Kairosclerosis

Chapter Two

Rubatosis:

(n.) the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat

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Shortly after leaving the high school, my mom and I arrive at home. I head upstairs to work on my homework. Thankfully, I only have Physics work for Mr. Adams. I go to my desk and pull the binder out of my black vans backpack.

When I finish my work, I check the clock; it reads 5:02 pm. I return the now finished work into the binder and place it into my bag. Heading down the stairs, I find my mom in the living room, reading a book.

"Hey Mom, what time are we leaving?" I ask.

It takes her a moment to look up from her book. She has always been a big reader and works at the public library. Last week she came home with about four novels. Within a few days,  she only had one left. It was some sort of romance book and I didn't even want to know what it was about. Personally, I usually read dystopian genre books.

"Oh, crap." She states as she looks up at the clock on the wall. "We are leaving as soon as your dad gets home at 5:30." She puts the bookmark in her place and puts the book on the coffee table. She heads into her room, and I take it as a signal to go get ready.

Returning once again to my room, I walk into my closet. I strip off the clothes I'm wearing and put them into my hamper. I grab a blue lace top, a black skirt, and some black sandals. I go to the bathroom, brush through my hair, and put on some nice makeup. I return to my room and grab a small purse. I fill it with some gum, my phone, a charger, my wallet, and some lip balm.

"Olivia, I'm home. Are you ready to go?" Dad calls out.

I head to the living room and greet my dad at the three of us get into the Explorer. We head out of the neighborhood and start to head to Denver. We live in Colorado Springs, so it would take a little over an hour to get there.

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Thirty minutes into the drive, I'm looking out the window, overlooking a valley edge. There aren't any cars around, so the stars are very visible. I roll down the window to look out better. That's when I hear it.

There is a loud popping sound and the car jerks to the right. We hit the side and bounce off, bounding to the left. The car then hits the guardrail and flips, going over the edge, rolling into a deep valley.

Suddenly, I feel weightless and time seems to slow. I open my eyes and see the car shooting away from me, rolling farther down. There is no sound to be heard except my heartbeat, pounding like a drum. I seem to be falling for hours until the weightlessness comes to a stop suddenly.

I hit the ground, knocking all the air out of my lungs. There is a pressure in my back, a wet feeling on my face, but no feeling in my left leg.  I turn my head, stopped by the sharp pain in my head and the ringing in my ears. My hand is dangling over the edge of my rock, and I peer down below. The car is smoking and there is no moving inside.

All of the sudden, there is a quick warmth spread through my body. Painfully, I turn my head back, looking at my body. There are flickers of something dark, almost like fur. I know I must be in shock, it would be dirt or something of the like, not fur.

I look up into the sky, feeling weak. I watch the stars and moon, listening to the unsettling sound of my own heartbeat. I feel my eyes drift shut, then everything goes black.

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AN: So this chapter was really emotional to write. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm gonna try to update more, so let me know if you enjoy it.

Do you think her parents are okay?

What did she see?

What will happen next?

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-Grace