Wednesday, April 15, 2020

My (not so) Short Short for the Day



As she followed her “dead” sister into the dark unknown, Ellie thought about how weird  her day had become.
            It had started as a pretty normal morning.  The alarm rang at 6am.  She slapped the snooze one time before dragging herself out of the warm, comfy covers.  She ran a brush quickly through her hair before pulling it back into a ponytail.  Then she shrugged into a school tee and jeans before heading downstairs.  The kitchen was empty, as usual, since her parents were up by 4am and gone by 5:30.  Since she was in high school now, her parents didn’t worry about her getting off to school on her own.  They trusted her to be responsible and make good choices.  At first, she had wanted to rebel but just couldn’t bring herself to misbehave.  The closest she came was eating Sugar Smacks for breakfast instead of Wheaties.  She smiled as she scooped up another spoonful of sugary goodness.  “Mmmm…weekend cereal on a Tuesday.  Soooo evil!”  Ellie crunched loudly.  She let her mind drift off. 
            She finished her cereal, rinsed the bowl and put it in the dishwasher.  As she slid the rack back in she heard a loud boom.  It was so loud she froze for a moment.  Was that a sonic boom?  She didn’t really know what a sonic boom sounded like but figured it must be super loud.  She closed the dishwasher door and straightened up.  Ellie peeked through the curtains.  Everything was quiet, no cars, no kids on bikes, no dogs barking.  It was strangely silent. Then Ellie noticed the clock was flashing.  That’s weird, she thought.  Some kind of power outage.  Ellie looked around but the kitchen lights were on.  She looked at her watch, swore and rushed into the living room.  She only had 15 minutes to get to school.  Slinging her bag onto her back, she slammed the front door shut, jumped on her bike and pedaled furiously.
            One math quiz, a science lab, an English essay and history worksheet later and school was done.  Next came soccer practice. It was brutal but Ellie loved it!  She loved to run and kick and build up a solid sweat.  When her heart was pumping so hard and her muscles burning, that’s when she felt so energized.  A quick wave to her teammates and she headed home.  This time the bike ride was much more leisurely.  Her mind drifted off again leaving her legs on auto pilot.  She had ridden that route so many times, she didn’t need to pay attention anymore.  Her mind had just conjured up an image of Shane, the cute boy in her math class.  He also happened to be the captain of the soccer team, tall, dark and handsome with the most amazing smile. 
            All of a sudden, there was a loud boom.  Just like the one from this morning.  Ellie jerked causing her bike to swerve sharply to the right and directly at the old Oak tree in her front yard.  She wobbled and turned the handlebars sharply to the left, too sharply.  She slammed on her brakes and flipped over her handlebars, but at least she missed the tree.  She sat up and rubbed her elbow.  Then she noticed how quiet it was.  No one was around.  No one on the streets, no one in the yards, no one on the sidewalks.  Totally silent.  Just like this morning.
            “Ellie, are you ok?”  A figure stepped out from behind the Oak tree. 
            Ellie squinted, still rubbing her elbow.  “Who’s there?”
            The figure walked over to Ellie and offered her a hand.
            Ellie’s eyes widened in shock.  Mechanically, she took the hand and let the girl help her up.  She tried to speak but her mouth wouldn’t work.  She could only gape at the girl.
            “Well, so much for a happy reunion.”  The girl smiled.
            “Wendy?”  Ellie blurted out.
            “Surprise!”  Wendy said with a grin.
            “But…how?”  Ellie stared in disbelief.
            “That’s a long story.”  The girl said, then looked around quickly before turning back to Ellie.  “But that’ll have to wait for another time.  Right now, we have to go.”  Wendy waved her along.
            As children, Ellie had followed her big sister everywhere without question, without fear.  She trusted her completely.  But now, Wendy was back from the dead somehow, and asking her to follow.  As unreal as this all was, Ellie still trusted her.  So she followed Wendy behind the Oak tree and into the dark unknown, 

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