The sparks in a dragon

Chapter 18: Lighting a fire

Later that night I received a call from Will that Mirta had been cast a spell on and that it was pretty grave so they weren't coming back to camp. I was disappointed, because I was going to be alone for two weeks without my best friends or my magical friends, but it was best that Mirta recovered at home. I had a long, restless night. When I woke up in the morning, though, I found a note on my bedside table.

"Went to do the morning mile with the rest of the guys. It's a requirement, so I'm very sorry I left you alone. See you later," from Sky. 

After eating and calmly going through my morning routine I exited the cabin and joined the group of panting sweaty guys at the courtyard. The director was waiting there too. Little by little, girls came out of their cabins and joined the group. Once everyone was at the courtyard, the director cleared her throat and everyone fell silent.

"Today, you will learn basic survival skills, like making a fire," she said. Some people groaned and I smiled. Making fire would be the easiest thing ever.

The director crouched down beside a big rock. "You need a rock and a dry wooden stick," she said, taking out a big wooden stick. "You need to create heat so to do that, you rub the stick to the rock and create friction," she explained. She moved her hands back and forth, making the stick twist on top of the rock. After a while, smoke appeared and a fire soon lit up. She took more sticks out and placed them all around the rock so that the fire could grow.

Everyone was staring at the fire in awe as the director stood up and wiped the excess dust off her pants. "Now you try it. I'll be supervising you," she said and everyone scurried around to find rocks and sticks. I went to a secluded spot and found what I needed. I started to rub the stick, but nothing happened. I kept rubbing for more time, but I got frustrated when nothing happened. I closed my eyes and concentrated. A few seconds later, the familiar fire reached my eyes and I smiled. I clutched my fists and when my hand made contact with the stick, it lit up on fire immediately. I snapped out of my dragon and collected more sticks to put to the fire.

"I lit it up!" I exclaimed while standing up. The director turned around and smiled when she saw my fire. Some people around me gave me incredulous looks, seeing as they couldn't light up a fire of their own. "Good job young camper. You seem to get along with fire," she said while smiling at my work before she went to examine other people's fires. I shook my hands so I could cool them off.

 I walked to the border of the river and knelt down beside it. I dumped my hands on the water and heard a slight hiss coming out of it. I stood up and walked back to my fire, sighing happily at the warmth it provided me once again. I wanted to put my hands inside, but decided against it, seeing what happened last time I came in contact with fire. I thought back to the day of the field trip to the volcano, the day I also released my dragon for the first time.

I smiled as fire ran through my body, giving me the same warmth as the fire in the volcano. I closed my eyes and invited the warmth in. I imagined myself floating once again in the fire; I was laughing, having fun while playing with ribbons of fire I made. My hair floated all around me with an intense red color as I laughed in joy.

"Bloom!" A voice interrupted me of my dreaming and I gasped, all of the warmth disappearing and my body going back to a cold state. I opened my eyes to see Sky, who was looking at me intently. "I'm sorry if I interrupted something, but It's time to go to the next activity," he said while jerking his head to the side. I turned my head to the side and in fact, the people were already heading to the courtyard.

He dropped a glass of water at the fire and I frowned. I really liked that fire... He stood up and offered his hand; sighing, I took his hand and he hauled me to my feet. We walked down to the courtyard, where the director was grinning at us. Some students had bandages over their hands or arms and were glaring at her. Her eyes skimmed over the crowd and stopped when she spotted me.

"Good job everyone, but I would like to congratulate our red-haired camper..." she approached me and put a hand over my shoulder, waiting for me to present myself.

"Bloom. My name is Bloom," I told her and she let go of my shoulder, walking back to the middle of the court. "Bloom. I would like to congratulate Bloom for her outstanding performance at lighting fire up. She has a real talent," she said with a big grin, and a small insignificant applause broke off; the students were not really caring for my "achievement".

"That was today's exercise regarding wilderness survival. It's..." she lifted her wrist and checked the time, "12:46 so you may go to the cafeteria and I will all meet you here at 1:30. Have a good lunch," She said, dismissing us and heading to the office cabin while the students went to the cafeteria. I went straight to the line and grimaced when I saw today's special: potato salad. Ever since Mirta told me about the effect of cold in fairies, i've been taking a dislike to cold things. I still love potatoes, but the fact that they're cold makes me squeamish. I skipped the potato salad and smiled when I saw the heaping tray of soup lying next to it. I took a bowl and put it in front of me. The guy took the bowl and poured the soup in. "Careful, it's very hot," he warned while handing the bowl carefully to me. I broke off into a huge grin and nodded. "I know."

I sat in a table and observed that everyone around me had the potato salad instead. "Why do you have soup? It's like one hundred degrees out there," Sky said as he sat down next to me with a tray of potato salad and bread. "Not in the mood for potato salad," I said. He shrugged and dug into the food. I started to eat my soup and he stopped eating to look at me. "How are you not burning yourself? I can see the smoke coming out of it," he observed.

I shrugged and took another sip of the soup. "I guess you really do get along with heat," he whispered, getting back to his food.

More than you think, Sky.