The Power from the Shed

 

Chapter 1

"Alisa! Alisa!"Called Cloral from below. Alisa went down and opened the door and saw Cloral in her light blue jeans with an ocean blue t-shirt and her wavy brown hair with violet highlights tied up in a ponytail and impatiently tapping her feet. "What happened? Why are you shouting?” Said Alisa "Alisa it is already late. C'mon let's go to the shed and start cleaning, I got a text from Sam and she and Claude are already there" said impatient Cloral. "Ok ok, I am coming. You go ahead, I will join you within a minute" saying this Alisa ran to her bedroom, changed and started her 1-minute walk to the shed (which was near a large pond) but she thought about the old man who used to live there since years.

Few days before, the girls had decided to meet the kind old man who lived there though they always thought he was a bit mysterious. The shed was the size of her bedroom. At one side was the old man's cot with a flat mattress and near the cot was a bed stand with two drawers, the opposite wall of the cot which faced the pond was a medium-sized bookshelf though there was almost nothing on that. That day they saw him lying on his cot looking sick and when Claude asked what happened, he smiled and said "it is my time to go. You girls have a magical future. Promise me that you will make this shed your meeting place ?!". "Promise! Right girls?" said Cloral "YES!!" They all said together and had gone home. The next day the old man had disappeared. When the girls went to see him that day they found a will in his bed that said that all the property he owned (which was the shed and the pond) should go to Cloral and even if she is not old enough she can still use it! And that is how they are going to start to make the shed their meeting place.

Today they were going to clean and paint the shed. When Alisa entered the shed she saw Cloral, Sam, and Claude cleaning. "There she is! How late are you? Uh? We have been waiting for ages!?"Sam said. She was wearing her usual blue jeans with lavender top and her blonde hair with blue tips tied up in a bun. Alisa replied "Oh C'mon. Today I had three PE lectures and I am already tired" "Okay! Ok! Come fast and start cleaning. I just can't wait until I spray paint these walls!" said Claude excitedly". Alisa smiled, picked a broom, and started cleaning.

After cleaning the whole shed it was the time to paint it. Claude went home and bought her spray cans and then shooed them out of the shed and shut the door. All

The time Claude was spray painting the only thing Alisa, Sam, Cloral could hear was spray cans hissing and sometimes Claude chuckling and saying "Oh man! There are going to love this!” Finally, she opened the door and said "Welcome to my latest masterpiece!”. They all entered the shed saw what Claude had done. She truly had turned the shed into her masterpiece. On each wall of the shed was a different painting. On one wall there was a beautiful seascape, it's corals were music notes and a mermaid singing and a calligraphy C on the wall next to it was covered in different colors with a palette and a brush with a calligraphy C on it. The exactly opposite wall was a basketball going into its net and different sports accessories and with a calligraphy S on it. The wall opposite wall to the seascape one was a pink one covered with red hearts of different sizes (yes, this one too) with a calligraphy A. Alisa then realized that the each wall was dedicated to each one of them. The seascape one was Coral’s, the one with the palette and brush was Claude’s, the sport accessories one was Sam’s and the heart one was Alisa’s. “Amazing!” said Sam “Alisa, I think that now it is your turn”.

Alisa nodded. She knew what was Sam talking about.Alisa was great at planning things. She would plan surprise parties, birthday parties, parties, sleepovers etc. It sometimes felt nice to taking responsibilities and when everyone just came to her panicking and saying “Alisa, what should I do. I can’t think of anything for a birthday gift. Or wait would that be enough? What if she expects me throw a surprise party?” and then she would say her favorite line of all “Don’t worry I got you covered!” and then she would start noting down ideas in her pink notepad and trying to choose the best. But sometimes she couldn’t think of anything and everyone would expect her to come up with a best idea yet. It is sure hard to keep up with one’s expectations she had always thought. But she put her thoughts aside went towards where her side bag was kept, removed her pink notepad and started writing what each should bring and showed it to them

They all agreed and decided to meet the next day at ten with Sam saying to Alisa “Don’t be late or else no book borrowing from me!”Alisa smiled at this and replied “OH  NO MY LADY! Please don’t do that I am a poor person. You are the great SUPER STRONG SAM AND I HAIL TO YOU!!!!” and they laughed and laughed until the half way to Alisa’s home.

That night Alisa saw Cloral’s bedroom’s light was on. Alisa had a gut feeling she had go there now. So she passed through the leaves and knocked…no one answered so she knocked again this time harder. Cloral opened the window and let her in.

“What happened?”Alisa demanded. Cloral stared at her frowning as if to say why does she always know? And then put on smiling face (a fake one) and said “Nothing”.

“Oh really? Tell me now! I know there is something you were thinking about” demanded Alisa once again. “Well I am thinking about the old man’s words”. You girls have a magical future he had said. Even Alisa had thought but that didn’t distract her from her daily activities. But Cloral wasn’t like that; once she had a thought like that she would never leave it until she has a satisfying answer. With her big Biology test coming up she wouldn’t be able to concentrate with this. So to distract her she said “Maybe it was about us full filling our dreams.”

  “Does that mean we are going to get powers?” Cloral said jokingly. “Maybe?” replied Alisa who was having a light laugh though she had a strange feeling about it.

 

 

*********

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

The next day everyone started arranging everything and suddenly Claude screamed. The others ran where Claude was standing. There was a trap door. Alisa shouted down “Claude? Claude? Are you ok?”. “I’m fine guys but you should come down here.Just don’t forget to bring a rope for us to climb up back.” Claude shouted back.

  “I’ll go first. Does anyone have a rope?” said Sam. “I think the old man kept a rope somewhere” replied Cloral. She rushed out and came in with a 15 feet rope. Sam tied one end of the rope on the leg of the cot while Cloral and Alisa hurried to find every kind of heavy things they could find and put it on the cot.

 Sam went down and said the exact same thing as Claude. After Coral, Alisa went down saw what amazed her.

There was a room about the size of the shed. On the right side of the room was a book shelf full of big, bulky and dusty books. On the middle of the floor there was a weird circle sort of symbol. On the left side was a couch? Weird Alisa thought. But the most amazing thing was the roof. It was made of glass with water on it. The pond’s water more specifically.

“Whoa” exclaimed Alisa.

Unwillingly Alisa walked to the bookshelf. She knew it wasn’t safe but her body seemed as if she had no control over it. She heard faint shouting of Cloral saying “Alisa, STOP! What are you doing?”. Alisa soon realized she was reading one of the books but she wasn’t doing it. She tried to gain control but just couldn’t. Dark blue fumes started to fill the room. Alisa read the last bit of what seemed like a poem and then everything went dark.

 

*  *  *  *  *

“Alisa! Alisa! Wake up now” cried Cloral. Alisa woke up dizzily in the shed. “Oh thank the gods” said Claude. “Yeah, Guys I am so sorry. I don’t know what got into me it was like I couldn’t control myself…..”. “It’s ok girl.” Cut off Sam.

  Alisa got up and started walking towards the door and tripped but as she was about to hit the ground Alisa was just froze in motion. “Oh gods. Did I do that? I mean I just imagined Alisa frozen so she won’t fall. Wait” Sam’s face tensed and Alisa was standing again. “Gods, i think I have powers!” “Hey man then try on that cot” said Cloral. Sam’s face tensed again and the cot hovered in the air. But when it was put on ground its force shook the water jug to fall over Cloral but she stopped the water in motion. She looked confused and then her face lit with realization and she moved her hands as if to tell the water to go back in the jar and it did!

“Umm…Guys? Should this be happening?” asked Claude. When Alisa looked at Claude a small fire danced across her palms. Claude closed her fingers and the small fire vanished. “So…we have powers?” asked Cloral excitedly. “Not all of us, only you guys. Maybe you got those powers because of the poem err more like a spell that I read. And also because I read it I didn’t get any powers?”

“Maybe?” said Cloral

“Uh huh?” said Claude

Sam stared at Alisa blankly as if she wanted to tell it may be true but just couldn’t.

Alisa stared at her palms imagining water taking shape like Chloral’s Power. Wow I am so imaginative that I can literally see water on my hand thought Alisa. “Do you have the same power like mine?” asked Cloral staring at Alisa’s hand. “Wait, you can see this? I am just imagining your power but if you can see this I think…..”Said Alisa. Alisa imagined a small model of the Eiffel Tower on her palms and it appeared.

At last Alisa said “Illusions”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

By-

Aashna Parag Patil