexis cut her off. “All of them are blank?”

“Well, not all of them. I read a little more of it, but then the pages after that are blank.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Now what?”

Lexis was quiet in thought. “What did you read before the pages started being blank?”

“Uh, it just described four people with powers and that their combined powers…” Amelia glanced down at the book, flipping to the last page with words on it.

“Amelia?”

“Despite their seasonal powers, there is something very special about the Seasons, for their combined powers can create a--” Amelia read.

“A what?”

“That’s all it says.”

“Well that was a rude cliffhanger,” Lexis remarked.

“I don’t think it’s supposed to be blank after that.”

“Well no, probably not. There’s no way to find out what the pages are supposed to say though, so I don’t know what to tell you,” Lexis admitted. “Maybe you should tell Quinn about it.”