Blink of an Eye

Chapter 1

You know, it's ironic really. I'd never believed in the whole "Your life can change in the blink of an eye" business. Yet, there I was, waiting at LAX after a 16-hour flight from John Lennon Airport.
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I was in school, History I think, when a woman from the main office came in. She was visibly distraught and when she started talking, her voice had a melancholy undertone.
"Daniel?" I knew something wasn't right and, looking around the room, so did my class.
I followed her outside.

"Daniel, I'm afraid there's been an accident..."

My whole family died that day. It was the first time I'd really felt alone. I shut myself off from the rest of the world, my friends abandoned me when I needed them, I had no one. Except for one person... my uncle, John. He left for America as soon as he turned eighteen. His parents, my grandparents, and his brother, my father, had tried to cut all ties with him. They were successful too until I found out. I'd gotten bored one day and decided to do one of those family trees you see online,that's how I found him. I started talking to him over Facebook, then over the phone and then video chatting over Skype. I connected with him almost instantly. We became quite close and going over to America to see him was even on the cards!
Then the accident happened.
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I'm deep in thought, thinking about the events of the past few months, when a car pulls up about twenty feet in front of me. It's a police car, with the words 'Beacon Hills County Sheriff Department' on the side. This must be him, I thought. I recall him telling me he was a sheriff, but he never told me the name of the town. A man steps out. He's slightly taller than me, but not much, well built, but not fat, and going grey. He's wearing a Sheriff's uniform. This is definitely him. He approaches me and pulls me into a friendly and condoling hug. There's a moment of silence before he says,
"How you holding up, kid?"
"I've been better," I reply.
"How was your flight?"
"It was a 16-hour flight, what do you think?" I said sarcastically, which earned a chuckle from John.
"Yeah, I don't know what I expected really. What do you say we go back to the house?" I nod, showing my agreement. We walk in silence to the car but, when we get in, it's the complete opposite. We talk the entire journey, catching up on all the lost years. We talked about birthdays, Christmases, everything under the sun basically. It was as if we'd never been apart.
"So, Beacon Hills," I began, "I take it that's the town you live in?"
"Yeah, it's a nice town. Nothing much really happens there though." He continued, "What about your little town? Anything much happen there?"
"No, it's just a quiet little town. But, one day a year, the whole world turns its attention to us." He looked impressed. "Really? How come?"
"We have the biggest horse race in the world, The Grand National." I came off a bit smug, I'll admit, but it was more pride than smugness. Actually, talking about it made me realise how much I was actually gonna miss the place...

About two hours after we set off, we pull up to the sheriff's department, so he can pick up some work. When we go in, he disappears into his office leaving me to wait in the reception area. It's small, but not too small. I sit down in a chair and just wait. There's a woman in a deputy's uniform behind the counter, but she was too busy on her computer , doing something important no doubt, to take any notice of me. After a few minutes, I hear someone enter. I look over to see a familiar face but, I can't quite figure out why he looks so familiar. He's about 5"10', skinny (about 147 lbs maybe), and sporting a buzz cut. He's wearing black skinny jeans and a red hoodie which, again, looks painfully familiar. He sits down a few seats away and proceeds to play on his phone. I can see him out of the corner of my eye, looking up at me occasionally with a puzzled look on his face and then continuing to play on his phone. I've definitely seen him from somewhere, and it seems as though he's seen me from somewhere too. A few more minutes pass before John comes back in the room, papers in hand.
"I'm all set, you ready to go kid?"
"Yeah, let's go," I say enthusiastically, standing up.
And so does the boy sitting next to me...