The Sky Drafter
By Amira Di Abeo
Copyright 2011 Amira Di Abeo
License Notes
**~~~~~**
The sky was a persistent blue. A lazy sun cast its eye over the desert, beating down on the sand. The thick heat hung heavily in the air. The day was still and stale.
Adrian pulled up to the gas station. It was empty.
Not typical of a sunny afternoon.
He turned off the ignition. The blaring sounds from his stereo cut off, filling Adrian’s mind with abrupt silence.
He sat for a moment in his car. He sat in quiet peace, which, for him, was hard to come by. As he was still, looking up at the blue western sky, he drifted into a memory, into his childhood.
Adrian was always a dreamer. As a boy, he would give each tree a name and each falling leaf a story. To him, the wind was a spirit and the fog was a ghost. The clouds were wizards, and the night’s stars were fiery dragons.
His father was a dreamer too. He once told Adrian the story of the Sky Drafter.
Daddy, why is the sky blue?
Because the Sky Drafter wanted it to be blue.
Who is the Sky Drafter?
A wizard, son. A wizard who made the sky.
Does he live in the clouds, like all the other wizards?
Haha. Yes, he does. Each wizard has a different job, and his was to create the sky.
But why did he make it blue?
It is a complicated story, Adrian. You wouldn’t understand.
Please tell me?
Okay. You see, one time the Sky Drafter fell in love. He fell in love with the Water Founder. She was the wizard who made the waters. Many wizards had many creations, and each wizard gets to choose the color of their creation.
What color did the Water Founder choose?
Well, here comes the complicated part. Something terrible happened. The Water Founder was killed - killed by another wizard.
What?! Why? Why would that happen?
Because wizards are very greedy, my son. Someone else wanted to create the water instead of her.
So what happened?
The Sky Drafter became very sad for a very long time. But he still had his job to do. He still had to make the sky. Because he was so in love with the Water Founder, and because she never got to choose her color, the Sky Drafter made the sky the brightest, boldest blue that ever existed, so bright that his lover’s waters would reflect his color. So they could be the same color. And that way, they would be together, forever.
Did you love mommy the same way the sky loved the water?
Yes, son. I did. And I still do.
I think blue is my favorite color now.
Adrian laughed to himself as he returned to the present. “Rest in peace, mom and dad”, he muttered to himself.
He reached into his pocket to grab some cash for the gas. He felt nothing but lint.
“Guess I’ll have to use my card.”
The rusty car door squeaked open. Clouds of dust swirled around his feet as he made his way to the cashier inside the mini-mart.
He opened the metal door. Little bells clanged. Not a person was in sight.
“Hello?”
He walked up to the empty desk, tapping his fingers on the wooden surface. The sound echoed.
A toilet flushed.
Five seconds later, the toilet flushed again.
Another ten seconds. Another two flushes.
“Is...anybody in there?”
Adrian approached the bathroom door. Strangely, the door was open. Adrian was hesitant to look inside but took a step forward.
Nobody was in the bathroom. The toilet was flushing, all by itself.
Over and over.
Every five seconds.
Adrian shrugged and moved to inspect the toilet. He was a plumber after all.
His hand touched the flush handle.
A sudden voice, alarming and hoarse, ripped through his head.
Return! Creators, I summon you! He has come to join us at last!
Gasping, Adrian let go of the handle and flew back. “What...what was that?!”
He looked inside the toilet. The water started spinning in circles, changing color. From a clear blue to a thick, sickly green, the water spun round and round until it shot out of the toilet at full speed, aiming straight up into the air, circling wider and wider.
A figure appeared in the middle of the spinning whirlpool. A woman, in robes of green and blue, smiled down at Adrian as he sat on the bathroom floor, eyes wide with shock.
The water vanished into thin air.
“Adrian...” the woman grinned. “It’s about time that we met. Look how big you are!”
“Who...who are you? What’s going on?”
“I know you are alarmed, but do not fret, for I bear good news.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow. A woman comes out of a toilet of spinning green water. Oh but I’m not crazy, because she says she has good news. Did I hit my head or something?
“I have something of yours. Something you needed long ago but never had the chance to acquire.” The woman opened her arms as if to embrace Adrian. “Something you deserve, dear one.”
I swear I’m crazy. “And um...what exactly is that?” Adrian asked cluelessly.
The woman’s eyes flashed. “Revenge.”
The bathroom door closed and locked. The toilet flushed again, and the bright green water came spilling out. Adrian scrambled to his feet, backing himself against the wall across from the woman. Behind him his hands grasped the door handle, trying to unlock it. It was no use.
Water continued to spill, flooding the immediate area.
Adrian was up to his ankles in water. He gulped. This couldn’t be good.
The toilet flushed again, and another wave of green water spewed out.
The water was quickly rising.
The woman cackled, raising her hands. She seemed to be controlling the water.
“Why are you doing this?” Adrian had to shout above the sound of splashing water.
The woman winked and, with a flash of blinding light, disappeared from the room.
“No!” Adrian screamed.
The water was now up to his knees. Green glowing water swirled about. The color was a ghastly, demonic hue.
Dear Lord, I must be dreaming...what is even going on?! Even his thoughts weren’t loud enough to drown out the sound of his immediate doom.
The water was now up to his chest.
I’m going to die. In a bathroom, in a gas station, floating in disgusting green water. Water that was summoned by a robed lady who came out of the toilet. Adrian was too exasperated to find humor in his situation.
A noise came from above. An echoing, banging sound. Adrian looked up to the ceiling. The noise was definitely coming from up there. Boom, clang clang.
The ceiling was suddenly torn apart. The sun’s light poured through the ripped open crack, blindingly bright. Adrian could see the sky, illuminating the bathroom. He thought he could also see the silhouette of a figure, looking down at him. Boom, clang clang.
The crack widened. A figure was indeed there, and he jumped through the hole, splashing down into the water. He lifted his hands, much like the robed woman had, and, upon uttering a strange word in a powerful voice, the water level began to decrease. Slowly it lessened, until finally it disappeared into the cracks in the floor. The door’s lock clicked open. The only remnant of the green menace was Adrian’s soaked clothes.
Adrian sighed with relief, smiling at the figure next to him. But his smile quickly faded as his jaw dropped in awe. He recognized the strange figure.
“...Dad?”
Adrian’s father smiled sadly. “My dear son.” He wrapped Adrian in a tight embrace, not letting go.
Adrian’s eyes welled up with tears. “But...you died...you disappeared...dad, what is going on?”
Their eyes met. “I am so sorry, son, for what I did to you.” His dad swallowed. “I wish I could have told you everything. But I had to leave. It was best for you at the time. Adrian, I promise you that I will tell you everything.” He looked up to the sky. “But not now. I cannot tell you now. I’m in a hurry-”
“Dad! Explain these things to me! Don’t leave!” Adrian sounded desperate.
“I will never leave you, son.” His forehead touched Adrian’s. “I will never disappear from you again. You and I will meet again very, very soon, and I promise to tell you everything. But for now, you will learn what you need from this.” He procured a CD from his coat pocket and handed it to Adrian. “Listen to it. It will remedy your confusion.”
Adrian took the CD and looked back at his father, who had opened the bathroom door and was now walking away.
“Wait! Dad...I have so many questions...but just answer one thing for me.”
His father turned around.
“Who are you?”
“You have known it this entire time, Adrian. I told you when you were little. I am the reason the sky is blue.”
“What do you mean?”
“I am the Sky Drafter.”
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