Stranded Safari

 

            Adrian couldn’t believe it. She knew she shouldn’t have come on this safari. She knew she shouldn’t have taken that ticket to Africa. Nothing good ever happened to her, but winning tickets to a special safari had sounded lucky at the time, even if she’d never entered any contest. She should have stayed home in Utah, watching over her flower shop. Instead, now she was stuck in the middle of the desert with a group of strangers in a broken-down Jeep. Their guide had left more than four hours ago to get help. Adrian didn’t think it would take him that long to walk to the village and back, and it was starting to get dark. The blistering heat of the day was slowly disappearing, replaced by a chilly breeze.

            Tired of waiting, one man in her group started organizing everyone to walk back to the village on their own. Adrian wasn’t sure about this. They hadn’t exactly followed any roads out here. All she could see was sand and brush in every direction. She wasn’t even sure which direction the village lay. She wanted to wait a little longer for their guide to come back, but she was outvoted. Not wanting to be left behind by herself, she walked along with the group in the direction they thought their guide had gone.

            Night fell quicker than she thought possible, and the landscape turned quiet and dark around them. She tried not to think of the scorpions and snakes that came out at night, but the small night sounds fueled her imagination, and she walked with her heart in her throat, ready to bolt at the first sign of actual danger. The night and the landscape both felt endless. There was no sign of the village or any kind of human civilization.

            Finally, after at least three hours of trudging through the dust and darkness, their leader said that they should stop and rest and wait for morning to come. “We can’t stay here!” a woman shrieked as she moved closer to her husband. “I’m not going to lay down and wait to be bitten by a venomous snake!”

            Adrian agreed with her, but no one else felt like walking any further. Realizing that there was safety in numbers, she reluctantly lay down to try to rest.

            When she woke up, it was still dark, but she panicked when she realized she was alone. Where was everyone? Had they decided to continue without her? How could they just leave? Her eyes darted around for any sign of the others as she frantically thought about what she should do next. A red glow appeared over the horizon and rushed straight to her.

            Adrian’s breath stopped in her throat as a massive flying red dragon landed directly in front of her. Before she could do anything, the dragon lifted her with its great talons and she was flying high above the desert. She screamed, but it was ripped away by the rushing wind. With her arms held tightly in the dragon’s claws, she could do nothing except kick her legs.

            The dragon took no notice of her squirming and continued on through the night. Lights appeared below her and she was surprised to see that it was the village that they had been trying so desperately to return to.

            The dragon deposited her in the village square, and she immediately ran to warn everyone about the monster that had brought her here. Though she shouted and knocked on every door she saw, no one answered. All the while, the dragon watched her closely, but otherwise left her alone.

            Adrian found the building that housed the tour company of her safari, but unsurprisingly, there was no one there. A flicker of flame from the road caught her attention and she went to see what it was.

            A discarded torch burned brightly in the middle of the dirt road. Grateful for a source of light, she ran over to pick it up, but by the time she reached it, it had disappeared. The dragon flapped its wings and continued to watch her. The torch reappeared, but it was further down the road. As Adrian drew closer, it disappeared again. Glancing back at the dragon, she was startled to discover that it had moved closer to her. The torch appeared further away down the road, and as she walked over to it, the dragon followed behind.

            Feeling as if she was stuck in a trap, she continued to follow the torch that disappeared as soon as she reached it and reappeared further down the road. The dragon followed her, getting closer each time. She didn’t know how far down the road she’d gone, but she was nearly running by the time she finally reached the makeshift camp of the other people from their tour group.

            They were all still sleeping soundly when Adrian appeared in their midst and started shouting at them to wake up because there was a dragon coming. Surprised shouts rang out as they jumped up and gathered around her. “What?!” “What’s going on?”

            When Adrian pointed back towards the dragon, it was gone, and the sun was just rising. All that was left were the footprints that she’d made on her way here. She looked wildly around for any sign of the dragon, but it had completely vanished. Embarrassed now, she pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

            Luckily, her footprints led them straight back to the village which was bustling with activity, nothing like when she had been brought back here by the dragon.

            Later, Adrian could never be sure if what had happened had been real. She never told anyone how a dragon had carried her back to the village and then chased her to where the rest of her group was stranded. Maybe it was all a dream, and they were just lucky that they were able to get back to the village. But, maybe it wasn’t.

Haunted House

 

            Ned couldn’t believe their luck. The one time he didn’t have an umbrella with him and it had started to rain. Josh insisted that they keep going since they were already halfway to Toby’s house and should still get there before it got too dark.

            The rain dripped down Ned’s back and he shifted his pack uneasily. “How much farther?” It was raining harder, and he was getting wetter and wetter. Puddles sloshed and soaked his socks as he trudged through them.

            “It’s probably at least another three miles,” Josh answered slowly. “We’ve got to get out of the rain, though, and wait this storm out.”

            Ned had thought that hiking ten miles to visit their cousin Toby had sounded fun when his brother Josh suggested it yesterday, but now he wasn’t so sure. They could stay for a day or two and go fishing together. Mom was all too happy to let them go. Both boys had made the trek several times before and there wasn’t much else for them to do since school was out. Ned thought longingly now of his cozy bed at home. He shivered as the rain soaked him through and the temperature started to drop. Even though it was still early, the day was growing dark as more clouds rolled in. He kept his eyes open for some kind of shelter where they could try to get dry. There wasn’t much out in these open grassy fields, but he saw something that made him sag in relief. “Josh! Do you see that light over there?”

            Josh looked to where Ned was pointing and saw the light shining from a window of a great, hulking house at the edge of the field. “Yeah, but isn’t that the old Morgan house? I didn’t think anyone lived there.”

            “It looks like someone moved in.” Ned shook his head to clear the rain from his eyes. “Let’s see if they’ll let us stay for a while.”

            Josh grinned at his brother. “Aren’t you worried about ghosts? Everyone says that the house is haunted.”

            A shiver went up Ned’s spine that had nothing to do with the rain. “I know what they say, but I’d rather face ghosts than die from the cold.”

            They crossed the field that was quickly becoming muddy and arrived at the doorstep of the old house a few minutes later. The relief of having a little shelter from the rain fought against Ned’s desire to run away as fast as he could from here. He was already thinking that this was a bad idea when Josh knocked and rang the doorbell.

            Deep chimes rang inside and the hair on Ned’s arms stood straight up as they waited for the owner to come to the door. After a few minutes, though, no one came and then the wind started. Being already wet and cold, the wind set both boys’ teeth chattering.

            “That’s it,” Josh said as he shivered violently. “Let’s go in. I can’t take it anymore out here.” He turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door open. It swung wide with a loud “creak,” and Ned followed his brother inside.

            “Hello!” Josh called out. “We got stuck out in the storm and we’re looking for shelter for a little while. Is anyone home?”

            The only answering sound was a steady “drip, drip, drip” as a puddle formed on the floor around Ned and Josh. A light shone from down the hall, and the boys headed toward it with Josh calling out, “Hello?” They reached a cozy sitting room where a roaring fire burned in the fireplace and filled the room with warmth. Nearly stumbling over each other to stand near the flames, Ned sighed as he felt the warmth seep into his bones.

He was just about to remove his pack when a flapping sound came from behind them. Spinning around, he noticed the large black bird standing on a perch on the other side of the room. It gave out a single “Caw!” that rang in Ned’s ears.

            “Cool!” Josh walked over to get a better look. “They have a pet crow.” He reached out to pet it, but the bird snapped at his hand and Josh jumped away. He eyed the bird with disgust. “They didn’t do a very good job of training this bird.”

            A second “Caw!” sounded out, and the boys turned to see another perch with three more black birds glaring at them. The light from the fire danced off their glossy feathers as they shuffled their wings. More caws sounded, and Ned was surprised to see that the room was now full of crows.

            “Where did they all come from?” For the first time, Ned heard the fear in Josh’s voice.

            “Let’s just get out of here!” Ned turned to go back the way they had come. Only… it wasn’t there anymore. He could no longer see any of the room around them as the crows flapped their wings and caws rang out. Ned’s voice came out a whisper as he said, “We’re trapped.”

            Josh stepped closer to his brother. “We’re just going to have to run through them to get out of here.”

            “Are you sure that’s a good idea? They keep multiplying!” The room swirled as black feathers occupied every space. Hundreds of crows stared at the two boys with what Ned was sure was malice.

            “No, but let’s go!” Josh covered his head with his arms and dove straight into the black birds. Ned quickly followed, afraid of being left behind. He kept his eyes on Josh’s pack straight ahead of him as he felt the birds come at them.

            After what seemed an eternity of wading through feathers, talons, and beaks, the boys finally found their way back to the front door and they crashed through it as they ran back toward the trail.

            With the sound of feathers and caws behind them, Ned dared to look back, and he was surprised to see that the field was completely empty. There weren’t any birds following them, and there was no house. “Hey, Josh, come here!”

            Josh’s voice answered right next to him. “What happened?” He looked over at Ned with blood on his face and hands where the crows had scratched and pecked at him. Ned knew that he couldn’t look much better.

            Without another word, the boys dashed along the trail, heedless of the rain that continued to pelt them and remind them of what they had just endured. They ran all the way to Toby’s house where their cousin was shocked at their appearance. Gasping, they told him about their experience at the old Morgan house.

            Toby’s shock turned to confusion. “But that house was destroyed by a lightning strike that burned it to the ground. It’s gone now.”

            Ned and Josh looked at each other with fear in their eyes. They knew what they had seen and been through. It seemed like that haunted house would remain haunted, even if the house no longer physically existed.

Invisible

 

            Sweat trickled down Reina’s face as she waited for Mr. Price to announce who would be presenting next. When he said her name, she took a deep breath and tried to stop herself from shaking. She really, really hated standing in front of everyone. She somehow managed to make her way to the front of the classroom without dropping her notes or tripping over her feet.

            Standing now at the front of the class, Reina glanced up at all her classmates staring back at her. She felt her face turn red and launched straight into the speech that she’d practiced, trying to get through it as quickly as possible. She knew she wasn’t doing a great job, but she kept going. She fervently wished she were anywhere but here as she rattled off facts about the country of France, the subject of her presentation.

            As soon as she finished, she raced back to her seat with her head down. She was already so hot and embarrassed, but she pulled on her sweatshirt and put the hood up as she tried to hide. She pulled her hands inside her sleeves and hugged her chest, pretending no one could see her.

            The rest of the class was a blur for Reina. She was so focused on hiding from everyone that she didn’t hear another word that was spoken. When the bell finally rang, she jumped up in relief and headed to her next class. Gym wasn’t her favorite, but today it felt like a gift. She could easily blend in and keep her head down so no one would notice her. They were running the mile today, and she knew this was something she could do. You didn’t really need any special skills to run.

            A jolt of alarm rushed through her as she peeled off the hoodie that she’d been hiding inside. Blinking her eyes several times, she willed them to see something different than what she was currently seeing. She rubbed her hands together to make sure she could feel them, but they were just gone. She picked up the sweatshirt and felt it in her fingers, but her hands had disappeared as well as her arms.

            Nearly reaching full-panic mode, she put the sweatshirt back on and grabbed her backpack as she started running. She ran straight out of gym class and out of the school altogether. She didn’t stop until she got home, which was more than a mile away. Running faster than she’d ever run before, she tried not to think about her invisible arms and hands. When she reached her house a few minutes later, she barreled through the front door and slammed it shut behind her. Her parents were at work and her older brothers were still at school, but the feeling of being home and out of sight of everyone was somehow comforting.

            She quickly rummaged through her backpack and retrieved her cell phone. Taking another calming breath, she called Mom.

            Mom didn’t answer until the fourth ring, while Reina tried not to let her panic spiral out of control. When Mom finally answered, Reina wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened, but she choked out, “Mom! My hands disappeared!” Her voice came out much higher and scared than she’d planned.

            “What?” Mom sounded bewildered. “Where are you?”

            “I ran home because I didn’t know what to do. Help!” Reina was gasping in panic and trying to keep tears from spilling onto her face.

            Mom’s voice was calm as she said, “Stay right there. I’ll be home in ten minutes.”

            Mom hung up, and Reina waited for the longest ten minutes of her life. When Mom finally opened the front door, Reina ran to her and threw her arms around her.

            Mom’s face was full of concern as she gathered Reina into her arms and pulled her close. They both stood in silence as Reina felt her heart rate slowly calm down. She knew Mom could fix anything.

            “Let’s see your hands,” Mom said gently as she led Reina to the couch.

            Reina sat down heavily and slowly pulled off her sweatshirt. Her hands were still invisible, but she could actually see more of her arms now. Wordlessly, she showed them to Mom.

            Instead of looking shocked or panicked, Mom’s face was full of joy. She held Reina’s hands in hers and looked into her eyes. “You’ve discovered your power!” A huge grin appeared on Mom’s face, but Reina didn’t feel like smiling.

            “My what?”

            “It looks like you’ve awoken your magic.” Mom then launched into an explanation of the hidden magical members of their family. Only certain people had magic, and Reina was now one of them. Her brothers didn’t have any magic in their veins, but Mom had seen Reina’s potential and had apparently been waiting for something like this to happen.

            Reina sat there in shock as Mom then demonstrated her magical power. Snapping her fingers, a bolt of lightning flew between Mom’s hands, and she sent it bouncing around the room before she caught it and it disappeared. She told Reina that she was finally ready for her magical training.

            “But what about my hands?”

            Mom waved her hand, totally unconcerned. “Don’t worry. They’ll reappear eventually. You must have really wanted to disappear or something. Invisibility magic is really tough to master.”

            Mom and Reina talked for hours. Reina couldn’t fully relax until her hands had reappeared. When they finally did, she caught some of Mom’s excitement about learning more magic. A few hours ago, there’d been no such thing as magic, but now it was a glorious possibility. She thought back to her disastrous presentation at school. At least something good would come of it, even if it wasn’t a good grade.