The Water and The Flame

(TW: Fire, Pushing, Death)

The gym teacher blows the whistle and four students dive into the swimming pool, racing to the other side. Then the next four are up, but only three stand on the diving board. “Where is Ren?” the gym teacher asks in concern.

Ren’s face turns red, and he is unsteady. He looks at the pool and steps back. “You cannot make me do this!” he says

Sadie pats him on the back gently. “You can do it! I will help you if you need it.” Ren stares into Sadie’s turquoise eyes and he calms down.

“You can do it. You need to pass this class.” The gym teacher says. Ren steps on the diving board, putting his blue rimmed googles over his eyes, the blue cap hides his red spiky hair. The whistle blows and Ren stands there as the other three swim away. Then one boy runs and pushes Ren into the water.

Sadie glares at the boy. “Why would you do that?” A minute passes by and Ren still isn’t coming up. Sadie jumps in and pulls him out of the water. She gives him CPR, and it takes a while until water comes out of his lungs. Then finally he spits out the water and sits up, feeling dazed.

Ren looks over at Sadie, who breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness! Why didn’t you use your arms or legs?” Ren stares away from Sadie, looking at the bottom of the blue pool, then looking up at the gym teacher who rolls his eyes. “I can’t swim. My parents never taught me as a kid. We are afraid of water.”

Sadie puts her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I will teach you how to swim. The water is my favourite place to be.” Sadie sneezes as a cold starts to takeover her body. Ren places a hand on her face and says something under his breath. Suddenly, Sadie’s cold disappears, and she dries in no time. “Wow, I didn’t even need a towel this time! You must have magic powers!”

Ren and Sadie finish gym class and walk home together. Sadie goes over to Ren’s house and when she sees a candle lit in the living room, she backs away from the living room. “What’s wrong?” Ren asks.

Sadie stares up into Ren’s hazel eyes. “You know how you are afraid of water, well I’m afraid of fire. When I was around seven, we used to have a sanctuary for hurt sea life. A fire broke out at the sanctuary, killing all the sea life recovering from poachers. However, I don’t think it was an accident, but of course, no evidence to prove otherwise.” Ren had invited Sadie to stay for dinner, and she did. After dinner, her parents picked her up and took her home.

Then later that evening, Ren was on his way home from picking up groceries with his parents. He smells smoke coming from somewhere, searching for anything caught on fire. Then above the trees near the forest, black smoke rising above them. Ren runs, picking up speed as he realises the direction of the fire. Ren’s parents tell him to not go, but he goes anyway.

When he arrives, the firefighters fight the flames desperately and the best they could. “Help!” Ren hears a familiar voice coming from inside the house. His heart sinks as he realises who is inside the flames. Knowing Sadie’s fear of fire, he rushes to the front door, but the firefighters hold him back. “It is too late!” Although Ren escapes their hold as he runs through the front door.

He covers his eyes with his arm, shielding away from the smoke. “Sadie!”

Sadie coughs as she struggles to say. “Bedroom.”

Ren runs upstairs and finds Sadie in a fetal position on her bed. Ren takes Sadie’s hand and they run down the stairs. They hear the roof about the collapse, so he pushes her out the door. Then the roof collapses on top of Ren, trapping him inside. Sadie tries to go back to save him, but they put her in the back of an ambulance.

Something comes over Sadie as she bursts through the ambulance door, struggling to run to the house. She closes her eyes and says something under her breath. Soot covers her clothes, parts of her face, and parts of her turquoise hair burns off. Despite her fear of fire, she summons spheres of water forming them in the palms of her hands. The fire withers away as she runs inside the house to save Ren from his demise.

Ren stares up at her, barely clinging to life. “What are you doing here?” Sadie never answers as the paramedics put Ren on a stretcher, rolling him out to the ambulance. They wrap Sadie in a blanket, escorting her to the ambulance too. Sadie looks over at the firefighters, who look worn out from their hard work. She walks over to their fire truck and touches their fire hose. Sadie tells them to drink the water; of course, they are unsure of what is happening. The firefighters trust Sadie as they blast the water out and take a drink from it. Instead of clear water, turquoise water bursts through, and it tastes better than any water they have ever had. Their strength is back to health. “Thank you for saving us! We really appreciate firefighters!”

Sadie impresses the firefighters and the community with her secret power. They offer her a job on the team, and she accepts. The paramedics help Sadie get into the back of the ambulance as she sees Ren struggling to breathe, even with the oxygen mask on. She takes the bottle with clear water and turns it into turquoise water. The turquoise water is pure with no chemicals or chlorine. Sadie lifts Ren’s mask and the paramedics stop her, but she assures them it will be alright. He is no longer in pain after being given a drop of turquoise water. Sadie puts the oxygen mask back on him as peace takes over him. The ambulance continues to take them to the hospital for treatment as Sadie watches her house burn down completely. Tears fill her eyes as her childhood memories coming flooding through Christmas dinners with her grandparents, parents, two older sisters, and the rest of the family. Now she knows she must leave that life behind and begin a new chapter.

Two months later…

Ren sets up rings of fire targets, practicing in an enormous field. Fire streams out of his palms as it circles the ring. “Okay, now try to put out the fire!” Sadie shoots a small water pump, barely reaching the ring at all. After ten minutes, Sadie is upset, but it only strengths her water pumps. Finally, a medium water pump emerges from her palms, and it takes out the first fire ring in no time at all. The second and third ring are out instantly with a large water pump.

Someday, Ren and Sadie vow to research their family history about who they really are, but focusing on their final exams before grade twelve graduation is a priority. Sadie works with Ren, swimming in the ocean. Finally, Ren gets the hang of swimming, and Sadie smiles at the progress. “Someday, we will swim with the fish together.” Their bond continues to strengthen every day.

The gym teacher blows the whistle and this time Ren dives in first, swimming to the other side with incredible speed and technique. The gym teacher walks to the other side of the gym and kneels down to Ren. “Where did that come from? You have broken a school record… a record set by me twenty years ago!” The gym teacher helps him out of the water, shaking his hand in sheer profoundness. “Congratulations, you pass!”