Out of the Whirlpool, Out of the Storm: Part 1

Naomi sat at her desk with all its vats and bottles of chemicals she had been using. She looked at a vial of juice she had squeezed out of a green flower and looked at it. Maybe if I mix it with the solution I made last week, I can make a new medicine for that darn rash that’s been spreading around.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Enter,” Naomi said, carefully pouring a green mixture into a beaker with a blue mixture.

Abeni, her older sister, walked into the lab.

Naomi smiled. “Hey! What’s up?”

Abeni walked over to her. “Nothing much really. I’m just going to take my fire lessons soon.”

Naomi picked up the beaker and observed its contents. The color was changing from blue to…red? Weird. “That’s great! Have you been enjoying them.”

Abeni smiled. “Yes, they’re wonderful. I simply wish—well, Mama comes a lot, and...” She shrugged. “You know how she is.”

Naomi nodded. “Boy, do I.”

Abeni took a breath. “Anyway, I came to ask you if you wanted to come to my lessons.”

Naomi sat the beaker down on the desk. “You—you want me to come to your fire lessons?”

Abeni nodded. “My instructor said that it may be good for me to let you come, since…” she bit her lip. “But only if you want to come.”

Naomi jumped up. “Of course I want to come! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you use your abilities. I’d love to see it!”

Abeni smiled, but Naomi could sense what she was feeling deep down.

“Abeni, if you don’t want me to come, if you’re not ready, then—”

“I am ready.” Abeni looked determined. “And I do want you to come. It’s the least I can do after—everything.”

Naomi took her hand and beamed. “Thank you. I appreciate that. I can’t wait to see you in action! I just hope Mama doesn’t try to stop me.”

Abeni laughed. “I won’t let her. I promise.”

***

Naomi sat beside her mother and watched as Abeni ignited her hands in pink fire with a simple thought.

Despite the carmine flames enveloping her hands, she didn’t get burned, and, to Naomi’s relief, she didn’t look the least bit nervous about it.

Abeni stood in the center of the large training room with her fairy instructor not too far away from her. Several feet in front of her was a bale of hay.

The fairy instructor was a tall woman with wings as black as coal. She had short, dark red hair, and hazelnut skin like Abeni. She wore black pants, and an orange and yellow tunic that shimmered and glowed like flames every time she moved.

Naomi wasn’t sure how a fairy tailor had managed to create that effect on her tunic, but it was beautiful.

Abeni did a couple of more exercises, like forming a small circle of flames in the air, shooting small balls of fire at torches and lighting them , and then, with some extra effort and focus, extinguishing them by just looking at them.

Naomi was tempted to cheer for her sister, but she knew better than to distract her.

Her instructor nodded at Abeni. “Good.” She pointed to the bale of hay. “Now, go ahead and do what we’ve practiced.”

Abeni glanced at Naomi.

Naomi smiled at her. She knew she could pull it off. She hoped her confidence would somehow radiate off her and rub off on her sister.

“Be careful,” their mother said.

Naomi glanced at her mother, the queen of their homeland. She wore her tiara of onyx stones on her head, and wore her beautiful silk dress. But her elegant outfit couldn’t hide her true emotions, especially not from her.

The queen bit her nails as Abeni shot a stream of fire and ignited a bale of hay. “Don’t burn it!”

Abeni furrowed her brow. “I won’t, Mama.”

Naomi groaned internally. Can’t you be silent for a few minutes, Mama? She knows what she’s doing.

Abeni could control her powers. She had done it before. If all went well with this exercise, Abeni would manage not to burn the hay bale despite it being engulfed in flames. If all went well, her mother would see that Abeni could be independent.

But with her mother in a constant state of fear since the last fire incident, there was no telling what would happen today.

Even now, her mother kept glancing at Naomi’s right hand, which had a burn scar.

Naomi could understand her fear, but she wished she’d stop worrying so much. Everything was fine.

“You’re doing great,” Abeni’s instructor said. “Now, I want you to extinguish the flames.”

Abeni took a deep breath. Slowly, the fire became smaller and smaller.

“Abeni, sweetie, please be careful,” the queen said.

The instructor gave the queen a look.

Abeni’s eye twitched. The fire started to get bigger again. “Oh no.”

“You’re doing fine,” her instructor said calmly. “The hay bale isn’t burning. Take a deep breath and focus.”

Abeni glanced at her mother, who was still biting her nails. She looked back at the hay bale and took a few more deep breaths.

The fire would flare up some, then shrink again, then it would flare up again.

Her mother looked at Naomi. “Maybe you should go. If anything happens—”

Naomi glanced at her sister. Abeni was looking at the pair of them with a look of concern. She had heard mother. “Mama, I’ll be fine,” Naomi whispered. “She’s got it.”

Suddenly, the hay bale started to blacken and the straws snapped and crackled. The fire grew and grew.

“It’s burning!” Abeni said.

“It’s okay. Focus, and take a deep—”

“I can’t! I can’t!” Abeni tried to make the fire stop, but every attempt seemed to make the fire spread more. It started to crawl along the stone floor.

The queen grabbed Naomi’s hand. “You need to go, now!”

Naomi shook her head and pulled her hand away. “Abeni knows what to do.”

“Oh for the love of—do as I say, child!”

Naomi looked back between Abeni and her mother. Maybe she was right. Maybe she should go. Maybe coming had been a bad idea all along. She didn’t want to get burned again.

But what about Abeni? What would running away do? It would cause her to panic.

“I’m staying.” She looked at Abeni and made eye contact with her. “Everything is going to be fine!”

Abeni blinked.

Naomi gave her a smile. Its okay. You’ve got this. You know what to do.

Abeni looked back at the fire. She took a deep breath and, with a wave of her hand, the fire went out.

Naomi sighed with relief. “There. Told you.”

Her mother groaned. “Foolish child. What will I do with you?”

“I can’t be foolish if I was right.”

Abeni stared at the pile of ashes left by her failed attempt.

“That’s fine,” her instructor said. “We have more hay bales where that came from.”

Abeni shook her head. “I need a break. I can’t do it anymore.”

“Are you sure you want to quit right now? You were doing very well.”

“I burnt the hay! The fire was scurrying about the floor! I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

Her instructor gave her a nod, but looked a little sad. “Alright.” She gave her a bow. “I shall see you in three days time.”

“Thank you.” Abeni hurried out of the training building.

“Abeni, wait!” Naomi followed her outside. “Are you okay?”

“No! I’m not okay. I messed up everything and you could have gotten hurt because of it. Again!” She hurried off. “I’m going to the garden.”

Naomi sighed and went back inside the training building.

The queen was talking to the instructor. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Her powers should be under control now.”

Naomi waited for the instructor to say what was on her mind, what was on both their minds.

But the instructor cleared her throat and simply said, “Perhaps with more training, she will learn to control her abilities under stress. Of course, that will require more practice.”

Naomi frowned. She knew and the instructor knew exactly why Abeni was stressed to begin with. Even now, Naomi could feel the anxiety emanating from her mother. It was like a storm cloud hovering over her, and it always threatened to pour down rain and hail at the slightest inconvenience.

But the instructor wouldn’t say anything because she was too scared to trigger it. Not that she could blame her. Still, someone had to tell mother. Otherwise, nothing would be solved.

“Very well,” the queen said. “She’ll get the hang of it eventually, won’t she?”

“I am certain she will. We’ll resume your lessons in three days time.”

“Can’t you come tomorrow? She needs to get a hold on her abilities as soon as possible.”

“I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. I have another appointment.”

The queen nodded. “I understand.”

“I shall see you on the 7th, then.” She bowed to the Naomi and the queen, and went out the door.

The queen glared at the instructor as if she had hurt Abeni in some way.

“I’ve got to go,” Naomi said. Before the queen could say anything, she caught up with Abeni’s instructor. “Excuse me. Can I ask you something before you go?”

The instructor sighed and stopped in her tracks. “You just did, but go ahead.”

Naomi lowered her voice. “Do you think it’s possible that my mother’s anxiety is rubbing off on Abeni?”

The instructor looked at her warily.

“I won’t tell anyone what you say. Promise.”

The instructor looked around, making sure no one was listening. “Without a doubt,” she whispered. “She’s always there, sitting on the sidelines, calling out to the princess. ‘Stay calm,’ she says. ‘Focus, don’t burn the house down’ she says.” She groaned. “It’s getting on my nerves. I keep trying to give her hints, but she seems to be ignoring them.”

“I see.”

“If she expects Abeni to manage her anxiety and her fire ability, she must reign in her own anxiety first! But heaven forbid I tell her that. She doesn’t strike me as one who’d—” she stopped and glanced behind her. “I’ve got to go. Goodbye.” With that, she spread her wings and flew into the air. Whoosh!

The gust of wind made Naomi stumble backwards.

“Naomi!”

Naomi looked behind her. Her mother was at the door of the stone Training Building. So that’s why she left in a hurry.

“Naomi,” the queen said. “Come here!”

Naomi sighed. “Yes, Mama.” She ran to her mother.

“So?” The queen asked.

Naomi was confused. “So what?”

“What did she say?”

“About…?”

“Weren’t you asking her to come train Abeni tomorrow? I thought you were trying to change her mind.”

“Oh. Oh. No, I wasn’t talking to her about that. I was…” Naomi had to think up of something. “Asking her if it was possible for someone to develop their own superpowers later in life. But she was in a hurry, so she couldn’t finish explaining.”

Her mother sighed. “Why would you ask her about that? Don’t tell me you have fire abilities too!”

“No. I don’t. It would be neat though. Can you imagine me with fire hands?”

Her mother took another look at Naomi’s right hand. “I don’t have to imagine.”

Naomi wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Her mother rubbed her forehead. “Abeni is nineteen. Nineteen. She’ll be twenty next month. She’s getting older, and so are I and your baba. We won’t be here forever. How will she manage the kingdom without us? Where’s Abeni anyway?”

“She went to the garden to relax.”

“The garden? I hope she doesn’t burn the flowers. She’s already upset about that stupid hay bale. And who wouldn’t?! This is a disaster. And then that stupid instructor won’t be here for the next three days! Why can’t she be here sooner? She knows Abeni’s powers only get stronger and harder to control by the day! What are we supposed to do?”

Naomi nodded. “Well, maybe there is a way to help her out.”

“How?”

“Maybe, and this is just a thought, but maybe, you could skip Abeni’s next lesson? You’d only miss this one. And then see how she does afterwards?”

The queen stared at her like she was insane. “How would me not being there for Abeni help her?”

Naomi rubbed the back of her neck. “Mama,” she said gently. “You’re very stressed most of the time. That rubs off on Abeni. When you’re anxious, she gets anxious, which makes her lose control over her flames. So maybe if you skip some of her lessons, and instead go somewhere to relax—”

The queen glared at her. “You think it’s my fault she’s like this?!”

“I didn’t say—”

“But you are! Naomi, you have no idea how much I’m trying to do to help Abeni, to help you! She needs me for support, and you need protection! I’m your mother. But you wouldn’t understand that, because you’re young! You don’t have a family of your own yet! Of course I’m going to be worried about everything! I can’t help that!”

Sometimes, her parents emotions were like a storm. The clouds were grey, there was thunder, and she knew there was going to be rain and hail.

When the storm did come, she had to steer her ship the best she could to keep it from sinking.

But her parents emotions were also like a whirlpool. They spun round and round, dragging anyone too close to it under, so that they were engulfed in the chaos.

That’s how Naomi felt right now. As her mother shouted at her, she felt her and her ship being sucked into the whirlpool, which wouldn’t stop spinning no matter how hard she tried to calm it down.

How could you calm down a whirlpool? It was impossible?

“I don’t get you sometimes. I do everything I can, and you’re complaining. You’re too…”

Further and further in she went, until, suddenly, she floated out.

She wasn’t in the whirlpool anymore. She actually wasn’t sure where she was anymore. She didn’t know who was yelling at her, or why she was yelling at her, or what she was saying.

What’s going on? This isn’t right. What’s happening to me? What am I doing here? It was like she had been picked up and dropped somewhere completely foreign.

I’m lost.

Run. Go run. Find a way find a way back home.

Wake up, wake up, wake up!

When Naomi finally came back to her senses, she realized she was running. But running where?

She looked around. She was on a path that was familiar but old. She looked up at the sky. The sun was still up, but it was…lower? How much time had passed?

How did she make it out of the palace without her guards stopping her or her bodyguards coming with her? Was there a secret passageway out? Were the new guards on task asleep on the job?

The more she ran, the more she remembered where she had been at first and realized where she was going now. She was going to her aunt’s house.

She wasn’t sure exactly how she had gotten on the path, but she was here, back in her body again, and she could focus on where she intended to go. She was going to go to one of the few people she could trust.