The Great Altruist (21 page)

       
    
“What have I done?” she whispered aloud.

       
    
She stood still and tried to duplicate this new power, but nothing happened. “What's different?” she asked herself.

       
    
Another group of spiders approached but when they saw the remains of the first bunch, they quickly retreated.

       
    
“Come on!” she taunted. “Fight me!”

       
    
The spiders scurried out of the tree as quickly as their eight legs would carry them. Within minutes, no other insects remained in the tree – all of them had run for their lives.

       
    
That night, Genesis lied on her back in peace and came to realize the downside to her nudity. The seasons were changing and the night air caused an uncomfortable shiver. As she grabbed several leaves and fashioned a blanket, she pondered the events of the day.
Why can't I get hurt? How did I kill those spiders?
None of her other powers seem to require any effort to occur. But now,
when
she discovered what might be her most useful power, a means to generate warmth, she could not repeat it. As she drifted off to sleep, she imagined what it would be like to find someone else like her.

       
    
Come morning, a new creature – one that she never saw before – awakened her. This one was much larger than the insects she'd seen previously, but it was much smaller than any of the beasts she saw on the ground. The animal, covered in hair and shouting in short, halting screams, poked Genesis until she stirred. Immediately, she jumped up and pressed her back against the trunk. The creature inched closer to her and flashed its teeth. Suddenly, the young girl, yesterday so proud of herself for driving her enemies from her home, now felt frightened of this new predator. It stomped its foot on the branch and charged, when suddenly it happened. Genesis closed her eyes and heard a terrifying explosion. She peeked at her hands and saw them glowing again. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight before her. The creature, so intimidating and aggressive a moment ago, no longer existed in discernible form. She watched as the shock wave of whatever she produced wash over the animal, tearing its skin and flesh from its bones. When the tree settled to normal moments later, not a drop of blood remained on the bones of the creature. Its skeleton was dry and brittle to touch. Genesis stood in amazement as she witnessed what she was capable of doing. Joy returned to the young girl when she realized just what gave her this new power. Fear.

Chapter 2

           
James arose from bed about an hour later and went to the store to buy the family groceries. His father would be back eventually and, whether he and James’s mother stayed home or not, dinner would need to be prepared – if only for himself. He figured he should help out around the house since he was unemployed. At the very least, it would keep his father at bay; he hated that his son couldn't keep a job.

       
    
Grocery shopping was more about doing the work everyone else neglected than being charitable. His mother, Becky, was seldom home. Chores always took a back seat to James's father who believed that laundry and dirty dishes were 'woman's work'. His sister, Melissa, was too busy with her boyfriend to be reliable.

       
    
As he arrived home from the store and approached the front door of the house, his hands full carrying the shopping bags, he heard a man from inside the house scream. He knew it was his father, although he never heard such a sound come out of the man. He left the groceries piled on the porch as he ran inside to see what was wrong. His mother was at the kitchen table crying, but it was James's father unleashing a torrent of profanity from upstairs. Between the sobs of his mother and his father's screams that echoed down the stairwell, James heard only gibberish, except for the foul names for womankind his father articulated clearly for his wife to hear. One word in particular propelled his mother's sobbing into full-blown wailing.

       
    
"What happened?" James asked his mother as calmly as he could.

       
    
She waved him away without a word as she blew her nose in a tissue and wiped her eyes with her hands. "Nothing," she said.

       
    
The swearing ceased suddenly, and then a crashing sound as though someone fell down the stairs shattered the silence. The sound was of James’s father kicking the suitcases of luggage he had just thrown from the top level. James ran to the foot of the stairs, only to see cases of luggage falling to the ground.

       
    
"Here!" his father shouted. "Now get out of my house!"

       
    
James's mother stood up and threw her dirty tissue at the feet of her husband just as he ran down the stairs. "Fine!" she yelled as she snatched the luggage from in front of him and dragged it out the front door.

       
    
"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" James asked. His mother dragged the luggage down the front steps to the house and began to load the bags into the trunk of a car James had never seen before. A man got out of the car and helped her. A few seconds later, they both jumped in the car and sped away as if a crime had just been committed.

       
    
"This is all a joke, right?" he asked his father.

       
    
"No, it's not," his father said, "and she's gone for good!"

       
    
"But why?"

       
    
"It's not important anymore," said his father. "He can have her for all I care."

       
    
James stood motionless as his father strode past him and out the door. As if to make a statement of their estrangement to any onlookers in the neighborhood, James's father drove his car in the opposite direction than his mother.

       
    
I wonder if Melissa knew of this
, he thought. It was common, after all, for his sister to know things about their parents that James was either too preoccupied or distracted to figure out on his own. He liked it that way, for it kept him clear of the arguing that filled the Grant home when everyone was at home. James had plenty of his own problems to deal with than be involved in such debates over who said what to whom.

           
The afternoon was late and the affairs of the day exhausting, so James gathered the groceries from the front porch and then went to his room to take another nap. He realized long before Katherine that sleep was a good remedy for his ills. Many times when his mind gave out, sleep calmed his racing thoughts. The one solace he found today was that for the first time in three years, his last thoughts before drifting to sleep were not of Katherine. Instead, fear of his family’s future dominated every corner of his mind.

       
    
Genesis never felt troubled at night again. Although she harnessed her power to warm her body against the elements, she eventually left her home tree and found warmer territories for shelter as winter arrived. Her ability to warm things used a lot of her energy and never lasted through the night.

           
No member of the animal kingdom threatened her again. After destroying the poor creature that attacked her, Genesis honed this new ability but made a solemn promise to herself never to use such a destructive power again – unless a life-or-death situation demanded its use.

       
    
As time went by, her incredible strength increased. She never wanted for food or shelter as her reputation spread quickly among the other creatures living nearby. They soon learned to make way for her when unfortunate members of their species made an aggressive stance. The young girl tolerated no more abuse, but vowed never to provoke any breathing thing.
After all
, she thought,
it wouldn’t be a fair fight
.

       
    
Less than a year after her arrival, Genesis was comfortable in a new tree. Soon, though, her insomnia returned. Something inside her ached. While her peaceful life brought joy, she still wanted to find people like her.

           
After scouring the planet several times and finding no one, she spent most of her time perfecting her unique abilities. She learned she was impervious to every sharp object; she could breathe underwater; fly as high as she wanted (although the freezing temperatures high in the upper atmosphere were uncomfortable); and could not be consumed by fire. This last power she discovered by accident. One night, a cold wind swept through her tree. Although too tired to fly to another tree, she instead took shelter upon a nearby mountain that was unusually warm. She soon discovered why when the volcano forced molten rock down its slope. Only a drop of lava caught her as she escaped, Genesis nonetheless was amazed that her skin remained unblemished.
Can anything kill me
? she wondered.

       
    
Months later, Genesis set out to determine the limits of her strength. She tried lifting heavy objects on occasion – wood, boulders, even animal – and never felt tired while doing so. She wondered if anything existed that she couldn't lift it. She soon learned there was, but not because it was too massive or dense. Rather, she found she didn't need to lift anything.

       
    
One morning, she awoke early to try a new experiment. She approached an ancient cliff with rocks so old they appeared unmovable. She stood at the base of it and applied pressure on one stone in particular. Only this time, the rock never budged: she did. The tiny girl fell upon the rocks below where the ancient rock stood. She tried repeatedly to lift the stone, each time trying to refrain from moving, when something extraordinary happened. The rock eventually did move, but not forward or even up. Instead, the boulder transported atop the cliff suddenly, leaving Genesis below it, confused.
How did I do that?
she thought.

       
    
She flew to the top of the cliff and tried again. Instead of moving the rock, she saw a crack in the stone that grew bigger each time she strained to lift it. Eventually, she realized that the rock had not torn in half, but rather the space between her and the rock. She tried again and saw a tremendous flash of azure light reflect off the rock in front of her. This time, the tear doubled in size and pulled the little girl inside; all the while she desperately tried to escape.

       
    
Genesis saw a dizzying display of light inside the tear. Just as she started to orient herself, she saw another flash and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the sounds alone astounded her. But it is what she saw that made her weep for joy. Finally, after so much time, she found people like her. Only these people were far different: they were tall, dressed, and hustled beneath hundreds of large stone and metal towers. Thousands of men and women walked in every direction. Hundreds of metal beasts with wheels beneath, rolling along the smooth, rocky ground made ferocious noises as they sped along. Genesis stood mortified at her surroundings, when suddenly one of the beasts charged toward her, its wheel poised to crush her. She closed her eyes again, and after another flash of blue light, she was back atop the cliff – the stone standing before her, unchanged.

       
    
She fell back against the ground and stared up at the rock, wondering what just happened and if it was all real. Her hands glowed soft blue.
I need to try that again!

           
James awoke a few hours later by a tremendous clap of thunder. He wasn’t sure if it was dusk or dawn. It was dark outside and the rain had not let up. There were no noises outside his room, which usually meant no one was home.