New Lightning

New Lightning: Part 3

A sensation like needles were piercing my skin, spiked through my body. My eyes refused to open, but I managed to open them after a few agonizing seconds. Two sets of eyes stared down at me full of concern.

"Oh god, I feel awful," I murmured. Mom began crying tears of joy. Emily gave a gasp of relief.

"What? Did I get hit by a truck or something?" I asked suspiciously. Emily and Mom passed an odd look between each other as if I had missed something huge.

"What?"

Mom grasped my hands while holding back the urge to cry.

"You were struck by lightning," blurted out Emily. I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or April Fools had come early. I appointed my gaze towards Mom as if she was just going to burst out laughing and say that it was all just a joke, but the seriousness in her face suggested otherwise. A lingering silence settled in the air. What kind of a sick joke was this? What were they playing at?

"I wouldn't have believed it either if I wasn't there to see it," added Mom. I waited for something amusing to occur, but nothing did.

"Um...I'm kinda tired, I'll roll out the sleeping bags," I replied and left the living room to retrieve the sleeping bags. As I left I could still feel their eyes on me.

Later that night, I climbed comfortably into my sleeping bag opposite from Emily's. I couldn't help but detect the seriousness that Mom and Emily held in their expressions. Emily was hardly ever serious. Even if by some minuscule chance I had been struck by lightning, I probably wouldn't have survived it. The thought sent a shiver down my spine. What actually happened that night? With the thought lingering in my mind, snores replaced my even breaths.

BEEP, BEEP BEEP! I slapped the alarm clock off. Day back to school after suspension. Oh god no. I glanced over towards Emily's sleeping bag. Empty. I took the time as an advantage to put some clothes on and to think over the what I was gonna do today. Don't make eye contact. Go to regular classes. Yup, that pretty much summed up the day. Emily trudged out the bathroom door half awake.

I scrambled inside the bathroom and let the door shut behind me. The same multi-colored eyes glared back at me in the mirror. You're gonna be fine, I thought, trying to lift my morale. No, you're probably not... said the voice in the back of my head. I frowned at the negative comment. Yeah, doubt is exactly what I needed right now. Well, these teeth aren't gonna clean themselves. Only will that happen until when it's one hundred years in the future and everything will be done for us by robots. Well, at least that's what I presumed to happen. As I was about to start brushing my teeth, at the corner of my eye, I spotted a spider crawling across the sink. As I attempted to swat the spider aside, I dropped my toothbrush that I had held in my other hand. Turmoil began to fuel my blood and that was probably when it all went wrong.

"PERFECT! GREAT, NOW-"

A streak of golden light sparked into the cramped bathroom. I stood immobilized gaping at what was now a small fire. It took a few Dixie cup water fulls to put it out completely.

"Sarah! Is everything all right up there?" shouted Mom from the kitchen. I wanted with all my heart to say: Oh yeah, I'm completely fine...You know, just your run in the mill hallucinations! Everybody has them these days! Hahaha!

"I'm fine! Just..uh...fell over something, but yeah, I'm fine!" I called back. I brushed my teeth gingerly and scrambled down the steps to find both Mom and Emily looking grim. We ate our breakfast silently and set out the door with our backpacks slung over our shoulders. A sharp gust of winter wind wrapped onto me like a tight jacket, the sun's shining rays held over high above my head, and the bare arms of lonely trees carried out in the distance. As much as I had desired to take in the beautiful winter scenery, Emily hadn't allowed me to, by walking ten feet ahead of me. Pitty, the winter atmosphere was too beautiful to ignore, I thought as I scurried to catch up with Emily. Again, she remained silent for the entire walk. Even as I said "good bye", she merely ignored it and walked into the opposite hallway. I desperately wanted to say that the part on "surviving lightning" was not my idea. Although, I was quite happy to be alive. I attempted to keep my head down until I reached my locker, but halfway, I bumped into someone idly.