The Four Elements

I ran down the stairs towards the backyard door screaming at the top of my lungs. My hands were on fire, it didn't hurt and I wouldn't have noticed it if my homework hadn't caught on fire. I don't think my teachers would have believed that excuse.

Trying to grab the door knob I called for my dad, shrieked actually. I saw my father turn around his face frozen in shock, fright, and panic, but only for a moment. He jumped up, his chair falling, sprinted to the door and yanked it open.

I looked down. My arms were in flames. I glanced up at my father and whispered, "Daddy." And my whole body burst into an open fire.

I heard through the shield of heat surrounding me, my father calling to me, "Isabelle? Isabelle!"

I called out, but found I could not speak. My hands moved to my throat, I saw a speck of paleness when my hands moved. Hadn't I been tan before?

Looking around once more, I remembered I was surrounded by fire that did not burn. Then suddenly it stopped. I was in my living room again with my mother and father staring at me. My mom had dropped the phone, my father silent, looking at me with shock and amazement filling his glossy eyes.

Peering down I noticed my clothes were un-scorched even after that little incident. "How?" I questioned no one in particular. My dad started approaching me.

"Isabelle?" Why was he questioning my name? Doesn't he know it's me?

"Yes, Father?" I replied my voice quivering. He touched my hair, and then did I note the color. I ran to the mirror in the bathroom and glared at my reflection.

Looking back at me was not the girl I've seen looking back at me for the past fifteen years. No, the girl I was used to was a blonde fuzzy-haired girl with hazel eyes. The one in the glass now was a red-headed, spiraled-haired, gold-eyed, beauty queen. I wanted her out of my house.

And at that moment I couldn't hold it in anymore. I screamed, I cried, I whined, and I threw the biggest tantrum the world has ever seen. This was something I haven't done for ten years, but I have changed in a mental and physical way more in the past five-minutes than in the past fifteen-years.

It's been six months, half a year, however you put it, I've been stuck in a house with parents checking on me every second of the day for too long. I snapped my fingers and an orange, red, yellow, glow submerged from my hand. I snapped again and it was gone. This was how I entertained myself for the past forever. Every once in awhile my brother Jaime would come up and talk to me, tell me how school was doing, what his friends were doing. But it didn't help because that was his life and his friends. Mom told me when I asked her what my friends thought I was doing all this time, she just told them I went to live with my Aunt Emmy and Uncle Ted in New York. If I even have an Aunt Emmy and Uncle whatever who live in New York, something told me I would never know.

I was searching around on my laptop (after my parents were convinced I wouldn't let it catch on fire) when I heard my brother running up the stairs. He busted into my room and started complaining like I would have.

"Zach has changed so much ever since he fell into his pool and almost drowned." "He said he needed a change and dyed his hair black with the ends highlighted blue. And he replaced his glasses and got blue contacts." "He is actually working out in gym and has been leaving me out on a lot of things." He huffed.

I couldn't hold it in any more and I busted out in a fit of giggles, "Jaime could you possibly sound anymore like a teenaged girl?" I had to ask. I know I haven't been playing the part of emotional teenaged daughter, lately, but did my brother have to be the one to take my role? Also this change in my brother's best friend had me interested. I decided I would ask about it later.

At dinner I thought now would be the perfect time. "Hey mom?" she turned to look at me.

"Yes, Sweetie?"

"Jaime's been saying stuff about how Zach's changed and it kind of reminds me of what happened six months ago. So I was wondering if I might be able to…."

"No." Mom said, cutting me off.

"I agree with your mother." Dad added.

"But, I just have this weird feeling…."

"No and that's final." I pushed my chair out and stalked up to my room, slamming the door I might add.

"Stupid parents, stupid house, stupid rules…" I breathed.

"Isabelle." I heard someone whisper.

I turned around and started spinning in circles when I couldn't find the culprit who was trying to scare me.

"Isabelle you must find the three who belong, to bring together the four who rise above others to help the world live on." Oh. So it was going to be one of those days.

"Umm….who are you?" That seemed the right question for the moment.

"That is not important. What is is that you are one of the two Elementresses and one of four…"

"Who rise above all. I got that part already. Now could you explain to me what exactly I'm supposed to do, I never actually signed up for this job." I muttered the last part, but the voice seemed to hear it.

"Nobody, not you, the other Elementress, or the two Elementers signed up for this. You were chosen, it's your birth right." "You are to search for the other three and bring together the strength of the elements to find me so the world will live at peace once again."

"And how do I do that?" I had to ask.

"That is for you to find out." I could just see the smirk on the voices nonexistent face.

"Voice?" Nobody answered. I did a quick sweep of my room. Call me paranoid, but when you go to sleep and never awake again, I'll be nice and warm in my sleeping bag in the backyard.

I packed a duffle bag with the necessities and calculated my chances of still being alive after a two-story drop. They were in my favor, I think. I was never that good at math. I took the screen out, put my bag over my shoulder, pulled my legs over the window seal, closed my eyes, and dropped. And boy did I drop. When I felt a stinging pain in my backside, I knew I had reached the bottom.

Dusting myself off I started sprinting towards my destiny or what others would call, her brother's best friend's house.

I was panting by the time I got to his house. I tried to tame my hair, but it was as wild as the fire. I knocked three times and waited. When no one came I went around back. Once I climbed over the fence I turned around and smiled. This was going to be easier than I thought. Because in front of me playing with the pool water stood the Elementer of water.

I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Zach." I said with a smile.

The water fell and he spun around looking at me surprise and panic crossing his features. "It didn't look like what it was. I was…was...just…" He scrambled to explain.

"You can't explain, can you?" I smiled.

"No." He admitted.

"Good, now if you would just go and pack up. I would like to get going." I spoke turning around.

"Hold it Red, I want some explanations, and for the first, how'd you know my name?" I cringed at the nickname. Red. I could handle dumb blonde or blondie, but Red. No.

"Well for one thing my name is Isabelle Marco. You might remember me from about…"

He broke in, "Six months ago. You've really changed haven't you?" He looked a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, one day I'm blonde, the next a little on the orange side. So how was your change?" How weird. I'm trying to have a casual conversation out of a messed up situation.

"It was ok." "So what exactly happened Red?" He asked.

I was about to tell him to stop with the name, when the voice intervened.

"Good job Isabelle. You have found the Element of water." It congratulated me and moved on to telling Zach what she told me. His face went from disbelief, serious, to trying not to bust out laughing.

When I was sure the voice was gone, I turned to him. "So…"

"She's some fortune cookie isn't she?" he blurted. We erupted into a roar of laughter.

On our way to Kansas from Southern California, we stopped at the Grand Canyon. Why we were at the Grand Canyon and heading to Kansas, beats me , but I guess I just had another one of those feelings or maybe I was having a Dorothy moment.

I was standing by the edge of one of the cliffs looking down. Now I know I should have listened to the signs that said things like 'Stay Away from Edge.' , 'Stay at Least Five Feet Away From Edge.', or even 'Welcome to the Grand Canyon, have a SAFE and fun trip!' But where's the fun in that?

So being the idiot I am I got on the very edge, leaned my head over and spit. Oh, come on don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing in my shoes. I watched it and didn't even flinch when I heard the crack. And I started to descend towards the rocky bottom. I started screaming. I don't know how long it takes to fall off a very big cliff and hit the bottom but I knew it should take less than five minutes. I opened my eyes and noticed I was stopped, and the ground was very far away. I glanced up and saw that I was about a foot away from the edge of the cliff, where Zach stood looking confused and two people, a boy and girl, stood arguing.

The girl had long brown hair and mesmerizing green eyes, while the boy had white hair and cloudy grey eyes. After a while I decided to interfere. "Um…help?" They all stopped and looked at me.

"Oh." The boy muttered and motioned for me to come over to him. Trust me, if I could of I would, but the winds picked up and I was over the cliff a good distance away from the edge. Bame! The ground welcomed me back again, along with a partial amount of pain taken from the fall I would have gotten just minutes ago.

"How'd you do that?" I asked amazed. Then smack, welcome back idiot, how can I help you? "You're the element of wind." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." He shrugged, but the way he said it was more like, oh it's nothing. I mean all I can do is control one of the four elements. What was the matter with this boy?

"And I can control Earth. Sorry 'bout that." The girl said softly.

"Wait you did that to me? Why?"

"He made me mad." She gestured to the white-haired, anti-emotional guy. "I can't control it very well when I'm angry." She explained.

"I guess that's fine." What is happening to me? 'I guess it's ok you almost killed me.' What?

"I take it that you," she pointed to me, "can control fire, and you," she pointed to Zach, "Can control water."

We nodded.

"I'm Sophie and this is Tyler or Mr. Anti-emotional." She giggled. That was exactly what I'd been thinking.

Zach decided to do our introductions, "I'm Zach and this," he gestured to me, "is Red." I dropped my mouth. That was cruel. We'd already had this discussion.

I butted in, "Actually my name is Isabelle, not red." Tyler snickered.

"So where are you guys heading to?" Sophie asked.

"Kansas."

"Why?" she looked confused.

"Because I just have this feeling." I explained.

"Oh."

"We arrived in Kansas the next day after a long drive in Sophie's compact car. Tyler finally spoke, "Now what exactly are we doing here?" At this point I wasn't even sure. Though I had the feeling I was being watched. I did a quick turn and spotted a pair of eyes watching me.

"Who's there?" I asked my voice quivering.

"Good job Isabelle, Zach, Sophie, and Tyler. You are almost done but now you must do one final thing to find me." We looked confused. "You must combined your powers and force them into the sky."

"How do we do that?" Sophie asked perplexed.

"Concentrate hard on the power inside you and aim for the sky." The voice explained.

"When?" Zach asked.

"Now."

We all went to our happy place I guess is the best I can describe it. I was concentrating on getting closer to the real me who was on the inside. Once I realized I never really changed I had been the same person all along I was able to grasp that power and joined the others for the sky.

The sky mixed into a variety of colors unexplained and unimagined I was awed by the sight and then it stopped. The coverage above us was cloudy like it has been for the last few months nothing was different except the sun that seemed to shine brighter and the air that grew cleaner. So this was what was supposed to happen when the elements combined.

"Good job, my children of the world you have saved the planet from another darkness."

"Wait another. There were more of these? More of us?" I questioned.

"Yes they are new ones every hundred years, to keep the world alive."

"Oh."

"You may all return to you family's now they are awaiting your arrival."

"You mean waiting to ground us." Zach muttered.

"Are we allowed to tell them what happened?" Sophie asked.

"Only if you must."

When I arrived home, after a long goodbye, I was in trouble, grounded, on house arrest. I told them what happened but what did they say. "Don't let you imagination run wild, it's the cause of these lies." But one person did believe me. Jaime.

"How did you know where to go? Was the voice guiding you there? Did it send you signs?" He asked one day.

"No. The voice was only helpful for when we didn't know what to do once we reached Kansas." I explained.

"Then how?"

I gave him the honest answer, "I just trusted my first instinct."