(The New) Power of the 8 Elements: Part One

Chapter Two: Canada

"Sometimes you never know the value of a moment till it becomes a memory." - Dr. Seuss
6 YEARS AGO
TERRY

When my parents told me that we were going on a short, three-day trip to Canada, I was more than excited. I jumped up and down when they announced the news, as we got onto the plane, and once we arrived at the small cabin sitting in the middle of the woods.  There were no other houses around.  Mom had said that the old cabin belonged to her grandmother, and it technically belonged to the family.  A forest surrounded us.  To another side of the cabin was a frozen lake. It was during the freezing winter, and it was incredibly cold—which I found to be the best temperature as well as the best season.

There was a dock covered in frost leading to the lake. Mom warned that the dock was rickety, and we should always be careful. She also said to never go to the other side of the woods because there were animals living there. Bad animals. The one thing I was afraid of was drowning.  The thought of water filling your lungs and being unable to take a breath was terrifying. Seeing those scenes in movies when a character went under and didn't come back. It was one of the main reasons why I couldn't watch Jaws. That and the fact that I was only six years old. I was turning seven pretty soon. This trip, away from the city, was better than any birthday present.

My younger brother, Terri, and I had to share a room. As soon as the sun began to set, Mom said that we needed to collect some firewood. In an attempt to get away from Terri and be alone for at least a few minutes, I offered to go outside. Mom told me to be careful which I, of course, ignored completely and said "yeah, yeah, I will". Any kid my age would. I just wanted to be outside, which I had never really done. There were big sticks on the ground. A lot more than I expected. I continued picking up sticks and placing them in my tiny arms while walking around. I noticed that the pile of sticks was getting heavier. Heavier? Maybe it was because I was collecting so many sticks, but the sticks didn't weigh a lot.

I looked down at my hands and realized that they were growing smaller.  My fingers were turning blue at the tips, but I didn't feel cold at all. Is this what it feels like to get frostbite? It was only a matter of time, I knew, before I lost all feeling in my body. But why? It wasn't even that cold. And didn't everybody know that glaciers, people who could control ice and snow magic, couldn't get frostbite! Nails began growing on my finger. They were tiny and almost cute, but still surprising. I pulled out the pocket mirror that I always carried around. I looked at myself. I was now entirely different. I looked more majestic than one could say. I had always looked like a monster, but I hadn't been born in Monstropolis which I always questioned but never pondered on too much.

I had orange skin, buck teeth, seven tentacles, and a singular, deep turquoise eye. I took after my mom with deep blue hair. Now my skin was white as snow, but clearer. I had straightened, perfect teeth and two legs. My eyes were a deep medium blue, and the outer white parts of my eyes were so dark that I could confuse them for black. My hair grew white from the roots and blended into a blue somewhere around the center. I ran a tiny clawed hand through my hair as I stared in disbelief at my reflection.

I looked around. Perhaps someone had cursed me to look this way. One thing was for sure, I could not return to my parents like this. I figured it had been a stick I touched that had been enmagicked. I dropped the group of sticks and continued walking and looking for more. The sticks were turning up less and less, and I did not want to return to the house with wet wood. You couldn't light wet wood on fire, that was common sense. I looked ahead and saw the lake and the dock Mom was talking about. On the other side was the rest of the woods where I could clearly see multiple sticks. I looked at the dock's wooden panels that creaked as soon as I set my eye on it.

The lake had, like Mom said, frozen over. The dock, too, was stuck to the ice. Maybe I'd be able to cross. After all, I was a glacier, and glaciers CAN manipulate ice. I placed a foot on the ice and slowly began walking, but I could hear the sound of the ice beginning to crack and crumble. I looked behind and, to my surprise, saw a tiny crack forming from the edge of the dock. I looked ahead.Almost there, I told myself. I continued to walk even though the sound grew significantly louder. With one sharp head turn, I saw that the crack had stretched and spread to where it sat right behind me, now branching out like the old tree in our backyard.