The Footsteps of my Father

The Footsteps of my Father

Chapter Two

-Fire and Ashes-

"Thank you, have a nice day," Sindaria said as she handed the bag of groceries to the man.

Sindaria watched as the cashier rang up the next person's groceries. Bags, jars, and cans slid down to the end where Sindaria stood. She opened another paper bag and began placing the items in it. She handed the bag to the woman, who smiled. "Aren't you a little young to be working?"

Sindaria shrugged. "I do what I must, ma'am. My family needs the money," Sindaria said. "Have a nice day."

"You're a good child. Your parents must be very proud," the woman said and walked away. Though she didn't show it on the outside, inside Sindaria was beaming.

"Ari, why don't you go on and head home. It should be dinner soon." Sindaria looked to see her manager, Mr. Wittle, looking at her, a soft smile on his face.

Sindaria nodded. "Yes, sir." She finished bagging the current customer's groceries and handed the bag to the woman. "Thank you, have a nice day." Sindaria left the end of the counter and headed into the employee's lounge to get ready for the cold walk home.

She was sitting on the couch, drinking a mug of hot chocolate, when the news came on the T.V. that was bolted up near the ceiling. Fred, one of the older employees, was sitting at a small counter, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. "Fred, could you please turn that up?"

Fred looked at her and smiled. "Sure thing." He stood and turned up the volume, sitting back down, going back to his newspaper.

"Thanks," Sindaria said, watching the T.V. intently. The news had just come on.

"And now back to the lead story. The criminal is still at large and we have yet to find out his whereabouts. There are men out there searching for this escapee, but they have had no luck thus far. Be careful out there on the streets, for he could be anywhere." A picture of the man flashed up on the screen. He had scraggly black hair, and wore a very dark and menacing expression on his face. "If you see this man, please call your local police station immediately. He is a very dangerous man and needs to be apprehended immediately."

Sindaria shuddered, taking another sip of her hot chocolate. "I'm not surprised they haven't caught him yet." Sindaria looked up to see Wilma standing in the doorway, looking up at the T.V. Wilma was the assistant manager, but she was very young-looking with her blond hair pulled back in a pony-tail and a crisp gray suit.

"Why do you say that?" Fred asked, looking at Wilma.

Wilma shrugged. "From what I've heard, he escaped from a extremely well-guarded prison and if he could make the slip on them, who's to say he can't give the slip on all the people after him now?"

"Aren't you scared?" Sindaria asked.

Wilma looked at her. "Sure I am, but what's the use of worrying when there's so much else to be done? Frankly, this man is somewhere over in England, and I'm pretty sure he's not going to be booking a passage to the United States any time soon."

Sindaria nodded. "Yeah," she said, "I guess."

Wilma gave her a smile. "Don't worry, dear, that's over in England."

Sindaria nodded and stood, setting the empty mug down on the counter with the rest of the dishes. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You be careful out there. This is no place to be wandering around," Fred said. Sindaria nodded and pulled her thin coat around her body. She moved to leave when Wilma stopped her.

"Ari, I wanted to give you this. It's for your birthday, but I thought you might like to have it now." Wilma handed Sindaria a wrapped box with a bow.

Sindaria grinned. "Thanks!" She un-wrapped the package and opened the box, pulling out a heavy winter coat with fur around the collar, at the ends of the sleeves, and around the base of the coat. Sindaria's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much! It's so pretty!"

Wilma smiled as Sindaria hugged her tightly. "Just something I thought you'd like."

Sindaria smiled. "I love it!" She quickly set the box down and pulled on the coat. The fur was soft around her neck and she felt warm and safe in the coat. It reached all the way down to her knees.

"When I saw this in the window, I immediately thought of you."

"That's a beautiful coat, Wilma, where'd you find it?" Fred asked. Wilma leaned close to Fred and whispered something. His eyes widened. "Wow," was all he said.

"Thank you again," Sindaria said, leaving the lounge. Wilma smiled and Sindaria headed outside.

* * *

When Sindaria showed her parents the coat that Wilma had given her, they both stared at her with wide eyes. "That must have cost a pretty penny," her mother exclaimed, fingering the soft fur.

"I wonder who she had to murder to get it," her father said jokingly.

Sindaria smiled. "At least now I have something a little warmer."

Her parents nodded. "It's nice to know that there are decent people out there," her mother commented.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Maria cried, jumping up and down.

Sindaria smiled and took off the coat, putting it on Maria. "There you go."

"Look at me! I'm a princess!" Maria declared, grinning. She strode around the living room, the coat trailing behind her.

"Well, little princess, even you have to sleep," her father said lovingly, picking up Maria.

"Daddy!" Maria protested.

"To the royal bedchamber," her father announced, winking at Sindaria and her mother. He walked into the bedroom, closing the door. Terrance was already asleep.

"Well, I have some good news, Ari. I managed to get that brown stain out of your blouse," her mother said, handing Sindaria her white blouse.

Sindaria smiled. "Thank you!" she cried and hugged her mother.

"You're welcome. Now, off to bed. Last day of school before your break. Then you get to sleep in."

Sindaria grinned. "Yes!" she cried, pumping her fist in the air. Her mother laughed and Sindaria headed into her bedroom just as her father walked out.

"Maria insisted that she sleep in the coat. I hope you don't mind," her father said with a smile.

Sindaria smiled. "Nope, not at all."

* * *

They were playing dodge-ball in gym on Friday, and it was one of Sindaria's least favorite games because it never failed that Bobby and his gang would be on the other side and would heave all the balls at her. The way that their gym classes worked was to take grades one through three and mix them together and grades four through six together. Though there were about twenty different gym classes, the classes were still very large, due to the amount of students that went to the school.

Sindaria ducked as Bobby heaved another ball at her head. "I really hate this game," Sindaria muttered. Teresa had been hit earlier and was now sitting on the side-lines. Sindaria picked up one of the smaller balls and heaved it towards the other team. She was pleased when the ball hit one of Bobby's gang members squarely in the face. Sindaria laughed as the boy sulked off.

"You'll pay for that one, Olsen!" Bobby yelled.

"Whatever," Sindaria muttered, still grinning. One of Bobby's goons heaved another ball at her, but his aim was poor, so she easily avoided it. As Sindaria scampered around for balls, she noticed that she was one of the few left on her side and on the other side Bobby and a few of his goons were all that was left.

As her side dwindled, Bobby and his goons began picking up every ball that they could manage. Then they began barraging her with them, one after another. She got hit in the stomach by one and was moving to leave, but they still kept heaving the balls at her. They were throwing them so hard that it really had begun to hurt. She could feel her rage building up inside of her. "Stop!" she cried. Bobby and his goons kept laughing as tears of pain began to fill her eyes. She could vaguely hear Mr. Young trying to get them to stop, but it didn't stop.

Defiantly, she stood up and, as three balls flew at her face, they suddenly burst into flame and became piles of ashes on the gym floor. Then she collapsed into darkness.

* * *

As Sindaria opened her eyes, a flash of red filled her vision and she groaned. She blinked, the room beginning to come into focus. As her vision cleared, she realized that she was in the nurse's office. Teresa was sitting next to her and smiled when she saw that Sindaria had awaked. "You're awake!"

Mrs. Roberto, the nurse, bustled over and forced Sindaria to stay lying on her back. "No, no, you must stay lying down. You had quite a shock there, as I understand. You need some more rest. Here, drink this water if you can." Mrs. Roberto lifted Sindaria's head and set the edge of the cup against Sindaria's lips. The cool water felt refreshing and Sindaria gulped it down. When she had drained the cup, she laid her head back down. "In a few hours, I'll check you over. Then you can go, if you are alright." Sindaria nodded and Mrs. Roberto hurried away.

Teresa looked at Sindaria, her face full of relief. "I don't know what happened, but that was really scary."

Sindaria looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Well, I really don't know. It was all really weird. Bobby and his idiot friends were heaving all those balls at you. Several of us were trying to keep them away from you and Mr. Young was trying to stop those jerks from throwing more balls. Then you just stood up and you had this really scary look on your face. You looked ready to murder something. Then, as some balls flew at you, they just burst into flames! It was really scary."

Sindaria's eyes widened. "But - but that's impossible! How could they just burst into flames?"

Teresa shrugged. "How should I know? All I saw was it happen. Everyone was really shocked."

"I guess so. I know I am. Geez, first those windows shatter in the cafeteria and now balls burst into flames. I wonder what's going on."

Teresa shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Bobby and his idiots rigged them."

Sindaria shrugged. "Maybe," she said, but inside she didn't think so.

* * *

"Oh, we were so worried! I'm so glad you're alright!" her mother exclaimed when Sindaria had come home.

"When we got that call, we didn't know what to think," her father said, shaking his head. "Balls bursting into flames?"

"I'm really tired. I need to go lay down or something," Sindaria mumbled.

Her parents nodded. "Of course, dear. Just come into the kitchen when you feel hungry," her mother said.

Sindaria nodded and went into her room. She climbed the ladder up to the Tower and sat in her usual spot by the window. She pulled a thin blanket over her legs and leaned against the wall, looking out the window. What was going on? First the windows shatter, then dodge-balls burst into flames. Was there something wrong with her? Why was all this happening? Her hugged her knees and put her chin on them, closing her eyes.

* * *

A delicious aroma made her open her eyes and she realized that it was pitch-black in the Tower. She felt her way to the ladder and climbed down. She rubbed her eyes and walked into the kitchen, where the rest of her family was sitting, eating dinner. Her mother smiled. "Good. Have a seat. Your dinner is on the counter."

Sindaria nodded and took her plate of meat and vegetables and sat down between her father and Terrance. "How do you feel?" her father asked.

"Better," Sindaria said. "A little stressed."

Her father nodded. "As well as you should be, after what happened."

"What happened?" Terrance asked.

"We'll talk later," her father said and Terrance went back to his dinner.

Sindaria reached for her glass and suddenly it shattered. Her hand flashed back, narrowly avoiding getting cut. Her family stared at her and then at the pieces of broken glass. "Don't touch," her mother said as Maria reached for the pieces. Maria drew her hand back. Her mother quickly swept up the pieces, throwing them away. Nobody say anything and for that Sindaria was grateful. Why was all this happening to her? What did she do to deserve this? Now everyone was going to think she was a weirdo or a psycho.

After dinner, Sindaria sat in front of the fireplace, looking into the fire. Her mother was busy cleaning up the kitchen, and her father was in her bedroom with Maria and Terrance. Sindaria could feel tears building up in her eyes. What was wrong with her?

She watched the flames leaping around in the fireplace and wished she could shape them. Make them look like peaceful pictures to soothe the raging turmoil within her. Without even realizing what she was doing, she reached her hand into the flames and began forming them into shapes. One was of a horse running and another was a star, and then one of a beautiful castle. A picture flashed in her mind of a huge manor, surrounded by trees.

"What are you doing?!"

Sindaria snapped back to the present and felt a sharp stab of pain in her hands. She quickly brought her hands near to her and realized that she had burned herself, but only a little. Her mother rushed over to her. "What were you thinking child?" she scolded. She forced Sindaria to her feet and rushed her into the kitchen, putting soothing aloe on Sindaria's hands and then wrapping them in bandages. "Look at me!" Sindaria looked at her mother, who was looking at her very worriedly. "Why were you putting your hands in the fire? Answer me!"

"I- I - I don't know," Sindaria said weakly.

"I'm surprised that you didn't burn your hands badly. Ari, is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Sindaria looked at her mother in confusion. "What? No."

Her mother sighed, shaking her head. "That's the fourth strange thing that has happened to you in this past week, Ari." Then her mother's eyes widened. "Are you on drugs?"

Sindaria's eyes widened. "Of course not! Why would I do something stupid like that?"

"Your behavior had become very strange lately. Your father and I have been talking and we think it'd be best if we take you to see Dr. Nemon tomorrow."

Sindaria shoved herself back from her mother. "I'm not a psycho! I don't need to see him!"

"Ari, we need to find out if there's something deep inside that's making you become very troubled."

"I'm not going to become some stupid lab rat!"

"Of course not; we only want what's best for you."

"I'm not going!" Sindaria yelled defiantly and ran out the front door, tears streaming down her face.