In a Second

Chapter 1

Have you ever thought about how so many things can happen in a second? In just a second life itself can change completely. A split second decision can make or break your entire life. Accidents, death, birth, good news, bad news, you get the jest of it. All it takes is a second. If you haven't experienced "the second" in your life, I promise you, you will. It may even come sooner than you think...

Summer. My brain cells are  rotting. Turning into the kind of mush you see old people being fed at the nursing home. After watching every judge show in existence, I sit on our modern couch absolutely numb. I'm not doing anything at all to better myself or the world. But I guess that's what summer's about to a lot of kids. Just sitting, doing absolutely nothing. To them it's heaven, but to me it's complete torture.

I huff out of my spot to lie next to my one and only pal, my dog. We are      inseparable. Connected at the hip. When we found him he was hardly 2 months. I became the mother he never had. The shelter urged us let them take him, but my mom would have none of it. That's the good thing about her lawyer job, she can put up a good fight.   "I love you Charlie," I say planting a giant wet kiss on his forehead, as he snoozes away in the sunny patch on the carpet.

Might as well take a small stroll I decide . I grab my phone with a hot pink chevron case that screams my name in big black bold letters. "Mackenzie!" Secretly I hate that phone case, I find it obnoxious. But when Grandma gives it to you for Christmas you can't ask her for the receipt, your supposed to smile, tell her how much you love it and thank her for such a thoughtful gift. Acting.

I haven't been outside for days. With the humidity I now know why. Looking out across the landscape I breathe in a sigh of satisfaction. Even though we live 20 minutes from any type of civilization, I love it out here. The gently rolling hills of hay lay out in front of me. Light purple wild flowers sway along to a song only they can hear. Birds chirp out a welcome to me as I hop off our front porch.

Now you can imagine what a struggle it must be to live 20 minuets from anyone. But we make it work. My school is 30 minuets away, that makes my sister and me the last ones to get off the bus in afternoons and the first to get on. So we get home and hour later than our friends and we get up an hour before so we don't miss the bus in the morning. Ugggggg!

I gaze into the distance and see a small white airplane. For a moment I lose myself to the thought of flying. Being able to go anywhere you want any time you desire. Freedom at it's finest. Feeling the wind wisp through your hair. Playing hide and seek within the clouds. I love the though of flying. It mesmerizes me. Someday I want to be a pilot, flying over vast blue oceans and twinkling cities at night.

I turn and look back at the woods just in time to see a squirrel scamper up a tree. I lay down on the pavement staring at the sky. The little white plane is closer now. I wonder if they can see me or if I'm just a dot on the ever-growing landscape. Hmmm... I sigh. The numb feeling from before is now gone as I imagine the clouds as art. There is and elephant with it's baby, a man holding a single balloon, and a fox running. I've learned over the years that every cloud shows a story, reveals an entire life. If you don't believe me you just haven't looked hard enough.

The plane is alarmingly close now. I'm shocked. It shouldn't be this close should it? It's going to crash!! It's going to crash!! The alarm in my head is blaring. My heart rate starts picking up fast. Faster. I can't move. I gulp for air. I am completely useless. My feet are glued to the ground and time has froze. In this one second, my life takes a nose dive for the worse. Literary. The plane is aimed dead at me. I can start to make out the cock pit. Some commotion is happening in there. Suddenly it jerks sharply to the right clipping a phone line on the way. The once beautiful small white plane is now pointed towards our woods.

I try to scream but it gets caught in my throat. Before my eyes the plane smashes to the ground, shaking me to my core...

Hey Readers!

Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of In a Second, it means a lot to me. Comment what you would do if you were in Mackenzie's shoes. Please feel free to let me know what you think (as long as you keep it nice of course), comment, star and add to your reading lists. Let me know if this is a book I should continue writing. Again thanks so much for your time and have a nice day! :)

-Brooke aka Puppyswag77