Professor Fialova reached under the sofa and pulled out a small, dark brown leather satchel. It was tattered and scratched. She placed it lightly on the table. Ellie stood up off her chair and walked over to the satchel. Professor Fialova opened the flap and Ellie peered inside. There was a musky smell about it.
            Inside lay two…well, what were they? At first glance, they looked like watches. A silver metal band that could clasp snugly around your wrists, and on top, each had a large, circular sapphire glass face. But unlike a clock face, they were blank, only the tinge of a rich, royal blue glow reflecting in the light. Perhaps they were digital watches that had run out of battery?
            Four large metallic knobs were evenly spaced around the glass face, positioned at the top, bottom and both sides, much like the crowns on an analogue watch. Both devices were clearly well used, with scratches and marks covering the metal surfaces. The bands themselves had markings on them, numbers, letters, symbols etched into their metal. The glass faces, however, remained pristine.
            Ellie looked at the contents of the satchel, looked up at Professor Fialova, then back to the two silver items inside. 
        “Umm, Professor Fialova, I know I arrived early this morning, but I’m normally very good with time keeping. And two watches? Seems a little unnecessary.”
            Professor Fialova, chuckling slightly, replied, “I’m sure you are, Ellie. But these are not watches. These are what we call Bracers. Elemental Bracers.”
            Twice already this morning, Ellie had responded poorly: once by suggesting that others were going to be joining them, and the second time when she mentioned the science club. Not wanting to face a third embarrassment, she simply sat in silence, waiting and hoping that Professor Fialova would continue with an explanation.
            Thankfully, she did. 
            “They are incredibly special. Not many exist. But I want you to have them.”
              Ellie couldn’t help but smile. “Me?”
        “For now. I believe they will help you grow into the scientist you need to be.”
           Ellie felt tears form in her eyes. She was so happy she could cry. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. 
            “Erm…What…er…what are they for?”
            “Let me show you. Put them on.”
            Ellie nodded. She slowly reached out and picked up one of the Bracers. “Does it matter which wrist?”  
            “Either is fine,” replied Professor Fialova.
        The first was weighty. There was real substance to the Bracer as she looped it over her left wrist and adjusted the clasp on the band to secure it tightly. The clasp snapped shut. As it did, a tingling sensation, a small vibration, flowed lightly down her arms and up into the palm of her hand, then vanished. For a brief moment a wave of exhaustion came over her, then just as quickly as the tingling, that vanished too. 
        After a moment to appreciate the excitement, Ellie carefully put the other Bracer on her right wrist. She experienced the same sensations as from the first.
            Though they were heavy when she picked them up, they didn’t feel heavy to wear. They felt good! They felt natural –  like she had been wearing them for years. But Ellie still had no idea why she was wearing them.
            “This isn’t a pop quiz, just a conversation now,” Professor Fialova began. “Tell me, what elements make up the human body?”
            Ellie was relaxed, there was no brain freeze, her mind was flowing freely to her voice.    
            “96% of the human body is made up of just four elements: Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen,” she replied confidently. 
            “Good,” agreed Professor Fialova. “And the final 4%?”
            “Well, that’s a bit of a mixed bag. The majority of that 4% is made up of seven further elements: Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, Sodium, Chlorine and Magnesium,” Ellie continued, now in her own element. “But,” she continued, “it’s also possible to have a further thirty or so additional elements inside your body. But in such small amounts they can often be overlooked, even though some of them are essential.”
            “Great. So you already know all this.  This is where we begin,” Professor Fialova said, pacing to the window. “Ellie, these Elemental Bracers allow you to summon the elements in your body. They enable you to conduct science in ways you’ve never dreamt of. Let’s try it out, shall we?”
            Excited, and incredibly nervous, Ellie shouted “YES!” rather too loudly. 
            “Okay, stand in the middle of the room,” instructed Professor Fialova.  
            Ellie got up from the chair and did as requested, facing the window.
           “The more abundant an element is in your body, the easier it is to focus on. Let’s start with the easiest ones – that 96%. I think we’ve had more than enough Hydrogen this week…Oxygen sounds like a somewhat safer start!” Professor Fialova said, clearly thinking out loud. “Okay Ellie, raise your arms in front of you and cross your wrists.” 
            Ellie did so. As she did, the two outer crowns of the Elemental Bracers closest to each other snapped together as if bound by a strong magnetic force. This time, Ellie felt a ripple of vibrations run up both arms, petering off through the rest of her body. There was power here.
          “Perfect,” said Professor Fialova. “Right, now you need to call out the element you want, so…” She stopped. “Actually, before we continue, can you turn to face the wall?” 
          “The wall?” Ellie questioned.
          “Yes. I think that would be best,” Professor Fialova replied, indicating her initial question was purely rhetorical.  
          Accepting her teacher probably knew what she was doing, Ellie twizzled ninety degrees to the left, arms still outstretched, wrists still crossed, Elemental Bracers still locked together. She was now face-to-face with the feathery owl picture. It really was an odd picture.
            “Okay, we’re ready,” said Professor Fialova calmly. “Ellie, I need you to concentrate. Visualise what you’re saying. Really try to feel what you’re saying. Understand?”
            Ellie nodded, though in truth she had no idea what that meant or what was about to happen.
            “Excellent. Now ask your Bracers to bring forward Oxygen.” 
            “To do what now?” replied Ellie, trying her best to unfurrow her brow. 
            “Try it,” was the only further advice offered. 
            “Certainly,” replied Ellie, without any certainty at all. 
            Ellie thought about it for a good eighteen seconds –
just like she had with the balloon – and then, staring into the eyes of the feathery owl on the wall in front of her, and realising she probably couldn’t say anything more embarrassing than she already had today, she blurted out:
            “Elemental Bracers. Element 8. Oxygen.”
            Before she could finish her sentence, the glass faces of the Elemental Bracers began to glow pale blue, throbbing brighter and brighter. The very second Ellie finished saying the ‘en’ of ‘Oxygen’, a beam of explosive, pale blue light burst out from the glass of both Bracers. 
            The blast hurled Ellie backwards across the room with incredible force, landing with a soft thud on the faded green sofa behind her.
            Dazed, Ellie looked up to find the room suddenly filled with feathers. The owl painting was stripped completely bare. In stark contrast to the chaos that had just erupted, the feathers were drifting serenely, swaying from side to side as they floated to the ground. Ellie lay sprawled across the sofa, out of breath, too stunned to move, her wide eyes fixed on the last feather as it came to rest on the floor.
          Professor Fialova turned to look at Ellie, smiled, and simply said, “Excellent. Very well done.” 
            Ellie was going to need some explanation. Panting, she said, “What…what just happened?”
            “Well, for one thing you’ve given me the perfect reason to throw out Mrs Totterwell’s ghastly owl-picture.” Professor Fialova chuckled again to herself. “And secondly, that’s exactly why I had you face the wall. If you’d been facing the other way you’d have been thrown back onto a table and chairs, which hurts a lot more.” Professor Fialova frowned and rubbed her lower back. “You can trust me on that one.” 
            “Will I always get blown over like that?” asked Ellie, still not moving from her slumped position, but now resting an arm on the yellow pillow, breathing heavily. 
           “That part is just simple physics. You know what Sir Isaac Newton said: for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”
      Ellie did know Newton’s third law, but she’d never experienced it quite so up close and personal!
            “The Oxygen came out one way, so you got thrown back the other with equal force. Next time, hold yourself properly and you should be fine.”
            “Oh,” said Ellie. Thank you, Newton. “But erm…”
            Professor Fialova cocked her head to the side. “That explanation is not going to cut it for you, is it?” 
            Ellie shook her head. “Nope.”

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