I Kings 19:14 (NIV).
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, go read the entire chapter; I pulled heavily from the whole thing. Also, just a note, this story (of Elijah) is very near and dear to me because my Daddy wrote a song about it. It's been playing in my head all weekend - and that's a blessing because I miss him dearly. I wish I could share it with you all, but I have no idea how to put a song on my blog. :) Anyway, you came here to read my story (probably), so I should let you get to it!
Heat-Bringer
Xavier ran, boots slipping precariously on the ice before he
reached down to extend the spikes. Sure, he could just melt the ice, like he
had back on the mountain, but that would leave an obvious trail to follow.
And he didn’t want to be followed, not when they were out to
kill him.
The squeak and crunch of the spikes hitting the ice sent
shivers down his spine. The sound reminded him just how much control they had
over everything. Ice fields spread as far as the eye could see, forcing the
population under their control. They killed every heat-bringer they’d ever
found – and he just made a target of himself.
It felt so good to do it though, melting the bodylength
thickness of ice covering Mt Maximus right in their own backyard – showing them,
and everyone, that the cold is not forever. His feet slipped in the slush that
appeared around him – radiating heat unexpectedly. He fell.
Normally, he’d be covered head to toe when walking the ice
sheets, but he’d taken off his gloves to touch the soft grass and delicate
flowers uncovered on the mountainside. In his race to get ahead of the assassins,
he’d forgotten them.
Now his hand was sitting in quickly re-freezing slush. He
aimed a heat blast so he didn’t get frostbite and found himself sitting in a
circle of summer. His fingers brushed the tips of the grasses longingly. This
is how the world should look, he thought.
He sighed and stood, lamenting the signpost this hole would
be to those chasing him.
He climbed out of the hole, slipping and squeaking as the
spikes sought purchase on the now softer surface. He had to get as far from
here as possible. He ran all day and into the night, stumbling into a cave
sometime after first moonset.
He crawled deeper into the cave and risked another heat
blast. He stopped shivering immediately. He lay sprawled on the floor,
breathing erratically and wishing for death – lost in despairing thoughts of ‘it’s
no use’ and ‘I can’t make a difference’ and ‘they’re going to kill me anyway.’
His heart stirred with an odd warmth.
“What am I doing here?” he said out loud, words echoing into
the earth. This cave system must run deep, he thought. Perhaps he could hide
better further on. He peeled himself off the rock and started into the dark.
Deeper.
Warmer.
He shucked his protective outerwear, rounded a bend, and saw
a thick, glowing red, bubbling liquid giving off unimaginable heat. A bubble
rose up and grew tall then formed itself into the shape of a person and spoke, “We
have waited for you, Xavier. The heat has been trapped inside for too long. You
must release it into the world safely before it destroys everything.”
“How? I am the last.”
“You are enough. Go, warm the earth.”
Xavier took two deep breaths, nodded, and strode back up to
the surface. He had work to do.
This was very excellent Alissa. Great job. The idea was well executed and I could feel the cold and the heat radiating off the page as it were :)
ReplyDeleteAw, yay! Thanks Caitlin! As always, I wanted more words to do it justice, but I'm glad it worked. :)
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