catches Asantia. Her feet dangle into the crack, but they find a thin ledge and she stands. She holds on to the top of the overturned table and reaches for another, more secure hold, but can’t find one.
“Hey you. Help me!” yells Asantia. “You! On the box in between the handles is a little door,” she says calmly. “Inside is a rope with a harness. Unroll the rope and toss the harness to me.” Her eyes are wide and full of fear. Dust cakes her skin, and her previous toughness seems muted like a dull knife.
The ground stops moving, but it is impossible to tell if the earthquake is over.
Allan stiffens and feels anger electrify his nerves. “Why? You were going to s-sell me.”
“I won’t.”
There is no way to know. Her intentions are locked in her head. Is she heartless? There was a girl in Allan’s class named Tammy who always tried to cheat off his tests and bullied him on the playground. She was tall and thick. Her baby-blue eyes and blond hair gave her an innocent look, but she was nasty inside. She wouldn’t steal anyone’s lunch money or start fights. She would do nasty, sneaky things to you, instead, things she couldn’t get in trouble for. Allan remembers her giving him a hug one morning. It was a bear hug that intentionally caught his lunch bag in between them. She squeezed so hard on the lunch bag his fruit cup broke and gushed all over, and his sandwich got pulverized. At lunch, everything he had to eat looked like something someone vomited up. During a field trip, she intentionally distracted Allan and led him right into a pile of dog poop. And worst of all, when Allan would answer questions or speak up in class she would fake a sneeze or cough so he wouldn’t be heard. Thinking of Tammy makes Allan’s skin crawl.
No, she is like Tammy. I’m not helping this Asantia person. Allan looks away. An aftershock rumbles the ground.
“Please!” Asantia pleads. “I just need to get to my cable. Then I can get up to my ship. I’ll make you some Hantahen eggs and salt ham. Come on, boy!”
Allan looks up at the handles that are a couple of feet above him. They have two buttons on one end. One button points up, the other one down. Allan takes each handle. The wheels that pinch the rope don’t move under Allan’s weight. They feel solid and safe. Allan’s thumb hovers over the up button.
The table shifts and the metal creaks. If it dislodges from the ground, Asantia will fall off the ledge and into the dark crack. “I’m slipping! Hurry! I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
What is the right thing to do? Is she wearing her other face? Is she manipulating me? Allan pushes up. Instantly, he’s hoisted off the rumbling ground. He rises up into the canopy and, after being whacked by a few branches, emerges from the trees into the big sky.
Asantia screams.
A large craft hovers above Allan. It resembles a blimp of some kind. Different colored fabric panels are stitched to a ribcage-like frame. Propellers extend beyond the craft, and a large pipe sticks out from the side belching black smoke. Two shark fins hang below the back of the craft and one above. The front window is long and wraps around a third of the body.
It amazes Allan and it is stunning. But Allan can no longer ignore Asantia. She is in trouble, and no matter what she tried to do to him, he has to help. He pushes the down button.
“Thank you,” She says as Allan nears the bottom of the cable. “Now throw me the harness.”
Allan opens a small cubby on the copper box, unrolls the line and harness. He notices a clasp that connects the line to the box and decides on a safer course of action. He unclasps the line and reconnects it directly to the cable. He’ll get her to the cable, but he’s not going to stick around in case she grabs him. He tosses the harness at her and then presses the up button.
She catches the harness. “I need the handles to get up to my ship.”
Allan doesn’t listen. He zips to the top of
“Hey you. Help me!” yells Asantia. “You! On the box in between the handles is a little door,” she says calmly. “Inside is a rope with a harness. Unroll the rope and toss the harness to me.” Her eyes are wide and full of fear. Dust cakes her skin, and her previous toughness seems muted like a dull knife.
The ground stops moving, but it is impossible to tell if the earthquake is over.
Allan stiffens and feels anger electrify his nerves. “Why? You were going to s-sell me.”
“I won’t.”
There is no way to know. Her intentions are locked in her head. Is she heartless? There was a girl in Allan’s class named Tammy who always tried to cheat off his tests and bullied him on the playground. She was tall and thick. Her baby-blue eyes and blond hair gave her an innocent look, but she was nasty inside. She wouldn’t steal anyone’s lunch money or start fights. She would do nasty, sneaky things to you, instead, things she couldn’t get in trouble for. Allan remembers her giving him a hug one morning. It was a bear hug that intentionally caught his lunch bag in between them. She squeezed so hard on the lunch bag his fruit cup broke and gushed all over, and his sandwich got pulverized. At lunch, everything he had to eat looked like something someone vomited up. During a field trip, she intentionally distracted Allan and led him right into a pile of dog poop. And worst of all, when Allan would answer questions or speak up in class she would fake a sneeze or cough so he wouldn’t be heard. Thinking of Tammy makes Allan’s skin crawl.
No, she is like Tammy. I’m not helping this Asantia person. Allan looks away. An aftershock rumbles the ground.
“Please!” Asantia pleads. “I just need to get to my cable. Then I can get up to my ship. I’ll make you some Hantahen eggs and salt ham. Come on, boy!”
Allan looks up at the handles that are a couple of feet above him. They have two buttons on one end. One button points up, the other one down. Allan takes each handle. The wheels that pinch the rope don’t move under Allan’s weight. They feel solid and safe. Allan’s thumb hovers over the up button.
The table shifts and the metal creaks. If it dislodges from the ground, Asantia will fall off the ledge and into the dark crack. “I’m slipping! Hurry! I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
What is the right thing to do? Is she wearing her other face? Is she manipulating me? Allan pushes up. Instantly, he’s hoisted off the rumbling ground. He rises up into the canopy and, after being whacked by a few branches, emerges from the trees into the big sky.
Asantia screams.
A large craft hovers above Allan. It resembles a blimp of some kind. Different colored fabric panels are stitched to a ribcage-like frame. Propellers extend beyond the craft, and a large pipe sticks out from the side belching black smoke. Two shark fins hang below the back of the craft and one above. The front window is long and wraps around a third of the body.
It amazes Allan and it is stunning. But Allan can no longer ignore Asantia. She is in trouble, and no matter what she tried to do to him, he has to help. He pushes the down button.
“Thank you,” She says as Allan nears the bottom of the cable. “Now throw me the harness.”
Allan opens a small cubby on the copper box, unrolls the line and harness. He notices a clasp that connects the line to the box and decides on a safer course of action. He unclasps the line and reconnects it directly to the cable. He’ll get her to the cable, but he’s not going to stick around in case she grabs him. He tosses the harness at her and then presses the up button.
She catches the harness. “I need the handles to get up to my ship.”
Allan doesn’t listen. He zips to the top of
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