Page 29 of Gift from the Tree

Air, Earth, Water, Fire so bright,

Four elements, pure and right.

Air we breathe, wise and sweet,

Earth stands strong, soil beneath our feet.

Water flows, broken and whole,

Fire’s warmth feeds the soul.

Remember these, with joy and cheer,

The elements become one, the world becomes clear.

The stone begins heating up in my hand, just like it had the night before on my chest, then a bright flash of light bursts from behind my eyes, throwing me back in time.

Images of me as a little girl, running through the woods back at the estate, someone chasing me and tickling me into a fit of laughter.

Again me, just a little older, maybe eight, sitting in someone’s lap under the tree, reading from a book in that language. Every time I messed up a word, the voice of the stranger, unrecognizable, I can’t tell if it’s a male or female, would correct me and tell me to try again.

They taught me my lullaby. We sang it over and over, every day, it seemed, as I watch myself go from a small girl to a teenager, dancing around my tree singing.

“This isn’t your home, Willow, but you’ll go home one day,” the stranger tells me as I lie in the grass, looking at the sky, moving things through the air… Moving things through the air…

The light begins to dim out, and I silently beg it to please stay, to please show me more. I start singing again, but nothing happens this time.

Tears flow down my face as I let out a sob. That stranger loves me. I can feel it pouring into every fiber of my being. They loved me the way a child was supposed to be loved. Not only that, but they also knew I’d end up here and that I had the power to manipulate air. I sang with them while I practiced. Why did they leave me?

“What happened, Willow?” Gaster asks as I open my blurry eyes and look at him kneeling on the floor in front of me.

“I saw images of myself as a child. Someone played tag with me in the woods, tickling me, teaching me to read in that language, helping me to learn my air element, and we sang my lullaby every day. They loved me, loved me so much, I could feel it down to my bones. They told me that wasn’t my home, that I’d go home one day. Why did they leave me there, Gaster? Why didn’t they stay with me, protect me?” I cry out, bawling at this point. Sobs wreck my chest. Tears and snot flow down my face.

“Willow, calm down. Your air is coming out again. It’s your emotions that are causing it to burst out of its restraint. Look at me, Willow.”

A panicked hiccup comes out of me as I wipe my eyes and look around. Gaster’s things are being thrown around in a torrent of wind.

No, no, no, no.

“I don’t know what to do, Gaster.”

“Search within yourself, Willow. You should feel a spot in you, most likely your chest, that feels like pressure or a tugging. Not painfully, but a presence to let you know it’s there. That’s the source of your element. Pinpoint it and breathe in, like you’re sucking the air out of the room, just like this morning.”

Closing my eyes, I try to block out the noise of the chaos around the room. Taking a deep breath, I focus solely on my chest, and for a moment, I can’t distinguish anything from the anxiety pumping through me, until I feel it. Exactly like Gaster said, I feel a tugging. It’s not painful at all. Actually, it’s warm, welcoming, almost like the power itself is happy I’m finally paying attention to it.

So, without any more delay, I focus on the spot in my chest and begin to breathe in. Picturing in my mind the air from the room coming back to me. I feel so guilty about the mess I’ve made in Gaster’s cottage. It was so beautiful and homey before I let yet another air blast out and now, I’ve gone and ruined it. I take another deep breath, thinking of how lovely it all looked before, and envision the remaining air coming back to me.

“I haven’t seen control like that in many, many years, child.” Gaster’s quiet words cause my eyes to fly open. I suck in a shocked breath, covering my mouth with both hands. His shock and astonishment make more sense now that I look around the room. Nothing in the cottage is destroyed. Everything’s in its exact spot to how I remembered it when I first came in.

“Gaster, I’m about to freak out and I’m a little dizzy, so I may pass out, but please explain what the fuck is going on?”

“When you began pulling the air back to you, the items that were floating around started moving back to where they belonged. It was like—”

“Like I felt guilty about destroying your beautiful home and so I pictured the room how it was when we got here and then pulled the air back to me like you instructed,” I cut Gaster off and tell him what I did in a flurry of words. I’m freaking out that I just did that. “I’m feeling very sick, and I don’t want to throw up or pass out.”

“Come on. Let’s get you to the porch and I’ll make some tea.” He stands, lending his arm so I don’t fall over.

He sits me in the rocking chair on his porch and quickly goes back inside. My head’s spinning, and my stomach’s in knots over everything that just happened. Part of me is so scared, but the other part, the part beginning to outweigh the fear, is excited.

---