Alone in the Dark

  I walked in the dark, listening to my music, on my way home from a friend’s house. I was there for three hours but studying our science notes was all we did. Even with so much review I’d probably still fail the test.

  That’s when the street lamps went out.

  “Really?” I muttered. I plucked out one of my earbuds and stood for a second, wondering if the lights would come back on. They didn’t. The new moon did nothing to help. As my eyes adjusted I compromised and stuck the earbud back in. “Guess I’ll walk in the dark, then.”

  I stepped with the music as I walked. I hopped off the sidewalk and into the road. My eyes caught the light shining through the front window. My parents must’ve been waiting for me to get home. I observed the time and thought, Pretty late to-

  My thoughts were swiftly interrupted. I was thrown on the ground before I had even noticed the car driving towards me. I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry but I could make out a person jumping out of a truck with blasted headlights and running towards me. I heard them yelling, maybe crying out for help. I heard the front doors of neighbors’ houses swinging open accompanied by gasps as people came to where I was. And I heard the voice of my mom getting louder and louder, very quickly.

  “Max! Max!” she screamed in despair. She shouted as she talked. It sounded so fuzzy. My drowsy eyes saw her frantically type on her phone and put it up to her ear. “Hello! My son is-”

  Everything shut off. It was black, and it was silent. There was nothing.

  When I finally opened my eyes it was still dark. I wasn’t on the ground anymore, but I didn’t know where I was.

  “Hello?” I called. No response. I called out louder. “Hello!”

  At last I saw where I was. I was on a street. The moon and stars were bright against the dark sky. It must have been late, but how was I okay? I felt fine despite being hit seemingly minutes before. I also found it very strange that I was on a street that I had never seen before.

  A speeding car turned the corner, and I had no time to react. I watched the bright lights as it drove right through me.

  I was shocked. I wasn’t on the ground. I also wasn’t hit, but I was in pain. It felt like I was burning. I looked to my hands, expecting to see fire. They were fine. I walked over to one of the houses and knocked on the door. I waited and hoped they would answer. It felt like hours.

  When someone finally did I was bombarded with bright, burning light. I yelled in pain and jumped back, getting out of the light as fast as I could. I looked back to where the person was standing.

  “Hmm?” A confused look was on their face.

   Did they not see me? I was right in front of them, I wondered. They had to have at least heard my yelling.  No one could not hear that.

   They looked around for a moment before shutting the door.

   I went down the driveway and sat on the curb. What happened? I know I was run over by a truck. I already thought that I could be dead. Maybe I was a ghost or something. But that wouldn’t explain the imaginary fire that burned me whenever I was in the light.

  “Light equals pain,” I muttered to myself. “So…light kills me?” I ran my hand through my messy hair. It felt like I was playing Twenty Questions. “So...I’m like...the dark now?”

  It was all I could come up with, so I left it at that and stood. I walked around the town. It was odd to be wandering in the dark late at night and to not feel cold or sleepy at all.

  I came to a grassy park. There were some kids playing night games.

  I heard a quiet voice next to me whisper, “Mommy, I’m scared.”

  I turned to see the little girl clinging to her mom’s leg.

  The lady dropped her bag off of her shoulder and searched through it. She pulled out a flashlight and handed it to her daughter.

  “I thought you might want this,” she whispered.

  I bent down to comfort her. “It’s okay. It’s just the dark.”

  The girl smiled and switched it on. I fell back and out of the searing light. The pain wasn’t nearly as bad as the sadness and isolation I felt in that moment. She was scared of me.

  I stood up, my heart torn. I watched them walk away.

  “It’s just me…”