Nature Rules - 2022 WATTY'S SHORTLIST

Building an Army

My dreams and nightmares converge into one. I'm back at the camp and GJ has me. I'm wrestling for his gun and get it. Then I point it at his face.

And wake up. Covered in sweat. Crinae's little body is pressed right up against my back. I carefully roll away from her before getting out of bed. Without turning a light on, I grab some clothes to put on before going out in the corridor.

The kitchen is empty. Everyone else must still be asleep. I grab a glass and fill it with water from the tap. I like having water at my fingertips. Literally. Oh, wait. I should probably use my own abilities to get water. I get another glass to use for practice.

Concentrating, but not too hard, I focus on the glass in front of me. I hold out my hand and start spinning a thin thread of water into the vessel. The glass is almost full to the top in moments but I can't make the water stop coming. Water spills over the sides and drips onto the floor. I tense all my muscles in hopes it'll lessen the flow of water. It doesn't work. The stream actually rushes out faster.

"Shut it off!" says Hyla.

"I'm trying!" I shout.

"No, you're not. You're making it worse."

I am. The water funnel is growing larger and will spiral out of control any second.

"Help!" I yell at Hyla. I'm going to destroy the kitchen.

"Stop thinking," she yells. "Make a fist and stop thinking."

I ball my fingers up and think of nothing but the dry orange dirt of home.

The waterspout coming out of my fingers turns into tiny droplets that drip onto the floor.

"Urgh," I say. "I've made a mess."

I hate that Hyla is still better than me at using our skills.

"Better mop it up," she orders.

"I will," I say but take a gulp of water first.

After I clean up my mess, Hyla and I scout the cupboards for something to eat. There are a lot of canned goods on the shelves and we don't recognize what they are by the labels.

"What are mushy peas?" asks Hyla.

"I don't know but I don't like the sound of them."

"How about brown beans?"

"Hmm," I say. "I have had red beans before so brown beans must be sort of the same."

"Let's try them then."

"I know how to cook beans at home over the brazier," I say. "I watched Rassel use the stove last night so I'll just do what he did."

I find a knife to open the can and then dump the contents into a pot before putting it on a circle on the stovetop.

"OK," I say, looking the gleaming stainless steel stove up and down. "The on button is right over..."

"Here," says Hyla, twisting a knob on the stove.

"I knew that," I say. "I was taking my time, that's all. You don't know everything."

"Who says I do?" says Hyla, squaring her shoulders with mine. "You don't even know where Elody is."

"Take that back!" I say to Hyla, giving her arm a flick with my fingers. "Where is your dad, huh?"

"You're such a spoiled brat," says Hyla, rubbing her reddened skin. "You know we're here because of all of us."

"Sure, yep," I say. "You've really helped get us to this point. Not. It was me who got us to Nakimu, got us to Calgary and then came up with a plan to get us out of the camp."