I Thought I Was Normal

There is always that kid at a school, the one that is left out, the one that is ignored. They find it hard to fit in with the people around them. Josh was that kid, he just didn't fit in at school anymore, primary school was easy for him, everyone was his friend, but now – in high school, he just found it hard to fit in with anyone. Ever since the death of his father, he hasn't been the same, everyone just seems distant to him. His father had been well known in the small town's community and after his death, Josh was bullied at school by a group of three older kids. Every day was like hell for him, thanks to those three.

Josh stood in the corner of the cafeteria, he slowly ate his ham sandwich alone. The cafeteria bustled with noise, the laughter and talking of teenagers and it reminded Josh that he wasn't part of any of it. Josh glanced over at the closest table to him, the girls turned away as soon as they met his gaze, he embarrassingly turned back and pulled his blonde hair over his left eye. Before finishing his sandwich, Josh tossed it into the bin and started to stroll away from the laughter and happiness. He strolled at a slow pace through the nearly deserted hallways of the school, glancing around from person to person. Suddenly Josh felt a rush of searing pain from his left leg, it caused him to fall to the ground on his knees. He tried to regain his composure, before he felt the same rush through his chest, he collapsed onto his stomach on the ground. People gathered around him and stared, none offering any help. Josh started sweating profusely, but he couldn't feel the pain anymore and was able to stand up, he half ran through the crowd to the closest bathroom.

Josh put both of his hands on the sink and leant in to look at himself, his eyes shone a bright, pure white. They illuminated Josh's whole line of sight. The light didn't stop at his eyes, it pushed from under his skin and started to crack his skin to escape, the crack started at his left eye and ended on the end of his mouth. He felt the skin, it was charred around the edges and he was startled to hear the flushing of a toilet behind him. He slowly turned and met the eyes of Kai, his face was pure white and his eyes widened as he observed what Josh had become. Kai moved slowly around the edge of the bathroom trying to reach the door, Josh pleaded for him to help, but he ignored him and ran for the door, disappearing from sight. He heard the children outside, screaming questions at Kai, the only answer they got was a stuttered "He was-s-s glowing-g." This whole thing made Josh even sadder, he was becoming desperate for acceptance, which he could see he would never achieve. Josh fell to his knees and wept into his hands, it took him seconds to notice the searing pain in his hands. The light had burns through his skin, the skin was now replaced with more light.

The bathroom door was cracked slightly and Principal Lupin stepped through, fixing his eyes upon him, the calm and collected look on his face turned to fear in mere seconds. "Joshua, please stop this" the desperation in his voice was clear, Joshua tried to speak back but all he could muster up to say was a plea of help, before the light started to escape through the rest of his face, cracking it apart. The rest of the skin on Josh's hands burnt away, leaving only his bones encompassed in light. Joshua screamed, his voice echoed through the bathroom and through the hallways of the school, making a ruckus in the crowd. Principal Lupin left the bathroom faster than he had ever moved before. He pleaded for the crowd to calm down and disperse outside the door but the crowd wasn't paying any attention to him. The light built up inside of Josh's hands and he screamed as the searing light shot from his palms, burning a clean hole in the wide of the building. Josh tried to calm himself, but he could hear the faint wailing of police sirens.

"Why does this have to happen to me?" Josh asked himself "What have I done to deserve something like this!?" He let out all the anger built up over the years, he cursed and yelled out, his skin continued to burn and crack apart, the light started to cover more and more of his body. He let out one last scream before the bathroom exploded in a ball of light. That's the last thing Josh saw before the searing light shot from his hands, it melted through the wall and into the neighbouring building as he tried to contain it. The floor beneath his feet gave way and he fell, landing near silently on the ground level. He tried to compose himself and stand, after struggling he stood firmly on both feet. He turned to see the cops from outside rushing into the building, they didn't even yell for him to get down, they just raised their guns and held them in line with his vital organs – if they were even existent.

Josh put his hands in the air, he was scared for his life and he had no idea what was going on, he felt as if he could cry, if his eyes weren't miniature suns. The police interpreted the surrender as a threat and started to fire bullets at him, but the intense heat Josh was letting out turned the bullets into molten lead before they hit him. Josh ignored the bullets, he turned and started to move in the opposite direction, he stopped when he felt more than just the police's eyes following him. He raised his head to meet the gaze of the gathering of students at the top of the stairs. Josh once again felt alone in this world, people stared at him like he was a monster. After looking from eye to eye for a while he could feel the light pulsing through his body, as if he could control it. He turned and pointed his palms towards the wall and concentrated. Searing white light burnt through the granite, like a knife slicing butter. He created a hole in the wall to the outside world big enough for him to fit through, without stopping he stepped through onto the pavement.

The clouds wept as well as rain drops hit the pavement, any water that touched Josh evaporated instantly. He didn't know where to go, he didn't know what to do anymore. The flash of cameras were the things that invaded his vision, he looked to the right to see the traffic backed up. People moved back, leaving their cars after they had got a photo of "the monster." He thought about how the whole world probably already knew about him, he would be spread across newspaper's headlines, "Hell has come to earth." Josh placed his head in his hands. He wanted to keep screaming. He wanted to give up. He just wanted everything to stop. He fell to his knees and looked up in the sky, the light coming from him pierced the clouds. Then there was silence.

The world went

silent, everything just stopped and not one more noise entered Josh's ears. He

scanned the area, everyone and everything was frozen in place. Life had become

a painting. Josh stood, he slowly strolled towards the scene. He scanned the

area, looking from frightened face to frightened face. Josh kept walking

through the scene, as if attracted to something. He spotted something out of

the ordinary, a door. A thick and heavy oak wood door stood in the middle of

the street. He walked closer to it and it opened without him touching it,

inside the door was a light brighter than that of which he was made of. He

walked towards the light.

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THE END

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