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1JAIDE
“Elliot!”
Once again, the wind stole my words, carrying them away as gravity carried me to what would soon be my fate.
In other words, I was in a great big hurry to become a red stain on a bunch of pointy boulders.
My body twisted and turned in the air, my arms flailing. What did I expect? To grow wings? There was nothing for me to grab hold of or catch myself on. Call it self-preservation, but my body wouldn't allow me to fall without at least trying to save itself.
Just like when I unconsciously threw my hands out to catch myself when I tripped and fell. How many times had I jammed my wrists doing that? Enough for Jett to tell me he was tired of bandaging me up. Yet here I was again, only this time I’d do a lot worse than jam a wrist.
“Elliot, please!”
No amount of shrieking was going to stop what Healynas had put in place. Wind rushed past me, blowing my hair away from my face and roaring in my ears. Of all the times for Elliot to leave me alone, why did he have to pick now?
I was going to die. And I never got to say goodbye to anyone. There were a lot of things I never got to do.
Just as suddenly as I’d begun to fall, the icy wind turned warm, softer, almost thicker. Elliot. I could have wept if I wasn't so busy screaming. He had come for me. He was going to save me.
“Finally! What took you so long?”
Maybe I could have been a little more grateful, but let's face it, at times like this, expediency was key.
One problem: he didn't catch me. He didn't stop me. All he managed to do was change the cold wind whipping past me to something warm. At least I wouldn't die cold.
“What are you doing? Waiting for me to go splat?” I screamed. “Help me!”
“I can't!” Elliot replied.
Those two words wrapped themselves around my heart and squeezed tightly enough that I cried out, not in fear but in pain. “What do you mean?”
“I can slow you, but I can't stop this.”
Yes, now that he mentioned it, I noticed my progress had slowed a little. I wasn’t dropping like an anvil through thin air anymore. More like a pebble in water. Eventually, though, the outcome would be the same. I would hit the bottom.
“Why can't you stop me? Please, you have to—”
“What I'm trying to tell you is I can’t grab hold of you no matter what I do!” he shouted.
The air around me became warmer, almost hot and arid. Elliot was trying hard enough to nearly singe my skin, but it wasn’t helping. I was still plunging to my death, watching the ground rush up to meet me.
“Why not? You’ve done it before!”
“This isn’t like that!” he said as he swirled around me.
I slowed down enough to catch sight of a few birds flying past. I would’ve sworn they were staring at me, wondering why I didn’t just flap harder.
“Stupid judgmental flying rats!” I said, as they flew on, probably in a hurry to tell their friends about the idiot who didn’t know how to fly.
“Only you can stop this.”
“What am I supposed to do? Please, there has to be something I can do!” I said, desperate enough now to flap my arms and my legs.
Yes, I was that desperate to cling to life. I had experienced so many dark and desolate times over the years that life had seemed worthless with nothing to truly fight for. But now I was fighting. Strange how a situation like this could turn all of that on its head.
“There must be a block on you!” Elliot said. I heard the growing panic in his voice.
And hearing him so helpless made it even worse. If he couldn't stop this, no one could.
