Define "Normal"

NAME: SilverMyst
STORY TITLE: Define “Normal”
WORD COUNT: 3928
STORY: A young woman learns that she is more “unique” than she first thought… (In response to a writing challenge/contest on Gaiaonline. Prompt was "Uniqueness")

‘I've always felt as if I were...different. That the world dances to a beat while I'm creating my own rhythm. I feel as if I'm... out of place. Like maybe I wasn’t suppose to be here. As if I'm meant for something else, but I can’t explain what. It feels like the answer is right there, on the edge of my consciousness. I feel as though I can grab for it but it’s just out of…’

“Reach for the stars, let it in to your heart~ You will find the meaning of life in the night. Dance to the beat, let the music move your feet, and you will find you’re the center piece in the midsummer’s night~” The alarm clock sang and interrupted all dreams, along with anyone’s train of thought.

Emerald eyes flew open as their owner shot out of bed and looked around frantically. The green gems held a wild glint for a few moments before recognition replaced the gleam.

“I’m in my room.” The red head sighed as her shoulder’s slouched while the tension left them. A long crimson braid slipped over her shoulder and dangled, the tip tickling her bare waist. “Just a dream and…” She caught a whiff of something.

She scrunched her nose up as her eyebrows drew close together in a concerned and confused expression. The young woman lifted her nose into the air and sniffed, hoping she could discern the scent that was strange yet so familiar.

“Hmmm…” The young lady hummed before taking another deep breath. “Smells like something is… BURNING?!” She quickly turned around and faced her bed.

Sure enough, flames were dancing across the sheets as the hot glowing bodies of burning gas happily devoured the hot pink fabric. Not that the red head was entirely upset to see them go…. Actually, she had desired to set fire to the monstrosities for some time, but… not quite like that. There was a big difference between doing something consciously and doing something…

‘Oh no! Please tell me I didn’t…’ She looked to the end of the bed and found that her comforter laid in a heap on the floor, luckily having been kicked off during the middle of the night. ‘Thank goodness.’ The red head sighed in relief.

Her mother would have killed her if she’d torched the blanket her grandmother had made. It was a family heirloom, after all, and it wouldn’t be a fitting end for it to fall to the hands of a…

“Freak!” A little boy yelled at the red head, whose head snapped in surprise to look at him from where he stood in the hallway. He was a good ways from her bedroom door, but that‘s how it always was. He knew better than to get in arms length when she knew he was about to... “Mom! Phyre did it again!” He called out and ran to get their mother.

“Tattletale…” Phyre grumbled as she glared daggers at the spot where the boy had been.

She knew that no good would come of such a childish action, but she couldn’t help it. The kid really got on her nerves. It was like he was in tune with her ability, or something, and knew before she did when she’d mess up.

“Little hellion probably made a pact with a demon or something.” She thought aloud and scratched the back of her head as she sighed. She turned back to gaze at the fire that still hopped about on her bed. “Sucks for you little guys, but my mattress is fire repellent. See, I do a little thing called “learn from your mistakes.” You should try it sometime… like, I dunno…leave me alone?”

The fire burned brighter for a moment before it disappeared in a display that would have most believing that it had burned itself out and would never return.

But Phyre knew better. It always did that. And it always came back. Usually when she least expected it…

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. It seemed to appear when she was subconsciously wishing for it.

A good example being when her mother had brought home those god-awful hot pink sheets.

They had totally clashed with the rest of her room. The second her mother had showed them to her, the flames appeared and danced in her hands. Her mom had forced her to the sink and shoved her hands under the faucet.

It hadn’t worked. The flames actually caused the water to boil and the steam had burned her mother…. Yet for some reason, Phyre had remained completely unharmed. The red head supposed it was because she was the problem in the first place. She was the one that seemed to summon the fire. She was the cause, the one that brought them forth. Why would the Summoner be harmed by the summon?

Yet she didn’t want to be a Summoner. She didn’t want to summon fire. She didn’t WANT people thinking her a freak that contracted with demons!

But sadly, that’s exactly what people thought about her. She was shunned by everyone, including her family. They didn’t like her powers, and had no trouble voicing that fact. They thought her every bit as much a monster as everyone else. She knew the truth, knew WHY they were that way. She was adopted after all, they didn’t HAVE to love her, they just promised to take care of her…

They had taken her in before the hellion was born, when they thought they couldn‘t have kids. Now they had one of their own. They didn’t need her. She was surprised they didn’t try and get rid of her sooner really. All they had to do was tell the orphanage that she was a “trouble child” and they wouldn’t have had to deal with her any more.

But that wasn’t the little demon’s plan. He was the one who controlled the once loving people she had called her “parents”. No, the little hell-spawn had plans for her.

And that included calling an exorcist.

So after having burned something for the third time that week, Phyre found herself locked in her room while her “parents” called the exorcist. She wasn’t a demon, she had no evil spirits within her, and though she knew this… no one else believed her.

“What the hell is wrong with those people?” She growled in frustration. “So I’m different! Is that a crime?” She asked aloud, though no one was there…

Or so she thought.

“In this world it is.” The voice seemed to dance around the room. Everywhere, yet nowhere, all at once.

Phyre looked around her, even going as far as to turn in a complete circle, yet there was no body to accompany the voice.

“Who’s there? Show yourself.” The red head demanded as her eyes narrowed.

Hard and sharp, her glare was to the point where she could cut someone down with just a glance. A skill she’d honed over the years, especially after the hellion was born and her family… changed… It was almost like they were possessed. Gone were the kind people that had taken in an orphan with amnesia. Now all that remained were mindless drones that waited hand and foot on a cruel, heartless demon disguised as a human boy.

“Ah, but I have shown myself!" The voice snapped Phyre out of her thoughts. "Time and again.” The voice was whiny and made Phyre think of a child, and not the hell-spawn child she'd seen only moments before either. “It is you who does not accept me.” The voice finished the answer in a pouting tone.

Phyre’s eyes widened before they narrowed once more. This time they were not as sharp, but the look was one a suspicion rather than one filled with malice.

“And YOU accept ME?” The young woman asked, doubt coating her every word.

“Of course! Is that not obvious? I answer your call, even if it is but a whim.” The voice answered her without a qualm, and Phyre couldn’t believe her ears.

‘Is this person for real?’ And even as she thought that, she couldn’t help but notice that the voice sounded familiar to her… As if it belonged to an old friend, one that used to play with her as a child…

But that couldn’t be possible, because she had no memories of her childhood. And yet… Heck, the voice sounded like a child, so that was probably why. Right? Or at least that is what the red head kept trying to tell herself, but there was that feeling… the one she always had, like something was just on the edge of her subconscious waiting for her to realize it and reach out…

“Look, I don’t know what you are going on about, but…” That’s when it dawned on her what the little girl has said. “Appeared… whim… You’re the fire that has been haunting me!” The red head exclaimed angrily, accusingly.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I am not Fire at all. I’m Flame. My big sister Fire is y… er… You’d get along great!” For some reason Phyre had the feeling that the little girl was covering something up, but she let it slide for now. “And then there are my big brothers! There is big brother Inferno, and big brother Firestorm, and big brother Lava, and big brother Lightning, and…”

“Whoa! Hold up! Take a deep breath…” Phyre began and when she heard the child, who still hadn’t shown herself, take a breath as she’d been told the red head calmly stated, “Now, explain slowly. Take your time and remember to breathe.”

Hey, who said she wasn’t good with kids? She loved kids, it was only that hell spawn that her “parents” produced that she couldn’t stand.

“I’m Flame, the second youngest of the family…”

“Who’s the youngest?” Phyre asked without thinking.

“Oh!” The little girl giggled, the laughter floating about the room even as the voice’s owner had yet to make an appearance.

“That would be my little sister Spark. You looked after her when she was born and…” The girl cut herself off, as if she thought she might have said something wrong.

“I did?” The red head asked as she sat down on the side of her bed.

This was information she definitely needed to absorb… while sitting down.

“Yep, yep! But that was far away from here… You’ve traveled so far! And all alone! You’re awesome~” The amazement in the little girls voice was at a level only a child could accomplish. And yet… Phyre had to ask…

“And how old are you?” Automatic reaction perhaps? But she had to wonder, did she REALLY want to know?

“Not sure… Big sister Sun was created first, even though our Star cousins were there before that… there are too many to count, let alone name off!” Flame giggled and Phyre couldn’t help but smile.

“Family reunions must be a pain.”

“We refuse to have them.”

“I don’t blame you.” Phyre laughed.

A real laugh. For the first time in… She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last smiled and meant it, let alone laughed. Yet that nagging feeling at the edge of her conscious told her this was normal… her normal… that THIS is what life should be.

“Why don’t you come sit and chat with me? I feel really weird talking to, seemingly, myself.”

“We used to talk like this all the time but… Alright!” Flame exclaimed happily. “Hold out your palm face up.”

Phyre frowned at having been given an order rather than a companion, but even so the red head shrugged and did as she was commanded, more or less. No sooner had she opened her hand, however, a small flame appeared in the middle of her palm.

‘Is that…’

“Flame?” Phyre asked hesitantly as she brought her hand up to her face for a closer inspection.

She was curious if this really was the same “Flame” she had been speaking to and if the little girl would continue speaking with her now that she had… revealed herself? Would she still be as talkative now that she was in plain view?

“Yay! You’re hanging out with me! This is so cool!” The little flame danced happily in Phyre’s palm as the cheerful voice seemed to fill the room.

But there was no mistaking it, the voice had originated from the little ball of fire.

[i]KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK[/i]

The violent pounding on the locked door demanded Phyre’s attention.

“Who are you talking to? You better not have any demons in there!”

“You would know you little devil!”

“…” Stunned silence, and then… “I’m telling mom!” The bratty hellion exclaimed as he stomped away, probably upset that Phyre had spoken his alignment aloud.

“Oh my God! What am I going to do?” Alright, she was pissed first and now she was worried. Strange how red head’s tended to not care about consequences until after their outbursts. “It’s bad enough they locked me in here and called an exorcist, but now they’ll probably tie me up and gag me as well!” She groaned as water welled up in her green eyes. Tears she refused to shed.

Those people weren’t worth it.

“They can’t tie you up.” Flame sounded certain of that, but Phyre smiled bitterly.

“You don’t know my family.” The red head sighed.

“Yes I do!” Flame danced cheerily. “And these people aren’t us!” The voice came out in a tone that reminded Phyre of a child throwing a temper tantrum.

And judging by the little fire’s erratic movements, Phyre would guess that Flame was doing just that… Throwing a big tantrum… That could get dangerous. A raging Flame could be just as bad as a raging Inferno…

How Phyre knew that, she wasn’t sure. But it seemed to fit.

“Calm down Flame, its alright. No need to go burning things down.” Phyre laughed, trying her best to lighten the mood.

Although the situation was grave, she couldn’t help but feel… free. When she was around Flame, it almost felt as if she were…

“Home.”

“Huh?” Green eyes gazed down at the flame in her palm.

“I said, ‘you should really come home.’ You’ve been so far away for so very long… Don’t you think it’s been long enough?” Flame asked and Phyre looked at her, confusion evident in emerald eyes.

“I don’t understand…”

“It’s not that you don’t understand, it’s that you don’t remember…” A pause. “Or you don’t want to remember…” Flame added sadly and the fiery little wisp seemed to dim. “You’re one of a kind, ya know?”

“What do you mean?” The red head inquired, cocking her head to the side.

Except for her fire ability, she was rather average. She was an average height, at an average weight for said height. And her build? It was nothing special. Actually, all and all she was pretty mundane. The only things that would cause her to stand out in a crowd, looks wise, was her fiery red hair and emerald green eyes.

But even those were traits overlooked when people learned of her pyro nature. Nope, the only thing that would make her “one of a kind” was the fact that she was a fire summoning freak. That was so not something she wanted to be known for… or so she thought anyway.

If it weren’t considered such a bad thing, she really wouldn’t mind honestly. But it was considered “demonic” and therefore she tried her best not to do it… It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t control what she dreamed, even if she could never remember said dreams…

“One of a kind, huh? Is it because I burn things on accident?”

“You have better control at home.” Was Flame’s response.

“Come again?” Okay, she had suspected the fire summoning thing was the reason but… She hadn’t expected Flame to admit it so openly. Even if the little fire ball hadn’t said it outright… ‘I am different, even my little Flame thinks so.’ Phyre thought sadly.

“At home, you have more control. This world is weird, it messes with us. That’s why you should come home.” The flame flared as if stating how determined she was in her resolve.

Phyre opened her mouth to say something, then closed it almost immediately. She heard footsteps heading their way and there was so much she wanted to ask the little fire ball.

That hadn’t been the first time Flame had said “us,” as if she were grouping Phyre in along with everyone else. The way Flame spoke… Flame knew something about Phyre that the red head herself did not, and Phyre wanted to know what it was. When the fire ball spoke of this world, Phyre could almost sense another…

Another world, a place where she belonged. If she wasn’t a part of this place, then why was she here? Why couldn’t she remember?

Oh, so many questions but, alas, so little time. The footsteps were getting closer, and Phyre could tell that there was more than one set. Actually, there were four if she wasn’t mistaken, which meant that the exorcist had arrived.

“What to do, what to do…Ah ha!” She cried out triumphantly when her eyes settled on her dresser.

She gently set Flame down on her mattress before she ran over to her overly large vanity. She pushed it, not much caring whether the mirror fell or not. She secretly hoped that it would fall and shatter, to create an obstacle course of sorts for the damned exorcist.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins as fear started to take hold of her mind. She knew that she wasn’t evil or anything, but she was afraid of the mistreatment and torture she’d suffer at the exorcist’s hands. She’d heard the horror stories, and she didn’t think she could deal with it.

Phyre used the extra boost of strength the terror induced adrenaline lent her and pushed the dresser firmly in front of the door with a jolt.

Said jolt caused the mirror to sway and come crashing down to the ground that lay before the vanity. Phyre crossed her arms in front of her face and neck to protect it as the shards of glass scattered about the floor.

‘Be careful what you wish for.’ She thought when she drew her arms down a bit and winced, noticing that she had been cut in a few places. Nothing too serious, but they stung nonetheless. ‘Calm down, calm… I need to remain calm, otherwise I’ll end up killing myself.’ She thought as she took a deep breath, then released it slowly as she tried to find her “happy place.”

She sighed once she had calmed down and looked at the blocked door. “I don’t know if that’ll be enough.” The red head thought aloud as she chewed her bottom lip.

Yes, she was calm…er. But she was still slightly worried and was hoping against hope that she could get away.

‘A little hard to do from the second story window.’ Phyre groaned inwardly.

“If you could remember, you could get out of here no problem.” Flame stated in a sing-song voice from her spot on the bed.

“Really?” The red head was skeptical, but she walked back to the bed and sat next to Flame anyway. “How do I do that?” The little one made it sound so easy and, at this point, she was willing to try anything.

Yet she was still doubtful. In her years of living with this family she’d learned that very little in life was ever easy.

“You know that answer… The feeling you get from time to time? You know, when you feel as if there is something on the edge of your conscious?” Flame questioned and Phyre nodded as she understood what the little fire ball was talking about. “Reach for it.”

Phyre cringed.

“You think I haven’t tried? It reach for it all the time! But every time I do it slips through my grasp.” Green eyes closed as she sighed dejectedly.

Looked like there really was no hope.

“That’s because you weren’t ready to accept it. You’ve accepted me, now you can accept yourself.”

“Accept… myself?”

[i]KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK[/i]

“Open up! Right this minute!” The harpy screeched as they banged on the door and tried to force it open.

“Oh no!” Phyre gasped, her “mother’s” voice much like nails on a chalkboard to her ears.

Phyre was sure that the woman was a minion of Hades himself. The old bat was about as hideous as the legends of harpies described. Hell, she even sounded like one. If she wasn’t, Hades really should check into hiring her. All she needed was the lower half of a bird of prey and some wings and she’d be good to go.

“Concentrate!” Flame snapped and forced Phyre out of her thoughts.

Granted, they were rather amusing thoughts… they were just a little off subject though.

“Don’t worry about them. Don’t even THINK about them.” Flame said in a commanding tone.

“Okay…” Sweet little girl had gone bye-bye, Flame seemed to be showing herself as the wise being that she truly was.

“The power of Christ compels you!” The exorcist cried and a thud was heard.

‘Did that idiot just knock himself out by running into the door? He can’t be that dumb.’

“Oh Lord! Get him some water, we need to wake him up.”

‘I stand corrected.’ Phyre thought with a shake of her head. “Yeah, so ignoring them now.” She knew that if she didn’t, she WOULD open the door…

Just so she could kick that moron’s ass.

‘Just ignore them, they are all incompetents anyway.’ Phyre told herself as she closed her eyes and drew into herself.

She was surprised, to say the least. What had once been a maze, a labyrinth full of dead ends, now felt like an open field. She sensed the direction in which her answer lay and sprinted down the path that would ultimately take her to it.

There were no obstacles to block her and nothing tried to stop her. She was a woman on a mission, and she wouldn’t let anything get in her way. Her life, and sanity, depended on it after all. And the sensation she felt, this little excited jitter bouncing around in the back of her mind, told her that it was time.

“Phyre…” It was calling to her.

It taunted her, and beckoned her, all at once.

“Phyre…” Though it was saying her name, the closer she got the stranger it became…

It was her name, but yet… the voice sounded as if it was speaking it differently. The pronunciation was off. As if the voice were saying…

“Fire.” The voice was loud and clear now and the red head wasn’t surprised to find that the voice she’d been hearing all this time was her own.

Memories came flooding back just as a crash was heard.

The family and the exorcist had finally broken through, but it was too late. All they saw was Phyre’s body burst into flames as Fire and Flame were reunited. The sisters danced together in an intricate waltz. Twisting and turning gleefully as the heat burned away any bad memories.

Fire and Flame climbed higher and higher into the midday sky as they made their way back to their world; they left the Earth behind as if it were just another bad memory.

T H E . E N D ?


~*~*~*~