Short Stories From the Mind of Brite

Based Off a Drawing..

Author's Note- We had to base our first fiction short story we wrote this year off a drawing... So I did this.

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“Is he the one?” a tiny voice asked.

The sound filtered through Archie’s dream like sunlight through the tops of thick, green oak trees in the summer- though he’d only seen very few, considering he lived in the city. Add that to the fact that was currently autumn outside, and his metaphoric thinking was clearly proof that he had an imagination.

Archie Smith’s dark amber eyes opened. First the left one, then the right one. They both sprang open like steel traps on a squirrel. He could barely believe his eyes.

Two bright orbs of a vibrant, electric teal color floated above his slate-grey comforter. They seemed to give off a glow, like two miniature suns. The sight of something so bright looked surreal in Archie’s drab, grey room (which, other than a few embellishments- a brass lamp attached to the wall next to him, his baseball bat beside his bed, and a wooden shelf with his grandfather’s model boat above his head- was completely empty).

The glowing spheres cast a reflection off the wall, making the nighttime lights of the light-polluted city beyond his open window look duller than dirt. Wait… open window?

Archie sat bolt upright at the realization that his grandparents never allowed him to leave his window open during nights in the fall, for fear he’d catch a cold. What the heck- no, really why the heck- was the glass frame pulled up? And not only was his window open, but the ivory-hued shade was rolled up as well. If his grandmother saw that, she would not just have a cow, she’d have a whole barnyard. 

“Yes, I’m sure! Who else could ‘Archie Smith of Chicago’ possibly be?” A more cynical voice than the first one jolted Archie out of his thoughts. It appeared the voices were coming from the orbs…

“Who are you? What are you?” came Archie’s dumbfounded question as he reached under the pale-yellow lampshade of the off-white wall lamp for the light switch.

The orb with the scornful-sounding voice started to quickly beg, “No, no! Please don’t do that! It’ll only make us-”

With a small click, the room was flooded with artificial light.

“Shift back,” the two orbs mumbled in sullen unison.

At the same time they finished speaking, they darted back as if taken by a force greater than them to the corner of Archie’s room and began to grow. They grew slightly wider at first, than as if the width had satisfied itself, height took over. In mere minutes, what had originally been two turquoise orbs were two, humanoid, glowing silhouettes, the right one (the one with the critical voice) a few inches taller than the let one (the one with the smaller, softer voice).

Abruptly the glowing stopped, and Archie, who’d been temporarily blinded by the brightness, grabbed the baseball bat from where it had been leaning against his white wooden bed frame. “Who are you people?” he inquired, hoping his voice wasn’t shaking. Of course, he wasn’t scared, nor was he gripping the bat tight. He was genuinely curious as to what these things that could switch from people to glowing balls of light were.

Tall-and-Cynical stepped forward. That orb had obviously been a boy, judging by his human appearance. His icy blue eyes, which had the same alien glow as the orb he’d been only five minutes ago, were narrowed. He raked a hand through his spiky, black hair before scoffing, “What’s the bat for, Little Ginger?”

With an annoyed huff that pushed his straight, carrot-colored hair off his forehead, Archie glowered at the other boy. It was true; Archie probably was a bit younger, considering this boy looked about fourteen, but what right did this kid have to barge into Archie’s house (well, his grandparents’ house) like he owned the place? And then sass Archie on top of that?

Who does he think he is? Archie wondered bitterly.

“Kane! Don’t be so rude,” the smaller voice chided gently. It belonged to a girl who looked about Archie’s age- thirteen. Turning to Archie with an apologetic smile, she said, “Sorry about my brother. He’s not only naturally cocky, annoying, and suspicious, but he’s probably also jealous of you. Oh! And I’m Rae Elwood.”

Rae was definitely better than Kane. Though from looking at their appearance, Archie could’ve guessed without Rae telling him that she and Kane were related. Rae had the same radiantly shining, light blue eyes, black hair, and pale skin as her brother. The only difference looked to be age, height, and the fact that Rae’s hair was cut in short, feathery layers down to her shoulders.

Friendly as she had been, Archie still couldn’t suppress his snort of disbelief as he asked incredulously, “Jealous of what?”

To his utter surprise, Kane looked down sheepishly as Rae answered, “Yep! Out of all the shadowshifts, someone completely was discovered to be the Chosen. ‘Course, Kane has sorta expected it wouldn’t be him- he’s only got one Special.”

Special? Chosen? Shadowshift? Just what were these again?

The befuddlement must’ve been written plain as day in Archie’s tawny eyes, because a look of understanding came over Rae’s face. “Oh… I should probably explain what all my ‘crazy talk’ means,” she decided with a giggle, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she cleared her throat.

“So you see, we’re shadowshifts- you, me, Kane, and plenty of others. In darkness, we shift into those little five-inch diameter globes you were gawking at earlier, when we were above your bed. Light makes us shift back, if there’s enough to reach every corner of the room or whatever we happen to be contained in. We also have one- emphasis on the one- power, called our Special,” she started, pausing the explanation as droplets of water materialize on her open palm, “Mine, as you can see, is working with water. Kane’s is working with ice, though I guess it’s technically permafrost since it never melts… but that a whole other topic. But the thing is, shadowshifts are dying out. Centuries ago, it was rumored that a ‘boy wonder’ would have not one, but two Specials- one of them being the power to turn an average mortal into a shadowshift. He was prophesied to be the Chosen. Dr. Jones, the Head Shadowshift at our home-institution-boot camp-thing, spent years looking for you. Then she finally got a lead and next thing we knew, she sent us to retrieve you! So, whaddya’ say, Archie? Will you come back with us?” By the end of the explanation, Archie was gaping and Rae looked a mix between anxious and pleading.

Archie looked at her, into her imploring blue eyes, and then at Kane, who honestly looked like he could care less.

On one hand, Archie could just let it go and pretend it had been nothing more than a strange, realistic dream, then continue his life in his average, perfectly typical boy style. Besides, his grandparents would probably each have heart attacks if they found him missing.

On the other hand, this was something that he knew would stay at the back of his mind for the rest of his life, popping into his head during his free time. Something that might almost become haunting him when he fantasized about things like, “What if I did that?” or “What if I start developing a Special?” And if he didn’t go, then an entire race of people like Rae, who were practically living comic book heroes, would just die out…

“Well…” he began hesitantly.