Handy Hiding Place (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Chapter 13

Amelia sat up, picking at the grass. As soon as she smelled something burning, she looked around, finding the singed grass behind her. Puzzled, she stared at it. Why was the grass burnt, and only in little places right next to each other? Touching it, she watched as little flames appeared. She gasped, bringing her hands closer to her face. She was imagining this. Quickly, Amelia grabbed the book and ran to her room with it. Once there, she threw it on one end of her bed and sat on the other end.

Flopping down on the mattress, Amelia lifted her hands in front of her face, wondering if they had been the cause of the burnt grass. No, no, that book was just getting to her, right? She was imagining what she had read, watching it come true. Amelia had to be imagining this. You don’t just shoot fire out of your hands, what is this? Sighing, Amelia blew her hair away from her face and sat up again. Concentrating on her hands, she thought of herself making fire. All of a sudden, there it was! Fire. On the floor. The floor was on fire. Oh! Wait, what? Really? Oh yeah it was!

Letting out a panicked shriek, Amelia jumped off her bed, away from the fire, and ran out the door. What should she do! What to do, let’s see, floor is on fire, water… Amelia found herself running to the hall closet, jumping back as a broom fell out. Can you hit a fire to stop it? Amelia definitely thought so. As she grabbed the broom and ran into her room, her mother was running to the stairs. Quickly, Amelia hit the fire with the broom, alarmed when she found herself holding a broom that was in flames.

Just then, Mrs. Lathern came in with a cleaning bucket full of water. She hurriedly dumped water on the floor and left some in the bucket so that she could take the broom from Amelia and slam it into the rest of the water. The two were left panting and staring at the burnt carpet. Mrs. Lathern gazed at her daughter, her eyes wide in shock. “A-Are you okay?” Amelia’s mother laughed.

“Yeah,” Amelia barely got out a reply, both chuckling and shaking.

Her mom embraced her, holding her for a moment before asking the question. “How did this happen?”

“Um, uh… I… I-I don’t know, I was just, and then it--” Amelia stuttered.

“It’s okay,” her mother replied, stroking her hair. “You’ll have to get used to that burnt piece of carpet though.”

“I’ll just buy a rug,” Amelia told her. “Right after I get a job, anyway.”

“You can mow the lawn.”

Sighing, Amelia nodded. Once she calmed down, her first thought was to call Quinn and tell them what had happened. She had the phone in her hand, ready to call, when a sudden thought stopped her. What if Quinn wouldn’t believe her? She wasn’t sure if she could handle Quinn laughing at her. Sadly, she put the phone down and went to go change into clothes that she could mow the lawn in.

Within the next few days, Amelia got a call from Quinn. “Hi Quinn,” she answered cheerily, excited to hear from them after a few days.

“Uh, actually,” Zak’s voice interrupted Amelia’s excitement for a moment, “it’s me, Zak.”

After the initial surprise, Amelia smiled, happy to hear from Zak. “Hi Zak, what’s up?”