CHANA THOMPSON

CHAPTER 2

The Miracle

 

  The morning sunlight cascaded with a warm gentle­ness through Krista’s window, falling directly onto her pillow, and bouncing onto her face. She just lay there for a few minutes more to enjoy its heat. Her mind went back to her experience in the movie theater. She wondered what it meant. ‘The time is coming,’ It had said. And then, that bit about the ‘good thoughts.’

  Krista looked around her room. Two of the walls were painted lime-green and the other two white, “to lighten the room and add dimension” so her mom had said. Then, they had chosen white furniture, because she and her mom thought it looked good. On her walls were a number of paintings she had done over the years and brought with her from Germany. She refused to put up the posters of teen idols plastered on the walls of her sisters’ rooms. On some of the shelves were sculptures she had made out of clay, and on the other shelves, lots of books and lots of stuffed animals. On one wall was a TV, and on her desk, speakers to hear music louder.

  Over part of the wooden floor was a round, green, shag wool carpet. She loved her room. It was her refuge when she wasn’t outside doing something.

Krista felt a tingling around her forehead.

  Something was different today, but Krista couldn’t quite place what it was. It was Sunday morning, the last day before school on Monday. She got up out of bed and went into the bathroom she shared with her sisters. She could hear Adonia playing with her dolls in the next room. Gianna’s television was on, which meant, she was awake as well or had fallen asleep watching something. After taking a shower, Krista went into her room and got dressed.

  Adonia came to her room with two Barbie dolls in her hand.

  “Do you want to play with me?” asked Adonia.

  Normally, Krista would have said yes, but today she didn’t feel like it.

  “No. See if Gianna will play. I’m going downstairs,” Krista said, as she was walking towards the steps that led to the main level of the house.

  In the living room, Krista sat on the sofa and looked out of the window. The rays of the sun shone upon the slowly budding trees out in the distance. Spring was almost here. The tingling feeling became stronger. She got up, went to the refrigerator, and took out the orange juice. Opening the cupboard, she took out a glass, and poured herself a drink.

  Krista could hear sounds in the garage. She went out into the open corridor where a door stood not far from the kitchen entranceway leading into the garage. Krista walked through it. With the hood of the car ajar, her dad was bent over busy doing something.

  “You’re up early, Dad!” said Krista. Normally, he tried to sleep later on Sundays.

  “I have to replace the battery, then I can use my car again,” said Dad, standing up to look at her. The last few days he had been using Mom’s car.

  He bent down again and continued working.

  “Did you have a good sleep last night, honey?” he asked.

  “I had a fantastic dream which I can’t really remember. Something with flying,” said Krista.

  “That sounds nice. I don’t think I dreamt at all last night,” said Dad. “I probably needed the energy to fix the car today!”

  “Even though you don’t really like fixing cars, you always do a good job, Dad,” replied Krista.

  “Yeah, most of the times it’s okay,” said Dad. He stood up again and walked over to the side of the garage where his tools were. Before he reached the tools, he slid on something on the floor falling down heavily. Yelling out in surprise, he sat up on the floor and felt his leg.

  “Ouch! I think I sprained my foot,” Dad said. He tried standing up but couldn’t put his weight totally on his foot. “Could you come here Krista, I need a little help.”

  Krista felt bad for her dad. It felt almost as though it had happened to her. Running to his side, she put her hands around his waist to support him. All she could think of at that moment was how much she loved her dad. The tingling she had been feeling since she got up became very strong. Something totally intense passed between them.

  Dad looked down at her in surprise.

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore,” he said while moving his foot around. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I can’t believe it!”

  He put all his weight on his foot and started walking around.

  “Honey, I think it had something to do with you,” said Dad looking down at her in amazement.

  “It doesn’t feel like it was hurt at all. I don’t know how you did it, but thank you, sweetie!!!” Dad said bending down and giving her a kiss on her forehead. After shuddering for a second, he then took her in his arms and gave her the biggest bear hug. Another charge of electricity went through them.

Quickly letting Krista go, Dad walked out of the garage. Krista followed him. Mom was just coming downstairs looking like she had recently woken up.

  “Stella, you won’t believe what just happened!” said Dad.

  “What happened?” asked Mom sounding sleepy.

  “I just fell in the garage and hurt my foot. I think it was rather bad. So, I started thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to work, which would be unfortunate, because I haven’t been at this office long. Lately, I’ve even dreaded the idea of a cold. Well, Krista was there and helped me to get up. Something happened. Stella, it was weird. I felt,” he paused, “I felt like someone saw inside me for a second, and it felt really good. Then, all of a sudden, the pain was gone. Not only that, when I stood up, I could put pressure on the foot and walk normally....”

  “That just happened?” asked Mom, looking sleepy and doubtful.

  “Yes. It just happened,” answered Dad.

  Mom turned and looked at Krista who was standing next to the living room entranceway. Then, she turned back to her husband.

  “Are you okay, honey?” asked Mom doubtfully. This was all a little too much and too early for her.

  “It really happened, Stella,” said Dad, the elated sound in his voice was starting to change.

  Turning to Krista, Mom asked, “Is everything okay with you, Krista?”

  “Yes,” answered Krista but did not elaborate more. For some reason, she couldn’t talk about it. It was too new. And too different. She went into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Her mother waited a few moments then went into the kitchen with her dad. She could hear them speaking in low voices with one another, but she could not make out what was being said. She knew it was about her, and she knew what had just happened was not normal. Not by his reaction, and not by hers.

  What was happening with her? The tingling feeling wasn’t as strong now, but it also hadn’t disappeared. Krista felt a little scared somehow or more awake than usual but didn’t know why. Getting up again, she put her boots on and went out into the garden in the front of the house. She liked to look and search for insects or any plants that had broken through the earth after the long winter. The insects were her friends. Since she could remember, she liked to play with them, talk with them, particularly worms. Most girls she knew would run away, screaming in horror. She couldn’t understand them. Yes, they were different, but they were small and purposeful and special.

  Krista looked around on the ground and saw some ants. They were always busy. Some plants were pushing through the ground trying to come up. They were probably the spring flowers her mom liked so much.

  The grass underneath her feet felt moist and crunchy, and the sky was clear and blue. It was filled with the sound of tweeting birds. Krista felt good. Real good. The tingling around her became stronger again. A sweet, little sparrow flew down and hopped beside her.

  As she walked around the garden and looked, she didn’t find any worms. Perhaps, if she looked under stones. They were often under stones. But all she kept finding were snails.

  Out the front door Adonia came running, her rain jacket wrapped around her waist.

  “What are you doing?” asked Adonia.  

  “Just looking around, seeing if I can find some worms,” answered Krista, stopping for a second to look at her sister.

  “Can I help you?” asked Adonia. She had her usual infectious smile planted firmly on her face.

  “Sure you can,” said Krista. She smiled as well. One just had to smile around Adonia.

  Adonia looked, found a stick, and started prodding the earth in the flowerbed. Krista looked around and found another stick and started to do the same thing.

  “Here is one,” said Adonia. She had found the first worm. Taking it out and placing it on the ground, they looked for more.

Working together, they found at least ten. Each one had been given a name, and then they found a home forit.

  “Sammy is living in France with his wife, Julie,” said Adonia.

  “He loves his new home, and the children are VERY happy,” added Krista. “Look, Julie is moving to their underground palace. She’s not the Queen. She’s the Queen’s sister, and she has to warn her that thieves are hanging around the palace gates. They’re talking about coming in at night to steal her jewels.”

  “That’s what the two bodyguards are for, Buck and Chuck,” said Adonia, placing two new worms next to the others.

Krista and Adonia kept playing until they heard a call through the door to come in for lunch. Lunch was pretty normal. For the rest of the day, Krista played with her sisters and had a pretty typical Sunday with her parents. No one mentioned the situation again in the garage, but her parents did look at her a bit more than usual, and from time to time, would ask how she was.

  The tingling feeling died down but didn’t totally leave. Krista noticed that when she argued with her sisters, she didn’t feel good. So, she was generally just quiet. By the end of the day, she was happy to go to bed and prepare for tomorrow, since it was school again.

  A glowing Figure, giving off intense waves of some­thing wonderful, was telling her the importance of always telling the truth. ‘You do it normally,’ It said, ‘but you should do it always. In words is power. Say each word with thought. Treat all people and animal life forms with respect. More shall be given you. Much more....’

  The door of her room flew open and Justine came inside. Her voice was like a bucket of cold water, waking her up.

  “Time to get up, Krista!” said Justine loudly in a rough, abrasive voice. “Move that body of yours into the bathroom and wash up!”

  Krista sleepily got up and went into the bathroom to clean herself. Gianna, who had just been there, was leaving. They were supposed to share the bathroom to get out the house faster, but since Gianna didn’t like sharing with them anymore, she set her alarm clockand got up much earlier than them, just to use the bathroom alone. She could hear Justine saying some­thing (probably similar, but in a much nicer tone) to Adonia. Adonia soon appeared in the bathroom.

  “It’s a wonderful morning. A wonderful morning,” sang Adonia, while stripping and starting to wash herself in the sink. Her song filled the room.

Krista smiled. It was a wonderful morning.

  Finishing her shower, Krista left with her bathrobe on, leaving Adonia in the bathroom alone. Shortly thereafter, she was completely dressed and went down­stairs humming Adonia’s song.

  Breakfast was on the table, and they had to quickly eat then drive to school. Somewhere in between, Justine helped whoever’s hair needed doing. She brushed through her and Adonia’s hair, pulling and hurting while she did it. Gianna was smart since she did her own hair.

Mom left much earlier for work. She worked as a Home Health Aide with terminally ill patients at the Hospice of Rockland County. Mom picked that job because she could help people and make money. She loved doing it, but the hours fluctuated. Sometimes she worked earlier in the day, sometimes later, so whenever Mom needed her…Justine was there.

  Dad was sitting at the table with the daily newspa­per open while drinking his morning coffee. The smell of fresh toast filled the kitchen.

  “Good morning, Krista,” said Dad, looking up from his newspaper. He was full of smiles. Krista had never seen him in such a good mood in the morning except on the weekends and vacations when he didn’t have to get up early. He stood up to give her the usual morning kiss on her forehead, which was today, hardly a beck on her face. With a strange look on his face, he quickly sat back down to his paper.

  Gianna came down into the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” mumbled Gianna. She sat down and took a piece of toast from the center of the table, put butter on it, and started eating.

  “Good morning,” answered Dad. He didn’t get up for Gianna. She had told him, not long ago, that she was much too old for his explicit shows of affection.   Dad reluctantly agreed.

  “Good morning, everyone!” said Adonia, running down at last. She ran over to Dad to get a big, fat, morning hug and kiss, sat down, and started eating breakfast.

  “Dad, that was fun last night at the movies. Can we go next weekend to the movies as well?” asked Adonia between bites.

  “Next weekend our school holidays begin. Easter break! I’m so excited!” interrupted Gianna. Her usual morning sullenness flew away at the thought of a vacation from school.

  Justine entered the kitchen coming from the cellar, holding Adonia’s gym clothing in her hands. She looked tired this morning as though she hadn’t had much sleep last night. Her round face and portly figure had a light film of sweat from the activity of walking up the steps. Dressed in her usual sports clothing, Justine looked ready for action. Her hair was pulled back in its normal fashion and tied together in a bun. Justine was average looking but could be attractive when she smiled. She just didn’t smile much.

  “Keep an eye on the time. We’ve got another ten minutes before we have to leave,” said Justine still out of breath.

  “I just started eating breakfast,” complained Adonia with a sad sound in her voice. She was near to tears.

  “Don’t worry, Adonia. There is more than enough time to finish your toast. Just don’t talk so much and you’ll be able to do it,” replied Justine, looking in affec­tion at Adonia.

  Gianna rolled her eyes in annoyance. She looked like she was going to throw up.

  The pressure was on. They had to hurry up and go or be late. Justine rushed them into the car after they said goodbye to their dad. Off they were to their school in New City, NY. Since the school was private, there were no school buses to pick them up like the other kids in the neighborhood. They had to leave early enough not to get stuck in traffic. Fortunately for them, the school was only twenty minutes away by car as long as there were no traffic problems.

  “I can’t believe Ms. Johnson is giving us a math test on MONDAY!” complained Gianna. The irritated look was back. “It’s our first class!”

  “You’re supposed to be prepared no matter when you have a test. I hope you studied,” answered Justine sharply, while keeping her eyes on the road.

  “I studied,” said Gianna annoyed. “At least it’s the last week before the Easter vacation. I’m not going to open one book the whole time!”

  “In my homework over the weekend, we had to write about something we did. I wrote about the time we went to Disneyland in Paris. I wrote more than three pages!” said Adonia proudly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me at the house, Adonia? I could have checked it for errors,” said Justine, as they were waiting for a light to turn green.

  “Parents and babysitters aren’t supposed to check it, Ms. Grandy said,” said Adonia slightly put out.

  “Maybe, they aren’t supposed to check the other kids, but you haven’t been in America that long and need help with your sentence structures. And anyway, your mother asked me to do it when she’s at work,” said Justine patiently.

  “But Ms. Grandy said we shouldn’t get help,” repeated Adonia insistently.

  “If I have to, I’ll go in and talk to Ms. Grandy with you and we’ll get this all straightened out,” said Justine, while slightly turning up the radio. She was partially lis­tening to the traffic report.

  “Please don’t come in, Justine, that will be so em­barrassing! No one else has someone coming in before school starts,” said Adonia, beginning to sound tearful.

  “Well, then next time tell me, and show it to me, when I’m at your house,” said Justine determinedly. With Adonia, she had loads of patience.

  “I don’t know why I should do something the other kids don’t have to do....” Adonia was still saying when the car came to a stop. They were in front of the school.

  Krista was quiet for the whole ride. She was sure no one had noticed. Justine said goodbye to everyone, though kissing only Adonia, and sent them off into the building.

  The school complex was somewhat new, if you can call something seven years old new. Big, modern windows were in each room with computer rooms that had good computers. The tables and chairs in each class were comfortable, and the classes weren’t very large (not more that 15 kids per class.) The first to fourth graders were in one building with a separate play area than the fifth to eighth graders, and their lunch­ rooms were also separate. Next year, Adonia would be in Krista’s building, but Gianna would be leaving them to go somewhere else, her parents hadn’t decided where yet.

  Mom and Dad really liked the school because they taught five different languages with language labs for kids to immerse themselves in. The school had a super reputation. Justine was always complaining about how much the school cost and she didn’t even pay for anything. On the other hand, when they met with people, she loved to brag that her second cousins were in private school.

  Krista walked with Gianna to their building entrance and, after saying goodbye to Adonia, went inside. Everyone was hurrying in, going to their lockers to put jackets and stuff away, and then running into class. A few of the girls from her class were standing next to the lockers talking. With friendly waves they greeted each other then went into class. Susie, one of the girls she liked a lot, grabbed another of the girls from behind then laughed. Krista wished someone would greet her that way.

  “Hey, Krista!” said Susie, then ran off in front of her and sat down at her seat. Susie was tall with a few freckles sprinkled over her very pale face and long, curly red hair.

  “Hi, Susie!” replied Krista happily. Susie noticed her! Walking behind Susie, Krista hurried into her seat in the front row.

  Ms. Gonzalez was already in the classroom writing something on the blackboard. She was somewhat over­weight, had short, bushy hair, and wore glasses. Imme­diately, she turned around with a strained look on her face as the bell rang and took note, which students were not in their seats. All strays sat down as quickly as they could, but for some, it was too late.

  “I see we have this morning a number of late students!” said Ms. Gonzalez, critically noting every­thing in the book lying on her desk.

  This time Krista was on time. If only it could always be this way! Krista sighed. She took out her notebook and put it on her desk and began writing what was on the board. It was always pretty quiet in Ms. Gonzalez’s class. Everybody was scared of her. She was their strict­est teacher.

  It was one of Krista’s worse classes. She tried to participate as much as possible, and often knew the answers, but no matter what Krista did, her marks were horrible. She was criticized so much that she didn’t even bother to raise her hand anymore. Ms. Gonzalez would just pick her, sensing when she wasn’t paying attention. Everything was noted in that little book of hers.

  “Everyone, take out your homework and pass it up towards the front of the class,” said Ms. Gonzalez, while walking over to the window and opening it a crack. On the way back, she collected the homework from each row. As she got close to Krista to pick up the sheets of paper on her desk, her hand brushed Krista’s.

  Krista saw a flash of images before an inner eye that flew by so fast she couldn’t understand them all; some­thing in a supermarket, but the one that stood out was of Ms. Gonzalez sitting up in a hospital bed connect­ed to an intravenous tube. Krista saw the sickness and a bit of something else, but a kind of voice said there was nothing one can do. Nothing one can do. She was awaited somewhere. Somewhere. There.

  After touching Krista, Ms. Gonzalez put her hand to her head as though she wasn’t feeling good. Collecting the last of the papers, she sat down and did the rest of the lesson sitting, which she was starting to do more and more often lately. It was somehow strange.

  Krista was happy when it was over and hurried out of the room to go to her next class. The tingling sensa­tion was stronger.

  The next class was with Mr. Reed, a good-natured, slightly balding man with a large potbelly. When he laughed it jiggled, and it was fun being in his class. He was her only black teacher.

   Krista walked into the room, going directly to her seat that was next to the window. Sometimes, she thought her teacher made a mistake putting her here. When the lesson started getting monotone, or the English was a bit complicated with vocabulary she wasn’t so familiar with, she looked outside and flew away. Krista imagined herself going somewhere on the beach with warm water and sand as far as the eye could see. Building a sandcastle, then right after she was finished, running through it and knocking it all down. Afterwards, she would fly in the clouds and watch the towns and villages below.

  Mr. Reed came into the room.

  “Good morning, class. I hope everybody had a good weekend, because the Yankees won and mine was fan­tastic!!!” said Mr. Reed energetically.

  Mr. Reed was the history teacher and they were doing the Civil War. All the dates from the last lessons were still mixed up in Krista’s head. After taking atten­dance, he began immediately with the lesson.

  “So, once again let’s go over the reasons why the South wants to secede from the United States. Who can tell us what secede means?” asked Mr. Reed.

  A few kids raised their hands. He pointed to a boy named Jimmy who often participated in class.

  “Something like a divorce,” said Jimmy.

  “That’s pretty much on point, Jimmy. It means to leave. And why do they want to leave the United States?”

  More hands were raised.

  “Toni,” said Mr. Reed, whose hand wasn’t raised. Toni was talking with her best friend, Lisa, their two heads locked together in conference. Toni had short, dark, curly hair and blues eyes, and Lisa, short, straight, blond hair and green eyes. They were almost oblivious to the rest of the class.

  “Ahhh...what was the question again?” asked Toni, not at all ashamed that she had missed what was being said.

  “I asked why does the South want to secede from the United States?”

  “They want to succeed because they want America to be successful,” answered Toni, with a very serious look on her face.

  A number of kids laughed.

  “No, Toni, that is not correct and PAY ATTEN­TION,” he said continuing, “who has the answer?...Mike?”

  “I believe it had something to do with slavery,” said Michael quietly, putting his hand down before he started speaking.

  “That’s right, Mike. The South felt the North wanted to control them, which they didn’t want. So, some states felt compelled to leave.  They formed the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as their President. The first state to leave was South Carolina, then four months later Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Soon after, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee joined them. So going back to the reasons, which event made them want to leave?”

  He wrote the names on the board as he spoke.

  No one raised their hands this time. “It was the election of 1860. Lincoln campaigned saying he wanted to stop the spread of slavery. The southern states threat­ened to leave if he was elected, and he was…so they did. The tension was great. The northern states were called the Union. The Confederate Army took over Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina because it had Union soldiers in it. The Confederates did not want Union forts on their land. This made President Lincoln declare war.”

  Krista found the facts of the war interesting. People could be so mean. Leave the United States and form a new country, just because they didn’t want to give other people freedom. She paid attention this lesson, but the dates, thank goodness he was writing everything on the board!

  The rest of the class was interesting, and this time, Krista didn’t spend her time looking out of the window. And he didn’t call on her!!! There was one more class before lunch and she was already starting to get hungry. Krista should have eaten more at home or taken a snack with her. Normally, she would have when she only ate a little at breakfast, but this morning she had forgotten.

  On the break, Krista went back to her locker. In front of her, Susie and Fawn were walking. Fawn was around her size with blond, straight hair, which she normally kept in a ponytail, and big blue eyes.

  “I am so hungry!” Fawn was saying loudly. To empha­size it, she held on to her stomach with both hands.

  “Me, too!” agreed Susie sympathetically, “I have some energy bars in my locker, if you want one?”

  “Oh, yes!” said Fawn.

  Susie and Fawn went to the lockers, which were next to hers, and took out two energy bars. After distribut­ing them, they quickly opened them and began eating. Looking longingly at the energy bars, Krista sadly opened her own locker and put her history book inside.

  Suddenly, the bell rang. Krista and the girls had to lock their lockers as fast as they could then run off for class. They reached the door just before Ms. Brunetti was about to close it.

  This was the perfect class before lunch...Art. The class was learning about Georges Seurat and his way of painting called pointillism. Each student had a large paper and was painting his or her own version of it. It was much harder than it looked. They were doing this project for at least a week and only two kids were finished who were promptly given something new to do for extra credit.

  Everyone had a long, body apron with long arms that they had to wear while painting. Krista attempted to capture the sunset and liked how it was coming out. Next to her on one side was Susie, on the other, Fawn. Susie was painting roses and Fawn was painting her cat. That was the coolest part about it. Everyone had some­ thing different they liked and not one was alike. Ms. Brunetti let them talk as long as they were still painting.

  “This does NOT look like my cat,” stated Fawn.

  “But it least it looks like a cat, these roses don’t look like flowers,” said Susie, staring critically at her painting which was almost finished.

  “I don’t know if people can tell if this is a sunset, but I love the mixture of colors. By far one of my greatest works!” Krista added in. No one replied.

  Despite that, Krista was feeling better. The weird situation with Ms. Gonzalez flew from her mind. She wished she lived closer to Susie and Fawn. Since school started, Krista, after asking, was one time at Susie’s house and one time at Fawn’s. They never asked to come to her house. She didn’t know where she stood with them or if they even really liked her at all. It made coming to school painful.

  In Krista’s neighborhood, it was like being in an even worse world. A world of thought and almost loneliness. If it was possible to be lonely with two sisters!

  Krista had as much fun as possible for the rest of the period, mainly with herself, until art was over. Ten minutes before the bell was to ring, they had to clean up and put their paintings away until the next time art class met.

  Taking their time leaving the room, Susie and Fawn were joined up by three other girls in the class, Chrissie, Brittney, and Dawn. They all strolled over to the lunch­room. Each in turn, took a tray, and stood in line to pick out something to eat. Krista walked behind them.

  There was a variation of three dishes to choose from and one was always without meat because of the growing number of vegetarians. Also, a number of the staff members didn’t eat meat. And there were of course many, who just didn’t mind eating a meatless meal, if they didn’t like or got tired of the other two dishes being offered. Two lines joined together and then went in opposite directions. Everything moved really fast. Some of the girls from Krista’s class stood in the same line together, so they could talk along the way. Krista stood behind them.

  “I love Ms. Brunetti’s class! It is so much fun! My second picture is starting to look really good!” Dawn was saying.

  “I wish we only had art and didn’t have any other classes!” said Brittney happily.

  Chrissie giggled and nodded in agreement.

  “My picture is taking forever to be finished,” com­mented Susie.

  “I keep mixing too many colors together, and not getting the color I want to make!” said Fawn with a touch of frustration.

  “You should write the combinations down, or make a small chart, and look at it while you’re painting,” sug­gested Dawn. “I’ve got them memorized.”

  “I don’t really care. I like the surprise when I’m painting,” said Brittney.

  Krista only partially listened to the conversation. She was more interested in what was being offered to eat on the vegetarian menu. Vegetable casserole. Not her favorite, but as the saying went...beggars can’t be choosy. She’d try to eat it.

  After picking out their food, the girls went to a table with enough vacant chairs to fit them all. The room was filling up and the lines were pretty long.

With her tray in her hand, Krista stood there not knowing where to sit. Susie and the girls were at one table, some boys from her class at another, and on other tables were kids from other classes. She disliked lunch. Most of the time, Krista sat alone or at a table with kids who ignored her. Her sister had lunch after her, so she couldn’t even sit with her.

  Seeing Krista standing there, Susie waved her over. Something about Krista attracted her today.

  “Hey, Krista! Come here,” said Susie with a welcom­ing smile.

  If she hadn’t known her name was Krista, Krista would have turned around to see whom Susie was talking to. Gratefully, she joined them at the table. The tingling feeling had increased. Krista felt odd.

  “Did any of you see the new Disney movie?” asked Fawn. “I went on the weekend with my dad. It was really good!”

  “I’m probably going to see it this weekend or sometime over the Easter vacation,” said Susie.

  No one else saw it.

  “I went with my family,” said Krista, taking a short break between bites.

  “And did you like it?” said Fawn, with a big smile across her face.

  Krista waited a moment before she said something. Actually, she regretted that she had spoken. What could she, should she, say?

  “Well, I went with them, but didn’t really see the film. It was kind of strange....” She stopped talking again. After a moment she said, “My sisters liked it a lot and my parents.”

  No one really noticed that it was difficult for Krista to talk about it or really care that she was there yet hadn’t seen it. They just kept talking about the scenes from the coming attractions and Fawn told them about a few things which had happened in the movie.

  Maybe Krista should speak to her mother when she got home from work. As much as she loved her dad, he was not a big talker. Krista needed someone to talk to. But not all these girls at the table, perhaps Fawn or Susie. She just wasn’t sure right now.

  After eating a little food, Krista wasn’t hungry anymore. The carefree mood disappeared with the question Fawn had asked. Left was a feeling of some­thing strange happening inside of her. And, of course, that tingling sensation.

  The day flew by, as days do. It was 8 o’clock in the evening and time for Krista to go to bed. Her pajamas were on and she just finished brushing her teeth. Adonia was with her in the bathroom getting ready to brush her teeth. Gianna was able to stay up an extra hour, so she wasn’t here with them. One could hear the sound of the television coming from her room.

  “I don’t have enough space,” complained Adonia. “You have to move over. I can’t see my teeth in the mirror.”

  Krista moved over to give her more space. She just couldn’t argue with her like she used to. The desire for peace and harmony poured through her with an inten­sity that was almost frightening. With it came a peace. Deep inside. A quiet peace backed up by some low, lying force. Directing her....

  Adonia stopped complaining and looked at her. Really, looked at her.

  “You’re different,” said Adonia, still holding on to her toothbrush. “Something about you is different Krista.”

  “I know,” answered Krista, looking at her sister with a relieved smile. “But I can’t stop it and wouldn’t want to.”

  “What can’t you stop?” Adonia wanted to know.

  “A feeling that keeps getting stronger. Like almost electrical or something. I don’t know how to describe it. And today at school...you promise you won’t tell anyone?” Krista said now whispering.

  “Yes. I promise,” answered Adonia, just as secretive.

  “I saw my teacher…really sick. I think she’s...dying....” said Krista, and as she spoke the impact of it hit her after it came out of her mouth.

  “Woooowwwwww!” said Adonia loudly, then remem­bering, dropped her voice to a whisper. “That means you’re not going to have any homework!”

  “Yes, Adonia. Soon, I’m not going to have any homework.”

  No one spoke after that. Krista and Adonia finished in the bathroom, then went into Adonia’s room where Adonia took a book off of her bookshelf.

  Adonia’s room, other than her white furniture, was pink. One could call it a pink paradise or a pink night­mare, depending upon one’s relationship to the color pink. On the walls were pictures of Disney princesses, fairies, and an occasional Barbie.

  In her closet were long, glittery, dress-up ball gowns, and Adonia was often at the ball. When Adonia’s friends came over, they dressed up and played such games for hours. When Krista played with them, she would often be the prince, or the witch, or the mean stepmother, because she didn’t like wearing those kind of dresses anymore. When Krista was younger, she and Gianna also loved dressing up. Some of the dresses in the closet were from Krista and Gianna, which was the main reason Adonia had so many.

  Adonia picked out the story of Cinderella.

  “Can I read it to you?” asked Adonia.

  “Sure,” said Krista, as they climbed up onto Adonia’s bed and made themselves comfortable. Adonia started to read. Outside the room, their mom looked in, saw them reading, and kept going. Mom liked it when they read before bed. For years, Mom and Dad would read them stories until they could read themselves.

  Krista loved her sisters. They were both energet­ic and active and fun to be around. Adonia was really funny. She always did something or said something that made her laugh. She could just be annoying when she didn’t get her way. Gianna was a little bit too bossy. Being the oldest made her think she always had to tell them what to do, which was just about everything.

  Adjusting her body on the bed, Krista concentrated on the story. Adonia could read really well for a nine ­year-old. After she finished reading to her, they said their good nights. Going back into her own room, Krista got into bed. She was really tired without knowing why. Before her parents could come and say good night, she fell asleep with her light on.

  Hovering in Krista’s room was the same Figure. Its features more distinct. Waves and waves of love were coming forth from It in never-ending successive surges. A soft dust trickled out and caressed her. The tingling increased extremely almost as though she had put her finger in an electrical socket which felt good. Krista stood beside It receiving as much as she could. Thought picture images were being sent to her, a kind of telepa­thy. Showing her, her path. A way chosen for her to go. It would not be easy, but she would never be alone. And tips. Things she should do. ‘Be kind to your parents. Love everyone. Love, Love, Love. Wish only good things for others. Great Responsibility Comes with Little Power. You have been chosen. Child of Love,’ and with that, the Figure slowly left....

  It was in the early hours of the morning when it was still dark outside. Krista’s eyes were open up and adjusting to the much dimmer colors in her now dark room. That was the weirdest dream, she thought. Cool, but weird. She lay down and fell immediately asleep.

  “Krista, it’s time to wake up!” Justine was saying. Justine was wearing a white matching sweat suit. She went over to Krista’s bed and pulled her covers down a bit. A light, filmy dust fluttered around the room.

  “What did you do in here yesterday?” asked Justine. “You’re going to have to clean it up yourself when you come home from school. That’s a mess I’m not touching!” With that, she left the room.

  Krista sat up in bed and looked around her. All over her room a light golden dust was scattered. She guessed...it wasn’t a dream....

  Three days flew by. It was Thursday afternoon. Krista sat in her last class before school was over and thought about her surprise that morning of the dust in her room. The last two nights, she had a “normal” night’s sleep. No visitors. Krista also noted a number of “changes” here at school. People were “drawn” to or “repelled” from her. For example, some of the girls in the class and some of the boys, wanted to do things with her, like Susie and Fawn. Going as a small group to classes, eating together at lunch, helping each other in the classroom. And they were like brothers and sisters; laughing, making jokes, calling each other at home to ask about things from the day. It had all changed so fast.

  There was another group starting to form with Lisa as its focal point and they weren’t very nice doing mean tricks to other kids in the hallway.

  Krista also noticed something else. No one touched her. At first, it seemed everything was the same as usual. But when she went places, the way was ever so slightly made free for her. When she would get close to someone, getting ready to touch that person, they would draw back. After it happened a number of times, Krista accepted that it was better this way. Even her parents had stopped touching her. She didn’t think they even noticed it. Something inside said this was how it had to be right now. And it was okay. She was changing. Transforming. Minute by minute. The question was. What was she becoming?

  Adonia loved being with Krista at home and followed her around the house. Even Gianna was affected.

  Gianna greatly reduced her telephoning and sent fewer messages to her friends. They did stuff all together after they finished their homework, which they hadn’t done in months.

  Justine wasn’t crazy about it. When she picked them up from school, Justine just had rude comments to make about her. Krista got the feeling that she disliked her even more. Yesterday, when they got home, Justine refused to make Krista something to eat. When Adonia asked for the same thing, Justine said yes. Justine cooked it making only enough for Adonia. Krista told her mother when she got home from work, but Mom said, “You know Justine is a moody person! Do you still want it? I’ll make it for you.”

  Even though her mother made it, it didn’t change the fact that Justine was becoming unbearable to be around. Krista tried to avoid her as much as possible now, but the house wasn’t that big. Sometimes it was hard to believe that they were related to Justine. Second cousins! Krista and Gianna could see no resemblance.

  Sitting in Mr. Reed’s class, Krista looked out the window. It was cloudy outside and looked like it might rain. Mr. Reed was talking about slavery.

  “So, you see the South felt they needed slavery to economically remain profitable. The newly elected President Lincoln wanted to prevent slavery being es­tablished in new states coming into the union. Both the north and south thought that without the expansion of slavery in new states, it would naturally die out. We went over this on Monday. The worst part about the conflict is that it was a war between brothers. In many families, one member was for one side and another member for the other. It tore families apart. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents lay divided. Imagine. How many of you have family that live in another state?” Most hands went up. He started pointing to one after the other.

  “My grandmother lives in California.”

  “I’ve got an uncle in Texas.”  

  “My father lives in Virginia.”

  “Second cousin is in Utah.”

  “My oldest brother is going to school in Georgia.”

  “Got an aunt in South Carolina.”

  “My step-brother is in Florida.”

  “Now, imagine everyone, because of a war you can’t see any of them because you can’t cross the frontline, or you might be fighting against them in a battle,” said Mr. Reed. “Brother killing brother!”

  Everyone started talking among themselves about how that would be. Mr. Reed turned to write on the board.

  Krista looked out the window again, but this time she saw images of a country in pain, a country at war. She could really imagine how the Civil War was as he spoke about it. It was almost as if a window to the past opened up and Krista was looking in. The darkness of pain and sorrow clouded her mind’s eye. Out of it, she could barely hear the words of Mr. Reed saying, “Ca­sualties. The Civil war was the deadliest in American history with the most amount of deaths of soldiers. Over 620,000, and an unknown number of civilian deaths....”

  When her eyes opened, Mr. Reed was standing next to her and the school nurse not far away from him. Many of her schoolmates were hovering in the open doorway and the class was otherwise empty. The school nurse had an ashen look upon her face and one could visibly see her sweating.

  “She’s awake now. She’s okay,” the nurse said coming a little closer. “Can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?”

  “I can hear you. You’re holding up two fingers. I guess I passed out.”

  “Well sort of,” said the nurse, then she spoke lower. “You were in some kind of strange state. Your eyes were closed but your mouth was moving the whole time. When I came to check your pulse...I couldn’t.” She couldn’t say anymore and obviously didn’t want to talk about it. The nurse moved further away from Krista. Mr. Reed was closer and didn’t seem to notice anything unusual.

   “She’s okay. I’m going back to my room,” spoke the nurse and with that she quickly left.

  Krista looked at the clock on the wall. The whole period was over.

  “I’ve got to go,” said Krista hurriedly, sitting up slowly, “my cousin is waiting outside for me.”

  “Maybe you didn’t eat enough today. That happens sometimes with some students. The nurse is going to inform your parents and fill out a report that they will receive a copy of. Let them know if you’re not feeling okay. If it happens again, definitely seek medical atten­tion. Well, to those of you still here, enjoy your Easter vacation. We won’t be meeting again until it’s over,” said Mr. Reed, as he slowly prepared to leave the class.

  Krista stood up. She picked up her school bag and walked out the room. Susie, Fawn and a few others were waiting for her.

  “You were out the whole class. It took over 20 minutes for them to revive you. The ambulance was on its way!” said Fawn.

  “Are you okay?” Susie wanted to know.

  “Wow. I was out a long time. You won’t believe what I saw,” said Krista really excited.

  “What did you see?” asked Michael. He was one of the boys that hung out with them now.

  “The Civil War...” said Krista very seriously, “and it was as horrible as he says.”

  They all laughed because they thought she was joking. But she wasn’t. She had been on battlefields and plantations reliving the chaos, horror, hatreds and joys of the moment. And then the great relief, when it was finally over. A huge sigh was breathed throughout the land, because there was nothing, just nothing, like peace.

  Krista realized something. If she asked in her mind strong enough for something, it would appear. But she didn’t tell that to anyone, and she had just learned to be careful what she asked for.