A new life to live by

CHAPTER 2

I sat outside with spike around the playground. Along with a gym the daycare building has a playground outside of it. While the kids played I tried to learn more about spike and his family, although he seemed to wrapped up in his M&M cookies to talk about anything.

“So spike, tell me about your mother Miss Sparks”

“Hmm?” he said between mouthfuls of cookies. “oh she isn't actually my mother. I mean she hatched me but she didn’t actually lay me as an egg.”  What? Did he actually think he was spike from the show? He must be joking with me. You tend to get used to kids with an active imagination when working with 200 of them for almost ten hours a day, but what did he mean that Miss Sparks wasn't his mother? Other than me, spike didn't talk to anyone so I knew he was a shy kid but he couldn’t dislike his own mother could he? I doubted it from what I could tell he was a kind kid and he kept asking if he could help me with anything.

“Not to say I wouldn't like her to be my mom she has been there for my from the beginning and even though I’m really small I do my best around the library but sometimes I can’t do everything because I’m still so little.”

“Well you’re still really young so I’m sure you’ll still have plenty of time to help her out.” I said with a big grin. It was rare this day in age to meet such a kind hearted child and it always filled me with joy that there were still kindness in such a messed up world. I always tried my hardest to show kids that the world should be filled with kindness and trust in others not hatred and evil.

“Yeah she said I could help everyone out by meeting you” Spike said

“Oh? And how is that?” I asked very confused

“By giving you this.” Spike handed me a gold ring with a small green jewel in the shape of fire. I took it extremely confused

“What is this?” I asked

“It’s your element marking.” Spike said

“MY…..What?”

“Your element marking” Spike said with the straightest face I’ve ever seen. “It’s what you’re gonna need when the fighting starts”

“Fighting???” saying I was confused was an extreme understatement. “Sorry Spike but I’m not a fighter, I took karate a few years back and some kendo classes but that was just about it.”

“Do you trust me?” Spike asked looking at me completely serious.

“Huh?” I asked again extremely confused

“Do you trust me?” He asked looking at me dead in the eye.

“Of course I do Spike but I think your imagination is starting to get out of hand. there isn’t going to be any fighting around here anytime soon”

Spike looked up at the sky and spoke words beyond his few years “I wish you were right Salem but this is a cruel world, and when you realize it’s time to fight, it may already be too late.”

Saying that he got up and ran to the playground acting like a normal kid again leaving me confused on the ground. I looked at the ring. I didn’t wear much jewelry but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I could always give it back if he wanted it. I put the ring on my right ring finger. It fit perfectly to my surprise, like it was made specifically for me it felt strangely warm like there was heat generating from it.

As I looked at the ring the boss called everyone back inside. It was around five O’clock so parents were starting to show up to pick up their kids. It was my job to have the parents sign out their kids to make sure no one pick up the wrong kids. We have had incidents where strangers have attempted to kidnap kids. This is why I’m at the front.

I didn’t lie when I told Spike that I took karate classes but that wasn’t exactly the whole truth. The whole truth is that I am actually a third degree black belt and one of the best sword fighters in the country. I try to keep that on the down low because, as I’ve come to realize the hard way; if you flaunt power the power hungry tend to try to prove themselves. In the situations of the attempted kidnappings I had won a couple tournaments and the paper had covered it. When word got out that I was a very young master class fighter a few “gangsters” thought it would be a good idea to make me angry by hurting the kids that were under my protection. This didn’t turn out well, for them anyway, they decided to take a kid I had taken under my personal wing. A little boy named Tristan whom had joined the same school I took my classes as well, he asked me to start teaching him as well. I accepted his request, but I later regretted it. When the so called “gangsters” came they saw me teaching him during our free time. They grabbed him before I could react and pointed a single hand gun at him, long story short the police had to rush me and the “gangsters” to a hospital. me because of a single bullet in my shoulder. Them because I broke most of their limbs. I try to hide the truth because when I get angry, I don’t get just angry I become impossible to stop. Everything goes black and I start to move on my own. I don’t like it believe me but I can’t help it, I care for these kids like they are my own.

As they time went by it reached six o’clock and there was only one kid left, Spike. The boss had already taken off and left me to close up the building as soon as Miss Sparks came to pick up spike. As if on cue Miss Sparks along with the other girls who’s names I all learned before they took off.

The one who got up in my face with the awesome rainbow hair and the beautiful magenta eyes was Rachel Dickerson, of course there was Tina Sparks at the lead of the group but besides them were the other four. Beside Rachel was probably the most hyper of the group Miss Diane Pie, a fairly short gal besides her hair which was bright neon pink and very very poofy, she couldn’t seem to hold still and continued bouncing around uncontrollably. She wore a bright pink shirt which had three ballons on it and a small skirt which was also, surprise surprise, pink. Behind Miss Sparks was Miss Renea Flowers, like miss Sparks she had dark lavender hair; however she stood tallest amoung the group at probably a good six feet or maybe more, She wore a perfect white dress, it was flawless not a single wrinkle. Next to Miss Flowers was Alexandra Johnson whom wore a big Stetson hat and seemed to be the polar opposite of miss Flowers, the wore some dirty jeans and a button up shirt with and some cowgirl boots. She seemed the type to not back down like Miss Rachel. Hiding Behind the other five was Miss Fiona Summers, she had very light pink hair and very wide eyes the shortest of the group and definitely the most shy out of everyone she was the only one to not say anything. She wore a yellow sweatshirt which looked to be a size bigger than necessary, maybe to hide in because that what she seemed to use it for. She also wore a yellow pair of shorts.

As I called to spike to come outside the gym and go home he seemed to sulk out, seeming like he didn’t want to go home. Before they left I remembered the ring.

“Oh wait!” I called out “is this ring any of yours?” they all turned and looked at the ring that was still on my finger. Rachel started laughing as if something was funny.

“What?” I asked confused yet again. This day kept taking weird turns and it seemed like I was the butt of the joke.

“Even if it was any of our, which it isn’t, it doesn’t matter anymore because now it’s stuck to you” she said through stifled laughter.

“What are you talking about? Here I’ll just slip it..” I tried pulling it off but for some reason it seemed to be stuck. I started freaking out because it seemed like it would just slip off easily. That’s when Tina started to talk.

“It seems spike has told you everything. I guess that means we should start filling in the blanks”

“What do you mean?”

“There are some things Spike may have left out, and I think it’s time we fill you in on the rest.” That’s when Rachel yelled at the top of her lungs.

“PARTY AT YOUR HOUSE DUDE!!!”