Ether's Chronicle

The Little Big Hero - Part 3

Friday.

The day Tonia saw in her vision.

Ether was asked to stay back by the people he was living with.

They were having a party at home.

The danger from last night was still fresh in his head. The gunshots. The car.

And Tonia’s words: “...you’re going to die tomorrow.”

It made him afraid. Just a little.

But he couldn’t say anything.

He didn’t trust these people with the truth. And he definitely wasn’t telling his Mum — her BP would rise and that would be another problem.

Even Prosper and Mechy didn’t know him fully.

So he kept it all to himself, like always.

Since last night he’d been helping with cooking, even though he nearly died before getting home.

Now he was the only one helping the caterers, setting up canopy, arranging chairs outside the compound.

The caterers were busy with one pot of catfish soup.

Ether was exhausted.

He excused himself like he wanted to pee, but somehow ended up on the bed inside.

He dozed off for 5 minutes.

That was another Ether problem. He barely slept at night or during the day.

Some people thought it was insomnia. But it started when he got his powers.

It got worse anytime he was about to use them.

When he woke up 5 minutes later, his face and body looked like he’d slept for 8 hours.

Refreshed. Normal. Like nothing happened.

He went back to the caterers.

Then it started.

Voices.

In his head. People calling for help.

Tonia’s vision was still there. He’d been watching the gas cooker since she said “fire outbreak”.

What if she didn’t see it exactly how it’s going to happen?

What if it’s something else? he thought.

“Please, we need more palm oil,” one caterer said.

Ether turned to get it.

FWOOOSH!

The gas cooker bursted into flames.

Fortunately, the caterers weren’t too close. They jumped back and ran.

But the fire didn’t stop. It got fiercer.

People in the compound started screaming, running for their lives.

The back of the house was already catching fire. If it spread, the whole place would burn to ashes.

The woman he was living with started speaking in tongues and tried to walk through the fire to turn off the gas cylinder.

Ether’s vision flashed.

He saw her get burned the moment she entered the flames.

He snapped out of it.

She was still about to go in.

He dragged her back hard.

“Mama, go far! Don’t enter there!”

That was when everyone remembered: a lot of people were still inside the house.

Nobody was willing to go in and call them out.

The fire was wilder now. Chairs, decorations, everything was catching.

Ether remembered Tonia.

He was afraid. But the thought of losing lives because he did nothing... he couldn’t live with that.

He took off his shirt and trouser.

Ran through the second gate to the side where the gas cylinder was.

If he turned it off, the fire would come down.

If he made one mistake, he would die. Just like Tonia predicted.

He breathed in. Breathed out.

Then he rushed into the flames.

The female security watching from afar almost fainted.

In the blink of an eye, Ether ran through the fire, yanked off the pipe feeding the cooker — the one already on fire — and ran back out.

One second.

That’s all it took.

Silence.

Then the fire started dying down.

The security couldn’t even describe it.

“Thank God for this boy! He saved everybody’s life!” she was shouting.

Everyone was shocked.

The people he was living with hugged him, thanked him over and over.

Ether didn’t care. He just went back to work.

The woman told him to go inside and rest. Told the caterers to give him enough food and drinks.

From that day, they tried to change how they treated him.

But it was late. Ether had already made up his mind — he was leaving as soon as he finished SSS3.

Inside the room, Ether thanked God again.

“You saved me this time too.”

The weekend was better.

They gave him food all through. The work didn’t reduce, but at least he ate well.

Later that night he called Tonia.

“Tell me everything you see. Write it down. Dreams, feelings, visions. Don’t ignore any of it.”

He didn’t tell her about his powers.

He just called it a miracle