Sometimes the system goes on a blink Who: Maddie and Bella Where: Bella's house When: Lunchtime
Determined to make the events of that morning go away, Maddie had gotten up early (or, rather, never slept) and put on her soccer things and was determined to go to the park and see if anyone wanted to kick around a ball. Exercise and burning off the worry was the best way to go for Maddie. If she couldn't solve it, she was determined to ignore it until it went away. Or her dad got rid of the monstrosity that was preening at her from what used to be her bedroom window. And fixed the window. Her dad had no idea what was going on and promised it wasn't him playing a trick on her. Whatever the case was, Maddie was determined to ignore it until...the situation rectified itself magically. Or however things fixed themselves nowadays.
But before she could leave for the park, Santiago had cornered her by her truck. "Mija, I want you to try for me. A spark. Sparks are easy for you. C'mon. Get rid of this morning." Granted, Maddie wasn't the kind to shy away from a challenge but it was too real, too fresh. And she could see the damned flower from where she parked on the curb, it's head sticking through her broken window. Maddie shifted her weight a couple of times before she agreed. "Okay." Snapping her fingers, she waited for the spark to show. Nothing. She snapped again. Nothing. The panic began to rise in Maddie. She snapped a third time. Nothing. And then the llama started shrieking again. Maddie glared at Santiago but he wasn't looking at her. She followed his line of sight down to her feet and started shrieking, too. The grass she was standing on was now curled over her soccer cleats. Ripping her feet out from the grass, she turned to Santiago. "Get in the car. Get in the car. Get in the car!" Maddie screamed as she opened the tailgate and motioned for Santiago to hop on. Santiago obliged. It was the first time in history they had not argued about something.
"A donde vamos?" Santiago asked as Maddie jumped in the driver's seat. It was like all the English had fled from his brain. Maddie revved the car and sped away from the curb. "Bella's. We're going to Bella's." For some strange reason, Maddie's instinct was to rub to the first earth elemental she knew. Her father didn't count because...he just didn't. Bella was calm, not prone to anxiety like she was, and she came from a family of elementals that knew what they were doing. Bella's place. She reached over for her phone and used the voice command to text her other elemental friends. Maybe she wasn't the only one. Maybe it was a prank day. Or something. Maybe it was a horrible dream.