Coral went with her first thought: humor. “Well, you weren’t actually talking to my face exactly, but we were talking on the phone,” she offered. That made Veronica mad. “Why you little - don’t make fun of me!” Veronica lunged, attempting to grab Coral. What followed was similar to a bullfight. Veronica, the bull, jumped around attempting to grab Coral, the matador. She dodged her sister’s attacks, and this scene repeated until they were both getting tired of it. All the while they were having this fight, the dropped ball of water was sizzling and crackling. Suddenly Coral noticed it and stared. She was just about to say something, but Veronica grabbed her by the waist and dragged her away towards their neighborhood. Coral struggled to escape her sister’s grasp. “Wait! Stop!” She wriggled free. Veronica halted in her tracks. “What is it?” Coral ignored her and ran back to to the watery clearing. Veronica did not like being ignored; she ran to catch up. “I said, what is it, you little freak?” “Shhh,” Coral said, edging away from her, and closer to the ball which was still fizzing and crackling. Veronica didn’t like that either. “What -” She stopped, for she had just noticed the water ball. She continued in a very different tone. “What is that thing?” “I-I don’t know.” Coral admitted. “But I think I can fix it.” “You think?” Veronica asked incredulously. “Shhh,” Coral said again, and this time Veronica didn’t object. She inched backwards to the edge of the clearing, looking at the water ball as if it was a bomb that might explode. Coral, however, inched forwards until she was right in front of the water ball. It fizzled and crackled, hissing and giving off steam. Most disturbingly, it glowed a bright blue color. It was also shooting out little droplets of water, but since the forcefield around her was still working, they didn’t touch her at all. Coral suddenly thought of something. Wait a minute… Veronica doesn’t seem affected at all by the rain. Did she have a forcefield too? Coral glanced behind her, but her cowardly sister was gone. ************************************************************************** Coral spun around a few times just to make sure Veronica really wasn’t there. Sure enough, she wasn’t. Coral ground her teeth. Of all the times for Veronica to run away, she had to pick now. Really? Coral glanced at the water ball. It was fizzling more than ever. It didn’t feel right to leave it like that, but if Veronica told Mom about her powers . . . that was more important. She was about to run home and tell Mom about Veronica vanishing, but then she’d have to explain why Veronica ran away and why they were in the park in the first place. Besides, Mom would probably be too mad about her leaving the house to listen to her explanation. Mom did not like people disobeying her. She decided to go look for Veronica herself. This task proved harder than it first seemed. She started by checking the whole park and then went on an adventure of some sort. After about a half hour of searching, she was back where she started; at the park. Then she thought of the one place she hadn’t looked. The most likely place of all. Her own house. Coral sprinted home, for fear of being too late. All the curtains were closed, even to the dining room, which was odd. From where she was standing, Coral couldn’t hear any voices. In fact, the only sounds she could hear were the pounding of the rain - and her stomach. It was rumbling like crazy. Coral tried the front door, but it was locked. Hmmm… she thought. Maybe Mom’s out shopping. Coral trudged through the mud on the ground back to the park. After another 15 minutes of searching, Coral realized she could have just called her. She picked up her phone and dialed Veronica’s number. It rang for what seemed like forever, then finally made a sort of static noise and Veronica’s voice came on. “Coral, is that you?” she said quietly. “Yeah . . .” Coral had been planning to yell at her sister for running away like that but she stopped when she heard Veronica’s voice. It sounded like she’d been crying. “Are you okay?” Coral asked. “Uh . . . Yeah, why?” She sounded nervous. “Cause you’re talking so quietly.” “No I’m not!” she snapped. Coral grinned. That sounded more like the Veronica she knew and . . . well, loved would be an exaggeration. “ Maybe it’s just my phone.” She paused. “Where are you anyway?” “Home.” Coral frowned. Hadn’t she checked the house? Oh well. “Uhh… could you please not tell Mom about the whole magic ball of water thing?” “Well, I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Veronica replied snottily.“You told her?!” Coral gasped. “No, you told her.” Coral was confused. “No I didn’t.” Veronica let out an elfish giggle. “I have you on speaker phone; she can hear every word you’re saying.” **************************************************************************
Coral did the natural thing. She ended the call and flopped down on the wet grass. She squeezed her eyes shut tight. This is just a dream, this is just a dream . . . No. It wasn’t just a dream. Veronica really knew about her power. Mom really knew about her power. Coral hugged her knees to her chest. What was she going to do? She couldn’t go home . . . she couldn’t really go anywhere else either. I thought I wanted to become public - I guess not. Her phone rang again. It was Mom. Coral panicked. She refused the call. Coral took a deep breath for the first time in several minutes. You can do this . . . Do what? What was she going to do? Coral curled into a ball and cried. That got old after a few minutes. One thing Coral had learned in her thirteen years was that curling into a ball and crying rarely got you anywhere. She took another deep breath, and shakily got to her feet. Coral tried to consider her options. She couldn’t go home, she couldn’t go to school because it was a Sunday . . . pretty much no options at all. Suddenly she heard footsteps. “Coral! Where are you?” It was Mom. Coral dropped her phone and ran. She scanned the park for cover. All she saw was a thick oak tree. “Coral! Are you there?” Mom called. Coral ran to the tree. The branches were pretty low, and she always had been good at climbing . . . Mom came over the crest of the hill. Coral watched safely from the branches of the oak tree. Mom scanned the ground. Don’t look up, don’t look up, Coral prayed. Thankfully, she didn’t. “Told you she wouldn’t be here,” said Veronica, coming up behind her. Coral frowned. Veronica? What was Veronica doing here? Coral had an overwhelming desire to jump out of the tree and tackle Veronica for starting this whole mess. Who did she think she was, anyway? Coral wondered for the thousandth time how two sisters who looked so alike could be so different. They both had the same blue-green eyes and straight reddish blond hair, but while Coral was shy and bookish, Veronica was snotty and rude. Last month, they’d gotten into a huge fight, and while they’d officially made up, neither of them had quite forgiven the other. But no. Fun as it might be to tackle Veronica, it was better to stay safe and hidden. Mom sighed. “Not that you can see anything with all this rain. It’s leaking through my umbrella.” Coral groaned inwardly. She’d almost forgotten about the rain with everything else going on, since it wasn’t touching her. Mom continued “I hope Coral’s okay, wherever she is.” Coral bit her lip. She was starting to feel guilty. That feeling shattered when Veronica said “Hope she’s okay? It’s her own fault for going out in the rain like this.” “Be polite to your sister!” Mom snapped. “The important thing now is finding her and bringing her home.” “Okay, okay,” Veronica muttered. “Look!” Mom said. She picked up something from the grass. “Isn’t this Coral’s cell phone?” Coral wanted to slap herself, she was so stupid. That was her cell phone all right, with the case covered in tiny seahorses (her favorite animal). She must have dropped it when she heard Mom’s voice. This is definitely hers!” Mom said. “Uh huh,” Veronica replied, sounding thoroughly unexcited. Mom pocketed the phone. “She must have passed this way.” she said. “Let’s look over by the playground.” They turned around and left.
