White Light

WHITE LIGHT:

Jason thought deeply about Jenna his younger sister, a young teen about twelve, and a lover of everything natural such as trees, green fresh cut grass, and bugs and things. He was fond of her, and he remembered that she had told him once that when she grew up she wanted to him to go with her to the African savannah to experience what a world of animals was like. he laughed cracking a little smile that barely curled on one side of his face. Of course he did tell her that if she wanted to go, he would certainly go with her.

He popped another maisonette into his mouth as he walked down the sidewalk past old Mrs. Winkleton's place. It was in bad need of repair with paint chipping off the sides and a shingle missing here and there. Why she never had the work done that it needed was anyone's guess, she probably couldn't afford it so that was why she let it go. he never saw her much, maybe a few times on Sunday afternoon when she would come out and sit on the porch and sit and drink some of her home-made wine that she made from the grapes that grew along the fence in the back yard. "Are you ready for it ?" she would always say to him, and he would always think and wonder what "it" was that she kept talking about. But just the same she was a nice lady and would never show her any disrespect, instead he would only smile as he walked on by. Today was Sunday, but today she didn't come out at all, and it was almost ten past five in the afternoon. Maybe because today wasn't right, I mean it just had that weird feeling to it, the kind that made goosebumps appear on your skin, or like when a cold breeze gets in under your jacket collar, it was something like that. He did have that moment of dizziness a couple of blocks backs but that wasn't nothing.

He waked around the corner to Cory's Corner Store and was about to enter through the doorway when as he was looking down as he always did when he walked he noticed that he had two shadows, the one that went from left to right with the sun low in the sky, and another that went from north to south. Looking up he could see a small white dot, and scratching his head for a moment and not knowing what to make of it he went in and bought a roll of red liquorish and a small bag of doughnut holes, the ones with the sugar sprinkled on them. He came out and sat on the bench outside the door and was about to pop a piece of liquorish into his mouth. It was much brighter out than before when he when in and now the weird shadow he saw earlier was more intense. He jumped off the porch and looked up into the sky and nearly pissed himself right then and there. The little bright dot in the sky was now a big white dot in the sky, and not only that but it had a long white cloud following much like you would see from a jet plane.

Suddenly and instantly the reality of the moment gripped him like an inescapable moment when your about to be bitten by a rattlesnake and you know in your heart there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. His thoughts raced withing him like a movie on super fast forward. he thought of his parents, school, his friends and his little sister Jenna. They were going to go to Africa together. He wanted to scream, no, he wanted to cry, he wanted to do both, but he only looked up like a deer in the headlights. The ground began to rumble beneath him. "It isn't fair!" he screamed at the sky. He was angry yet filled with the hopelessness of the moment. The air began to feel warmer as all the trees around him began to dance as if wanting to uproot themselves and run away, only it was the ground beginning to shake violently doing it. Suddenly, his skin began to feel hot like it would on a hot summer day and the clouds started to push this way and that. It was too bright to look up any longer, it hurt too much. he ran back into Cory's Store and hid behind the counter. A rumble sound could be heard everywhere around him as the light became more intense. Outside people began to run from their houses screaming, some of them suddenly bursting into flames as they ran. He remembered the words of Mrs. Winkleton, "Are you ready ?" and he sighed as the heat from it began to set the ceiling ablaze. He sighed. A tired feeling of surrender took hold over him, and he closed his eyes as he felt himself begin to slip away under the intense heat. He took in one last hot breath of air and breathed his last.

"Jason..! Jason...! get up now and get ready for school..!" He opened his eyes, and he looked at his hands, the skin was cool and smooth to the touch. Leaping from his bed like Ebeneezer Scrooge he ran to the window, the air was cool and crisp as it should be in late September. "I'm alive.." he yelled out loud.
"Yes, but you're going to die if you don't get to school.." he is mother said as she continued her walk past the doorway and down the hall to the bathroom. he jumped up and got dressed and left for school in record time and turned the corner on the way to Cory's Store. He froze, just ahead was old Mrs. Winkletons place. " I won't be afraid, I won't." he told himself. " Hi Mrs. Winkleton..!" She sat down on the porch and took a sip of wine and smiled. " Are you ready Jason, are you ready for it..?" Jason felt that sick sour feeling for a moment then look up and smiled, " I'm ready for it Mrs. Winkletoon, I'm ready for sure.." And he was ready. From now on life, every second of it was precious and he was going to live it to it's fullest. He smiled as he went onward to Corey's Store. Today there was a bit of bounce in his step, and a full beaming smile, yes he had it now. And he was ready.

reply to post by Fromabove


Wow ....just wow!! That was really good friend. I am so glad you shared your short story.

It gave me chills, for real. It makes me want to seize the day.

Thank you for sharing your work.

peace and love
~nat

reply to post by Fromabove


A good read. I hope we see more of it at the next writer's contest.

Thankyou for your comments. I often have some typos in what I write because I write too fast as I tell my stories. I write them as I see them unfolding. So please excuse any typo errors, thanks.

What a nice way to start the day. I was feeling a little down this morning and his picked me up. Thanks

reply to post by drivebricker


I'm glad I could cheer you up, nothing like a chilling story to spur the senses.