Excerpt

Today I’m sharing an excerpt from a story I’m working on …

I sat up in bed, instantly awake, all my senses on high alert. The echo of my name ricocheted around the room. I held my breath, listening, but all I could hear was the blood pounding through my veins. I had heard my name spoken, loud as thunder, only moments ago. Disturbed, I gathered a blanket around my shoulders and went outside. There was no moon and the sky was full of stars. Orion with his jeweled belt had long since set and Leo, the eternal question mark, hung low in the West. Turning, I looked northward and there, twisting and turning as it climbed its way into the sky was the blue and green ribbon of the Aurora Borealis. Fingers of light undulated above me to a rhythm as ancient as the sun.  Overwhelmed, I lay down on the grass and watched the heavens dance.

The night felt alive, and I felt a great unseen crowd of people gathering around me. I heard my name whispering through the grass, and I imagined the souls of humanity pressing me into the earth, walking past, over and through me. It became difficult to breath. My vision began to blur and I blinked and squinted, unable to look away from the aurora. It had grown in size until it filled the entire night sky. Gossamer fingers of light began breaking apart and shooting down, flashing and sparkling like silver rain down the sides of a dome. My own fingers curled, grabbing fists of dirt and grass. I pressed my shoulders down and flexed my knees and hamstrings as hard as I could. Digging my heels into the ground, I anchored myself against the earth. Where had everyone gone? I agonized, and why had I been left behind? Suddenly loss turned into anger. They could take everything away from me, whatever the scheme, whatever the reason, but love and fear and anger and purpose were mine. I felt a primal urge to fight back welling up in me. I opened my mouth. Gasped in a great lung-full of air. Bellowed out to the universe, “I …AM!” And again, the force of my voice lifting my chest and shoulders off of the ground, “I … AM!”

As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. The aurora vanished. The stars returned to their rightful places and I lay panting and shivering in the damp night air. Maybe I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I’d be damned if I was going to give in.

Just write {8} – linking in with The Extraordinary Ordinary and Lily’s Quilts: Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet