Marie Elizabeth Goldwyn and Sam Leon Lincoln sat side by side against their Oak tree quietly uncovering a box that was buried beside the Oak. Together they unlocked the box, opened it, and gazed upon the items that would save the earth. Sam closed it, blinking back the tears in his dark brown eyes that matched his wavy brown hair. He stood, and with his strong, tan arms and hands, grasped Marie’s arms and lifted her off the ground. Sam, seeing the tears in her crystal blue eyes, soothingly stroked her curly black hair. Sam knew the reason she was crying, but inquired anyways. “They have to believe us, Sam. What will happen to them if they don’t come along with us?” Marie cried as she sunk back to the ground with worry. “If we reverse the fields fast enough,” Sam reassuringly replied, “they should be ok.” He peered down at the frightened, pale, heart-shaped face. It was 8:30 AM now, each of their parents should be up. They crossed the rolling field. Each split up when they reached their houses, which stood side by side. They wistfully peered at their mailboxes. 7142 and 7143 Barrow Road, Baltimore, Maryland. Would they ever see them again? Will we reverse the magnetic fields fast enough before the earth becomes too hot? Marie hopelessly thought. She entered the cozy home. Her parents sat at the table eating scrambled eggs. She approached them. “Mom, Dad, please hear me out. I know you do not believe me, but you have to. Tomorrow, July 29, 2017, at exactly 7:28 AM, the sun’s core will begin a magnetic pull on the earth. Sam and I have done extensive research to prove this. The pull will cause the earth to come closer and closer to the sun, which will eventually make it too scorching to bear. Sam and I have developed a safe zone. It is in an abandoned car garage. It goes underground providing shelter from the heat. In this safe zone, we have satellite dishes with mega-powered magnets connected to them. At the specific time, we will turn the magnets on, climb to the top of the garage, and place the satellites in the place we have designated for them. If we do not do this at the right time, the magnetic pull from the sun will become too powerful to overcome. All around the world are others doing the same as us. Please come with us. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” “Marie,” her mother obstinately replied, “look out the window. The sky is blue, clouds float happily around, there is a nice breeze, and it is the regular temperature; 73 degrees. I don’t understand how you expect us to believe this childish game. You are a teenager, you need to grow up.” Marie’s father nodded with confirmation. It was hopeless. She desolately walked outside to wait for Sam. Marie nervously tapped her fingers in the pattern she would always do when she was anxious or frightened. Knowing that she was not in control of whatever Sam was saying to his parents made her even more anxious. She thought of his quiet, gravelly voice. He was gentle, reliable, and a notorious jokester, but always knew when it was time to be serious. Sam darted behind Marie. He yelled in her ear and frightened her so much that she fell off the doorsteps. “Sam Lincoln! How dare you! This is not funny!” “Just making sure your energy and adrenaline were pumping for our ride to the garage!” This was typical of Sam; always finding a half-reasonable explanation for doing things that startled people. Sam and Marie hopped on their bikes and began their journey to the garage. On their way, they saw many of their childhood memories. Marie spotted their old Junior High school building, where Sam had “accidentally” thrown the basketball at her face then introduced himself as he lifted her off the ground. She smiled at this priceless memory. Best friends ever since, she thought. Sam peered at his surroundings. Trees were blooming, birds were singing, and children were playing. All of the sudden, a baseball dropped in front of him. Sam had no idea where it came from, but stopped to retrieve it as he pondered over all the seasons he had played baseball. What fun memories they were. Basketball was much more enjoyable in his opinion, though. His height of 5’8” was perfect to steal the ball, then speedily bolt down the court for the layup. Sam placed thebaseball in his pocket and caught up with Marie. Then they arrived. They entered the old car garage and rode down to the room where the cleaning supplies and tools would normally be kept. Marie and Sam strode into the isolated, chilly room. They had insulated the room in which heat would not be able to penetrate through. Sam placed the box from the tree on its designated table. He opened it and unloaded its priceless possessions. 3 yards of wire, pliers, and the mega powered, 30-pound magnet. The fact that he unloaded these certain objects, that were supposed to have already been built, infuriated Marie. “Sam Leon Lincoln!” She roared, “You didn't set up the second magnet to the satellite?!” Sam sauntered to her, placed his strong hands on her shoulders, looked her dead in the eye and spoke soothingly to her, “Marie, you have to learn that you can trust me.” “I do trust you, Sam. It’s just that you wait until last minute to do things, and this time, the world is on our hands, not just grades.” “I understand why you are worried, but we have a full day to spare. Just trust me, I’ll get working on it right now.” His eyes were not playfully dancing with jokes as he spoke this time. They were serious. He knew how important it was. Sam retrieved the satellite dish and placed it on the table. He situated the magnet in the middle, wrapped the wire around the magnet and dish, then around the arm of the satellite. The hours flew by of preparation of Sam’s satellite until finally it was done. It was now dark outside and would normally be time for bed. Sam and Marie had a snack that was made up of granola bars, nuts, and Capri-suns. They then retrieved their sleeping bags and made camp. Sam and Marie lay on opposite sides of the room, both by a door. Marie lay staring at the room around her, she was still able to see because of the candle that was lit in the corner of the room. The grey, concrete walls filled with air holes entertained dancing shadows, which Marie perceived as those who once worked in this room. Marie and Sam were simultaneously, yet suddenly awoken by ----- nothing. A feeling that came so piercingly, it was possible to think death was laying all around. They trudged outside to where their eyes beheld the most stillness ever seen. There was no wind, no clouds and not even a defined temperature. It was just, nothing. All the houses and buildings were still quiet, for it was only 5:00AM. Marie looked up. It looked as if blood had poured over all the sky, staining it crimson. Sam and Marie knew this was because the sun was nearer now. They rushed inside, too frightened to imagine if they would succeed. They had two hours to kill. Sam, trying to perk things up a bit, suggested talking about what they wanted to be when they were older. They had agreed long ago never to talk about this because they wanted to live the life at present, but there was an exception this time; they might never be able to experience the plans they had for their future if they did not succeed. Marie wistfully stated, “I planned to be a Science teacher when I grew up. And I wanted to attend University of Maryland.” “I believe what you meant was, ‘I will be a Science teacher when I grow up, and I will attend UMD.’” Sam responded. Marie gave into having some of the hope that Sam at least pretended to have and agreed with him. Sam then proclaimed, “ I would like to be a helicopter pilot when I grow up and attend Middle River Aviation college.” As they discussed their future plans, and recalled precious memories, the time quickly passed by. Sam and Marie abruptly noticed that they only had ten minutes until 7:28! They gathered the satellite dishes and ran to the top of the car garage. When they reached the top, it was 7:24. Four minutes left! Sam placed the satellites on their stands and hooked the wires to a megavoltage battery. The satellites turned towards the now invisible sun. Marie and Sam rushed to the hut they had made on the roof and pulled on suits over their clothes. These suits would reflect sunlight and heat and keep them from burning if all failed. They pounced back outside to watch the possibly last moments transpire. It was 7:28! Marie flipped the switches on the satellites and the magnets immediately began a constant humming. The temperature of the atmosphere rose and rose until finally, it could not go any higher. Sam and Marie could feel the heat even in the suits. Then, life was still. There was no air to breathe. They couldn't see anything, it was just a white haze. This went on for 7 seconds until the color in the trees was restored, the sky was now blue again, and there was air to breathe. The Magnetic fields had been reversed! Sam and Marie rode home as fast as they possibly could. Sam walked into Marie’s house with her, to comfort her in case what was seen was unbearable. The house looked normal. Not even a piece of dust was out of place. Her mom and dad were hardly injured, just a few boils and burns on their hands. Marie, after humbly receiving their gratification and apologies for not listening, then walked with Sam to his house. The same story awaited them. Sam and Marie yet again humbly received the gratification and apologies, then trudged off to their old oak. Here they recalled about how scared they were that they might not ever see their family again. That was no longer a worry because of what they did. What they did was unforgettable; they made the earth survive. by: Hannah Marie
7 Comments
Me
8/7/2017 01:26:58 pm
You captured the emotions of the characters perfectly!!!
Reply
Momma
8/7/2017 02:18:44 pm
That was a great story!
Reply
Joah Gabriel
9/6/2017 01:35:44 pm
I really like the way you did the characters in this story! Writing characters in a story without just info-dumping is hard, but you did a great job! Great story!
Reply
9/6/2017 07:08:57 pm
Designing the characters was probably one of the most enjoyable parts of putting this story together for me! I designed the way they looked in my mind, their personality traits, some pet peeves they had, etc... And that really helps me while incorporating them into the story! I also wanted my readers to feel the emotions as I did while writing, so when I designed an extremely sweet, heart felt character and something hurts them, you feel for them!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Details
Archives |