FicWad

"It looks beautiful from up here," Maureen Drowsner thinks to herself as, without wings or plane to hold her up, she flies high above the clouds in a world of almost euphoric beauty.

The sun's light illuminates the clouds below her like an angelic highway. The air feels nice and warm as it whispers softly in her ear. Her long golden hair flows freely in the wind, as does the rest of her partially tanned white skinned body. Her long and muscular arms reach out and gently touch the cloud as they flow past her hand like water. She arches her five foot-three inch sixteen-year-old body and, with the grace of a swan, lifts up higher and drifts into a loop-to-loop. She smiles as an innocent and carefree feeling takes over her body. She looks at the sun and to her surprise; her dark brown eyes don't feel pain but feel its softness and warmth rain down upon her face as it comforts her in a way that is very embracing. The sun's light seems to be becoming brighter and brighter she begins to look deeper and deeper into its glow. Soon, she begins to notice that light has encompassed her and sees that the sun is gone. In its place is a figure, a girl whose size and build are identical to her own. She's dressed in a white body suit with a gold emblem on her chest of a triangle with a lightning bolt going through it. The suit covers her from head to toe, masking the figures face almost entirely, exposing only a gap for her mouth and chin with smaller holes for the nostrils and eyes. A flat crown like shape stands out from the rest of the mask, curving outward from an inch above the nostrils on both sides of the nosepiece and continuing around the outside of both eyes and then stops curving just above the forehead. The top of the shape consists of three triangular points with two on the side and a slightly smaller center one. The costume possesses a white cape that vigorously flaps as if they were in a storm as the sound of one encompasses the two, but Maureen doesn't feel any breeze whatsoever. The white light surrounding the two makes the figure appear to be almost one with the light and phases in and out of view. Though mask obscures most of her face, Maureen can tell the expression on her face is without emotion.

Maureen yells," Who are you and what do you want with me!?"

The figure breaks its silence and in a voice that sounds very deep, very direct and echoing all around them, the figures simply answers, "It is time."

"Maureen, it's time to get up," a familiar voice tells her.

Maureen slowly lifts her eyelids to see her mother in a partially faded pink pajama gown standing in front of her bed in the doorway of her room. She isn't Maureen's real mother but she has been the closest thing to a real mother than Maureen could possibly hope for.

"Come on, you don't want to be late for your first day of the new school year."

Maureen sluggishly rises from her bed and sits up on its left side still in a daze of being half asleep and half awake.

She places her hand on her forehead and shakes her head, trying to release the jitters of sleep, and then, with her right hand, reaches for her white porcelain lamp on her oak night stand to her right. Tapping around its shade as a blind man would, she awkwardly reaches out for the lamp in search of its neck, and nearly knocks it off of the nightstand. Fortunately, she catches the lamp by the neck instantaneously with that same hand, puts the lamp back in its place and twists the knob to illuminate the bulb in the lamp. Maureen's mother, feeling satisfied that her work is done, exits her doorway and Maureen hears the sound of her slippers hitting the hard wood floor of the upstairs hallway towards her parents' room; she guesses. Maureen releases the lamp and searches with that same hand to find her alarm clock radio. She lifts the other hand from her forehead, but her eyes are overwhelmed by the sudden burst of light coming from her lamp. She squints her eyes and stares at her alarm clock. To her surprise, she is greeted by a flashing twelve and two flashing zeros.

Maureen abruptly falls back on to her bed and moans, "Oh, the power must have gone out."

She finally throws herself out of bed and walks over to her closet on the right side of the room and rummages through the closet for the clothes she plans to wear today. The clothes are hanging on plastic hangers and range from tee shirts to an assortment of colorful dresses but, having in common the fact that they are each neither out of style or considered "risqué" and considered trendy by the New Spaniel teenage community.
Resting on the wall and on the floor in the back of the closet is a large brown cardboard box full of clothes and toys she wore and played with when she was little. The clothes hanging down from above obscure the box, but no matter how many clothes she seems to put in her closet, the box's presence is always felt. She decides on wearing a tee shirt of her favorite rock band and a pair of jeans and places the clothes on the bed and heads for the bathroom. As she approaches the bathroom, she hears the sound of the running water from the shower. She knows it could be only one person.

"Jacky!" Maureen raises her voice still sounding a bit hoarse from fatigue, to get the attention of her sister inside but there is no response.

"Jacky, are you almost done in there," she tries again with the same result.

She knows very well that Jacky can hear but chooses not to respond. The sound of the running water comes to a halt with the squeaking of the pipes and the followed by the sound of other kinds of commotion. Finally, the doorknob twists and Jacky steps out wearing a green terry fur bathrobe. She's three years older than Maureen and weighs a great deal more than she does. She doesn't even set eyes onto her sister and marches aristocratically with her nose in the air to her room on the far side of the hallway next to her parent's room.

Maureen walks into the bathroom and, as usual, is greeted by the overwhelming fragrance of this special all-natural shampoo Jacky bought a few weeks ago. The shampoo itself doesn't smell that bad. In fact, in many instances the smell would be welcome to her nose, if the fragrance wasn't as potent or didn't cling to the mist from the shower, causing the smell to linger in the bathroom all day long. Still, enough time has elapse since Jacky first bought the accursed stuff and she has had time to sort of get used to it. She closes the bathroom door behind her and locks it by twisting the little knob on the outer tip of the doorknob. She walks over to the shower stall, slides the door open, and adjusts the "HOT" and "COLD" knobs to cause warm water to cascade out of the showerhead. She takes off the purple nightgown she was wearing and walks up to the sink. She gazes into the large mirror against the white square porcelain tiled wall and looks over her naked body. She sees her newly formed breasts standing out from her chest and then at her face and soft lips. She stares at her nose that has never had a sniffle or sneeze. As she stares deep into her dark brown eyes, something flashes in the back of her mind, almost like a burst of inspiration. The images of the dream she had just moments ago before start to flood her mind. Until finally, she visualizes the figure in the dream, every square inch of her, until she finally realizes the figure in the dream was she.

Maureen's mother, dressed in a blue woolen women's business suit, is sitting at the table in the kitchen downstairs. On the table rests her open leather brief case full of all sorts of legal documents that go with the trade of being a lawyer. She browses over the a set of papers to make sure that everything is in order for the work day ahead of her. She pauses occasionally to sip out of her plain white coffee mug or eat a bite of her pastry. Through the small hallway that separates the foyer from the kitchen strolls in her husband, John, wearing gray dress pants, a white short sleeve dress shirt and a gray pastel tie.

"Mornin, hun" he says while simultaneously yawning.

He walks over to his wife and kisses her on the cheek. John's physique used to be very muscular but, now, after one too many snacks, it has been reduced to a fat gut and some-what flabby arms. He continues to stroll on toward the far end of the kitchen to a large cherry wood square cabinet that is supported high above the counter top after he opens the cabinet and searches for the right coffee mug he wants to use.

More sounds of rapidly moving feet coming from the stairs, this time the feet belong to Maureen, who is now wearing the clothes she had picked out and a canvas book bag. She strolls into the kitchen and gives her parents the usual "Good Morning" as she enters and the same from both parents is echoed back. Without changing pace, Maureen continues over to the refrigerator, which is next to her father, who pulls out a coffee mug that matches the one his wife is using. Never putting much stock in breakfast, she opens the refrigerator, pulling out a doughnut and a small one-pint carton of orange juice, and then motions for the door to her right, which leads out to the garage.

Maureen walks out of her garage and heads into the streets and keeps walking until she gets to the corner of her street, which is the bus stop for her high school. The corner is festering with teenage social activity caused by her fellow schoolmates. They're all bunched together in separate groups talking to each other and acting like the other groups don't exist.

Excluded from these groups are five teens sitting on the curb, looking extremely alienated, with their elbows resting on theirs knees and their heads resting in their hands. They look longingly at these socialites as a layperson would gaze at heaven as if someday they will reach this social status and stand proud with the social elite, but deep down they know that this is a pipe dream. To the "in" crowd, they're either too smart, too stupid, too immature, too mature or just act too "weird" and if they ever show sign that they are meeting these so called "standards", they are ridiculed and repressed as if it was a "freak" occurrence.

Maureen arrives at the corner and a girl from one of the groups, a girl with green eyes, short brown hair and is dressed in a tie died tee shirt and tight blue jeans, comes screaming over to her as if she hadn't seen her in years, when the truth to the matter is she just talked to her on the phone the night before.

Playing along with her, she does the "long lost friend" routine and sarcastically shouts, "Oh my God, Sally!" and embraces her charging friend and the two frantically jump up and down.

Sally, still sounding giddy asks, "So, how are things between you and Tommy."
Maureen, now sounding slightly uncomfortable, replies, "I don't know. I haven't really talked to him since the end-of-year party at the beginning of the summer."

"Oh really," Sally, sounding opportunistic as her giddiness departs.

Another girl, dress similarly to Sally, walks over and whispers something in her ear. Sally, once again full of excitement, widens her eyes and fully opens her mouth as though she were in shock and frantically turns around to the other girl, while mouthing the words "really" and the two dart off to another girl. Three of them reenact the scene she and Sally just performed and start gossiping away like three hens in a hen house. She just stands there, looking at the three and chuckling at the absurdity if it all. Suddenly, She feels a cold hand touches her on the shoulder. A feeling of overwhelming terror begins to take over her body; the same feeling a child feels when it has been left alone. Panic begins to build as she starts to hyperventilate and begins to look as if she is about to cry.

"Hey, long time, no see", a male voice says from behind her.

She frantically pull on the arm, bends forward and, in a martial arts style, throws its owner over her shoulder and on to ground in front of her. The sudden transgression gets the attention of everyone around them, who are either saying "ooooooooo" or glance at them and start gossiping. The feeling of dread is replaced by the feeling of utter embarrassment, as she finds out the boy she threw was Tommy, her supposed boy friend.

"Jeesh, I swear all those rumors about me seeing someone else were a lie", Tommy says, sounding apologetic, yet, sarcastic at the same time.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you", Maureen replies, apologetic, still looking a bit pale in the face and cracking an uneasy smile.

Tommy, a tall skinny boy wearing glasses with short brown hair parted down the middle and tapered on the sides.

"You don't need to apologize; it was my fault entirely. I'll try to keep my hands to myself next time. Anyway, how come you didn't call me over the summer? I tried calling you, but all I got was the answering machine. I tried knocking at your door, but your father said you were busy. Ever since we decided to go with each other, we seem to be drifting apart. Have I done something wrong?" Tommy asks, looking concerned.

Her face begins to look even paler. "No, I've just been real busy this summer, that's all", she answers, sounding uneasy, almost sickly.

"Are you okay? I mean, you look awfully pale," he asks.

"I'm okay, I guess I must have eaten too must for breakfast", she replies, breathing hard almost to the point where it almost sounds like she is hyper ventilating.

"Listen, there's something I would like to show after school, today. Are doing anything then?" he enquires, sounding energetic.

"I've got karate practice..." she replies.

"Then I'll meet there after it's over. It's by the shopping center on Laney avenue, right?" he says with a determined look on his face that tells her that he won't take "no" for an answer.

"Right, I...I guess I'll see you then?" she replies, sounding a little more chipper at the end.
As soon as she finishes her sentence, a large rectangular yellow school bus, called adorably by the students a "cheese bus", pulls up to the curb and two join the crowd that is flowing on to the school bus.

The day drags on further and after a long day of rules and arithmetic, she heads to her martial arts class, this is her favorite part of the day and, being a second degree black belt, karate is something she takes very seriously. It is the only time of day where her mind and body become one and all of her thoughts become clear. Every punch and kick she releases helps her let go of all the deep emotions that she has repress all day long. As she follows her instructors guidance through exercise and meditation, images of the dream from the night before continue to cloud her mind. Usually, by this time of the day, her dreams are long since forgotten, but this one, she just can't get it out of her head and she can remember ever inch of this dream vividly: the flying, the light, and the vision of herself in the white costume. It has been said that a dream is reflection of something in one's life or possible future, but, what does flying have to do with her life; she hasn't ever been in a plane before and what does "It is time" mean? What is it time for? Has it already happened and she missed it or has it yet to come? When the class comes to end, she has yet to come to an answer.

After the class is over, she walks out of the dojo and there, sitting on a bench in front of and facing away from the dojo is Tommy, nervously tapping his left foot, sitting with a small gift wrapped with a ribbon around it beside him.
To get his attention she says as she walks up to him, "Tommy?"

"Hey", he says as he stands up with the gift in his hand," Are you feeling any better?"

"Sure, I'm fine, never felt better", she replies, looks at the gift in his hand, and clears her throat, "I take it; this is the thing you wanted to show me."

He freezes as if he is confused on what she's talking about, but then jolts as if he had burst of inspiration and answers, stuttering, " Oh, thi..this is..is something I picked up at a pawn.....pawn shop. Here, it's for you."

He hands the small box to her and she opens it to see a small golden ring with a strange black symbol on the head. She looks at it and places it on her left ring finger. She holds it up in front of her head and is amazed how much the ring glistens in the sun. It appears to almost radiating light.

"So, what you think?" he asks, anxiously.

"Oh, I love it, it's beautiful", she says as they begin to walk, holding hands.

"You really think so. I thought you would hate it, considering that I got it at a pawn shop and all", He implies.

"Tommy, it doesn't matter where you get a beautiful gift such as this; it's the thought you put into it", she answers as the two them stop.

"So, you really do like", he says, moving slowly closer to her.

"Yes, I do", she replies, mimicking his action.

They pucker their lips and get within an inch of each other, both ready to release all of the feelings they have inside, and then.................HONK! They look to see on the curb, sitting stationary with the motor still running, behind them in the street is a gray minivan and at the wheel is a very round and pudgy looking woman, Tommy's mother.
The two back away from each other and he says," I'll call you tonight, okay?"
Maureen nods in agreement. He, then, runs to the minivan and enters in the front passenger side. His mother appears to be yelling furiously at him as the car begins to drive away into the distance. He, on the other hand, gazes at Maureen and gently waves. Maureen starts to walk back to the dojo, the place where her own mother picks her up.
As she is walking, she suddenly feels a something poke her in the lower back and a cold harsh voice say, "Keep walking and no harm will come to you."
Uncontrollable fear stabs at her mind and body like no experience she has ever felt before, giving her the overwhelming urge to scream but she knows all that will do is give the man with the gun a reason to shoot. Desperately trying to hold back the terror inside of her, she keeps on walking.

"Walk into that alley", he orders, referring to a small alley to the left of her.

Following his order without hesitation, she walks right into the alley and keeps walking until he tells her to stop and she stands there, never once giving the notion of movement and holding back any tears that are trying to pore out of her eyes.
The man, a large thug wearing all black leather and has black sunglasses on and holding a pistol with a silencer on the tip pointed at her, walks into her view.
"The ring, give me the ring", he says.

Without hesitation, Maureen reaches for the ring on her finger and tries to take it off, but it won't come off. With tears flowing out of her eyes, she desperately tries to rip it off; still, it resists. Her captor motions over to pull the ring off and he suddenly slips and grabs her chest to regain his balance. The utter horror finally becomes too much for her to bear as her eyes cringe shut, releasing a shrilling scream. All of sudden, her hands quickly glow to a blinding white light and a beam of the same color shoots out from her hands at the man, knocking him against the wall, rendering him unconscious. The bright light of the beam consumes the man completely and when the beam vanishes, so does he. Maureen's eyelid relax, her eyes rolling to the back of her head, as she falls onto the ground, unconscious.