Leslie A. Wallant - Evie & the Elemmates

Evie
& the
ElemMates

Leslie Wallant

Text copyright 2014 by Leslie Wallant

Evie Sparks & all ElemMate characters are

TM of and Leslie Wallant.

Published by Wallant Design

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission
write to Leslie Wallant.

This is a work of fiction.

All names, characters and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or used fictitiously.

No reference to any real person is intended or should be inferred.

ISBN 978-0-9916465-1-7

for Alan, Jon and Ed

Evie was still fuming mad at Liz.

Sure, Liz joined her at the wastebasket, concern showing in her deep, brown eyes while Evie tearfully tore up her first science quiz of the school year. She failed royally. Liz hugged her friend and walked down the hall with her trying to comfort her.

Hey lets take our secret shortcut past the back of the toy store. Maybe theres a consolation gift in their dumpster for you. Weve found some good stuff in there, remember? Liz suggested, trying to distract her.

They walked to the back of the school to the dirt path through woods. Students knew the shortcut led to the back of a small strip mall in the center of their coastal New England town. Liz bushwhacked through thorny brambles, holding back branches for her sorrowing friend. The fresh September air was a relief after the sweaty smelling school halls. These little back woods seemed a secret garden with goldenrod, dahlias and little blue flowers. Aw, cheer up, kid, it was just a science quiz.

Easy for you to say, who never fails a thing. Ms. Melillo says this counts. I cant remember all those Chemistry formulas. Evie stank in Science. She sucked at just about everything except art. The walk and anticipation of new found dumpster treasure did take her mind off school a bit.

OK, next quiz well study together. Wow, look there! The Dumpster is overflowing. Upon a closer look, the bin was only full of discarded packing boxes. Liz being taller than Evie looked in and grabbed the only two discarded items holding onto the brand new game CDs and tossing Evie the brown case. Evie missed of course. They both knew she would. She grabbed it and ran after Liz. Usually kids grabbed and ran in case the owners came out though everyone knew the owners didnt care. As they rounded the next block Evie noticed the words Chemistry Set written on the top. Damn, was this a nasty joke? Some best friend. Tears whet her rage. She almost flung it aside in disgust.

Instead of following Liz toward home, Evie dashed across the street into the towns park following the path down to the seaside promenade. She ducked under the iron railing and settled down on her favorite boulder. This spot was always her remedy for bad moods. The sound of crashing waves soothed her. The ocean sprayed foaming water into pools in the boulders crevices. Mellow afternoon light warmed the stone. Evie admitted to herself that Liz had tried to help. Perhaps Liz hadnt noticed the words on the case. Still Liz had just grabbed all the CDs for herself.

Lately Liz had been drifting away from her into new activities and friends. She had grown tall this past year of Middle School and now in seventh grade had joined several sports teams. She hung out with kids Evie didnt know. Liz included her at lunch and occasional gatherings with her new friends, but Evie never really could relax with them. Lizs rare sympathy today, now so quickly retracted made her feel the loss of her friend even more sharply.

Best friends since kindergarten Evie remembered all their adventures both real and imaginary. In summer the girls made forts and secret hideouts in the raspberry bushes behind her house. They created their own worlds building furniture from sticks and crates, acting out little dramas with their dolls. They hung out high up in her crab apple trees branches hidden in its pink blossoms in spring and crimson leaves in fall. Both girls were happy making up Adventure Stories, starting one to let the other finish. Fantasy or realistic, the stories fueled the girls forays into the local woods, dips in hidden water holes and hikes up the cliff that edged the town. But while Evie was content to relax and take in the atmosphere, Liz was non-stop action. Evie sat dreaming while Liz scampered around throwing acorns at tree trunks.

Now Liz was a rising star on her teams and seemed to have lost interest in their private adventures.

Evie felt disconnected with everyone, and not just Liz. Old friendships faded as classmates found new interests. She did not share their interests in fashion, movie stars and gossip. Nor was she interested in the highbrow literary Magazine or Tech clubs. Although she went to some of the art club meetings, so far she had made no new friends. Online gaming gave her some connection with kids through their avatars. She never met anyone in person.

So she had no one to share her passion for fantasy. Her bookshelves were full of beautifully illustrated fairytale books. She enjoyed building fantasy worlds in online games more than battling and winning points. Wandering on nature trails with her sketchbook, she drew fairies and mythical creatures hiding among the wildflowers. Only her Dad joined her in writing fantasy stories, mapping out imaginary lands and constructing them with clay and junk. Truth was, as Liz grew tall and developed, Evie at 13 was smaller than average and couldnt seem to fill out her scrawny body. She hated her dirty blond hair. It was neither fashionably straight nor luxuriantly wavy.

What a klutz I am, wimpy, dumb and boring, she lamented to the empty air. And yes, I admit it, she said aloud to the ocean spray, I am lonely, really lonely. Still, Liz isnt the only one who wants action. I gotta do something. Get out of my rut. Make a change. Im ready for anything, anyone, anywhere.

Evie wrenched herself out of her musings to focus on the box in front of her. Evie didnt care what the stupid box said. She was going to do whatever she wanted. This strangely carved old box turned out to be a funky chemistry set. Shed have fun no matter what. Who cares anyway!

Rummaging through the beat-up case, she assured herself she wouldnt follow those ridiculous scientific procedures in the little booklet inside. Funny it seemed to have tripled in size. It was no mere plastic case. Pretty cool actually. She leaned in to stroke the polished woodcarvings. Miniature figures nestled in each curve: a unicorn, a knight, a flying horse and other characters with stars circling their heads. A latch made of tiny metal rings seemed awfully fancy for things usually sold at the store. A gentle prod made it easily spring open. Evie gasped. It was not what she expected a chemistry set to look like. It was more like a treasure chest. Inside lay over a fifty ornate cut glass vials filled with bright colored powders. The liquids were arranged in neat rows and layers in thick velvet compartments. Excitedly she lifted out each layer examining each flask. The stoppers were chiseled into jewel like flowers and animals. Each bottle had a different shape with crazy designs. Neatly written numbers and letters labeled each in codes she didnt understand.

Hey, not too shabby. This looks like the perfect find, custom-made for me. She murmured.

Rummaging through the box Evie picked out bottles of colored liquids and crystals. She uncapped them, pouring and mixing the liquids into the rocks puddles. Wow! Beautiful. Look at that purple. Heres a brilliant blue to take away the blues, she chuckled. Im either an artist or a pretty lame kid. She always felt good playing with colors. Now add some drops of magenta; now drop in a bit of orange. Cool how they swirl together. Heres a little yellow. Drat, why did it turn clear? How boring is that?