Weathering the Storm

By Z.R., Grade 10

A January 2024 Monthly Story Challenge Winner 

The door to Seiko’s room burst open as Meir ran in, the force of it making the few pictures on the wall shake. Small wooden trinkets tumbled off the dresser that sat across from Seiko and onto the carpet below. She looked up at her sibling from where she sat on the floor, her hand frozen above the drawing she’d been coloring. Meir was breathless and shock colored their face. 

They took a deep breath before saying,“We need to leave. Now.”

Confusion swirled in Seiko’s mind and she noticed distant, unfamiliar voices. They sounded… angry?

“Why?” she asked.

Meir crossed the room and knelt in front of Seiko, putting their hands on her shoulders.

“There are very bad people that want to take us, okay? We need to run so that we can be safe.”

Bad people? “What about Dad and Mama?”

“They’re...” Meir’s eyes grew shiny and they tightened their grip on their sister before continuing, “They want us to go without them.”

“But-”

“Seiko, we have to go,” Meir said. Their eyes were wide and their breaths shaky.

The strange voices grew louder, and Meir let go of Seiko and turned, walking back to the open door. Seiko stood, dropping the pencil she’d been holding, but hesitated. She climbed up onto the bed behind her and grabbed her brown stuffed cat. It was wrinkled and dirty, but it was one of the few toys that she owned. She held it close as she ran after her sibling, who had already left the room. Seiko caught up and the two dashed through the house and out the back door. 

As soon as they exited, the foreign voices turned into shouts of “There!” and “Get them!” Meir grabbed Seiko’s free hand and they sprinted into the forest that surrounded their home. It was spring and the maple trees were green, their leaves rustling softly in the light wind. Usually Seiko heard all kinds of animals scrambling around, but now all she could make out was the shouts of the strangers behind her as she and Meir ran. It got harder to breath as they stepped on twigs and stumbled over rocks. It wasn’t a particularly thick forest, but they did have to dodge and swerve around the trees.

Meir abruptly pulled them both around a large tree trunk, and held Seiko in front of them. Seiko tried to say something but Meir shushed her, so she instead tried to catch her breath and ignore the stomping footsteps that were growing closer. She shivered. It had gotten colder, and the wind had picked up while they were running. She looked up at Meir, who had twisted their head to look at the sky and bit their lip as clouds began to appear overhead. Seiko closed her eyes and clutched her stuffed cat. They waited as the seconds ticked by, both taking shallow breaths even though the wind had gotten too loud to hear anything else.

“They’re here!”

Seiko jumped and turned to see that someone dressed in bright red plate armor had spotted them. A plumed helmet covered the soldier’s face and they had a sword sheathed at their side, the scabbard covered in intricate swirling gold lines.

Meir cursed, then shouted “Go!” before shoving Seiko forward. She began to run, but stopped as she heard Meir cry out. She turned and saw two more guards gripping Meir tightly in place next to the tree where they had hidden. They struggled and thrashed but couldn’t get out of the guards’ hold, their eyes darting around in alarm. Dark grey clouds had appeared overhead, and Seiko could hear the faint sound of thunder. 

“Meir!” Seiko exclaimed, and tried to run forward, but a cold armored hand grabbed her shoulder and kept her in place. She froze, and her mind spun with a whirlwind of thoughts. She knew she had to come up with something, anything, to get her and Meir away from the guards, but she couldn’t gain control of her thoughts, each slipping through her grasp.

“We will take these two back to the capitol. Alert the General when we arrive.” It must’ve been the guard who’d spotted them earlier. He spoke in the same high, nasally voice.

“I still don’t understand why we need kids. What did they even do?” one of the guards holding Meir mumbled, the wind carrying their quiet comment to Seiko.

The voice behind her responded through gritted teeth, “I’ve explained this multiple times. The parents don’t have the powers, just the children.” 

The other guard started to speak but was cut off by the same voice, “And no, I don’t know why. It’s just what she told us.”

This couldn’t be happening. These strangers didn’t get to just, uproot her life like this! Anger swelled in Seiko. She felt the wind blow harder and heard thunder rumble nearby. The guards holding Meir looked up as drops of rain began to fall. Meir locked eyes with Seiko and realization swept across their face.

“Seiko, wait-”

Lightning struck the ground behind them, and Meir was thrown forwards with the guards. Exhaustion hit Seiko immediately and she fell to her knees. She struggled to keep her eyes open and the afterimage of the lightning clouded her vision. Seiko lifted her head up and blinked a couple times before the world came into focus. She watched Meir struggling to push themselves off the ground, and Seiko felt a sense of horror as she saw ugly blisters and burns covering Meir’s arms. Seiko’s remaining strength left her before she could do anything, and she blacked out.

(Illustration Credit: Z.R.)