Lost In Battle

1

I'd never been particularly fond of school. Sure, learning is important, but who's to say what's valuable information and what's irrelevant? The knowledge I hold dear might seem like a waste of space to others, but this doesn't make it any less important in my eyes. 

For this exact reason, as the rest of the class listened to our teacher's speech about how we were ready to spread our wings and fly into the real world, I had diverted my attention to the clouds outside. Summer grew near, and with it came the long-awaited end of my school career. University was just around the corner and knowing I'd finally get to study something I liked sent a flood of relief and excitement through my body. Archaeology might seem like an unpopular option, but to me it was the obvious choice. What better way to pursue knowledge than to literally dig it up? 

I smiled to myself as I made out another shape in the clouds. This one was a lot more refined than the other ones. It was the face of a man, with deep-set eyes. It certainly was the weirdest cloud I'd ever seen, for it seemed to be moving as if the face was actually talking. 

Not long after I noticed the figure, the skies darkened. Small raindrops began sliding down the window as a strong wind picked up. Summer storms weren't uncommon, yet something just felt off. The clouds seemed to move a lot faster than usual—as if they were in time-lapse, yet the face never once moved from its spot in the middle of the sky. 

Thunder roared, louder than I'd ever heard before. A bolt of lightning lit up the now almost black skies, before striking right next to the window with a deafening crack. Horrified, I looked around the classroom, expecting to be greeted with equally petrified gazes, but no one had seemed to take notice of the chaos outside. The teacher was still droning on, the rest of the kids looking as interested as any high school class would be. 

The storm grew louder and louder and soon it was as if I could feel the wind inside the room. No, it wasn't 'as if'. I could feel it. I had to grip my desk as to not get thrown to the ground. The wind danced around, trashing the room like an angry toddler, and yet no one else seemed to care about the pages flying around their heads. 

Almost out of instinct my eyes snapped back to the face in the clouds. The more I stared at it, the more it felt like I could actually hear his booming voice calling out to me. Find us. The words echoed through my mind as if they were the only ones I knew. 

All around me the storm seemed to get more aggressive by the second, and then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished again. Absolutely no signs were left to indicate that it had ever actually been there in the first place. No puddles, no lonely branches scattered in the grass, and most importantly, no trashed classroom. 

It had to have been a daydream. An extremely vivid one maybe, but there wasn't any other explanation. Before I had any time to question my statement, the bell rang. I was out the school gates in a matter of minutes. Now that I could finally close this chapter of my life I had no intention of dragging it out in the slightest. 

                                                  ...

The first thing I noticed when I entered my house was my extremely excited mom dashing around the house. Her arms filled with clothes and books which she hastily dumped in a suitcase. 

"Are we going somewhere?" She jumped and looked back in surprise, but a wide smile soon plastered her face again. 

"My license has been approved." She answered delighted as she brushed a curly strand out of her eyes. "I'm gonna be digging up some dead Greek people for the next couple of months." 

If you were wondering where my love for archaeology came from, this is it. Like mother like son, I suppose. 

"That's amazing, Mom! When are we leaving?"