Carefully, I plucked the leaf from the tree. “Now what?” I whispered to it.
“Now, you jump,” the childlike voice giggled.
Looking down, I could only see large white clouds.
“Go on now. I'll keep you safe,” the leaf coaxed.
Sure, I'll just jump into the nowhere because a plant is telling me to.
"Always the doubter. The gift is wasted on you." Blaze glared at me.
"You’re wrong." I closed my eyes and stepped off the platform.
I had expected to fall fast. Instead, I just slowly floated. The clouds felt soft
and slightly damp as I drifted through them. The blue and white sky mesmerized
me. Throwing my arms back, I basked in the descent.
I had just relaxed and began to trust the moment when I was brought back to
reality. Before I could react, my guide slipped from my hand.
“See you later,” the leaf called as she disappeared into the clouds.
Panic filled me. I was certain to plummet to my death as my slow, tranquil
descent turned into a rapid freefall. The clouds around me dissipated and I could
see the green grass below.
Trust us, Blaze's reminder played in my mind.
I controlled my breathing and focused on the word trust. As I chanted the word, I felt a feeling of peace fill the spaces within me. I embraced the sensation
of falling and submitted to the fact that I would soon hit the ground. I braced for
impact.
Splat! I was shocked when I set down into a large pile of mud. Standing up, I immediately slipped and fell. By the time I exited the mound of dirt, I was covered head to toe. I wiped the grunge off and found myself, face-to-face, with
Daisy.
“Now, that was an entrance." Daisy's bright green eyes twinkled as she scraped some of the sludge from my cheek. "Everyone, let's clean up Mara," she called.
With those words, soft leaves swept and brushed me. Within minutes, I was
tidied up and ready to greet my cleaning crew.
"Thank you." I laughed. "I think I'm clean enough now."
The leaves fell to the ground and took their humanlike forms. Elementals
with light brown or blonde hair and eyes in shades of green circled me. This time, there were no insults. Instead, there were only curious stares and sincere smiles.
A gust of warm wind blew from above me. I looked up to see Blaze making
her elegant entrance.
Irked at her gracious descent after my embarrassing fall, I snapped, “Thank
you for your assistance, Blaze. The leaf you told me to trust dropped me.”
The Fire elemental threw back her head and laughed. “You needed a
reminder that I would never let you get hurt." She eyed me up and down. "I'm not sure what the fuss is. You look fine.”
“I'm sorry, Mara.” A brown-haired girl stood timidly in front of me. She
trembled as she continued her apology, “I wouldn't have let you get hurt, either.”
Recognizing her voice as my free fall guide, I looked into her teal eyes and
felt such sincerity that I could not be mad anymore. I took her hand into mine.
"It's ok. Next time, I'll remember to bring my own parachute.”
