A Young Hero

Chris was running quickly ahead, chasing the funnel of wind as it twisted in the distance, throwing debris and objects, and, any object, sometimes even a cow, into the funnel before throwing it, twisting, back into the air that was dripping with humidity.  Chris was quite sure that when these things were thrown, that they were at least a mile away from where they were picked up.  He was getting excited.  How close could he get to this destructive force and still avoid being thrown like all those other things?

Chris turned around and yelled at the other kids that had run after, “Hurry!  The tornado is getting away!  We can probably get closer!”

The four others, all around  Chris’s age, were panting and all yelled, out of breath.  Apparently, they were not going to get close to the tornado.  Chris was determined that he would get close enough to see it for sure.

Soon, he knew he had outrun even the fastest in the group behind him.  Chris didn’t look back.  As he continued to run toward the destruction, he noticed that the tornado had drastically changed direction, an that it was moving even faster now, away from him.  He felt discouraged.  He gave a loud yell, at what he thought was the general direction of the center of the powerful wind funnel, and slowed down to a stop.  He was panting as he watched the last bit of the wind disappear.

Bending over and catching his breath, finally, Chris turned around again, but no one was there.  Puzzled, Chris looked around him, in all directions.  Surprised, there was no one anywhere.

“Hey!”  Chris yelled loudly.  “Where are you?”  Chris listened.  There was no other sound.

This was puzzling.  It was also unusual, so, Chris tried again, and again, there was no reply.  There was only silence and the sense that the silence was oppressive, burdening, and overwhelming.   So, Chris turned to where the last saw the disappearing whirling wind.  His heart jumped a beat as he thought he had found the tornado again.  It was in fact, a bright light that was hovering near the horizon, and somehow floating from the horizon line towards where Chris was.  Chris was sure of this.  He looked in all directions from which he was the center point, and saw again the vast emptiness of the fields and the destruction scattered everywhere.  And again, at the horizon, where the land had become rock, the pinnacles and the plateaus of hard, red rock, bursting from the flat fields of soil.

It almost frightened Chris.  The bright ball of light was almost on top of him.  It was not hot, like a ball of fire would be, but bright enough to cause Chris to cover his eyes.  Suddenly, the ball of light spoke.

“Hello, Chris!  I am glad I have found you!  You have traveled all the way here, and I have found you!  …  There is no need to try to explain!  You need to know this very quickly, because you care in danger, like the rest of your friends are too.”

Chris was very dazzled by all of this, but he didn’t know how to put his fear, and curiosity, and feelings of urgency into words.

The bright ball of light spoke again.  “You will have to learn how to move those rocks with their foundations, deep inside the earth, and surround the tornado that you saw today.  That was no ordinary tornado, but a soul of the devil’s that has formed itself, its energy, into a vast, destructive, force.  Its intention is to destroy you, and your friends, and take your souls back to the hell that it lives in.  It wants to feed off of your energy.  You must stop it, or, it will effectively destroy all of life as you know it as now.  This is your task.  This is something only you can do.  I have chosen you, Chris, because, you have been destined for greatness.  You have the quickness, the ability, to understand, and the ability to do it, as soon as you can, before the end of the world.

Chris spoke.  “But, how do I do something like that?  I didn’t even know that I could actually make something move!  How on earth do I move ‘rocks and their deep foundations?'”

The bright ball of light spoke again.  “Chris, you are the only one capable of doing this.  There is no one else who knows or understands.  Look within yourself.  Search deep, and feel the power of the energy.  You have the ability to turn into a power that is as great as that which you have as good intentions now, and as to that which is as dark and powerful as the destructive tornado today.  Between these two powers you must decide, and with what you have, you must defeat the tornado.  …  Or it will destroy you and your world.  …  Go.  Do it now.”

With these last words, the bright ball of light floated and sped off into the distance, flying higher and higher until it disappeared.

Chris stood still.  Astounded.  He thought about the words he had heard, and began to say inside himself, those words that he heard the bright ball of light say, “Power, Energy, Force.”  As he felt the words, he felt the meaning of the words as a sudden electricity running through his body.  He pointed his right hand out in front and saw a bright flash of light come out from it and travel until it hit a tree.  The tree lifted, roots and trunk and ground and branches and leaves, high into the air.  Chris put his hand down, the floating tree also fell back down to earth and replanted itself in the place Chris had placed it.

Chris was excited.  He had never felt so powerful before.  Then, as he began to put everything together, he became sombre and thought hard about taking on his task–the task that the bright floating ball of light had given him.

As Chris was in this state, the sound of the twisting tornado came within his hearing again.  Chris looked up and towards the powerful wind.  He raised both his hands this time and pointed directly at the center of the twisting funnel.  It began twisting twice as fast and Chris could feel it pushing against his twice as hard.  Chris summoned deep within himself, pushed, willing with his thoughts and his sight, along with the power from his hands, to encase the tornado with what energy he had.  As he did this, he felt the tornado collapse in on itself as it lost its power and will.  It became imploded, and cancelled its existence as the two powers battled into nothingness.

Chris returned to his consciousness, and as he did so, he heard cheering around him. He smiled, understanding the reaction of the crowd and the sense that he had accomplished a good job.