Underneath the clouds

V

The sun was setting, taking away the natural light of the day. Jolin shivered as Aunt Sheryl told devastating stories about her experience in the infantry. How she saw three boys blow their brains out, all of who were just kids. "Trust me kid, I wouldn't dream of war, when it just plagues humanity with death." Jolin shrugged, looking down to her socks. "Wise words I guess." The horizon was getting darker by the minute, signaling the end of the day. "Shouldn't your mom be picking you up." Kimberly tiredly yawned. "Yeah, well should be." Jolin slumped. Sherilyn got up, shrugging. "Well, I wouldn't blame my sister for being a little late... she is a busy lady after all." Jolin tiredly shrugged, feeling the warm feeling of the carpet in between her toes. "Yeah I guess." Kimberly rubbed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose, wiping her glasses. Jolin started to sink into the couch, feeling the warm engulf her, sending tingles up her arm. Closing her eyes, she embraced the warm feeling of sleep, the relief of it. Suddenly, cold hands shook her awake. "Jolin c'mon wake up." Her eyes burned as she made out her mother's tired face, and the pitch blackness outside. "What- what time is it?" Angelica shrugged, tugging on her daughter's arm, dragging her out of her comfy spot on the couch. Lazily slipping on her shoes, Jolin stumbled out the door, and into her mother's car, relaxing as the Melatonin overrun her body, making her feel weak, tired, and cold. Emptily staring at a certain spot in the car, she spotted the time. 10:24. Soon Jolin was stumbling up the stairs, yawning as she quietly unwound. She found herself collapsing on her bed, tugging at her sheets, as her teeth quietly chattered, as her eyes slightly burned. The room seemed to swirl around her, the light fading off into the distance, as she passed the threshold of quiet sleep, the relieving feeling of warm coating her bones and muscles. The darkness seemed to silence everything around her, swaddling her in it's warmth.

On the battlefield, she ran over several fallen soldiers. Breathing heavily as her troops followed shortly behind. Rifle in her hand, she jumped over trenches, containing complete chaos, filled with reeking meat, rats, and flies. The thick fog coated the land a few meters ahead of her, telling her an eerie truth. Signaling to the dangers behind the curtain. Quietly, she backed up, hand firmly on her firearm. It was too quiet, with too little dead men underneath her boots. Quickly, she held her fist up, stopping everyone in their tracks, slowing their breathing to a halt, as they quietly listened. Taking a grenade, she pulled the pin taking a step and catapulting the explosive through the fog. With a deafening boom, black smoke, and dirt flew up into the air painting the fog with a new color. A clicking sound caught her attention, as a whirring sound. Then a boom. Behind her, dirt flew up, as men scattered, blazing bullets raining their way. "Get down!" They all scattered, fear in their eyes as they heard the tank fire again. Scurrying through the trenches men lined up along the front lines, firing aimlessly into the fog, hoping to catch the shoulder of a soldier. The tank aimed at the ground in front of the troops, blowing them up into the air, dirt blinding them. "Get the tank before you-" A bullet zipped by his head, catching him in the shoulder. He was flown back on his back, clutching his bleeding shoulder. Surely, the bullets were eroding the structures on the ground. Clutching her rifle, she clenched her jaw, seeing as men pulled each other into the trenches. The tank ran over dividers, crushing them into crumbs as it pulled closer to the lieutenant. Sweaty palms gripped her rifle tightly, as the clicking became louder. Silently she climbed onto a burnt down tree, resting her foot on the burnt down branch. Keeping low to not attract bullets to herself, she crawled to a point where she could jump on top of it. As it clicked to position, she leaped tearing off the door, dropping a ticking bomb into the tank. Quickly she grabbed her rifle running in the opposite direction of the tank, jumping into the trench. "Get down." She said to the soldier, who obeyed her order. Black smoke filled the air, along with a loud boom which created a loud persistent ringing in her ears. Dirt fell down on top of them, coating their vision in black.

"C'mon Jolin time to get up." Her dad gently shook her awake. "Dad?" She stretched catching a glimpse at the clock. 6:21. "Damn..." She yawned slowly getting up. "You must've been really tired last night." Her dad rubbed her back. "I still am tired." He chuckled, helping her up. "Well don't worry, today is Friday, so you can sleep in tomorrow." Groaning she fiddled with her dresser handles. "Great, looking forward to it." Jolin yawned. Quietly he went downstairs, leaving Jolin alone to let her pick her clothes for the day. By 6:50, her hair was done, and her stomach full, she looked into the garage. Tinkering around inside was her dad, clinking together flasks, and beakers. Opening the door, she watched for a second as he carefully poured three precise drops into a beaker. "We have to leave here in ten dad." Jefferey nodded silently, measuring the fluids at eye level. Closing the door, she watched silently, through the little glass window of the heavy looking door. In reality it wasn't heavy at all, but it still intimidated new comers that came into their home. She sat on the stairs, waiting for her dad to finish whatever he was doing in his little lab. "He should really move it to the basement." Jolin thought. Since Jeffery's lab was in the garage, him nor her mother could park inside, instead they parked in the driveway, not in their garage like their neighbors. Plus, the garage gets hot and cold in the summer and winters, and he would bring a fan, and a heater into his little man cave. Even though, the basement was fully done, with an extra room that he could turn into his lab, and it had temperature control. Shaking her head she smirked trying to come up with a conclusion of her dad's delusions, and decisions. Maybe it was just a dad thing.