Jake looked into the sky as he walked along the street with a newly-purchased deli sandwiches in hand. He saw clouds beginning to roll in. The sight excited him. He checked the weather reports on his phone. Today was supposed to be overcast over the northern portion of the state for a great deal of the day. Jake called Thomas as he walked faster back to the apartment feeling pumped.
"What's up, Lovechunk?" Thomas answered.
"I told ya not to call me that anymore, Sweetheart." Jacob responded and carried the joke on.
"Whatever you say, Babe." Thomas compromised.
"Dude, have you seen the sky?"
"Uhhh...there's some clouds out the window."
"Yeah! And it's supposed to be overcast all day! Grab Alice and let's go on a hike in the canyon."
"I thought you said you were givIn' it a rest for a while."
"I don't know, I just feel it right now! I'm givin' it another shot."
"Alright, you got me that pastrami?"
"Yeah, I'm like at the bottom of the stairs. I wanna go as soon as Alice can dig her keys outta her purse." Jacob climbed the stairs in record time. As soon as he got in the apartment he threw Thomas's sandwich at him and started filling a backpack with water bottles and energy bars.
"Alice! Got your keys!?" Jacob yelled as he zipped up the backpack.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Alice's voice came from the bathroom. Jacob hurried over to see her using a straightener on her hair.
"Seriously!? We're going on a hike!" Jake pulled a bandana from off the counter and began stuffing her hair into it while tying it in a knot "C'mon, it's you, Thomas, and me. Who are you trying to impress?"
"What are you!? Jacob! Have you ever seen a girl with her hair remotely like that!?" Alice slapped his hands away only seconds after they began troubling her hair. "What are so excited about anyway!?"
"I feel it this time! It's gonna work this time!" Jacob said with fists clenched from his pent up joy. "Now c'mon! You can take care of your hair in the car, I'll drive." Jacob said this as he was digging through her purse.
"You know how many times you said it was gonna work before?" Alice questioned
"Thirty-seven. Got the keys! Tommy! Backpack! Yippee-ki-yi-yay!" Jake shouted as he started out the door.
Jake drove the car faster than other drivers on the road appreciated. They went a ways up the canyon until they came to the trailhead. Jacob lead the way the entire time they were hiking. Alice and Thomas stopped him on occasion to get a water bottle or energy bar out. Jake knew they would stop him often enough that he could refresh himself when they summoned him to halt. Thomas and Alice were once again arguing over something of no consequence.
"C'mon, think about it. Thunder-twisting, that's just the coolest name you could give it." Thomas attempted to make Alice see his point of view of making something sound cool.
"But it hardly has anything to do with the lightning, it's about the metal. I don't even twist the metal, it's a pull if anything." Alice argued towards what was most correct, as she always did.
"Yeah, yeah I've heard it all the time already, metal has a sea of electrons, the lightning takes control, blah blah blah. Here's the other thing, how much easier would it be to give it a name rather than having to say shape that piece of steel with lightning? See what I mean?"
"If want to give it a name so badly then think of a name that actually describes what is done. Anyway, you don't even understand what happens so-"
"Hey! Lookit the clouds! They're right here!" Jacob interrupted them to alice's relief.
"Kay, jus' don't try climbing on 'em ya psycho. Neither of us can catch you when ya fall." Thomas answered.
"Like I could! Heck, I'll be happy to trip over some as long I know I did something." Jacob replied. Then he suddenly felt that familiar anxiety again. "...you comin'?" Jake asked as he faced Thomas and Alice.
"C'mon, you know you gotta do it alone the first time. You don't want me up there to screw up the reaction, and he doesn't know how these work at all so he's staying away for this one." Alice answered. "You'll make it happen this time."
"You got it bro!" Thomas's short words were almost always more effective than any speech. Jacob walked into the clouds where the peak was.
Jake took some breaths and rolled his shoulders to relax. Every time he tried it still felt like he was reaching into thin air. Reaching into thin air actually wasn't far off from what he was attempting. Jacob's goal was to reach into thin air, then take a hold of it. He didn't feel any energy of any sort coming from the clouds. He only felt the familiar depressing feeling of no guidance while he is about to feel like a fool as he attempts to command the clouds. Jacob exhaled and closed his eyes. He reached his hand out into the the fog feeling nothing. He concentrated and put all his will into condensing the clouds into his palm. He could nearly feel it and slowly curled his fingers to grip the what would soon be there. With all his will and might he knew it was going to happen. His fingers met his palm and he dropped his arm limp to his side at the wasted effort.
"It's all good, round two." He said quietly to himself to keep his spirits up. A different approach this time. Clearing the fog was his goal. It was going to be thin and then part. He focused his vision on a line he drew with his mind before him. He lifted his hands to meet the line. He thought of his hands sinking into the thin mass ahead of him. They pressed forward and he flexed his arms and hands with the effort. With all his strength he pressed the imaginary line apart to part the fog. He slowly widened his hands and arms to pull it apart. Pressing with his might his arms widened. But nothing changed. The clouds continued to gently roll along the mountain peak.
"Third time's the charm, third time." He said out loud with a hope to make this last attempt work. He watched the clouds roll along. He oriented himself to face the oncoming clouds. He knew they would yield to him, they had to. As they came to roll his way he lifted his hands up to his shoulders. A wall, they were going to meet a wall. He was the wall. He exhaled again and closed his eyes. He clenched his hands and released. He slowly pressed his hands forward. They felt a slight resistance. He flexed and pressed harder. They wouldn't move. He pushed harder still. He hands wouldn't budge.
"Son of a-!" He yelled and opened his eyes to see his hands pressing into a perfectly white mass. "Wow." Jacob was impressed. He glided his hands across the mass. It was smooth. He never knew of anything that smooth. He pulled a hand back and punched into the wall. It softly stopped his fist and sprung back to the shape it first was. As he was marveling at what he had finally accomplished he began to feel what Alice and Thomas told him he would feel, especially when he first made it happen. He suddenly felt drained of strength and energy. He felt so drained that he lost his balance and fell against the wall made of a cloud. The cloud gave way and he was on his knees.
"Tommy!...Alice!" he shouted for them to come where he was. They came to him and looked at him with glad awe.
"Ya did it!?" Thomas asked with a confident smile.
"Yeah..." Jacob answered breathing deeply.
"How do ya feel!?" Alice asked as she was bouncing on her feet with joy.
"Like crap...haha...wooo! That, that hits hard." Jacob answered.
"Yeah, first time sucks bad. Feel alright to get up?" Thomas asked as he put out his hand to lift him. Jake took the hand and staggered to his feet, with some trouble balancing.
"Maybe...maybe just over somewhere...somewhere to sit down for a while." Jacob told Thomas said with one hand on his head.
"Haha sure, hey ya did it! That's worth somethin'." Thomas replied as they walked to a spot where there was a fallen tree to sit down on out of the fog. Alice watched as a this trail of the cloud pealed off of Jacob's feet. She smiled and thought to herself "I knew he could do it."
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