Lost Mind

Clear Skies

I was in class. Nothing important that day, just watching some videos. That gave me a chance to look at her, Julia. Her friends call her Jewels, or at least I think they do, I don't really talk to her, or really anyone. Anyways, Professor Thompson was about to start the next video when it happened. All the electricity went out in the building. At first, no one was worried, I mean why should they be? But then the ground started shaking violently. Professor Thompson told us to get under our desks, he said it was an earthquake. I should have realized it was more than a dumb earthquake, I mean an earthquake in Nebraska? We waited for the shaking to stop, which it finally did after a while. The electricity came back. We got back up and the phone rang. Mr. Thompson answered with an intense look. He hung up the phone and told us to leave.

"School is not going to continue for a while,"

I walked back home, by myself, as usual. As I grabbed my bike, I had a feeling that someone was staring at me. I turned around, but it was just a crowded mess of people. Then I saw Julia.

"Could have it been her?"

I asked myself that. I denied it immediately, knowing that that was not the case. Why would someone like her like me of all people? I gave up the idea and walked home with my bike. I unlocked my door to my empty house, except for a few puppies which I had reluctantly adopted from the shelter. I went to my kitchen and grabbed the dog food to feed them when the power went out again. The ground started shaking, but more violently this time. The puppies started yapping and whining. I stumbled trying to get out of the room and finally grabbed them and held them close as I walked to my couch. I sat there, petting them and letting them lick my face as the shaking weakened. I put them down on the ground and fed them. I went up to my room and started playing some games, huh, no wonder I had no friends. I was planning on staying up all night, which I was doing pretty well at until I received a text from a random number. 342-643-5287. I had no idea who it was or why they texted me. All it said was a question.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?"

It was someone from school, but who? I sent a text back saying that I was, and asked them the same thing.

"Yeah, that's what I was planning on, see you there!"

I was really curious about who this was, which is why I said I would come. Now I became so anxious. I quit my game and went to bed. As I drifted to sleep, I started to wonder how they got my number. That night, my dream was quite weird. I was walking around my house when there was a knock at my door. I opened it and it was Julia. She checked her watch, said sorry, and left, but she dropped something when she ran. I picked it up and all it was was a note. For some reason, I didn't open it. I shut the door and went back to bed. The weird thing was that it felt so real.

When I woke up, I immediately took a shower. I was so excited to see who it was. I tried hurrying to dry myself. I went a little too fast because I slipped and cut my arm. At least I was in the bathroom. I cleaned myself and wrapped the injury. I then checked the time. It was 7:43, a bit later than what time I said I would be there. I sprinted out my door and grabbed my bike. I ran across the abnormally clear street and started biking. I reached the school at about 7:56, 26 minutes late.

"Crap, no one is here!"

I looked around and didn't see anyone. As I was leaving I heard a rustle in the bushes. As I turned around, a body appeared from the bushes, it was Julia. I muttered a quiet "hi" as I started walking toward her. She answered back with a question.

"Do you know what happened yesterday?"

Weird, maybe she was just worried.

"No, do you?"

That is when she started crying.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go!"

She started running and I tried to stop her, but she just kept going.

As I road back home, another "shake" occurred. It wasn't strong, but it was enough to knock me off my bike and injure me more. The "shake" stopped abruptly. I was able to ride my bike back home and clean myself up. I turned on my T.V. for the first time in 3 months. The dust disappeared from the screen as it lit up with luminous intensity. I grabbed my puppies and sat down. It started off with some dumb channel talking about cooking and such when all of a sudden a warning came up on screen. It was sort of like a weather warning, but today was supposed to be fine. All of a sudden, a military leader popped up on screen with a serious face and started talking to what seemed like a large group of people.

"The potential earthquakes and power outages were not because of natural or human origins. The "shakes" were caused by unidentified ships appearing from space and releasing odd green lights from its base. There have been several landings already in many large cities including Los Angeles and New York and have started to land in more rural Midwestern areas, such as South Dakota and Nebraska. No questions please."

All of a sudden, the T.V. turned off and the shaking began again. I gripped my puppies tight as their wails began. The shaking was more violent than ever. That's when "they" came. I could tell "they" were here by the loud rockets slowly reaching toward the ground. They were probably landing by the cemetery since it had the most space to land. I didn't know why, but I wasn't worried. I could tell everyone else in the neighborhood, and probably the entire town was though. I could hear loud steps, cars starting, people yelling, complete madness had erupted. I started hearing glass shattering and more yelling, this time more violent. I stood up and locked my doors and grabbed a bat. Now I started getting a little paranoid. The houses around me started getting broken down, shard of glass by shard of glass. I stood there waiting for someone, or something, to come enter my house. Nothing, nothing for a full 20 minutes. By that time, almost everyone had left. That is when I got another text. As I pulled out my phone, I looked at the number, 342-643-5287. It was Julia again. She texted frantically, faster than I could read.

"Where are you?" "Are you alright?" "Are you staying in town?"

I tried responding as fast as I could to calm her down.

"At my house, I am fine, yes"

She got very quiet. I waited for any response, but nothing. I sat back down and started petting my puppies again. About an hour passes by and I finally get a very faint knock at my door. I hide my bat under the couch hoping that it is not someone dangerous. Right as I go back to the door, someone dives on me, causing me to go unconscious.