“What?” I hadn’t come to apologize. Normally, I would’ve laughed at the very notion of it if not for the more pressing concern of the up-and-coming death-by-meteorite. “I’m not –”
“I know you’re not good at apologizing,” Gwen interrupted me again. “But there’s a little saying, ‘practice makes perfect,’ –”
“No, wait –”
“No, you wait!” Gwen gritted her teeth in anger. “I’m not finished!”
“Stop!” I had to wave my arms to get her to actually stop. “We’ll discuss this later. We have to go! We’re in danger.”
By then, the fiery sky was an ominous, bleeding red now. Sirens in the city started going off. Fire trucks were off in the distance, their alarms emitting a high-pitched bell. This wasn’t good.
But Gwen apparently didn’t hear (or didn’t care.) “In danger of what? You really –”
“Gwen, run!” All at once, there was lightning in the clouds, fire beginning to fall on the horizon. I grabbed her arm as we ran, trying my best to keep her from tripping. Though I was forgiving of her slowness, I mentally berated her fancy-pansy shoes. Why did girls wear those things? And why did they have to wear them at the most inconvenient times?
Gwen struggled against my grip, but for her own good I held on tightly. My grip tightened as a thundering boom blasted across the region.
It was very shortly followed by a crash. And a scream. A huge building in the distance caught fire. Then there was another loud boom, and another building burst into flames; this time, closer. “Ham?” Gwen asked weakly. “What’s going on?”
I was about to tell her NASA had taken a group coffee break when I saw the meteorite itself.
Just above the horizon, there it was. It was awing, humbling….Beautiful yet terrifying, entrancing me even as I wished to run away.
The meteorite doesn’t look big, I thought as I stood there, watching as it came closer. Time seemed to still as the sight held our eyes captive; with its colorful tail fluttering behind the death-black core, it assured a worthwhile way to die, and impending death has a way with being mesmerizing.
I glanced over at Gwen as she choked on a scream; then she gaped at the looming boulder of fiery mass above her. It was at that moment I snapped out of my trance and started running again.
A city subway station was just around the corner; it would protect us, and it was close enough where we could just make it.
“Augh!” I cringed as I felt Gwen fall and heard her cry. Blood speckled onto the cement in small streaks. Gwen’s shoe had caught on a crack in the sidewalk.
I scrambled to pull her up from the ground, but she started wailing in pain (Right into my ear, naturally.) “Come on!” I said. “We have to hurry!”
I glanced back at the meteorite. It’s close; I felt the burn of its hot, metallic fire. I glimpsed over and saw an arched doorway. And then I ignored Gwen’s tearful cries as I picked her up. I couldn’t tell whether my mind was reeling with thought, or if I’d stopped thinking all together.
All I knew was that seconds later, it hit.
There was a sonic boom as the broken space rock crashed into the ground. Every window within a two-mile radius shattered as the array of heat and flame exploded into the ground, upheaving a hundred years’ worth of life and city-living.
I thought I could hear others crying out as the shockwaves tumbled through; maybe it was me… or Gwen… it was probably Gwen.
The lights of the city flickered and went dark as the electrical current was interrupted, but I could still see. The tallest buildings in the distance were blazing with licks of fire even as the structural integrity was compromised; the meteorite had splintered as it neared the surface.
Blocks away, as the earth trembled and buildings crumbled, I huddled up in the corner of the steel doorway, with Gwen close to my chest. I was protecting her from the falling glass and the accompanying heat wave when I felt my consciousness fade, not into darkness, but into a warm, beckoning light.
I was confident, as solace overtook me, that this had been the worst night of my life.
There have been many times in my life since then where I have wished it had all been over after the meteorite ransacked my hometown.
4
Lunacy
I felt the tingle of coldness; only a drop of warmth was in me, but that was all. Where am I? I wondered, as I curled my legs up to my chest, hugging the warmth to myself as best as I could. I opened my eyes to find I was surrounded by darkness.
Little beams of light and the twinkling of stars began to catch my attention.
I was floating, sort of….Looking down, I didn’t see anything below, and looking up, there was nothing above me. Stars and lights and colors flickered all around, blossoming out, back-dropped against a shroud of night.
What’s going on? I wondered again. Obviously, I couldn’t really be in outer space. My breathing was regular; there was no air being crushed out by the lack of gravity.
I felt lightness all over.
Am I dead? Suddenly I was strangled by fear.
“He’s been stable for hours…”
I heard voices. They sounded far away, but I was pretty sure they were close. I thought about saying something when I heard it.
A string of notes, beautifully and meticulously arranged… music soaring out to me from the far reaches of the surrounding heavens.
It was only a small, small whisper against the emptiness of the outer space I was in, but I heard it and I knew it. And I knew it was for me.
I recognized the familiarity of the strange notes, and the foreign atmosphere suddenly seemed less unknown and more comforting than home.
Where was the music coming from?
“Huh?” A bright star, huge and shimmering, suddenly sparked my attention; it was unlike any other star I’d ever seen. But strangely enough, I felt like I’d seen it before; which was possible. After all, there are many stars able to be seen from earth. Why would this one be any different?
Yet this logic failed. How would I know it was different if it was the same as all the rest?
“Did he lose any blood?” a new voice was talking now. But it was not the one I found myself waiting for.
My hand twitched; the endless horizon of the universe curled up in my hand. Weird, I thought, studying the new wrinkles in the backdrop. It felt like cheap cotton.
“He didn’t lose too much blood, Doc, but he has a small fever… should recover nicely.”
I didn’t know who was talking that time, but I wanted him to shut up so I could hear the music. It was fading. But I didn’t want it to go.
Then I heard it.
“I will save you, no matter the cost.”
The voice – a soft whisper, one tugging at my very core; and then I could almost see… and I could almost call out a name…
But an explosion ripped through the bright star, my star, expelling all the wonders of colors and light locked away inside. I disintegrated into blinding light and accompanying pain.
“Stop!” I shot up out of bed, wide awake and covered in sweat. I breathed irregularly. I glanced around and saw the IV in my hand, and heart monitors on my chest. I realized I was wearing an ugly hospital nightgown, and I smelled like iodine.
“Hamilton.” Mark’s voice crested over me like a bucket of ice cold water.
“Dad?” I asked, looking around.
And there he was. Mark was standing by the door, decked out in his hospital scrubs. He must’ve come to see me on a break, I realized.
It was sometimes hard for me to believe we were related. With his black hair and brown eyes, Mark doesn’t actually look much like me. We didn’t have much in common outside of intellect and a shared coffee addiction. Still, there were times I admired him. He was a cardiologist at Apollo City Hospital ??
? not only one of the best doctors, but one of the best paid. And it’s nice that other people liked him a lot.
Mark walked over and put his arm around my shoulders. “It’s been hours since you’ve been awake.”
“Why am I shaking?” I asked as I realized I was shaking.
“Just a side effect. Don’t worry; we’ve been monitoring your heart regularly, and you’re doing just fine. So is your friend. She checked out of here last night. It’s possible you’re having a post-traumatic reaction from your recent act of bravery.”
“Bravery?”
“Yes. Don’t you remember what happened?”
I thought only about the dream first; I didn’t feel very brave there. Actually, I’d felt something that felt vaguely like failure and searing pain…
Already the sweet melody I’d heard resounding in my heart before was disappearing as memories of what happened earlier swarmed through my mind. The meteorite, and Gwen… someone lifting me into an ambulance, someone checking my pulse… the sandpaper feel of my body, sunburned beyond summertime…
I slumped over, putting my head in my lotion-smelling hands. So it had been a dream. “You said Gwen’s okay?” I asked slowly.
Mark smiled. “Yes. I spoke with her earlier. She explained how you saved her life, risking your own in the process.”
I grinned, my smirk coming back quick enough (It was a reflex, after all.) “Oh, well, just doing what’s got to be done,” I remarked. “Gwen is one of my close friends.”
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. You had a few cuts, and received a nice tan, but no burns, no permanent damage.”
“I feel fine now,” I said. “Just hot.” I didn’t mention I could feel my heart pounding in my throat.
“Well, I’m sure if you rest a while, you’ll be fine. Your mother will be relieved to know you’re up. She was really concerned last night.” And then, as though to dodge my biting reply, his beeper buzzed and he left.
I’ll bet she was, I thought sarcastically as I decided to drift back into sleep. Cheryl was probably traumatized at the thought of what my death might do to her business partnership.
After a few hours of napping, I heard a soft knock at the hospital room door. I had to smile when I saw who it was.
“Can I come in, Hammy?” Gwen asked politely.
I immediately had to decide between playing the charming invalid or unshakeable war hero; it was difficult because I’d seen the movies where both had worked out.
To be safe, I went with the hero one. I didn’t want to downplay my role in saving her life and all that. And I could use the invalid bit later if I needed to.
“Sure,” I smirked. I could tell she was in a much more agreeable mood today than she was at the party. “All my company has been my family and a bunch of nurses – mostly men, too. I could use someone I’m genuinely happy to see.”
“That’s not like you,” Gwen said. “You like the attention. Admit it.”
“No, actually, I can’t wait until they let me leave,” I told her sincerely. “I hate hospitals. They’re so cold and deathlike.”
Gwen chuckled warmly as she walked over. “I heard from the gossip grapevine that you didn’t have any serious injuries,” she said.
“No, just a nice tan, I was told, and some broken glass scraps. The nurse thinks I have a fever.”
“Yeah, I had my knees taken care of,” Gwen replied, pointing at her white bandage tape. “And a couple of cuts, too. But I’m okay; I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“Me too,” I smiled.
“Well…” Gwen bit her lip; it was so cute, I thought appreciatively. “I came by today to… well, I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” Then my eyes widened along with my smile. “Oh, you mean for saving your life? It was nothing. I’d do it all over again.”
“Yes. Thanks for saving me…” She sat on the bed beside me, patting my hand. “You’re such a good friend… sometimes.”
I grinned. I was just about to assure her I could be an even better boyfriend when there’s another knock at the door.
I looked up to see my so-called best friend, Mikey Salyards.
“Hey there, Dinger,” Mikey greeted me cheerfully. “Heard you got mangled up, and I wanted to see it for myself.”
At this point, I would’ve loved nothing more than to throttle Mikey for ruining my big moment with Gwen. But I let it go. There’s going to be enough time later to ask her out, I decided. After all, I’d just saved her life. What reason would she possibly have for saying no next time? Gwen could move on from Mr. Bunny-face Tim. We all could.
Mikey walked up closer and shook his head. “You don’t look as damaged as I heard.”
“I’ll try harder next time,” I smirked. “Maybe I’ll make a quick stop at Rosemont; I am the Falcons’ ace player, huh, Mike? That would get me really mangled.”
Mikey scratched his head. “Well, I guess it would be dangerous there, but not for that reason.”
“What? Is the game canceled? They didn’t bench me for the season, did they?” I started to freak out a bit here, I’ll admit. It’d be social suicide if I was benched or if football was canceled.
It figured. My big chance to get on more-than-favorable status with Gwen, and it cost me my star role as wide receiver!
“Well, they did cancel the game,” Mikey admitted, halting my spiraling. “Last night the meteorite hit right smack in the middle of Rosemont Academy. The school was devastated in the blast – it looks half-melted, if you see the pictures.”
“Oh. That stinks for the game,” I said, more relieved that it was their school that was destroyed, not my reputation and the opportunity to increase said reputation. “And well, Rosemont was a death trap anyway. No one will miss it.”
“That’s horrible, Ham!” Gwen remarked, disgusted. “Rosemont was still a lovely school, even if it was a prep school. We had students from there come to help with our play.”
“Huh?”
Mikey came up to my other side. “Gwen’s talking about the volunteers we had from the art and wood shop students. They were much better than our school at everything.”
Gwen gave him a smirk. “Yeah, you’re just saying that because you like that Courtney girl,” she teased. And I suddenly felt irritated, like I was left out of this conversation.
Mikey grinned. “Don’t you know me so well, Gwen Kessler?”
“I take it you learned nothing from stringing frog guts around Ms. Nolte’s room, then?” I asked, switching the topic to something that had my direct input available.
“Who?” Mikey laughed. “If Courtney keeps coming to the play stuff, I’m going to have to think of new antics to get into detention.” He looked out the window. “You’d like her, I think, Dinger. She’s tall and skinny and blonde. And pretty.”
“Geez, you don’t sound shallow at all,” Gwen huffed.
“It’s alright, Mike, you can have her,” I dismissively remarked. The tall, pretty, skinny blonde sounded a lot like Via, except for the hair. “Tell me when you’ve changed your mind… you know, the day after she agrees to be your girlfriend.”
Gwen snickered. “He’s got a point, Mikey,” she agreed. “You give up as soon as you’ve got them.”
“If cars were girls, you’d have a new model every week,” I added.
“One day, you’re going to find a girl you like, and she won’t even look at you,” Gwen warned him playfully.
“Well, if Courtney keeps volunteering, that won’t happen this time,” Mikey grinned back.
“You know you could just volunteer to help out, right?”
“I can’t have anyone thinking I’m some drama-maniac. I have a rep to protect, you know.”
I was just about to ask what was going to happen to the Raiders
when Mikey turned the conversation to the window and pointed towards the direction of where the meteorite had (mostly) fallen. Wanting to see if I could get a good look, I headed over to the window.
My hands grew warm as they touched the cool window glass. “What’s going on over there?” I asked, beckoning towards the crater.
“I can’t see anything happening,” Gwen shrugged. “But I did hear they were collecting the remains for the astronomy program at the college. You know they wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this.”
“Do you think…?” My voice trailed off as a strange feeling took hold of me – and not in the stomach, either. Something was nagging at my mind; something was wrong over there, terribly wrong.
Wait, I scolded myself. Stop this!
And then I really started freaking out. Is something wrong with me? Am I delusional?
Maybe that blast altered my brain more than my body. After all, there was no way on earth something would go wrong just because –
“Look!” I cried.
A sudden quake, and my train of thought ran over small, imaginary children and into oblivion.
“Augh!” Gwen screamed as black light shot out from the crater, and a small explosion tussled the city streets.
As Gwen hid her face, and Mikey looked away, the newly formed turbulent, ominous clouds dispersed and flew up; and then I froze.
The clouds. They were glaring at me. With seemingly real eyes.
Gaping, I was dumbfounded; the feeling transported me back into that dream, where the star had burst, and a similar cloud had taken form…
“Dinger?” Mikey asked me, waving his hand in front of my stricken face. “What’s wrong? You look sick.”
“Did you see that?” I asked, horrified. “The…cloud and all?”
“You mean the explosion?” Mikey looked too confused for me to have any hope he had any idea what I really meant… which was, ‘Did you see the monster-face in the sky?’
Gwen startled me by taking my hand. “You’re so pale all of a sudden. Are you in pain?”