Lightning from the stranger’s body cut deep into Lucy, excited by its impending journey. It began at the top with short bursts of electric pulses that flowed from left to right, jolting and rocking the 15-yearold’s world. Lucy rocked from side to side.de. When will this stop? What if it never does?
“Lucy, little girl, can you hear me? Lucy, you must understand, you are mine. Why fight this motion? Let it drift over time. I hear you breathe. Why so slowly? Little girl, the torture of it must go on, hour by hour, minute by minute. I know it’s exhausting—its power so repulsive—but you are mine. You hear me? Mine forever.”
“I will fight you!” Lucy squealed. “I will cross the highs and lows of time. You must know, surely, that you can’t control me. Stranger, stop searching. Listen and feel it. You can’t take control of my brain. I know you will try as you cut inside and seep into my flesh, but you are only allowed to move from left to right. You think that this is a long journey; maybe it will be, maybe it won’t be, and maybe it will be longer than you think.”
“Lucy, we must continue this torture; it’s good for you.”“Stranger, I can’t breathe. Stranger, can you hear me? You’re hurting me. Let me go! Just remember, Stranger, I will win, and you will lose and eventually get caught. Someone will come for me. Someone will notice I’m missing.”
“No, they won’t. You have it all wrong, Lucy. I warned you that I was evil. “Judging from the way you appear now, you didn’t listen. So now it’s your turn to suffer, and suffer you will.”
“Stranger, are you still here? I can feel you, but I can’t touch you. You travel downwards day and night; every waking moment you seek and search, waiting to be found. Is it just in my mind? My head hurts from the uncertainty of not knowing where you’ve gone. Come back, Stranger. I see specks of dust floating by. Is that you? Do you breathe like me or do you breathe only when the wind blows? Why don’t you answer me? I can’t hear you anymore. Speak up. Can you hear me? Come back!”
“Why is this time so short, Lucy? Tick tock. Those seconds, girlie, were just lost in time. I’m over here; just seek and you will find.”
“Hello, Stranger. Are you in there? Please answer me. I’m feeling nervous and anxious and can’t wait to see you again. My eyes roll from left to right and I need to sneeze. You are around me; I can feel you and smell you. Stranger, you smell rotten. I know my mum wants to keep me safe. I feel safe when I feel her sunshine around me. Soon mum will wonder where I am. It’s getting dark and I’m still across the road. Mum will start to worry; it’s only a matter of time.”
Hey, Stranger, there’s no belting rain. Why did the Earth take our power and raise it back up and into your half-shut eye? Or was the world globe your one big eye?
“Help me. Can anyone hear me? Someone, please answer me. Don’t leave me out here all alone.”“I’m passing our church on the side of the road. The beautiful ladies are singing out loud. Can you hear them? Can you hear their
Decisions = Destiny lovely voices? They each send a message of love across the land for you.
“The land is so dry. Why is this so?” The hands of these ladies are cracked and tunneled dry. No moisture for anyone. No tears from above or strikes of thunder as you roar? Are you so unhappy with us all?
“Why did you disappear?” Only the shadows across the way give me hope that you’ll be back here one day. I wait and wonder. Night closes in and day breaks; still no sign that you are coming back.
“Why do I have to wait this long? Where have you gone?” Some of us get taken at birth; others depart as teenagers. Why is it that the rest of us wait a lifetime? How do you choose whose next? I sit still and wonder. Why does life end so quickly for some and so painfully for others? What is your story? What is your pain? Do you punish us one by one because we’re so bad? How do you see through that one strange eye?
“Do you point with the pupil of your working eye? Do you a keep scorecard and mark off when we are good, bad, and truly evil? Why don’t you answer me, Stranger? Stranger, where have you gone?”
“What was that? I think I just saw you. Did you ripple and float by? Over there in that muddy water, is that you? No, of course not; it’s not you. I must be mistaken; it wasn’t you. Silly me. What was I thinking? I imagined that I just saw you. But I do wonder where you’ve gone. Maybe I did see you. Oh yes, I know who you are. You’re my reflection. Yes, that’s the answer to it all!”
You reflect, day in and day out, as we walk together. Yes, I see you now. You’re my shadow, my footprint, my mind, and even my breath. How silly I was to not realize that you were frozen in my mind.