The Legend of the Firewalker by Steve Bevil Page A

And to top things off, I keep dreaming about a girl that I believe is being attacked by monsters . He sighed. “It’s complicated,” he finally responded.
    “What’s so complicated about it?” she asked. “Why don’t you just tell me?” Lafonda suddenly appeared a bit flustered. “Is there something that I did wrong?”
    He paused for a moment. He could feel the tingling sensation starting to build in his hands. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said.
    Lafonda frowned and stopped dancing. “How can I u nderstand if you won’t tell me?” she protested, crossing her arms. 
    Nathan quickly looked down. His hands started to tre mble now. “Lafonda,” he sighed impatiently. He then softly placed his hands on her shoulders. “Just trust me. This has nothing to do with you.” He paused. “You did nothing wrong.”
    “Hey, guys!” interrupted Jim, while holding out the two drinks in his hands.
    “Nathan!” said Lafonda suddenly. She had a look of concern on her face. “Your hands — are they shaking?”
    Nathan could feel his face turning red and he quickly withdrew his hands from her shoulders. “I think I’d better go,” he stuttered nervously.
    “Nonsense,” spouted Jim. He had an ornery look on his face. “You can hold the drinks while I dance with my girlfriend.”
    “Jim — don’t start,” warned Lafonda.
    “No!” he said, with a shrug. “You’re obviously now in the mood to dance, so let’s dance.” Lafonda frowned, and in protest Jim shoved the two cups of punch into Nathan’s hands. “Here!”
    “Jim,” said Nathan sternly. “Please take these drinks back. I am not in the mood for this.”
    “Ha!” blurted Jim, while nodding his head. “No, I think you are more than capable of holding the drinks while we dance.”
    “Oh,” sneered Nathan. “And I think you are absolutely incapable of not being a complete jerk!”
    “Stop it guys!” exclaimed Lafonda. “I’ll take the drinks.” She reached for the two drinks in Nathan’s hands and glared at Jim. “And Jim, you can dance by yourself.”
    “Forget it!” Jim huffed, attempting to bypass her. “I’ll take the drinks.”
    Suddenly, Nathan’s hands shook uncontrollably and fruit punch began to spew erratically from the cups. Desperately, he tried to control his hands, but couldn’t. Just as quickly as it had all started, it was over; and both cups were now em pty.
    Nathan’s eyes met Lafonda’s as he slowly realized where all the juice had gone.
    “Who’s the jerk now?” said Jim coldly, as he tried to wipe the red juice from his white shirt and black jacket.
    Nathan allowed his eyes to follow Lafonda’s gaze as she began wiping her dress. “I’m sorry,” he stuttered. He looked on in horror at the once flowing white dress that was now stained in red and stuck to her body. “I am so sorry.” Several people that were on the dance floor had horrified looks on their faces and some tried not to let on how bad her dress looked by turning away. “I’m just gonna go,” he muttered, turning to cut through the crowd.
     
     

 
    4
    PARTY’S OVER
    Nathan passed by LaDonda and Roy on his way out of the room.  He could tell by the perplexed looks on their faces that they were curious as to why he was in such a hurry. He was pleased that neither stopped him because he was way too embarrassed to stick around, and he didn’t want to relive what had just happened by having to explain it to them.
    He kept his head down low, and his hands continued to tremble uncontrollably as he bolted towards the front door of the Devaro Mansion. He was outside now and the summer night air was cool. What is wrong with me? he worried, taking a moment to look down at his hands.
    His hands looked normal besides the shaking and they felt warm even against the cool air. After careful inspection, he also noticed that they were a bright red. That must be from the fruit punch. The juice must’ve stained my hands.
    “Hi, Nathan,” said a