Self aware? Last time I thought I was self aware, that’s when the shit really hit the fan. Turned out I was anything but. At least that time, the solution to the problem was obvious and I was able to pull through. A giant white aura in the sky, growing by the minute, invisible to others, was a bit more complicated. My guess at what was about to come may as well come from a Magic 8 Ball.
Staring at the light for an extended amount of time had dried and strained my eyes a bit, only I was so deep in seemingly hopeless thought that my brain did little to remind me to blink. Perhaps on the verge of permanent visual damage, I instinctively blinked for just a fraction of a second. Upon opening my revived pupils, the glow was still there only now it was casting my shadow, only it seemed darker and more, I don’t know, alive, I suppose, than I’ve ever encountered.
Jesus, it’s hot out here, and it’s like 2am. Al Gore must have been on to something. What time is it anyway? 3:45? That’s impossible. As I looked at the time in disbelief, my phone rang and scared the living shit out of me. It was Rob. Hallelujah.
“Rob, give me some good news. I’m freaking out over here,” I answered.
“Hello? James? Can you hear me?” managed to somehow break through, despite the deafening static.
“Rob, I’m here man. Please tell me you saw something. Can you… God, that static. Can you hear me?”
“Listen James, if you’re there, if you can hear me, you gotta help me,” Rob strained. “It’s hard to breath, and it’s even harder to talk, so I will keep this short. I kept worrying about you, and I was looking out at the sky, trying to see your Scooby Doo mystery shit. After gazing out for a good five minutes, I saw a lightning white flash, like some sort of fucking supernova. Everything else went blank. Next thing I know, I wake up and find a picture of you and your dad, dated five days from today. You gotta come over.”
The phone call ended and my shadow was gone.
“Hello?! Rob? Rob? ROB?!” I yelled, as if repeating it would somehow reconnect the call. I tried calling back, but his phone was dead. As I broke in to the Dodge conveniently parked next to my building, I got worried. Hard to breath? Hard to talk? I hope he’s OK. What the fuck was he talking about anyway? Dad’s been dead for 13 years. He knows that – he was standing right next to me when it all happened.