The Light's Calling

Chapter 4

Destiny asked me to choose a picture, pull it down, and read the back of it. I reached out, and I pulled a picture of a mechanic and his wife. I asked her if I could read what was on the back on the card. She nodded yes, and as I turned it to read the back of it, Destiny had this look of anticipation. I could sense the comfort she felt in knowing that I knew about the lights.

The card read "Jake, the mechanic?".

"Why does it have a question mark?"

Destiny replied " It has a question mark because Jake became a mechanic, but Jake's heart was somewhere else"

"Where?" I asked her inquisitively.

She pulled out a box from under her bed, and she looked through the pile and showed me a picture.

"Jake loved to" she said as she showed me a picture that was glowing in a rose-colored hue, flickering as though it were alive in some way. Even though Jake was still in the photograph, the light was very much alive. No, no, this picture was alive, and it caught something that a normal camera could not capture; it captured purpose. Purpose is our first love, and it teaches us that love is an end, not a means; it is a drive that keeps us going and not a journey.

"This is Jake's work. It's his drawings. Aren't they beautiful?" I told Destiny.

"Oh, I know. I had to capture them as Jake was creating them, and this was actually the first time that I saw the light"

"Jake drew, but drawing wasn't going to be able to support Jake and his pregnant wife"

"So, what happened?" I asked.

"Jake, the mechanic" she said as she put the brightly lit-up picture next to the one that had a dim light.

We could hear footsteps coming closer. Destiny shoved the picture in the box and under her bed.

My mom and Destiny's mom opened the door to let us know that dinner would be ready soon. As they walked away, Destiny pulled out her camera, and she pointed it at me.

*Flash*

I was, once again, blinded.

The picture glowed, but I wasn't sure why. I don't know what happened within the last 5 minutes since my mom left and Destiny took out her camera, but I know she clicked the button, it flashed, and I now sat in front of the light that was within me.

"Can I see it?" I asked her with an aching curiosity that I couldn't help but feel as I tried to peer over her at what was in her hands.

"No" she said, as she quickly stuck the picture in the box and hid it under her bed.

"You must discover your own gift without influence or pressure. I cannot show it to you; you must reveal it to yourself" she said really fast and then quickly pushed me to get up and out of the door.

I thought about what had happened and what she caught in the picture. I just knew it was me and that it had the rose color hue, as it lit up her hands.

I was thinking about the picture the entire time I was taking each scoop of food that Destiny's mom and my mom made. Destiny and I sat next to each other, and I could still see Destiny's hands glowing, but I just couldn't understand how neither one of our moms could, and if they could, how could they see this and not be amazed by its very existence.

After the meal was over, Destiny gave me a hug, and my mom and I were out the door.

"No influence and no pressure" she shouted out at me as I walked out the door. On the short drive home, my mom asked me what that was about, but I quickly shut her out as I put on my headphones.

"Autumn! Mom needs you to help me bring in the casserole leftovers from your friend's house" my brother said as he opened up the hatch for the trunk.

I quickly threw on my coat and helped him bring in the casseroles. After bringing everything in, I decided to sit outside to wait. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for, but I just felt the need to do so. I looked up quickly, and I saw a kid walking in the distance, but he didn't look familiar, so I sat back and looked up at the stars. It was such a beautiful sight, but as the snow started piling up, I closed my eyes. I thought to myself how I liked that word, prettyful, to describe this because it was filled with this thing that I would categorize as prettyful, even though I knew that wasn't a real word.

In that moment, I could feel this presence just above me, and a question cut the silence between us. "Do you know why deer have hooves?" a voice asked as I slowly looked up. The snow was piling down on me, and my eyelids felt like they wanted to freeze shut. In a matter of seconds, I felt the cold, but I saw him, and I felt the warmth that was all around him.

"No, and I don't care because we are in Chicago. So, unless you can help me up then you can keep walking along the path to wherever it is you are going," I replied as I shivered once the cold hit me once again.

"Suit yourself," he said as he slowly walked towards me and pushed me into the freezing snow. Then, he brushed off his hands and walked away.

I didn't quite catch what he looked like, but I could see that he had a ball cap and that he was wearing some joggers and a hoodie.

"Thanks, jerk!" I yelled out at him. He flicked the snow off one shoulder and continued on.

I ran in to tell my mom, and there she was smiling just waiting to ask who the kid was that I was talking to. I quickly snapped back with "No one that matters!".

She very happily replied, "You're glowing!"

I thought to myself "Really? let me look", as I quickly rushed to a mirror, but then I remembered she can't possibly see the glow glow, so she must be referring to the fact that I had a big smile on my face.

"Mom, it was no one. I really didn't even see what he looked like", I responded, but she still had the biggest grin on her face as if the details about this kid would soon be uncovered for her within the next few days, and she could hardly wait.