who knows

and who cares, I can't come up with a title for the post every day. Heck I can't even come up with a decent title for a story, so why should I waste brain power to come up with a tite for a simple post.

I really don't have much to talk about right now, So I'll just continue with the story.

[Untitled]
15

Maureen was glad for the timing of dinner. For the first time in days she would be able to watch the news. She set her plate down on the coffee table, and turned on the television.

About halfway through the news she realized exactly how out of touch she had been. A criminal case that she had followed almost obsessively the week before had been all but solved and the suspect had plead guilty that morning.

Working on her dinner, she barely noticed when the weatherman started talking about a major weather event in another state. It was when the town where her husband and daughter were was mentioned that she started to actually listen to the weatherman.

“…Travel is being discouraged in the area. If you have loved ones out there it is better to stay away until this storm is out of the area, and the roads are cleaned up. Once more, travel is being discouraged. The storm has made for dangerous driving conditions, and many roads have become completely impassable.”

Julius walked into the room. Seeing that Maureen had stopped eating he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“We’re going to have more time to practice before my family returns than I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“Roads are closed near where Scott and Karen are staying. I’m just surprised that I haven’t heard from them yet.”

“Would you have heard the bell-phone outside?”

“No, but the voice mail should have…”

“Kyra?”

“I haven’t checked the voice mail in days. They might have been calling and calling and I would have never known about it.”

Maureen stood up and went to the phone. Sure enough there were a number of voice mails waiting for her. Luckily only a few were important, and Scott had only tried to call that morning.

Maureen dialed Scott’s parents house. Scott’s mother answered.

“Maureen, it’s good that you called. Scott was starting to get worried.”

“Sorry, Agnes. I forgot to check the voicemail.”

“Don’t we all sometimes. Well, here’s Scott.” Maureen waited through the shuffling noises of the phone changing hands.

“Hi Honey.”

“Hi Scott. How’s the weather.”

Scott chuckled. “A tad wet. Karen was asking earlier what could make the angels so sad.”

“Your mother fed her the angels crying explanation for rain, huh?”

“You know it.”

“Well, she probably wouldn’t understand the scientific explanation yet anyway. So how bad is it?”

“Well, I already called my boss.”

“That bad?”

“Most of the roads are either flooded or in need of repair, and the waters haven’t even crested yet. Luckily most of the town is higher than the waters are expected to get, but the roads have to go downhill sometime.”

“So how long do you expect to be delayed?”

“Well, the waters aren’t expected to crest for another few days. Then we’ll still have to wait for road cleanup, and they’re expecting to have to make some repairs to the bridge. So probably another week.”

“How’s Karen taking it?”

“Grandma’s Angel? She’s taking it just fine for now, check back in a few more days.”

“Will the phones work in a few days?”

“That’s hard to say. They went out upriver, but for now they work here.”

“Keep dry.”

“I plan to.”

“Can I talk to Karen before I go?”

“She’s napping right now.”

“Oh, don’t disturb her then. I gotta go. I need to return a call to my mother. Be safe, and call me if anything changes.”

“Only if it changes for the worst. If I can get out of here sooner I look forward to surprising you with an early homecoming.”

“Well, I look forward to that too. Love you.”

“Love you too. Be safe and we’ll see you when we get home.”

“Bye.”

Maureen hung up the phone. She dialed her mother before she forgot, but got the answering machine. She left a short message, and then went back to the living room to finish her dinner.

“Is everything ok?” Julius asked as she reentered the room.

“Yep, they’re just dealing with an excess of water.”

“Why didn’t they leave before the water came?”

“When Scott visits his parents they tend not to watch the news, so they probably didn’t know about it until it was too late.”

Julius was silent. He sipped at the blood in his glass.

Maureen soon finished her plate. She took it to the kitchen, but as she started the water to rinse it in the sink the water did something unexpected. The water made a ninety-degree turn, went in a circle around her, then returned to the sink to rinse the plate.

Maureen turned off the water once she was satisfied with the rinse. Then she turned to Julius. Raising one eyebrow was enough to express her question to him.

“Yes, fire is only the start. You must be able to control the other elements as well. Tomorrow we start on water.”

“Tomorrow? I thought that you would want to start on it immediately.”

“Water will not be as easy for you as fire was. Since it is the opposite of your natural element it will be more difficult for you than air or earth, and much more difficult than fire. So we need to get you working with water, but now you need to rest.”

“I thought that we were going to continue working with fire tonight.”

“We can, if you feel comfortable with it. But only a continuation to build your skills.”

“What about nullifying other types of attacks?”

“We need to get you comfortable with the other elements before we can be truly effective with that. I can teach you some things, but the most effective nullifications are those that utilize the opposite element.”

Maureen was almost glad that there were going to be no new lessons for the night. She went back to the living room and flopped onto the couch.

Julius watched on from the archway. She was coming along, he thought, but would she be ready when the time came. Could he ever prepare her enough for what she was up against?