Flipped

1.14

The routine was getting familiar. Creeping out of my room. Inching down the hallway, cycling down the warm summer street, with the moon overhead and nothing else moving.

River Rouge park is one of the largest parks in our city. Sprawling green fields all over, drivable boulevards that held several attractions including a zoo, a large set of gardens with every flower you could imagine, a duck pond, and even a small commercial area with a cluster of shops. Above all else, a huge amount of trees all over. They even had a small forest in the park that you could walk around in for hours and forget that you were in the middle of civilization.

Centre Square was a field surrounded by a square-shaped walkway, leading to a structure that was basically just an outpost that you could climb to get a good view of the surrounding park. There were a few trees around the edges of the field, but nothing else in sight. As I rode up to the outpost, I could see the moon illuminating the field in the centre, the grass waving in the soft wind, the moonlight reflecting off a few of the trees, which gave the whole scene a very beautiful look. I'd never been here at night before. It was gorgeous and strangely haunting.

It was almost exactly forty-five minutes after the text. I'd had to rush to get there on time, and the slight spookiness of the scene wasn't helping my adrenaline at all. Ava and Taylor were already there, standing next to the tower, their bikes leaned against it. They looked tired and grumpy, but even they also managed to give off an eerie feel in the dark. I joined them without a word, and all three of us there, looking out at the still, smooth scene.

"I didn't see you yesterday," I whispered to Taylor.

"Yeah. I was behind on my assignments, so I was using every moment to finish them up."

It was the strangest thing to be talking about when we were in what felt almost like another world. But it also helped, somehow.

"For Geology? I finished those a week ago. What is it Taylor? Distracted these days?"

She gave me a punch which actually hurt a little. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Was that painful?" She laughed. "Also, where is Mike? Didn't he say he was coming?"

"Yup. That boy is impossible to control."

Taylor rolled her eyes in a just-tell-me-about-it sort of way. "Whatever, he comes or he doesn't. Honestly, maybe deciding not to follow some random stranger's call is the sensible way to go. It's still shitty."

We stood there for a while, not saying much else. Two o'clock came and passed.

I texted Mike with no answer. Phoned him. No response.

Two-fifteen hit and the three of us had become very silent. We were watchful, waiting.

An owl hooted and the wind rustled. There were no other sounds except for our breathing.

Two-thirty and still nothing.

The silence left me divided. Maybe nothing was going to happen. Maybe we were brought out here for no reason, our strings being pulled just for fun which while annoying would almost be a relief.

Yet, another side of me wanted something to finally happen. I was so tired of being left with so many questions and no answers. I was tired of being led from place to place and talking to people who for all we knew were just a clueless as we were. I craved answers even as I was hoping to get absolutely nothing.

Three.

Taylor sat down, cross-legged on the concrete. I could feel my eyes drooping and started to pace, trying to wake myself up.

And at that moment, three things happened all at once.

First, my phone started to vibrate. I looked down, and saw a text from Mike. "What the fuck man? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

Oh, he'd just woken up.

Who had I been texting before?

I looked up just in time to see a huge, gigantic flash of blue light. It illuminated everything I could see.

And then - BAM! A sound, like a gun-shot rang out. My hands clapped to my ears and my phone slammed down on the ground.

BAM! It kept coming.

BAM. I couldn't take it. Stop!

BAM. BAM. BAM.

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Hi Everyone. Thank you so much for reading.  Please feel free to comment or like!  I hope everyone has an amazing weekend and manages to get up to a bit of mischief.  I think it's high time that we bring some excitement to our collective lives.  

Until next week!