She stared at her palm in the darkness, focusing, waiting. Her teacher said that sometimes, people are born with the ability to control one of the aspects of nature: earth, fire, water, or air. He said they’re called elementals, and that in all likelihood, at least one person in the class was born with one of these powers.
It’s already been an hour, but her hope had yet to waver. It was pitch black inside this little area underneath her blanket, but she thought she could see the outline of her hand every now and then. She did her best to direct her body’s energy into her palm. Eventually, if she could just focus hard enough, something should happen, right? It’s been a while though, and nothing’s happened so far. Then, she was suddenly surrounded by a bright light! Could it be…?
“Lily, what are you doing? It’s a school night, go to sleep, sweetheart.”
Lily removed the blanket from over her head and squinted at her father standing in the doorway. The overhead light shined bright into her eyes.
“Daaaad! You made me lose focus! now I’ll never know if i’m an ele.. uh..”
“An elemental?” He chuckled.
“Yeah! I know you aren’t, but maybe Mom was! Maybe she passed it down to me.”
Lily’s father chuckled, but it was a sad kind of chuckle. “Heh, no, your mom wasn’t one either,” he said, taking a seat on Lily’s bed. “But that doesn’t mean you aren’t. It’s not something that’s passed down. You may have your mother’s eyes, but whether or not you have powers is chosen randomly.”
“Who chooses it?” she asked.
“Well…” he had no idea. Poor wording on his part. “You do, of course. With your heart.”
“Alright, whatever Dad.”
He ruffled her hair before getting up and walking back to the door.
“Remember, you have tryouts soon. You want to join the skating team right? Make sure you get lots of sleep. Try not to summon a giant tornado and destroy the house with your powers, alright?”
Lily giggled. “Hehe, fiiiiiine.”
“Sleep tight Lils,” her dad said, turning the light back off.
“G’night!”