In this scene, Manni and Matt have a Come-To-Jesus talk after he experiences an elemental interaction firsthand…

“What the hell just happened?” Matt asked, turning in a slow circle. His hands were cupping his ears which were still ringing in the aftermath.

“You just met an Original,” Manni said, dusting the front of her pants. “And that one was the queen mother of them all.”

“An original what?” He demanded. “What the hell is going on here?  Is she…” He shook his head, as if trying to talk himself out of it, then forged ahead. “Is she a space alien? Or what?”

“Or what,” Manni answered in a deadpan. “I know it won’t do any good to tell you it’s not what it looks like. You’re in the middle of this, and it’s going to take longer than we have right now to explain. If you want to live, you’re going to have to trust me and not get freaked out.”

“You can explain this?”

“No time. Come on.”

Manni squatted down, placing her hands flat against the earth beneath her.

“Get close to me,” she said over her shoulder. “Come on – we don’t have a lot of air left.”

Matt stopped pacing abruptly. “Hey,” he said, coming over to squat down next to her. “It’s gonna be okay.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “We’ll just…” he glanced around. “We’ll -”

“Will you shut up?” she said, shrugging his hands off her arms. “I need to concentrate. Damn, you’re annoying.”

“I’m just trying to -”

“I know, you’re trying to comfort me because you think we’re going to die. But if you don’t mind, I have other plans today.”

And with that, she put her palms back on the ground, and the rock walls started to vibrate, showering dirt and rock all around them. Matt threw his arms around her, shielding her as the world rained down, knowing that this gasping, choked breath was going to be his last.

Until the air cleared, and he realized he was looking at clear blue sky. And a really, really pissed off Hopi woman.

“Goddammit,” she fumed,, pushing to her feet. “They took the rental car!”

“Where the hell…” Matt stood slowly. “Where the hell is the cave?”

“Where the hell is the rental car?” Manni said. “Now I gotta file a police report and my insurance is going to be all up in my face! Goddammit!”

“You just…you….knocked a cave down!” Matt sputtered. “You’re -”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Manni said dismissively. “I’m one of them. And now you’re gonna stutter and freak out some more and waste a bunch of time that could be better spent walking to the nearest police station. So let’s go.”

She started walking, expecting him to fall into step, but he wasn’t budging.

“Hey!” he called out. “Is that why the sex was so great?”

Manni turned. “Huh?”

“I mean…come on.” He gave her a shrug. “I’m just sayin’…”

She put her hands on her hips. “I just moved the earth around you and you bring it back to sex?”

He cocked a brow. “Baby, you moved the earth long before this.”

“Unbelievable.” She started walking again. “They attack you and bury you alive and they’re space aliens; I unbury you and I’m just a great lay.”

He fell into step next to her. “I never said just.”

Find out what made the earth move for Matt and Manni in Earthsinger – coming August 15th!