Smoke Day

“Run! Hurry! Hurry people! Hurry! Move it! We’re running out of time!” said Amiel. A seven foot giant, with incredibly tanned skin, the body of an Olympian, and a revoltingly handsome face crowned with jet-black wavy hair that moved freely. “Get to the outskirts as fast as you can! Don’t stop! Keep going!” he shouted to the crowd in his raspy voice, running along side them. Some of whom were bloody and bruised, all in shock, frantically looking and screaming for loved ones.

“Amiel! Amiel! Help! Help!” shouted the eight months pregnant Emani ‘Em’ who was a stunning woman to gaze upon and who had a shy demeanor and an ironically inviting smile and was also Amiel’s closest friend. Standing there beside her was her daughter Nali, Ali for short. Who just turned five and was the happiest, most adorably inquisitive brown-eyed child one could ever meet; dressed in her baby-blue and white plaid dress, adorned with a scalloped lace neckline, and a matching headband, with her tiny palms pressed firmly against the glass.

“Amiel! Please, I beg you, hurry!” Em exclaimed as the incredibly blinding electric green light that announced the thick, savage noxious gas was en route, approximately 25ft away; sweeping itself through the streets of Pamen, the large, remote and peaceful village located on the forgotten island of Janu. A place no one ever visited and no one ever left; not by choice, but by force.

Amiel instantly sprinted into action; running through the crowd towards the front of the house obstructed by the barren apple tree that was struck by lightning and now laying across the front door and windows. While looking frantically for a way to get them out safely, his eyes happened to glance at the small and slender tree with branches encroaching near the window; and decided to scale the dangerously hollow tree. When at the farthest point he shouted “Smash the window with the chair!”

Em nodded her head, and said “Ali stand back baby.” which Ali did. Immediately taking a deep breath Em threw the chair and the window shattered violently.

“Hurry! We don’t have much time!” Amiel declared. Em ran towards the window and pulled Ali and then secured her by placing her in front, with her arms crossed over her chest. With Amiel’s arms stretched outwards, he yelled “Okay, Em I want you to slowly give her to me!” With Ali bawling and her mother visibly frightened, Ali riggled out of her mother’s arms but luckily Em caught her.

In an effort to calm her nerves she quickly kneeled down and said “Shhhh. Ali, I know you’re scared and mommy is too but right now you’ve got to be a big girl for me and listen to everything Amiel tells you to do. Okay Ali?”

Ali nodded while visibly exhausted by the ordeal as seen with her chest ventilating heavily and her face extremely pale. Em struggled immensely to stand up bearing the weight of her unborn child but once she did, it was time to try again.

“Ali, come to me! I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” Amiel said.

“You promise?” Ali asked in her squeaky high-pitched voice.

“Yes! Promise.”

With that, Ali took a step towards the window and her mother with all her might lifted her by her waist and said “Bend forward baby.” Upon seeing the ground so far below, in fright Ali began shaking and wiggling which loosened the grasp Em had on Ali’s waist. “Amiel she’s slipping! I can’t hold her for much longer!”

While grunting Amiel yelled “She’s too far Em! Wait!”

“I can’t! I can’t! She’s slipping!” Now realizing that Amiel couldn’t reach Ali and time was going, Em planted her feet on top of the glass encrusted window sill in an effort to get Ali a few inches closer to Amiel. However, in doing that she lost her balance and ended up plummeting unto the tree’s sharp pointed branches. In an instant Em was gone.

Amiel, quickly covered Ali’s eyes and closed his at the sight of Em laying on the ground with her limbs misplaced, and her white dress soaked in blood.“Mamma! Mamma! Mamma!” Ali wailed, to which there was no response and as much as Amiel wanted to comfort Ali, he couldn’t because the smoke was fast approaching.

“Ali, I want you to hold on tight okay! Don’t let go, no matter what.”

“Okay.” Ali said in a rattled tone, still wailing for her mother. Amiel quickly and cautiously skimmed down the tree, and once his feet hit the soft patch of Bermuda grass, Amiel swung Ali on his back and then ran. He used all the sadness, anger and pain that laid heavy in his body as fuel for his feet; hopping over the short picket face, and towards the only safe haven available, the Mandill property- the entire outskirts of the village, belonging to Eloy, Janu’s book keeper and herbalist. With the green light and smoke approximately 10ft. away, Amiel blocked out the screams of men, women, and children, being slaughtered and placed all his focus on the road ahead of him. As he got closer, he could see what appeared to be thousands of people.

“Hurry Amiel! Hurry! It’s right behind you!” A distinct voice said.

“Run faster!” said another.

With just two steps away, Ali’s back became scorched by the smoke and she bellowed a paralyzing scream. Stunned with pain, Ali was quickly slipping and the only thing Amiel could do was brace her with one hand stretched behind his back and leap unto the crowd awaiting them. Afterwards scrambling to his feet and looking at Ali, lying silent on her stomach, limp as a doll and her breath barely visible.

With most people still frozen, expecting to be devoured by the flesh eating smoke, Amiel stood looking at Ali’s back where her skin was eaten away. Tears streamed down his face and his body weakened by the sight.

People braced themselves in anticipation of the smoke; some people prayed, others hugged, some wailed and grieved for themselves and loved ones. All of them questioning whether or not Eloy was right, and if they’d be safe by coming there.

Woosh! The sound of the smoke hitting what seemed to be an invisible barrier that surrounded the outskirts of the village. In disbelief, people looked at one another and rejoiced, they were safe and alive. The moment however, was short-lived as people noticed Amiel bending down to gently pick up tiny Ali and seeing her injuries as he carried her further inwards. Men turned away; women hurled from the sight, others whispering with eyes closed “Ancestors, save her!”

After what seemed like eternity but were only a few seconds, Amiel stood there holding her now lifeless body, slowly swaying her and whispering “Ali, don’t leave baby and Em if you’re up there, send her back to me. I promise I’ll take care of her.” On the verge of collapsing but feeling a sudden jolt of something hit his palm, he realized it was her heart beat. “She’s alive!” Amiel yelled. “Somebody, anybody, please help her!”

Everyone stood quiet except for one person who in a shaky deep voice said “Come!”

Amiel shouted in response “Who said that?” while frantically searching the crowd.

Then there were people who began saying “To your right.”

Finally he reached and there in front of him was Eloy, who’s glossy eyes were filled with a deep sorrow which immediately prompted a flashback to the evening prior, where the 104 year old man held a village meeting. One that was customary for each of the Mandill men to do, at least once in their lifetime. There at this meeting, Eloy warned people of the events to unfold but no one took him seriously.

“Thousands of years ago there were four gods and goddesses, one of which lost a daughter in the crossfire of the Olympitan duels. Stricken with grief the 4th god wished to resurrect her. Which could only be done by killing earthly men whose energy would be channeled to his daughter with use of a resurrection spell.”

The entire crowd began to whisper but Eloy continued, “The other gods and goddesses made a deal with him, where every hundred years he would be allowed to destroy our village using a very poisonous and destructive smoke that would come from the belly of the sky. Doing things this way meant that his daughter would be revived gradually instead of all at once which meant the annihilation of the human race.

As a fail safe in leu of him voiding their arrangement, they asked another god to create a bloodline that served as record keepers and in their works unbeknown to them would be spells. Spells recognized by the last of the bloodline, who would transcribe all of them into a single book. That bloodline is my family, which inhabits the only safe place the smoke cannot reach, as designed by the gods and goddesses. Please I beg you, gather essentials and come to the outskirts before sun down. If you don’t you will die a horrible death.

I don’t have the power necessary to activate these spells to end ‘Smoke Day’ once and for all but as prophesied by my father, the young lad named Amiel does. He has a heart of gold, mind of steel, spirit of water and the body of a god. It’s you lad. You’re our only hope.”

Many outright said “Eloy, you are a crazy old fool.”

Others “Eloy you must have gotten into your pipe a little too much.”

The room erupted in an uncontrollable laughter and as Eloy went silent people began leaving, except for some who remained to ask questions such as “If this really happened, how comes my parents never said anything?”

Eloy responded, “My forefathers would add a special herb to a soup cooked for the survivors which wiped their memory of the tragedy so they could rebuild their lives without horrific reminders.”

Hours passed and the following day emerged with everyone continuing as usual until the striking green light and lethal smoke rolled in, the screams began, and people frantically searching for shelter.

“Come on lad!” Eloy exclaimed. Amiel quickly returning to the present moment and following him into his humble red-bricked house where he swiped everything off his scarred wooden table and told Amiel to lay Ali face down. Then he glided his finger across the dusty spines of some extraordinarily large bounded books. “Help me lad!” Eloy requested as he attempted to pull out a gloriously engraved red book.

Finally rested on the table, Eloy blew off the dust and cob webs, opened the book written by his 12th-great-grandfather, revealing tea colored pages that contained the recipe for neutralizing the poisonous gas in the body. As he flipped through, Amiel was on bended knee holding Ali’s hand that had gotten pale and was singing to her “Love, you shine bright. Bright like stars in the night. Love, you’re so sweet, like the honey, of the bees.”

When he found the recipe Eloy said “Your feet are quicker, so follow my instructions!” Once the recipe was complete, Eloy gently placed the herb soaked cotton strips across Ali’s back and said “Now we wait.”

Amien responded, in a resolute tone “Tell me what I need to do to prevent this from happening again.” while clearing Ali’s curly dark-brown hair from her face.

Eloy replied while restlessly pointing, “That bluish-green book contains every spell written, begin with that.”

And that Amiel did, but upon doing so Ali shockingly mumbled something, and for a second or so Eloy and Amiel glanced at each other. Then Amiel, overwhelmed with excitement, rushed to Ali, kneeled down and softly said “Sweetie, can you hear me?” To which Ali responded by opening her electric green eyes.