Dark Spark

• Ida Dawson, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2014

Mitexi hurriedly wrapped her blue iris flowered scarf around her head. She glared at a stray curl of raven-black hair and tucked it beneath the folds of fabric. She couldn’t risk anyone seeing her ebony coloured hair. She had only recently cropped it into a boyish pixie cut, but it was rapidly growing past her shoulders. Even though she had just entered a city so dark and dusty she could hardly see two paces in front of her, her hair stood out. Marked her as an outsider. A Dark Spark.
Mitexi peered through the cloud of darkness. Houses closed in on either side of the dusty road. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, wrinkling her nose in frustration. No matter what people said, she only liked the darkness when accompanied by moonlight. That’s where a Dark Spark got their power.
“So,” she muttered “with these dratted clouds and constant dust, I’m weakened.”
Suddenly, a bang echoed through the street. A strangled yowl pierced Mitexi’s ears. Pain immediately filled her head from inside out. Shock, terror, desperation. A pair of huge green eyes burst into her vision from somewhere unknown, pleading for help with such innocence, the look sent a shiver through her body. One thing was clear in her mind. She had to help.
Mitexi stumbled through the darkness, searching for those eyes.
Ahead, in a pool of moonlight, a man held a tiny furry bundle in a tight fist. The creature squirmed in agony as it was shaken violently. Rage coursed through Mitexi’s bones, clouding her vision. She leapt forward.
As the moonlight struck her skin, she felt her muscles tense, her breath synchronising with her movements. She narrowed her eyes.
“Stop!”
The man hardly glanced at her. A knife glinted in his belt.
In one motion, Mitexi lifted her leg high in a smooth crescent and brought her heel crashing on the man’s shoulder. He crumpled instantly.
Mitexi dropped her arms from her defensive position and stepped forward to pry the shivering animal from the man’s slackened grasp. She smiled. It was a kitten. His huge neon green eyes leapt at her from his snowy white coat.
Mitexi whispered into the darkness. “I guess Dark Sparks really can shine bright.”