Post by virus ! on Feb 9, 2011 19:06:20 GMT -5
With each step a cloud of dust rose, layering Alejandro’s tan feet with a thin film of grainy sand. A determined look was stretched tight onto his face, etching itself deeper with each step. Something was wrong; he was nineteen, what was keeping his gift from arriving already?
Alejandro rounded one last rock pillar before standing at the edge of a strangely illuminated pool. It had only been a twenty minute walk, but his muscles ached and his eyes burned from being awake all night. This wasn’t normal; all the rest of the tribe had gotten their gift right on their nineteenth birthday. His sister Joaquin had even gotten hers a tad early, a few days before normal. Yet, here he was, the strongest juvenile in the citadel, and the closest thing he had to his gift was a set of charming good looks, he thought darkly.
The light aqua pool beneath him glimmered faintly. Alejandro knelt down, running a hand through his short black hair. He didn’t want to go and bother Joaquin about it anymore; she knew how stressed he was, and she wanted to keep an eye on him, but he knew how crazy she became if something was wrong with him, her only remaining relative. Alejandro breathed in, out, and kneeled at the edge.
Before a minute had passed, a voice, feminine and high pitched, rung in the open aired caves. He recognized the voice immediately. With a slight groan, he covered his eyes with his hands. Well, she had found him. Standing up, with a grunt, he thought to himself, I should have never told her in the first place. “Yes, Joaquin?” He called, his words laced with tolerance that was wearing thin. “I’m over here,” He called out from the small inlet he stood in. From where she was, she wouldn’t be able to see him if he didn’t move.
A tall girl, tan with black, curly hair much like him, came jogging down the stone hallways. Her feet were bare, her skin was darkened to a deep caramel, and her ankles clicked every so often from the jingle of her bracelets. Joaquin was at least five foot eight; he had never expected his sister to grow so tall. “I might have found someone who can help you,” She breathed, slowing to a stop. “With your, y’know, issue…” She said awkwardly. Alejandro looked away from his sister; it was embarrassing to be the only one in the group that hadn’t gifted yet.
“Really. Who is it?” He asked, almost skeptically.
“He just recently arrived; some medicine man from Albuquerque,” Alejandro’s brows rose in slight surprise. The group was relatively new; the oldest member was only thirty five. A medicine man? A shaman? How had one come about, if his rare breed of super-humans was only at most thirty five years old? Without a second word he jogged after his sister as she led him back down the stone hallways of the citadel, a slight buzz in his mind. Was this really as serious as he thought? Or was he just a little late? It was a month after his nineteenth; maybe it was too soon to be worrying yet.
The two siblings slowed to a walk. Joaquin began heading towards the sharp decline, the entrance to the city below. As she leaned back on her ankles to inch down the hill, Alejandro looked forward into the large plaza that lay hidden hundreds of feet beneath the sand above. It had been lit up with numerous paper lanterns—large, buoyant, colorful lights strung beneath each pillar of stone. The ancient city was alive with life, some sort of party he must have missed hearing about. As far as ancient ruins went, this dwelling that the tribe had called their home was one of the newer ones, only a couple hundred years old, abandoned by some Native tribe from before America’s settlement. It was in fine condition, and with the care the group had put into it, the city was just as beautiful as it had been four hundred years ago. Joaquin started into the plaza, the sound of her anklets drowned out by the laughter and music that echoed softly from the walls. Alejandro looked around in amazement; the city had transformed overnight, into something spectacular.
“Joaquin, what’s going on?” He asked in awe.
“The shaman has arrived, and this is his welcome party,” She answered, grinning in pride as she looked around at her home.
Alejandro nodded quietly and looked to the center of the plaza, where a man only slightly older than perhaps forty stood, eyes closed and a peaceful smile illuminated on his lips.
“Ah, Alejandro! We were wondering where you were,” Another man came up and slung his shoulder good naturedly around his shoulder. “I believe this man could help ya, he knows a ton about us; go and ask him, Alej,” He nudged him forward. Not wanting to disturb the man’s peaceful day-slumber, he hesitantly padded forwards, unsure and slightly afraid. Without a word, the shaman’s eyes opened, revealing two violently bright blue irises. “Well… Hello, Alejandro,” He greeted in his low, baritone-rich voice. “You may refer to me as Shaman.”
“It is a pleasure, Shaman,” He murmured, dipping his head.
“And I believe you have something to ask me?” He questioned lightly.
“Ah… Yes. My gift hasn’t come yet, and it’s been about a month since my nineteenth birthday.” He said, reminded once again of his odd condition. A thoughtful look crossed the shaman’s face; he took a few moments before speaking again.
“I am sure this is what you have been told for the past month, now, but I am sure that your gift is just a little slow in arrival…” He said with a confident, sleepy smile and a shrug of his broad shoulders. “Give it three days; in that time, your gift shall come. I promise you,” He nodded. “Do not worry, Alejandro, for it will come.” Alejandro let out a slight sigh of disappointment. The slightly eerie tone of voice had sent a chill down his neck but he ignored it, as he didn’t want to irritate the newcomer.
“Thank you, then, sir…” He bowed his head and walked away. It was an anticlimactic meeting; but the party continued around him, and he did his best to remain cheerful for the rest of the evening.
Three days passed, and in that time, nothing happened. On the third day, he was awoken with a start, awoken by his sister shaking him almost violently. He rolled over, alarmed, to see a cheerful look on her face, anxious with a sub-layer of concern.
“Well?!” She asked, near shrieking. It took him a moment to realize what she was screaming about. He blinked a couple times, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Had anything happened during the night? With a fierce determination he sat upright immediately, looking down at his palms. “How will I know, Joaquin?” He murmured, excited, anxious and confused at the same time.
Joaquin bit her lip, thinking back. “Well… You just… feel it, I guess…” She looked down at his hands, moving over to sit on the edge of his bed. She looked at him for a couple moments, before prompting him impatiently. “Well? Do you feel anything?”
Alejandro shook his head, confused. “I’m… not sure,” He murmured. Slowly, he stood up, walking around his bedroom, a stone room with sunlight pouring through the open, screen-less window. As he stood up the fish in his bowl quivered uneasily within their glass home. Alejandro raised one finger to touch the bowl, and the fish nipped at the glass from inside. Immediately he cried out, covering his eyes with his hands. “No, this is stupid! This is so pointless!” Startled, Joaquin stood up, too.
“What? What is? Is it not here yet?” She asked, a slight panic creeping into her tone.
“No, it’s here alright… But it’s useless! Completely worthless!” He pounded his fist down on his stone windowsill, grinding his teeth angrily. “I have the power over fish. Fish! We live in a desert!” He shouted. “A desert!!”
Joaquin went silent. “Are you sure?” She asked solemnly.
“Yes… I can feel it. Just like you said.” He growled to himself.
His sister said nothing “It’s alright… You were given it for a reason; surely there must be something…” She tried to fake the enthusiasm, but she couldn’t. Quietly, seeing that he had sunk bank onto his bed, she slipped out of his room, feeling nothing she could say would improve his mood.
Alejandro felt tears beginning to sting at his eyes. The power over fish? In a desert! This gift was useless. When would he ever use it? The only time he could ever think of a use for it was to tell his pet minnows to do a trick. The next few hours was spent in silence before Alejandro’s stomach got the better of him. Sighing, he shuffled down to his wing’s dinner room. In the mess of caves they had carved out of the ruins, the dining rooms were always the most exquisite of them all. Appliances had been scavenged and snuck out of the streets of modern America, out into the desert where the rest of the country would never find their rare breed. Alejandro sat down at the dining table; everyone was laughing and having a good time, as per usual. After a few minutes of sitting, Ricardo, the overseer of the wing, noticed him and passed the bread basket. “Hey, Alej, so did your gift come today?”
Alejandro looked down at his plate and bit his lip, reaching out unenthusiastically to take the bread. “Um… Yeah, it did.” He muttered to Ricardo. He couldn’t meet his gaze; it was all too embarrassing.
“Ay, that’s good! What were you given?” The rest of his brother and sister members had all gone quiet, interested. In the group, everyone was family.
“Ahh… well… I can… talk to fish…” He said nonchalantly, feeling the suddenly pitiful gazes of his family. He coughed once, clearing his throat awkwardly.
“Ohh… ahh… Good gift, Alej.” Ricardo said, not wanting to make his cave member feel any worse than he already looked. “Ay, so did anyone hear that strange rumbling back in the northern right corner of the citadel?” Ricardo asked, changing the subject.
A pretty woman of twenty three spoke up from the far end of the table. “The shaman said we best prepare ourselves; the underground streams are beginning to build up underneath us. Storms out near Utah had flooded the suburbs, and the rains sunk into our aquifers,”
Other people at the table exchanged surprised looks. Alejandro looked up curiously. After dinner he strode down into the citadel, the paper lanterns swinging peacefully still among the city. He traveled up to the north western corner of the city, listening intently for the sound of rushing water beneath the stone walls. There was a prominent rumble vibrating beneath his feet. Alejandro crouched, placing a palm flat on the stone floor. With slight surprise, he could feel the heartbeats of fish through his fingers. His mind was whirling; was this water flow dangerous? And if it was, he might be the only one in this city that had any sort of power that could even possibly stop it. How would he use his fish powers to stop any sort of disaster from happening?
Before he had any longer to ponder over it, a geyser spouted out through a crack in the wall that he hadn’t ever seen before. It sprayed him with icy water that stung his skin with each jet that propelled out. He winced and jumped out of the way as his eye spotted more bubbles foaming around another crack in the wall not five feet over. Alejandro’s eyes widened in panic; was this what the Shaman was talking about? As if the forces of nature could hear his thoughts, a voice echoed throughout the corridors behind him. Alejandro looked behind him, panic rising in his chest. The dark haired boy whipped back around to face the geysers in the wall. Be careful what you wish for next time, Alejandro, he thought bitterly to himself.
The thought of the ancient city behind him brought him to raise his palms to the wall in one fluid, quick motion. He pressed his palms firmly against the gray rock as his mind reeled. He had heard of the Chicago River, where engineers had reversed the flow of the river with precise math and science. Exasperated, he put all his energy into the mind of the fish swimming calmly beneath the stone. Before he knew what he was doing, the view of water, sand, and other assorted materials along the bottom of the underground river appeared before his eyes. The bottom of the river was flat; hardly a decline at all. Maybe, just maybe, he could reverse the river; more water was flowing every second towards the large aquifer that the city tapped from. He followed the fish’s path down to the aquifer, seeing that it was almost up to its breaking point. With another surge of panic, Alejandro left the fish’s mind. The aquifer wouldn’t hold much more water. He pulled out of the stream and shouted back into the citadel for his sister, wishing more than ever that she had picked this time and place to be following him around like usual. Her earthen powers to shift the sands was more than just needed right now; it could save their ancient city.
Thankfully, her long mass of black curls came trotting towards him curiously. “What is i—“She started but was cut off by her brother’s panicky shouts. “Get over here, I need your help!” He urged.
“I need you to shift the sands at the entrance of the aquifer into a large hill, with only a foot of leeway at the top.” He ordered quickly, beginning to tap back into the thoughts of the fish beneath once again, when Joaquin frowned.
“Why? We want more water in the—“She started, again, and was, for a second time, cut off by her brother. “Just do it!” He shrieked at her, now delving completely back into the water. With every ounce of mental energy he could muster, he willed the fish to swim in the opposite direction. At least a hundred thousand traveled the waters; their combined efforts would hopefully reverse the flow. Inside he felt the currents of water around him stall, as if confused in which direction it was going. With a handful of agonizing, suspenseful moments, the shallow river began to pull the trout forward. Alejandro, relieved and happy beyond belief, almost jumped out of his subject’s mind’s eye. Careful to contain his elation, he pressed his hands more firmly into the rock, awaiting the full reversal of the river before he left the trout completely. As the current pushed the fish forward, he sighed with relief, realizing he had been holding his breath. He stood back up, straightening himself out as he unclenched his jaw.
Joaquin looked over at him, confused and worried. “The sand hill is up, but what’s going on, Alej?” She questioned. He grinned at her, wiping the sweat that had accumulated off his brow.
“I found a use for my gift, I guess,” He shrugged. “The rains that had flooded the underground river almost flooded the city, too. The fish reversed the flow of the river, though, and now we have a good accumulation of water built up in the aquifer, thanks to your sand barrier, and now the citadel won’t be ruined.” Alejandro explained.
A shock came over her as she realized the amount of importance of what she had just taken part in, her dark eyes widening in surprise. “Wow…” She breathed. Behind them, fifty yards off, the Shaman watched them with admiration. “I applaud you two. You have saved the city,” He said proudly. Alejandro nodded in thanks to the man. Before either of them could speak, the Shaman strode back towards the plaza, content. The siblings exchanged glances, before following him, their efforts kept in secret; to do good was not about being recognized for the efforts. The citadel noticed the rumblings had stopped, but no one besides the three present were ever aware of the magnificent transformation Alejandro had experienced; his journey from boy to man.
Here's my short story I wrote for my public library's writing contest. (: Seven pages on Word, and for some reason it doesn't indent anywhere but there. >:U Feedback is appreciated~
Alejandro rounded one last rock pillar before standing at the edge of a strangely illuminated pool. It had only been a twenty minute walk, but his muscles ached and his eyes burned from being awake all night. This wasn’t normal; all the rest of the tribe had gotten their gift right on their nineteenth birthday. His sister Joaquin had even gotten hers a tad early, a few days before normal. Yet, here he was, the strongest juvenile in the citadel, and the closest thing he had to his gift was a set of charming good looks, he thought darkly.
The light aqua pool beneath him glimmered faintly. Alejandro knelt down, running a hand through his short black hair. He didn’t want to go and bother Joaquin about it anymore; she knew how stressed he was, and she wanted to keep an eye on him, but he knew how crazy she became if something was wrong with him, her only remaining relative. Alejandro breathed in, out, and kneeled at the edge.
Before a minute had passed, a voice, feminine and high pitched, rung in the open aired caves. He recognized the voice immediately. With a slight groan, he covered his eyes with his hands. Well, she had found him. Standing up, with a grunt, he thought to himself, I should have never told her in the first place. “Yes, Joaquin?” He called, his words laced with tolerance that was wearing thin. “I’m over here,” He called out from the small inlet he stood in. From where she was, she wouldn’t be able to see him if he didn’t move.
A tall girl, tan with black, curly hair much like him, came jogging down the stone hallways. Her feet were bare, her skin was darkened to a deep caramel, and her ankles clicked every so often from the jingle of her bracelets. Joaquin was at least five foot eight; he had never expected his sister to grow so tall. “I might have found someone who can help you,” She breathed, slowing to a stop. “With your, y’know, issue…” She said awkwardly. Alejandro looked away from his sister; it was embarrassing to be the only one in the group that hadn’t gifted yet.
“Really. Who is it?” He asked, almost skeptically.
“He just recently arrived; some medicine man from Albuquerque,” Alejandro’s brows rose in slight surprise. The group was relatively new; the oldest member was only thirty five. A medicine man? A shaman? How had one come about, if his rare breed of super-humans was only at most thirty five years old? Without a second word he jogged after his sister as she led him back down the stone hallways of the citadel, a slight buzz in his mind. Was this really as serious as he thought? Or was he just a little late? It was a month after his nineteenth; maybe it was too soon to be worrying yet.
The two siblings slowed to a walk. Joaquin began heading towards the sharp decline, the entrance to the city below. As she leaned back on her ankles to inch down the hill, Alejandro looked forward into the large plaza that lay hidden hundreds of feet beneath the sand above. It had been lit up with numerous paper lanterns—large, buoyant, colorful lights strung beneath each pillar of stone. The ancient city was alive with life, some sort of party he must have missed hearing about. As far as ancient ruins went, this dwelling that the tribe had called their home was one of the newer ones, only a couple hundred years old, abandoned by some Native tribe from before America’s settlement. It was in fine condition, and with the care the group had put into it, the city was just as beautiful as it had been four hundred years ago. Joaquin started into the plaza, the sound of her anklets drowned out by the laughter and music that echoed softly from the walls. Alejandro looked around in amazement; the city had transformed overnight, into something spectacular.
“Joaquin, what’s going on?” He asked in awe.
“The shaman has arrived, and this is his welcome party,” She answered, grinning in pride as she looked around at her home.
Alejandro nodded quietly and looked to the center of the plaza, where a man only slightly older than perhaps forty stood, eyes closed and a peaceful smile illuminated on his lips.
“Ah, Alejandro! We were wondering where you were,” Another man came up and slung his shoulder good naturedly around his shoulder. “I believe this man could help ya, he knows a ton about us; go and ask him, Alej,” He nudged him forward. Not wanting to disturb the man’s peaceful day-slumber, he hesitantly padded forwards, unsure and slightly afraid. Without a word, the shaman’s eyes opened, revealing two violently bright blue irises. “Well… Hello, Alejandro,” He greeted in his low, baritone-rich voice. “You may refer to me as Shaman.”
“It is a pleasure, Shaman,” He murmured, dipping his head.
“And I believe you have something to ask me?” He questioned lightly.
“Ah… Yes. My gift hasn’t come yet, and it’s been about a month since my nineteenth birthday.” He said, reminded once again of his odd condition. A thoughtful look crossed the shaman’s face; he took a few moments before speaking again.
“I am sure this is what you have been told for the past month, now, but I am sure that your gift is just a little slow in arrival…” He said with a confident, sleepy smile and a shrug of his broad shoulders. “Give it three days; in that time, your gift shall come. I promise you,” He nodded. “Do not worry, Alejandro, for it will come.” Alejandro let out a slight sigh of disappointment. The slightly eerie tone of voice had sent a chill down his neck but he ignored it, as he didn’t want to irritate the newcomer.
“Thank you, then, sir…” He bowed his head and walked away. It was an anticlimactic meeting; but the party continued around him, and he did his best to remain cheerful for the rest of the evening.
Three days passed, and in that time, nothing happened. On the third day, he was awoken with a start, awoken by his sister shaking him almost violently. He rolled over, alarmed, to see a cheerful look on her face, anxious with a sub-layer of concern.
“Well?!” She asked, near shrieking. It took him a moment to realize what she was screaming about. He blinked a couple times, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Had anything happened during the night? With a fierce determination he sat upright immediately, looking down at his palms. “How will I know, Joaquin?” He murmured, excited, anxious and confused at the same time.
Joaquin bit her lip, thinking back. “Well… You just… feel it, I guess…” She looked down at his hands, moving over to sit on the edge of his bed. She looked at him for a couple moments, before prompting him impatiently. “Well? Do you feel anything?”
Alejandro shook his head, confused. “I’m… not sure,” He murmured. Slowly, he stood up, walking around his bedroom, a stone room with sunlight pouring through the open, screen-less window. As he stood up the fish in his bowl quivered uneasily within their glass home. Alejandro raised one finger to touch the bowl, and the fish nipped at the glass from inside. Immediately he cried out, covering his eyes with his hands. “No, this is stupid! This is so pointless!” Startled, Joaquin stood up, too.
“What? What is? Is it not here yet?” She asked, a slight panic creeping into her tone.
“No, it’s here alright… But it’s useless! Completely worthless!” He pounded his fist down on his stone windowsill, grinding his teeth angrily. “I have the power over fish. Fish! We live in a desert!” He shouted. “A desert!!”
Joaquin went silent. “Are you sure?” She asked solemnly.
“Yes… I can feel it. Just like you said.” He growled to himself.
His sister said nothing “It’s alright… You were given it for a reason; surely there must be something…” She tried to fake the enthusiasm, but she couldn’t. Quietly, seeing that he had sunk bank onto his bed, she slipped out of his room, feeling nothing she could say would improve his mood.
Alejandro felt tears beginning to sting at his eyes. The power over fish? In a desert! This gift was useless. When would he ever use it? The only time he could ever think of a use for it was to tell his pet minnows to do a trick. The next few hours was spent in silence before Alejandro’s stomach got the better of him. Sighing, he shuffled down to his wing’s dinner room. In the mess of caves they had carved out of the ruins, the dining rooms were always the most exquisite of them all. Appliances had been scavenged and snuck out of the streets of modern America, out into the desert where the rest of the country would never find their rare breed. Alejandro sat down at the dining table; everyone was laughing and having a good time, as per usual. After a few minutes of sitting, Ricardo, the overseer of the wing, noticed him and passed the bread basket. “Hey, Alej, so did your gift come today?”
Alejandro looked down at his plate and bit his lip, reaching out unenthusiastically to take the bread. “Um… Yeah, it did.” He muttered to Ricardo. He couldn’t meet his gaze; it was all too embarrassing.
“Ay, that’s good! What were you given?” The rest of his brother and sister members had all gone quiet, interested. In the group, everyone was family.
“Ahh… well… I can… talk to fish…” He said nonchalantly, feeling the suddenly pitiful gazes of his family. He coughed once, clearing his throat awkwardly.
“Ohh… ahh… Good gift, Alej.” Ricardo said, not wanting to make his cave member feel any worse than he already looked. “Ay, so did anyone hear that strange rumbling back in the northern right corner of the citadel?” Ricardo asked, changing the subject.
A pretty woman of twenty three spoke up from the far end of the table. “The shaman said we best prepare ourselves; the underground streams are beginning to build up underneath us. Storms out near Utah had flooded the suburbs, and the rains sunk into our aquifers,”
Other people at the table exchanged surprised looks. Alejandro looked up curiously. After dinner he strode down into the citadel, the paper lanterns swinging peacefully still among the city. He traveled up to the north western corner of the city, listening intently for the sound of rushing water beneath the stone walls. There was a prominent rumble vibrating beneath his feet. Alejandro crouched, placing a palm flat on the stone floor. With slight surprise, he could feel the heartbeats of fish through his fingers. His mind was whirling; was this water flow dangerous? And if it was, he might be the only one in this city that had any sort of power that could even possibly stop it. How would he use his fish powers to stop any sort of disaster from happening?
Before he had any longer to ponder over it, a geyser spouted out through a crack in the wall that he hadn’t ever seen before. It sprayed him with icy water that stung his skin with each jet that propelled out. He winced and jumped out of the way as his eye spotted more bubbles foaming around another crack in the wall not five feet over. Alejandro’s eyes widened in panic; was this what the Shaman was talking about? As if the forces of nature could hear his thoughts, a voice echoed throughout the corridors behind him. Alejandro looked behind him, panic rising in his chest. The dark haired boy whipped back around to face the geysers in the wall. Be careful what you wish for next time, Alejandro, he thought bitterly to himself.
The thought of the ancient city behind him brought him to raise his palms to the wall in one fluid, quick motion. He pressed his palms firmly against the gray rock as his mind reeled. He had heard of the Chicago River, where engineers had reversed the flow of the river with precise math and science. Exasperated, he put all his energy into the mind of the fish swimming calmly beneath the stone. Before he knew what he was doing, the view of water, sand, and other assorted materials along the bottom of the underground river appeared before his eyes. The bottom of the river was flat; hardly a decline at all. Maybe, just maybe, he could reverse the river; more water was flowing every second towards the large aquifer that the city tapped from. He followed the fish’s path down to the aquifer, seeing that it was almost up to its breaking point. With another surge of panic, Alejandro left the fish’s mind. The aquifer wouldn’t hold much more water. He pulled out of the stream and shouted back into the citadel for his sister, wishing more than ever that she had picked this time and place to be following him around like usual. Her earthen powers to shift the sands was more than just needed right now; it could save their ancient city.
Thankfully, her long mass of black curls came trotting towards him curiously. “What is i—“She started but was cut off by her brother’s panicky shouts. “Get over here, I need your help!” He urged.
“I need you to shift the sands at the entrance of the aquifer into a large hill, with only a foot of leeway at the top.” He ordered quickly, beginning to tap back into the thoughts of the fish beneath once again, when Joaquin frowned.
“Why? We want more water in the—“She started, again, and was, for a second time, cut off by her brother. “Just do it!” He shrieked at her, now delving completely back into the water. With every ounce of mental energy he could muster, he willed the fish to swim in the opposite direction. At least a hundred thousand traveled the waters; their combined efforts would hopefully reverse the flow. Inside he felt the currents of water around him stall, as if confused in which direction it was going. With a handful of agonizing, suspenseful moments, the shallow river began to pull the trout forward. Alejandro, relieved and happy beyond belief, almost jumped out of his subject’s mind’s eye. Careful to contain his elation, he pressed his hands more firmly into the rock, awaiting the full reversal of the river before he left the trout completely. As the current pushed the fish forward, he sighed with relief, realizing he had been holding his breath. He stood back up, straightening himself out as he unclenched his jaw.
Joaquin looked over at him, confused and worried. “The sand hill is up, but what’s going on, Alej?” She questioned. He grinned at her, wiping the sweat that had accumulated off his brow.
“I found a use for my gift, I guess,” He shrugged. “The rains that had flooded the underground river almost flooded the city, too. The fish reversed the flow of the river, though, and now we have a good accumulation of water built up in the aquifer, thanks to your sand barrier, and now the citadel won’t be ruined.” Alejandro explained.
A shock came over her as she realized the amount of importance of what she had just taken part in, her dark eyes widening in surprise. “Wow…” She breathed. Behind them, fifty yards off, the Shaman watched them with admiration. “I applaud you two. You have saved the city,” He said proudly. Alejandro nodded in thanks to the man. Before either of them could speak, the Shaman strode back towards the plaza, content. The siblings exchanged glances, before following him, their efforts kept in secret; to do good was not about being recognized for the efforts. The citadel noticed the rumblings had stopped, but no one besides the three present were ever aware of the magnificent transformation Alejandro had experienced; his journey from boy to man.
Here's my short story I wrote for my public library's writing contest. (: Seven pages on Word, and for some reason it doesn't indent anywhere but there. >:U Feedback is appreciated~
