The Second Concrete Square of Twenty-Fourth Street

It was a clear blue, sunny day but none like any other, for there was an odd occurrence on the second concrete square of twenty-fourth street and a secret that was waiting to be shared.

Skye Randolph snuck around the corner of the block with her head turned to look behind her. She was on her way to meet Noah Carson, her best friend, during an ultimate game of tag all of the neighborhood kids were competing in, but she didn't want to get caught on her way. Her hand pressed against the brick building and preoccupied with her thoughts she pushed her way out of the dark alley way onto the sidewalk. She froze instantly as she saw one of the opposing team mates appear on the other side of the street and she quickly retreated back into cover. It was a close call but she was sure she wasn’t seen. 

She scolded herself for getting stuck in her head but it was hard not to think and be nervous about it. Skye Randolph had a secret that she had been keeping for years but she couldn’t hold onto it by herself any longer. She had to tell someone. Her plan was to reveal her secret to Noah while in hiding and hopefully that would give him reason enough not to just run away in the middle of their discussion.

“Hey Noah guess what? I’m part elf. Oh and don’t forget I’m in elf royalty too. No, no, no.” She scowled and cringed as she tried to figure out a good way to tell her closest friend that she was from a place called Alitonga and she was indeed part elf. 

She glanced back from behind the building and when she saw that he was gone she took her chance and dashed across to the other sidewalk closer to their meeting place. They had chosen this meeting spot because of the distinct blue rim that went around the concrete square, which made it easier to remember. No one in the town really knew why and how it was blue, but it was there as long as anyone could remember. It was sort of a mystery but no one paid attention to it much anymore, they were used to the oddity by now.

Skye reached the meeting spot out of breath and sweating from running and nervousness. She bent over clutching her side and taking deep breaths as she looked down into a crystal clear puddle of water at her feet. She lifted her head as she heard a small plink. That was odd, she thought as the sound echoed around her ears for a couple seconds. She searched all around her, trying to find where and what it was but she couldn’t quite place which direction it had come from, it seemed to have been all around her, but all she saw was the small pool on the sidewalk. Jumping in surprise at Noah’s sudden whisper she looked up, but as she lifted her head she glimpsed a small face pass inside the pool.

“Whoa there Skye where've you been? Looks like you just saw a tiger headed donkey or somethin.” He said suspiciously, stealing a glance behind her from his hiding place. 

“Naw, you just surprised me, that’s all. We should get back to the game” She replied, with thoughts of the strange occurrences on the second concrete square of twenty-fourth street and her secret she was about to spill, racing through her head.

“What are you practicing for Skye?” asked Noah, casually, eyebrows raised. They were at a halt and he was peeking around the corner to see if he could spot any other team members, when he looked back to find Skye in a sort of nervous dance. 

“Huh, what? I’m not practicing for anything. What do you mean?” she questioned.

“Well you are dancing from foot to foot and shaking your hands.” He replied a crease forming on his brow

“Oh, well umm I dunno I am just nervous I guess.” She replied shyly

Noah shrugged and they left their hiding place to go in search for a new and better one.

Couple hours later, laying on the dusty floor of an old shack Skye couldn’t help herself and her thoughts from drifting toward the blue concrete. Skye knew she couldn’t quite bring herself to spill the beans about her past yet, so she decided to try to investigate the other odd things of the day. Could it have to do with the mysterious color? Why did the sound echo? Who did the face belong to? 

Turning, she asked Noah if he had ever seen anything weird or heard anything odd before at their meeting spot.

“I haven’t really paid attention to weird sounds and faces while standing in the one, weird, blue rimmed, concrete square in the whole world Skye.” Completed with a roll of his eyes, “Of course I have.” 

Skye stared dumbly back into Noah’s bright green eyes. 

“You what!?” She exclaimed, still attempting at a whisper.

“Why haven’t you told me this before!? Skye asked in disbelief as she shoved Noah back to their previous meeting place. 

“It didn’t seem important.” He answered shyly.

Skye snorted in annoyance and gave a side long look at her best friend. 

“Of course it didn’t.”

When they reached the spot, they stood expectantly, listening and staring down into the depths of the pool, head to head trying to find any evidence of the oddities in the concrete.

“I guess it’s gone.” Noah remarked, raising his arms in a stretch as he gave out a yawn.

“No, wait! Look, right there.” Skye pointed to a corner of the puddle where a figure appeared. The figure continued to come nearer and Noah squatted down beside the pool to get closer but backed up again when the figure started to speak. 

“My name is Fenris and I am one of the guards of the Alitonga empire.”

Noah blinked but he recovered quickly and as the realization came to him his face was racing with different thoughts and emotions. He wasn’t quite sure if this was a dream or if it was real, but after a discrete pinch on his arm he decided this was just the best day of his life.

“Whoa, no way!? That’s awesome! Wait, what are you like a fairy or something?” Exclaimed Noah hopping from foot to foot excitedly.

“No actually, I’m supposed to be an elf.” Fenris retorted seemingly irritated at Noah’s assumption.

Skye’s face turned red in embarrassment but recovering quickly she knew that her secret would be out soon. She wasn’t ready for it to be out anymore. What if Noah didn’t want to be her friend after this? There were so many questions but when Noah swiped his hand in front of her zoned out face she had to accept that now is the time. 

“How did you get here? I didn’t even know elves existed!” Noah was now pinching himself noticeably but he was torn because he didn’t want it to end.

Fenris tilted his head questioningly and looked at Skye slightly amused. Skye’s cheeks burned. She still hadn’t figured out how to word her secret but it turned out she didn’t have to. 

Fenris had a certain gleam in his eye and Skye knew he was about to spill it, but she stalled.

“So..ummm… Mr. Fenris, what has brought you here today?” she asked, trying to keep cool.

“Miss Skye Randolph and Mr. Noah Carson, I have come to assist princess Skye of Alitonga in her ultimate game of tag.” As a grin crossed Fenris’s face and Noah’s eyes widened, Skye gave out a sigh to begin her long explanation.

EPILOGUE 

“And the winners of the ultimate game of tag are…... Skye Randolph and Noah Carson!” Cheers erupted in congratulations as the two best friends hugged out all of the mystery and secrets of the past day. And if you were standing next to the second concrete square of twenty-fourth street you could see a certain Alitongan guard give a quick wink as the pool slowly got smaller and smaller.