Blair Firespark's Arc

Chapter 2 of 8

Blair climbed down from the treehouse with the walkie talkie tucked under her arm. The yellow light had shown her one special kid yesterday, but her tummy still felt tight. What if there were more helper kids right now, and she was missing them? She needed to test the walkie talkie again, point it at lots of kids to see who else glowed. The walkie talkie buzzed in her hand, the light flickering red. Blair followed the signal past the garden to a wooden lodge built on top of stone arches. Inside the big room with windows, two kids were yelling and pulling on opposite ends of a pink water bottle with a kitty face and stars. Blair pointed the walkie talkie at the first kid, a boy with messy hair. Nothing. She pointed it at the second kid, a girl with braids. Still nothing. Her chest got tight and cold. The walkie talkie had called her here, but neither kid was glowing. She pointed it at the water bottle between them. The orb exploded with swirling purple and gold light, so bright Blair had to squint. The toy was special, not the kids. Only one of them could keep it, and whoever got it might become part of her team. But which one deserved it? The boy had grabbed it first, but the girl said it was hers from yesterday. Blair opened her superhero book and looked at the empty pages waiting for new friends. She watched the boy shove the girl backward. She watched the girl's eyes get wet but she didn't cry. Blair closed her book and walked to the girl, taking the water bottle from both their hands. She gave it to the girl and pointed to the door for the boy to leave. The walkie talkie's light faded to soft gold, then went dark. The girl hugged the bottle and whispered thank you. Blair drew her in the book with purple glitter for being brave when someone was mean. The walkie talkie had taught her something new: sometimes the special thing wasn't the person, but what they did when it mattered. Blair walked outside and found a big stone compass in the ground near the lodge. The needle spun and left glowing trails in the air. She set her walkie talkie on top of it and watched the lights dance together, purple and gold mixing with the compass glow. This would be her testing place. When the walkie talkie found special kids or special toys, she would bring them here to see if they shared or fought or acted like meanies. The girl with braids came out of the lodge and sat next to Blair, holding the water bottle carefully in both hands. Blair touched the bottle and felt it warm under her fingers. Maybe the toy had picked the girl, not the other way around. She opened her book to a fresh page and drew the compass with rainbow markers. Her team was growing, and now she knew how to find the real helpers.