“Amy, look!” the little girl shouts. I stare down, eyeing my sister and her friend. They were going back and forth on the swings when I first saw them. Now the metal seats are stopping, as their mouths drop open. The girls’ eyes are trained on me.

I vividly remember a time when I was their age, maybe six or seven years old. My best friend and I would play on the swing set, hogging our favourite part of the park. We would try and propel ourselves as high as we could, always aiming to beat the other. When she and I got bored of the race to the top, we would play our favourite game.

Little did we know.

~~~

“Watch out!” Alice shouted. She raised her hands, and blasted at the invisible enemy.

Ever the dramatic, I stood up on my swing and kicked my leg. I held on tightly to the chains, silently pleading with them to keep my from falling. Alice had bought me some time, and I intended to use it.

Quickly, I grabbed the chains of the swing next to me, then jumped over.

“Just in time!” I exclaimed. I had just barely missed the nonexistent blast of fire. I imagined my cheek heating up, and I swayed a little bit.

“Crystal, are you okay?” Alice asked, concerned.

Crystal was my superhero name. In my head, I was able to create and manipulate ice, but fire was my weakness. Alice was able to fly. She could shoot jets of air out of her hands. She was the lucky one. Fiera, our nemesis, couldn’t hurt her with fire. It was me that stood to lose the most.

“Don’t worry, Skye,” I gasped. “I’ll be okay.”

I imagined myself breathing in moisture, rolling my head up my back, throwing my arms behind me. As if holding a ball, I opened my hand and imagined myself shooting ice at our villain.

“Get her, Crystal!” Alice shouted, standing on her swing and pumping her fist.

~~~

I get hit by a blast of air, knocking me back. She startles me.

“Get out of here!” I shout down towards the girls. “It’s not safe!”

I doubt they can hear me. I’m too high up on my tower of ice.

In an effort to protect the little girls, I shoot ice from my hands, forming a bubble around them. I know they’ll be cold, but they’ll be safe from Her. I hope.

“Don’t hurt them!” I plead. I face my childhood best friend, taking steps back as she floats towards me.

“You had your chance, Mia.” Alice spits. She comes closer, and the edge of my tower beckons. I can feel Alice moving the water out of the air here. I won’t be able to stop myself from falling.

“Alice, please.” I beg, about to cry. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Oh. But I do,” she begins. “You knew the consequences. After what you did, I should be destroying the whole world. Lucky for you,” Alice nods towards my sister. “I’ll just be taking your family.”

“NO!” I scream. “Take me instead!”

Alice laughs. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to kill you too?”

I look to the ground, desperately trying to come up with a plan to save my sister.

"You know better than that, Mia.” She holds her hand out, and I feel the air she controls lift me up.

“I’ll meet you at the bottom.” Alice taunts. She throws me off the tower.