Chapter 12:
Miracle and Mystery
Back at Henry's high school, the day right after Spring break had ended, Mr. Smith had showed up in his brand new black slacks, along with a gray wool button-up shirt, smiling like the sun in the bright morning hours of Spring.
It was a very rare case for people to recover from their vegetable state, a coma, but it was possible. And this was the lucky case for the school's worst administrator; at least, considered the worst by every student who attended that particular high school. He was well liked by almost every teacher, except for the younger ones, because of the fact that he was so punctual, strict, and commanding. There were rumors that had circulated a few years back that Mr. Smith inherited his traits by working as an government official, but this was never proved and so it quickly faded away.
"Good morning Mr. Smith!"
"Glad to have you back Mr. Smith."
"How are you feeling Mr. Smith?" "You are one lucky man, Mr. Smith."
Everywhere he went, he heard amicable greetings from his fellow teachers and colleagues. He merely smiled back and nodded in return.
"I like your new clothes, where did you buy them?"
"Oh, I received it as a gift from an old friend of mine. He was very happy to see that I was in good health, you see."
"Well, if he ever feels that generous and happy again tell him to send some gifts to me too. Hahaha!"
Smith heartily laughed and waved the teacher away before making his way back into his office.
For some strange reason he tugged and pulled on his right sleeve. He shut the door behind him and loosened his tie.
Krystal had retreated once again to her less-than-accommodating abode inside her amulet for the remainder of Spring break. Henry didn't bother trying to coax her out since it would be the equivalent of trying to get a cat to come closer to you by chasing it down and loudly calling its name; it just didn't work out.
When Henry found out about Mr. Smith's sudden revival he felt shocked and relieved at the same time. Shocked that he was able to return from his coma; relieved that he wouldn't have guilty feelings harboring his thoughts for the remainder of his life.
Henry suspected that Mr. Smith's sudden revival had something to do with Krystal's breaking, but he wasn't going to go ask her at this particular moment of her time.
As soon as he met up with Chris, he was immediately asked on the results of his confrontation.
"So, how did things go with you and your friend?"
"It...It went exactly as you had planned."
"Really? That's surprising. Usually nothing ever goes the way I planned." Chris stated indifferently.
"You sure don't act like it's surprising."
"Well, I'm never sure if things go as planned. I've had many plans go wrong in the past. Some of them I was able to fix; others, not so much. But forget about the past, you really should have another go with Krystal and see how much she has changed."
Henry started to nod his head before catching what Chris said.
"Wait a minute. Did you just say Krsytal? I don't remember ever telling you her name. How do you know her name Chris?"
Chris was at a loss for words.
"Did I really just say Krystal? Wow...talk about coincidence. I had no idea that was her name. I just said that because I was playing some StarFox: Adventures over Spring break and the name Krystal got stuck in my head."
This time it was Henry's turn to give Chris an inquisitive stare. "Right..."
Chris smiled awkwardly and waved good-bye before starting off.
That was when Henry noticed something that he had not noticed before. On Chris's right hand, the one he waved him, there was a ring attached to his index finger.
"Hey Chris!" Henry started after him.
"What? I have to get to class."
"Where did you get that fancy ring? It looks pretty expensive man."
"What? This? I got it as a present from my parents."
"For what?" Henry pushed on.
"For getting good grades. Didn't you know? I finally got straight A's so my parents bought me this sweet ring that I thought looked cool."
"Can I have a quick look at it?" Henry asked.
"Sure...If you want."
Chris took the ring off and gingerly placed in Henry's open palm.
Upon closer inspection, Henry noticed that this ring seemed to have three gems embedded into its frame instead of 5. There was a sapphire on the right side, a ruby on the left, and a black diamond, which looked extremely similar to that of Krystal's, in the middle.
Chris noticed Henry inspecting the ring too closely and with too much interest and forcefully snatched it back.
"Hey man...you're looking at my ring almost as if you want it."
"Sorry man...didn't mean to be that interested in it."
"Where did you say that you got that ring from?"
"I didn't"
And with those last two words being said, Chris quickly turned around and made his way to class.
Henry stared at him until Chris disappeared around a corner. He whispered under his breath, "Shit...It's almost as if he knows everything."
As Henry turned around to get to his next period he immediately regretted taking that particular hallway through school. Walking briskly towards him was none other than the infamous Mr. Smith.
"Mister Henry! I see that you still haven't rid yourself of your notoriously bad habits of procrastinating your stay in the hallways."
"Good to see you too Smith." Henry sarcastically spat out.
"I will have none of that young man. You will refer to me with respect and call me Mr. Smith."
"Fine, Mr. Smith."
"See that wasn't so hard, now was it? Anyways, I never got to thank you for saving my life. If you hadn't called the ambulance after my unfortunate incident with you then I surely wouldn't be standing here, this day, talking to you."
"What?" Henry was dumbfounded.
"Well let's just leave it at this. I was being too harsh on you and you could've just left me to die under all that weight, but you choose to do the right thing even though you had disdain for me. So I've decided to have a change of heart from now on."
Henry blinked a couple times, taking this all in.
"Now hurry onto class. You wouldn't want Mr. Siegfried catching you loitering in the hallways, now would you?" Mr. Smith ushered Henry to his next class.
As the day carried on things didn't seem as if they could've have gotten weirder for Henry, but it somehow did.
Mr. Smith was acting more and more like a friend while Chris was strangely keeping his distance. Whenever Henry tried to talk with Chris he would nod his head and act like he was listening but Henry could tell right away that Chris's mind was focused on something else. When Henry realized just what Chris was focused on, he became more cautious of his best friend.
"You sure seem real interested in my necklace, Chris. What? Your ring ain't good enough for you?" Henry questioned.
"No...this ring is all I really need. I was lost in my thoughts cause your necklace reminds me of something."
Chris left the lunch table without saying goodbye.
Mr. Smith happened to walk up at this particular moment and inquired on Henry's plans for the future.
"So Mr. Huynh...How was your Spring break? Anything interesting happen?"
"No...actually, now that I think about it, I helped someone at Six Flags and made a new friend."
"Really? You really are someone with a kind heart, aren't you? Helping a random soul in public. Anyhow, what colleges have you looked into these days?"
"Uh...None so far. I've been real busy with other stuff. Helping people out, you know?"
"Its always good to help others out. I'm sure you need the community service hours anyways. Well, if you need any help then I could always get in a word of recommendation for you, if need be. Trust me, I have connections with professors from various colleges around the states."
"That sounds good...I heard that recommendation forms really do help out in the end."
"But in order to validate my recommendation I would need some names of the people that you've helped. Such as that individual from Six Flags."
"Uh...ya. I'll get back to you on that later. I still need to jot down all of their names but thanks for the offer."
Mr. Smith smiled back and patted Henry on the back. "No need to thank me Henry. Just thank yourself for being such a kind person. You what they say about good deeds. It always pays off in the end."
Mr. Smith waved at Henry as he nonchalantly walked away.
As the day ended, Henry made his way home on the never changing cement sidewalk while lost in his thoughts...
He was bewildered at the turn of events. How come suddenly Mr. Smith was acting like his friend and Chris was slowly turning his back on him?
Then Henry knew the answer as soon as he remembered Chris's new piece of jewelry.
"The ring!", were Henry's thoughts as he tried to make sense of the events that recently took place.
"Krystal...I finally got to her and maybe that's what brought Mr. Smith back. Heck, he even has a better attitude now. Chris, on the other hand, got this mysterious new ring and suddenly knows everything. He's being cautious around me after I asked him about his ring...but why? If he knows what Krystal is, why should he fear me?"
Lost in his thoughts, Henry never saw the pedestrian sign signaling him to stop. A large red pickup truck swerved around the bend and ripped Henry from his thoughts with the loud blaring of its horn.
Henry didn't have any time to move out of the way and the truck was too close for brakes to be of any use; he felt like a deer caught in headlights.
Suddenly time slowed down and a flash of blue obscured Henry's vision for a moment.
Henry felt relieved at seeing Krystal for the first time in many days but she didn't greet him. Krystal raised her arm and flicked her wrist.
The red pickup suddenly veered to the right and then began rolling into the air.
Krystal kept her back on Henry the entire time as everything moved in slow motion; his eyes left her frame for a second to follow the rolling pickup in mid air above his head. Then time sped up and Henry heard the groan of metal and the shatter of glass on the pavement behind him; it was followed by the screeching of metal skidding across the road.
He averted his gaze from the wreckage behind him to where Krystal was standing just seconds ago, but she was already gone.
Henry blinked a couple times in confusion and then turned his attention to the man in the car. The Caucasian male was unconscious but fortunately unharmed.
Out of the corner of Henry's eye he could see Chris's silver 4Runner rolling past the incident like it never happened...almost as if he had sent the car Henry's way.
Then, by coincidence, Mr. Smith showed up onto the scene in his blue BMW and called the ambulance, inquiring if anyone got seriously injured and what a lucky man Henry was.
"This is a miracle! How do you survive a car that close?"
"I'm not sure...I guess I must have some genie protecting me, eh?" Henry joked.
"Yes...it would appear so." Mr. Smith laughed back.
-==-=-==-=-==-
"Report?"
"Here is the report as quoted directly from our agent, "Entity known as Krystal has made her first appearance. It appears that she only dares to reveal herself when her master is in imminent danger...this moment seems to force her to be in the most vulnerable state but I am unsure. I will continue to pursue subject and acquire more knowledge.""
"each moment of life is a miracle and mystery...." - H. G. Wells