I Am Lightning

Something was brushing lightly against my feet. It tickled, and I bit my bottom lip to stop from making a sound as I opened my eyes. A ceiling came into focus above me, and the sound of wind chimes played nearby. I sat up, instinctively pulling my foot back and saw someone standing by the side of the bed I occupied.
“Mum?” I asked, incredulous. There she was, as lovely as ever. Long dark hair cascaded down her slim shoulders, and her golden yellow eyes were crinkled with glee. Her huge smile seemed to take up her whole face. In her hands she held a feather.
“Good morning Kari!” she laughed.

I jumped off my bed and rushed straight into her arms. I noticed then how much smaller I was, and when I looked down, I had the feet and legs of a small child. I was wearing a yellow dress.
“Come on darling, today’s the day. The Masters themselves will be here!” I could hear the excitement in my mum’s voice. Was this heaven? She picked me up and threw me over her shoulder and while she carried me away, she tickled my feet with that feather. I giggled and squirmed, trying to get away from it, but she was too fast. Eventually she dropped me down when we reached the kitchen, and I rushed straight to the door, and outside into our front yard.

The sun shone down on the Lightning Realm, just as I remembered it. Houses stood in neat rows all through our city, and trees bathed us in shade from their glorious emerald leaves. I spotted more yellow-eyed children nearby and felt the need to rush over to play, but felt a large hand drop down on my shoulder before I could. Turning, I met the gaze of my dark-haired, yellow eyes father.
“Not today, Kari. Our guests will be arriving soon. You know how exciting this is, don’t you?”
Boy did I know, suddenly realising what day I was replaying. Our Realm had been without a Master ever since the last Lightning Master had passed away. What was his name again? It had been a few hundred years ago, way before I was born, and his name always slipped my tongue. But who cares!
“Kari?”
I turned to my dad, smiling up at him. He was huge to me, towering above me. He had big shoulders and kind eyes and a funny brown moustache I’d never seen him without. My mum came to stand beside him.
“Honey, she knows this is an important day. The whole Realm knows! I know people from further out are already making their way here. There will be a huge crowd when the Masters arrive.”

It wasn’t long before they did. All of our neighbours gathered around our house, and more people from the Realm started crowding around, too. Soon it seemed as though every Lightning Element were present. And walking amongst them, having arrived from the other Realms, were the Five Masters.

There was Vesta, dark-skinned with flaming red eyes, walking with a cat-like grace. Next came Thetis, tall and muscled, his blue eyes ripples of calm. After him was Sirius, always silent and mysterious, his eyes a strange, deep purple. Demeter came next, her long golden hair flowing down her back, her green eyes looking out from the most beautiful face anyone could imagine. And lastly, more hovering than walking, came Tate, the oldest and wisest of the Masters, his grey hair matching the eyes that looked about. The five of them walked through the parted crowd, and came to stand before my mother, father and myself.

“So, this is the child?” asked Tate.