Marty, Matt, Stacy, Shaun, Drew, Jo, and Jesse are the Firewalkers, a gifted race of humans unknown to mankind. They, amongst others on earth, have amazing and unique abilities. They, are the
FIREWALKERS
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Marty, with the power to turn into a red liquid; Matt, with the power of fire-throwing; Stacy, with the power of a shape-shifter; Shaun, with the power of invisibility; Drew, with the power of telekinesis; Jo with super-human strength; and last but not least, Jesse, with the power to grow wings of fire out of anywhere on her body and fly. They all can walk through fire without harm, blast firepower lasers from their fingertips, run super fast, turn into fire, AND get into TONSA trouble.
Together they are the FIREWALKERS
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Am I Really? Pt. 1
Jesse Jodek was enjoying the scalding sun in her yellow swimsuit. A gentle breeze flew across her hot back...
*****
I was breathing hard, no, panting. I sat up as sweat dripped down my back. Why was I sweating? I had just had a great dream. Was it a dream? It had seemed so real. Or was it that great? And why did I keep asking myself questions? I decided to go downstairs and have some breakfast. I would decide the answers later.
*****
I was just finishing my hair as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it mom!" I ran to the door and opened it. No one was there. I turned to go back up the stairs when the doorbell rang again. I opened the door. "Hi Shaun," I said shyly.
"Do you want to come out and play baseball, Jesse?"
"Oh, um, well, sure!" I took the towel of my head and ran outside to play. I wonder why Shaun was playing a trick on me. I don't think he meant to...
Well maybe I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Jesse Jodek. I'm 14 today. My friends are 14 too. Their names are Shaun, Jo, and Drew. Well, Jo's 12. Shaun keeps disappearing. Maybe he doesn't like me or something. Oh and they all run really, really fast. Sometimes they leave me out and talk to this snobby girl Stacy and her brother Matt and Matt's friend Marty. I think Marty's cute.
After 20 minutes of baseball, Matt and Marty came along. "Hi Marty!" I waved.
"Hey Jesse!" Marty waved back. Marty is 15. Matt and Stacy are 14, and twins. But where was Stacy? Matt was already answering that to Drew.
"Stacy's sick"
They were starting to huddle and leave me out again. "Hey, why do you guys always leave me out? Are you talking about me or something?"
Marty answers: "Yes and no, sort-of"
"So you are talking about me?"
"Hang on." Marty regrouped with the others. "Stacy's not here, and its about time she knew."
"Marty, you're the oldest! And who cares about my dumb sister anyway?"
"Yeah Matt's right," agreed Jo. "You should be in charge."
"Yeah," “Yeah,” “Yeah,” everyone agreed.
"Thanks Jo, and, yeah! All in favour of me say 'I'!"
"I!!" They all shouted in unison. Marty motioned for me to join them.
"Ok Jess, this is going to be hard to believe, but-" Shaun cut Marty off.
"We've been watching you for a couple of weeks and-"
"Wait a minute, you guys have been watching me?"
"Well not exactly, we've been sending Shaun over there to spy on you."
"Drew!" Jo said.
"Well I never saw him!"
"Well that's why we have to get to the point," Marty answered.
"So then get to the point," I replied.
Marty began to explain. He said that he started being able to do weird things when he turned 10 and lived in California. "I could run really fast, and faster each day. I remember running back into our burning house to save my comics and video games and it wasn't even hot!" My eyes grew wide. He continued.
After the fire, he moved here to Mississauga, Ontario, where he became friends with Matt (and Stacy). He kept his secret from them until he was 13 and they were 12. "I started to notice that they were running faster and they had the same red-eyed glare that I did. So I told them I knew, and they were shocked because they had just discovered their powers a month before. Then next was Shaun and Drew, who I met at baseball summer-camp a couple of weeks later. They were best friends so they told each other about their ‘weird powers’ when they were 10, and 2 years before I met them and told them. Jesse, Drew moved here a year before, when you were nine and I was still 10 and in California. I can't believe you didn't notice the difference."
"I did, Marty,” I began. “I noticed that sometimes they were running so fast I could barely see them. I trained and trained, lifting weights and stuff until I could run just as fast as them."
"So you worked hard to run this fast?" Shaun was shocked.
"Well yeah, why not?" I was confused. What was wrong with working hard to get something?
Marty gave a low whistle. "Regroup time!"
"No! Wait!" I tried to stop them, but I couldn’t think of anything that might get their attention. Then it came to me. "Wait! Did you say 'weird powers', Marty?"
"Yeah, uh, why?"
"Well I've been having these weird dreams lately. Last night I had another one where I was lying in my yellow bathing suit by my pool and it was really hot, but I was seeming to enjoy it, and wind flew across my back,"
"So what's so weird about that? You were probably just getting a tan." Matt commented.
"Yeah, but I was lying on my back."
"Oh that is pretty weird." Drew said.
"How long have you been having these dreams for?" Marty questioned.
"Oh, a couple years."
"A couple years!" Marty exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief and amazement. "Do you mean to tell me that you were 12 when these dreams started?"
"11 going on twelve, yeah." I replied. What was the big deal? They were just dreams. Weird dreams, sure, but dreams nonetheless.
"Ok, ok. Uh… do you like bonfires and stuff?"
"You could consider me a pyro."
"Jesse," Marty started, "I think you're one of us."
"What do you mean 'One of us'?"
" I mean, I think you're a Firewalker."
And after that, I fainted.
*****
"Are you alright?" Marty looked into my eyes.
I sat up, still breathing hard and said, "Yeah, I'm ok. Thanks." I looked into Marty's eyes. We sat there staring into each other’s eyes for a while, and then reality clicked in. "Ok, if you guys have all these powers, then prove it." That was a mistake. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. What had I done?
"Ok," Marty said. "Meet us back here at midnight tonight and we'll prove it."
Am I Really? Pt.2
12:00am, August 28- the baseball diamond.
"Now we're just waiting for Marty and we can get this show on the road!" Shaun was really excited, like he won the World Series or something. I was pacing. We all had our flashlights on, except Matt who brought a lighter instead. Even Stacy was there.
"Aren't you supposed to be sick?" I asked.
"No, who told you that?" She asked snarkily.
"Your brother, Matt."
"Well I’m not. It’s just that I don't have time for childish games like baseball."
"Childish!?" My temperature started rising. I didn't know it, but my eyes began to glow red too. "Childish!!?! Whad'ya mean baseball's childish?!!" I was mad. Real mad. Nobody, nobody, got away with dissing my favourite sport.
"Whoa, hold it Jess. I don't like my sister either, but I don't want you to kill her or anything." Matt and Jo held me back. My eyes were still glowing when Marty came along.
"Hey! I thought I told you guys to wait until I was here before you started the show."
"It’s not us." Shaun whispered. "It’s Jesse. She always spazzes out when people dis baseball, or any other sport. But mostly baseball."
"Whoa! She is one of us then."
"Maybe not," Drew was still skeptical.
"Look at her eyes." Marty convinced Drew. "Hey Jesse, cool it." Immediately my eyes stopped glowing and my temperature went back to normal.
"Oh, uh, Hi!" I hoped he didn't see me spaz out.
"Ok, now that I'm here, we can start the fire-fest."
*****
First, Marty went. He turned into a puddle of lava. Then Stacy went. It was like I was looking in a mirror! Somehow she turned into me, then Shaun, then Jo! Next, Drew went. He made all six of the flashlights dance around in mid-air, then, Jo went. She picked up a Jeep with one hand! Then it was Shaun's turn.
"This is the reason you didn't see me spying on you." We all pointed our flashlights at him and watched as he disappeared.
"Oh." Was all I could say. Finally, Matt went. He told us to turn off our flashlights. All of a sudden I was staring at two balls of fire. Then Matt told us to turn our flashlights on. We did. What I saw I would remember for the rest of my life. Matt's hands were on fire. I mean you could barely even see his hands. "Doesn't that burn?" I asked.
"No," He said. "It’s not even hot." Then, he did the unexpected. He threw the fire onto the pile of twigs on the pitcher's mound. I took a look at his hands. Not even a scratch!
"So there you have it," Marty said. "Proof."
"But what about running near the speed of light?"
"Oh, that. I forgot."
<Can you hear me?>
"Yes." I was surprised. Shaun was talking in my head!
<We all have telepathy too,> He continued. <You try.>
"Ok."
<Think it.> It was Drew this time.
<Ok,> I thought. <Hey I'm doing it! This is so cool!>
"I told you she was one of us, Drew!" Marty. Ahhhh..........Marty.
"Well I'm glad she is. I couldn't stand lying to my best friend." Drew was sincere. Shaun, on the other hand, was always sincere.
"So, Marty, you can turn into lava, Matt can throw fire, Stacy's a shape-shifter, Shaun can become invisible, Drew has telekinetic powers, and Jo has super-human strength? Well, what else?"
"Actually there is more. We can run fast, as you already know, and, we can do this." Marty, Matt, Drew, and Shaun took off their shirts. Boy, was Matt ever scrawny! They all turned into fire. They still had arms and legs, but they were now made up of flames.
<Bring that piece of wood over here,> Matt ordered. I did. They burnt half of it, but the fire did not spread.
<It's because we're the fire,> Marty explained, using thoughts instead of words because he had no lips. They changed back. "And, this!" Marty and the others raised their fingers to the sky. Red laser beams shot out of all of them.
"Is that all?" I asked sarcastically, my hand on my hip while raising an eyebrow.
"Yep, that’s everything." Drew said.
"Well, what can I do?"
THE BOOK
"According to the book," Marty started, "There are only two powers left. There's the power of pyrokinesis, and the power to fly. 'With eagle-wings made from fire on thy back, thou shalt fly, O most powerful of the Firewalkers.' So that must be what your dream means."
*****
A whole week later, after the night on the field, we still couldn't figure out what my powers were, and why I couldn't perform them yet. That's why we were in Shaun's basement. To figure out why I haven't developed my powers yet. "Well what if i'm not the flying Firewalker? What if there's another one of us out there who is?"
"I don't think so," Marty answered. "There were only three original Firewalkers.They all possessed the same powers, except the oldest, Delphi. She was fifteen when she gained an extra power, the power of flight. She was always the most talented and powerful of the Firewalkers. I can tell already that your no ordinary Firewalker, Jesse."
"How do you figure that?" I asked playfully.
"Well like Shaun said, we've been watching you for awhile and," Marty paused. "I can just tell. You're special."
At that moment I was melting. Well, not literally. My heart took this gigantic leap and I started to blush. I immediately thought of baseball. My little plan didn't work. "Oh Marty, do you mean it?" I asked a little too romantically.
"Yeah,” his eyes shining. “I do.”
Then Stacy butted in. “Excuse me,” she said. “But we have some studying to do.”
“Who died and put you in charge?” Matt retorted.
“Not me.” Marty said then began laughing. Shaun looked sad and somewhat jealous. Drew started to make Stacy float in the air, when Shaun’s mom started coming down the stairs. Drew dropped Stacy.
“Ouch.”
“Hello, everyone!” Mrs. Locke called. “The cookies are done! Oh, and the milk is in the fridge. Oh and Stacy, you should put some ice on your sore. You kids have fun now!”
“Yeah, sure mom.” Shaun forced a smile.
“Now where were we?” Marty asked.
“We,” stated Drew. “Were making fun of Stacy.”
“Oh yeah!” Marty grinned. I love it when he grins like that. You know the way a guy grins when he scores a touchdown or a free pizza, the way a guy grins when he’s plotting something evil to do to his sister. It was that exact smile.
Shaun was still sad, I could tell. My heart went out to him. I walked over to Shaun. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He sighed one of those “not-really-but-I-can’t-tell-you-yet” sighs. I sat down next to him and suddenly I noticed the whole room watching us. I put my hand on Shaun’s knee and squeezed it. That made him feel better, but then I got this strange feeling, like I belonged with him and not Marty.
“No,” I said to myself. And with that, I stood up.
*****
That night I had a dream, but I wasn’t in a bathing suit. I was wearing a long, silver dress. Shaun was on my left side, and Marty was on my right. I chose Marty. Shaun was running after me as I flew up to the clouds with Marty. It was a beautiful starry night. But as we got up to the clouds, Marty let go of my hand and fell. When he hit the ground, he shattered like a porcelain vase. I just stayed up in the clouds and cried.
*****
The next day, we were back in Shaun’s basement. I sat down nest to Marty, and then Shaun sat down next to me. That made me uncomfortable. “Guys,” I started to say. “I had a dream last night,” Wait. Why was I telling them this? So I told them something else instead. “And I think I know what my power is.”
“Flight,” I told them. “I’m sure it’s flight.”
“Well we should start the tests right away,” Marty said. “Who knows when that’ll come in handy.”
“Okay,” I gulped. “But what exactly do I have to do?”
*****
It was midnight and the sky was full of stars. Just like in my dream. I pinched myself to make sure. It didn’t hurt. Well, at least I wasn’t wearing a silver dress… I looked down. Ahhhhhh! I was wearing a silver dress!
At theat moment I woke up to the sound of my alarm. It was midnight. I pinched myself. “Ouch!” ‘Good,’ I thought to myself. Just in case, I didn’t wear anything silver or even remotely close.
I was on the field now, talking to Drew. “Can I trust you with something?”
“Yeah, sure. What is it?”
“I like Marty but I-”
“You what? You mean like like? Hey guys! Listen up! Jesse-” I muffled him.
“You promised,” I said.
“Okay.”
“I like Marty, but I’ve been having these dreams where…” I told him my new dream. “So now I don’t know what to do.”
“Can I tell Jo? I mean, she’s a girl, so I guess she could help you better in that area.”
“Um… okay.” Drew went over to Jo as I joined the rest of the group. “Excuse me, what’s the parachute for?” I asked.
“Uh, you, Jesse!” Matt said.
“What exactly are we going to do?”
Marty answered: “Well, first we are going to try to get you to turn into fire, because I know you’ll need practice. And then… you’re going to jump off the top of the batting cages.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t exactly shocked, and I wasn’t exactly scared. I just… was.
“And then, we, ah, want you to jump from the top of the CN Tower.” Marty wasn’t fooling.
“Don’t worry, Jo brought some mattresses.” Shaun. That made me feel better, in a warm sort of way.
*****
<I’m a flame! I’m a flame!> I screamed. I was so exited! It was a rush that I’ve never felt before. <So am I! So am I!> Matt can be such a jerk.