Seconds To Spare

1

Prologue

"Hey! Watch out!" 

You turned to late at the sudden shout, as the sight of a basketball shooting towards you met your gaze. Your arms were above your head before you could even compose the thought to do so, your little legs glued to the ground.

You clenched your eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

But it never came.

The world stood still for a second to long, the silence almost deafening, before a vaguely recognizable sound broke it.

A hissing sound, one of a ball deflating made you flinch, your eyes shooting open. They went wide and you stumbled back as you were met with a wall that wasn't there before, blocking your view.

You quickly looked down to see your right arm almost completely absorbed by the shield like plate hovering in front of you.

Before you could do anything else you started shaking your arm, flinging it around like it would kill you. Which for all you knew it would.

You were stopped only by the sounds of children screaming. You stood there in a moment of shock, only to run around more frantically trying to get the structure off of you.

In the ruccus of it all you could see children running. Your head jerked around, trying to get a better view on what was going on, but kids were simply sprinting in all directions.

You spot your sister holding onto your brother, and for a second you felt relieved, forgetting your circumstance, until you saw her expression. She was staring at you in shock and... fear?

You look down, eyes still wide, to take your first good look at what was attached to your arm. The inside was a barely flat surface with no apparent shape. You quickly turned your arm towards you to take a look at the other side, only to almost stumble backwards.

You were met with metal inches from your face.

The outside of the the shield was riddled with spikes, reaching out like stalagmites, that went as far as a meter high. And at the end of them, an impaled basketball.

You didn't understand.

Parents were starting to gather around, holding onto their children tightly. You slowly started to back away, as the staring crowd inched closer.

As you did, you realized the shield was disappearing. You couldn't help the whimper that left you as your skin started tingling, the metal feeling like it was going inside of you. 

You didn't wait for it to disappear completely, before looking up. You yelled you sisters name, the small hope still remaining that this was some messed up game. You scanned the playground in a panic, after no reply, only to spot her and your brother running in the direction of your house.

Your eyes watered. You didn't want to be left alone. You didn't like how adults were slowly surrounding you, how kids were holding onto there parents as if for dear life, so you followed them.

You ran, every step further, the more you your tears threatened to spill. You hated how scared everyone looked, how even your sister ran away. How those adults looked at you, like you were something to keep away from. You hated every bit of it.

You reached the door in tears, your siblings no where near. You banged the door with both fist, enough to bruise them.

At that point you were a wreck, parents still staring from a distance.