Writober 2015 – Parts 1 & 2

This year, as in years past, I’m participating in Writober: every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of October, you write something, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, long or short, doesn’t matter. It’s just to keep you consistently writing. Periodically throughout the month, I’ll post some of my Writober installments. Below is last Friday’s and yesterday’s posts. The first one is an introduction, of sorts. I meant for it to be a stand-alone piece, but the character was too fascinating for me to leave alone. I had to write more. Her story will probably continue here and there throughout the month, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy it!

Thunder rumbles in the distance; growing louder, ever louder. Wind rustles my dress and brings with it the scent of rain and wet grass. 

The charge in the air is palpable—I can feel it crackling under my skin, traveling down to my fingertips. Its reach expands with every breath. 

Concentrating, I beckon the clouds closer and darker, bending them to my will. As the electricity radiating off my skin sizzles the falling rain, I’m consumed in my newfound power. 

“Jayne, Jayne, wake up!”  Someone was shaking me, shouting my name. “Come on, we have to hurry.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, attempting to open my eyes. 

My senses slowly came into focus. Corn field. Dark sky. Swirling clouds. The wind itself would have knocked me down if I wasn’t already laying on my back. 

One final observation: A crackling heat.

“Fire.” It was a statement, not a question. The crops around me were burning hotter than I’d ever known a fire could burn.

“We have to get out of here. Now.” I finally recognized the one who’d woken me: Donna, who I’ve known pretty much her whole life. She was about fifteen, five years younger than me, and has always looked up to me. I had a feeling that might soon change.

She helped me to my feet and together we navigated through the flames and ran to the neighboring farm, which belonged to Donna’s family. Luckily, they had already harvested their crops. Their closest field was only dirt. We stopped, hunched over and panting. The smoke did nothing for lung capacity. 

“Thanks for saving me,” I said between breaths. 

Donna just stared at me for a moment. “I saw the whole thing from my kitchen window.” 

“What are you talking about?”

“The sky got unnaturally dark, then came the lightning bolts. They were striking the ground all around you, over and over again. It was like they were responding to you, or something. It didn’t take long for the crops to catch fire. Then you passed out and I knew I had to get to you before you burned to death.”

“I remember the storm, but the lightning bolts I don’t remember.” 

Which was true… Mostly true. I remembered the storm, I just wasn’t going to tell her that I summoned it. It was still weird to think about. I didn’t even know I could do all that until today. The wacko lightning on the other hand—that I really didn’t remember, which worried me. If these powers could make me pass out and lose time… that wasn’t good.

“There’s something else.” Donna hesitated. “When I got there, in almost a perfect circle around you, the crops weren’t burned at all. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s almost as if the fire purposely didn’t touch you. How could that happen?”

I stared at her for a moment. What could I do? I didn’t even understand what was happening to me. How could I possibly explain it to someone else. 

Thankfully, I didn’t have to. To my relief, my dad, along with half of our little town were rushing toward us, interrupting the growing silence.

They all seemed to shout their concerns and questions at once, until finally, my dad interrupted them to ask what had happened. 

Oh boy. How was I going to explain this one.