under the shadow of a tree

PART I: CHAPTER 1

Rey was bored. She swung her legs in the air and looked down to the wooden floor from the upper bunk. She had never slept in a bed so tall.

Not like she had a choice, really. Her roommate, Rose, she thought her name was, arrived at the foster-care home a few weeks before her and took possession of the lower bunk. Rey hadn't had a chance to know her yet. Rose liked to play football with the other kids on the small patio behind Maz's house and Rey... well, she would have joined if she'd been sure nothing bad would happen.

That nothing bad would happen because of her.

She could hear the screams and laughs from the other kids outside. The sun was shining and the sky was clear, a warm, lazy breeze swaying the branches of the trees outside her window in slow motion. She lifted the pillow from her bed and grabbed the worn red shoes, placing them on each foot.

Ten-year old Rey jumped to the floor and landed with a silent thump in her red sandals. She liked them. They had been a birthday present from her previous foster caregiver. They were too tight on her feet. She didn't mind, they were hers.

Rey walked outside her shared room, carefully closing the door before walking to the lobby. The house was big, and she hadn't fully explored it yet, but she knew her way through the basics: her room, the kitchen, the bathroom and, most importantly, the front door.

The back door opened and some kids entered the house chatting loudly, sweaty and sticky red-faces, to grab a glass of water before going outside again, but they didn't pay her any attention. Rey reached the knob of the front door and felt eyes staring at her nape. She turned around and saw the little old lady who had asked her to call her Maz, a kitchen cloth on one hand. Maz tilted her head and raised an eyebrow while she spoke. "Back before dinner, okay?"

Rey nodded, a little smile gracing her lips. She didn't know Maz well yet, but she liked that she let her go outside and wander around as much as she wanted. The only condition was that Rey had to be back in time to help get the table for dinner.

Her hand opened the front door quickly and closed it with a silent click!. As she walked through the front door and crossed the front yard, she could hear the screaming and laughs fading away, replaced by the sound of sprinklers watering the vibrant green grass of the neighbors.

She fixed her eyes down on the hot pavement under her sandals, focusing on not stepping on the lines that divided the tiles, skipping through them. Rey liked the street where she lived now. There wasn't any dirt and the houses seemed clean. Too clean, sometimes. Plus, every time she went outside the street been empty, only a few cars here and there.

Her skipping continued while the houses spaced between them more and more, until she reached the last one. Her sandals touched green, tall, wild grass. Rey looked up and smiled. Her favorite part of living with Maz is that she could walk there every day if she wanted to and no one would bother her.

Rey's eyes beamed while she took it all in. A wide extension of fluffy green grass. To her right, a few meters away, a playground: a swing, a slide and some bars, all painted in bright yellow. To her left, trees scattered here and there, circling a blue pond, with branches swinging lazily in the summer breeze. Her favorite one was the nearest to the dark-blue pond, a big weeping willow with a thick trunk.

For some reason, the park was almost always empty and Rey loved it. It calmed her down to know that if anything happened, she would be alone. She wouldn't hurt anybody.

Rey took her red shoes off and grabbed them with one hand, walking towards her tree. She smiled again, closing her eyes. She loved the tingling of the grass on her bare toes and the warm summer wind caressing the loose baby hairs that weren't tugged in her three buns.

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing her little shoulders. Everything had a warm glow thanks to the sunlight. Her feet didn't make a sound as she got closer to the tree.

Once she was almost there, Rey noticed a figure sitting on the ground, laying his back against the trunk of her tree. As she got closer, she realized it was a boy, a little older than her. He wasn't one of the kids living with her at Maz's, she decided, after giving him a quick look. He had one leg spread and a book resting on the other, flexing his knee. He didn't seem aware of her, completely focused on his reading.

But there was something else, she noticed. Her footsteps stopped. He had one hand holding the book against his knee, but the other one was laying on the grass, next to his spread leg, lazily twirling his fingers. Little leaves levitated in the air, a few inches away from his hand, dancing in small circles.

Oh, no.

Her sandals fell from her hand with a silent thud. Rey considered walking away slowly and quietly, since the boy hadn't spotted her yet, but curiosity was stronger. She had never seen anyone else do the things she could do.

Rey looked around with nervous eyes, checking no one was peering at either of them, but they were the only two people in the park. Her heart hammered in her chest. She crossed two fingers and closed her eyelids, gritting her teeth and holding her breath. She waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened, besides a warm breeze caressing her face. Rey opened one eye and exhaled silently when she verified everything was normal around her. That's weird, she thought. It was taking longer than usual.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to spy on other people?", the boy asked in an annoyed tone, startling her. His eyes hadn't left the book resting on his thigh. Rey eyed the leaves laying innocently flat on his palm.

She frowned. "Didn't anyone tell you I don't care?" she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "How do you that?"

The boy placed a bookmark on the page he was reading and closed the blue cover. He turned around to face her. Rey stared at the pale, big-eared, thin boy. His eyes scrutinized hers as he asked "How do I do what?"

"How do you do that without making something explode?", Rey asked, moving her chin upwards, trying to seem taller and more menacing than she felt.

The boy's eyebrows joined in a confused frown and his eyes seemed lost. "What do you mean? Why would anything explode?"

Unconsciously, Rey took two steps backwards. Her mind was spinning. What did he mean? Was he mocking her? He must know that something bad always happens when someone does...that.

She glanced back at him to se he was waiting expectantly for a response. She didn't have one. He didn't seem afraid, not at all.

Unless...

Unless she was the problem. Unless there was something wrong with her and the bad things happened because she was the one doing them. Her eyelids closed. She could hear and feel the screams, slaps and tears replaying in her head. She sensed it again, the energy prickling her hands, demanding to be liberated.

No. She had promised herself she wouldn't let it happen again, that she wouldn't use it again unless it was absolutely necessary. She'd avoided every situation that could possibly trigger. Maz seemed nice enough, and she knew it was her last stop before ending up in an orphanage. Apparently, there was only a limited number of foster caregivers willing to receive a problematic child, even temporarily.

Rey opened her eyes. The boy was standing up in front of her. She noticed he was taller than her and stared at his dark worried eyes. "Are you okay?", he asked.

She could still feel her hands itching, power ready to be released.

The boy extended an arm to her shoulder. No. Don't touch me.

Rey swallowed hard and gave him a panicked glance before grabbing her red shoes from the grass and running away as fast as she could, holding them against her chest. Still, she heard a voice calling after her.

"HEY! I'M BEN BY THE WAY!"