Beatrix
by Holly Braendlein, age 15
What am I going to do? Beatrix thought to herself. She was stranded on a tiny, deserted island. She had a splitting headache, and she was devoid of courage. She had not been able to defeat the enemy and save the people. She still had a chance, but things didn’t look too good for her. She thought back to when she woke up to the sound of her Enemy Finder ….
***
Beatrix opened her eyes wearily as her Enemy Finder resounded like a gong in her head. She sat up and groaned as she reached for her computer. 6:00 in the morning. She got out of bed and dressed in her suit. Her superhero suit was bluebird blue and flexible for moving on snow and ice swiftly. Likewise, her boots were specially made to turn into ice skates or grippers for whatever occasion. She slipped on her boots and then grabbed for her special watch. She set it to take her to the scene of the crime. Within seconds, she disappeared.
Beatrix reappeared on a dock by the ocean. The waves crashed against the rocks as she peered ahead of her toward the horizon. She saw a gray figure coming slowly towards her. Beatrix recognized him as Luftus, who had power over the wind.
Beatrix ran and landed on the water, and as her foot touched it, the water froze solid allowing her to run on it. She ran toward Luftus and eventually caught up with him.
Luftus was standing comfortably on a small gray cloud, the same color as his suit, hovering over the water. As she neared, she directed her palms toward him and issued forth an icy blast to throw him off guard. He acted quickly by redirecting the ice back at her with his wind. Beatrix dodged as it hurtled past her.
Luftus smiled fiendishly at her. “Vut a cold greeting you gave me. Vut is da trouble?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Beatrix replied. “What are you doing here? Whatever it is can’t be good.”
Luftus feigned being offended. “Vut is this you speak? I have da feeling you don’t tink too well of me. Be assured, I am on your side now.”
“What do you mean? That can’t be.” Beatrix answered.
“Oh, but it is true! You see, I was called by your God to execute his wrath upon dis people. You said yourself that everybody is sinful. God wants to put things right, and so he chose me. I am very honored.” Luftus said, tossing his head. “Now if you vill excuse me, I have some very important tings to do.” And with that, he ventured on toward land.
He paused for a second. He waved his hands in the air, closed his eyes, and whispered to himself what sounded like incantations. Slowly, black clouds came and swarmed about in a circle, before finally growing and turning into a huge tornado. It was extremely loud. The wind blew through Beatrix’s long, red hair.
Thinking fast, Beatrix jumped into the air, and before landing on a little patch of ice she had made, her boots transformed into ice skates. She skated swiftly toward Luftus. As she neared him, she shot an icy blow to his cheek and said, “I don’t believe you were sent by God to destroy human life.”
Luftus was furious because he now had to make another tornado. He pushed her aside. “Oh, yah? You just vatch!” He made another tornado, and sped toward the shore, cackling to himself.
Beatrix raced him to the shore, but she could see she was losing. She wouldn’t reach it in time. Everybody would be swept out of their houses by Luftus’ tornado, and very likely dropped into the ocean, or something worse, like a volcano.
Knowing that frost protects a plant from freezing to death, Beatrix thought frost might provide an answer to her dilemma. Beatrix summed up all her strength and shot ice over everything in town.
Luftus screamed in rage! He turned to Beatrix and tried to sweep her off her feet with the tornado. Beatrix froze it and skated away from the bank. Luftus wasn’t about to fall for her tricks. He summoned another tornado and stood his ground.
Before she knew it, Beatrix felt herself being pulled backward by some strong force. She realized she was being sucked up by Luftus’ tornado! She struggled to gain her ground, even switching her boots for grip-control boots, but it was too late. She let go of the ground and found herself twirling inside the tornado.
She was so dizzy, so nauseous! Her body was banged here and there from the intense force of the wind. Suddenly, she heard Luftus cackle wildly.
“Now,” He said, “I will banish you to a faraway island where you can’t disturb me, and don’t even think about calling on God! He’s on my side!”
And with that, he swung the tornado in circles, and then let go, sending Beatrix flying away.
***
Beatrix sighed. She knew she wasn’t enough for this task. Her frost wouldn’t last long. She had about thirty minutes to find a solution before the frost melted.
She started to have nagging doubts. What if what he said about God destroying civilization was true? What if she had failed because God was stopping her?
But then she remembered the record in Genesis 8 when God relented after forty days of flooding the earth. He had put a rainbow in the sky, as an everlasting covenant between God and mankind, that He wouldn’t flood the earth and destroy mankind again. She also thought back through all the stories of mankind’s screw-ups and of God’s merciful kindness in not destroying us, even though we deserved it sevenfold. He forgave David for the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. He forgave Paul for executing His saints. He never destroyed mankind, so can’t she trust Him to carry on that loving-kindness?
But she was still in a pickle. How in the world am I going to get off this island?
Suddenly, something dropped on the sand behind her. It was a palm leaf from the tree behind her …. She thought hard. I could take the palm branches, freeze them, and craft them into the shape of a small boat. Before getting to work, she thanked God for giving her a solution.
Before long, she had fashioned a boat with the branches. She had only ten minutes to save the townspeople. She pushed the boat into the water, got into it, and turned around so she could propel it with ice. She had to hurry!
***
Five minutes remained.
Luftus was just visible ahead of her, playing around, waiting until the frost melted.
Four minutes.
Luftus prepared his tornado for action.
Three minutes remaining.
Beatrix was close enough now to make her attack. She jumped out of her boat and shot ice at Luftus in midair.
Luftus, regaining his balance, screamed in outrage at her arrival. “VUT!!! I thought I had gotten vid of you! Apparently, I didn’t do a good enough job!” He turned his tornado at Beatrix and sucked her into it.
Beatrix twirled around helplessly. This is exactly what had gotten her in trouble last time she got sucked up.
Two minutes remaining.
Suddenly, she realized that maybe she was shooting at the wrong object. She had thus far been aiming at Luftus because he kept getting disoriented when he was shot. What would happen if she froze his tornado? She had no time to wonder. She now had ten seconds remaining. She prayed and then cut to the chase.
She summoned up all of her strength and iced the walls of wind around her.
10 …
Luftus caught on quickly, making it even stronger. The walls started beating down on her. But Beatrix only shot harder.
9 …
“YOU VILL NEVAH VIN!”
8 …
Beatrix was getting tired, but she had to hang on.
7 … 6 … 5 …
Luftus started to panic. “Stop! Stop! STOP!!!”
Beatrix blocked him out and pushed harder.
4 … 3 … 2 …
She summoned her last bit of energy and pushed the wind away.
1 …
There was a huge crack in the atmosphere, and everything went dark.
***
When Beatrix woke up, she found herself on the beach. She remembered what had been going on, and looked around. She saw the townspeople coming out of their houses, scratching their heads. She sighed in relief. Then she searched for Luftus. He was nowhere to be found. Beatrix got up and brushed herself off.
She pulled out her special watch, set the time for home, and disappeared. She had to rest up before her next assignment.
About the Writer
Holly Braendlein is a young girl who wants to use her writing for God’s glory. She is 15 and lives in Kent, WA.
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