The air was perfect, the sky was a brilliant shade of blue scattered with fluffy, white clouds. The sun was high in the sky and wind whistled bristly through trees, rustling their leaves. The rustle of leaves and the smooth calling of a bird were two of three sounds that could be heard. The third, was the sound of high heels clicking against pavement in a steady, rhythmatic pattern.
It was a girl, strolling down that sidewalk, twisting her hair around her finger in one hand and the other hand dragging along a backpack. She stared at the houses on either side of her, catching her reflection in the window of one. She looked at herself for a brief instance. Her hair was black, curly, and long, for a second she admired the way it gently fell around her shoulders and made her light green eyes and creamy, white skin pop out.
She knew she was beautiful, not that she was conceited, but she was fond of her looks. She turned away from the window and wondered why, even though she knew she was pretty, why she wasn't more liked at school. Perhaps people were jealous? It made her chuckle to herself and shook her head.
It was a nice day outside, she was glad to be walking home from school. On days like today, walking home from school didn't feel like a chore, but more like an adventure. If the girl liked one thing, it was an adventure. An adventure, was exactly what was coming her way, because whether she knew it or not, her day was about to become so much more interesting.
Behind her a boy ran out of his home's front door. "Hey, Jen, where are you going?" his greeting was said in a mocking tone as he ran after her.
The girl spun around and faced him, she knew who he was. He was a boy from her school and he scared her, the backpack she held in her hand fell to the ground and she quickly turned back around and started to run. "Get away from me," she screamed. "I'm tired of your games, Conner."
She wasn't fast enough; he grabbed onto the back of her shirt and pulled her towards to him. He dug his nails into her arm and spun her around to face him. "Oww," Jen whined, "you're hurting me." She struggled away from his grip, gnashing her teeth in pain.
"You can't run away from me, Jen," he growled at her through clenched teeth. "I always win."
Jen gave up and went limp in his arms, she refused to face him, however, as she spoke. "What do you want, Conner?"
He shoved her away from him and pushed her to the ground. "Listen, Jen, you will write my history paper for me and I won't hurt you…" The girl flinched on the ground and in a defensive manner put her hand up. "…or tell anyone about the other night." He flashed her a toothy grin.
Disgusted, Jen found her way up, but he pushed her back down again. "I'm not finished!" Conner protested, blowing a piece of brown, silky hair away from his face that found it's way near his eyes. "Listen to me!"
He reached to grab her wrist again, but Jen in anger pulled her arm away and slammed it down onto the pavement. At first, she felt pain, but when she looked again, she saw her arm swell up with pavement and began to crawl up her arm. Jen quickly tried to crawl back and Conner, in just as much shock and fear as her stepped back quickly.
Crawling back helped nothing, because to her surprise, the sidewalk was becoming apart of her! Conner kept walking backwards. "You're a freak! No wonder your dad abandoned you!" Conner yelled and quickly ran away, but not before shouting, "Forget about the paper, freak! I'm telling everyone at school about this on Monday!"
Jen sat there, a giant, human sidewalk, her heart could be heard from a mile away, it was pounding so hard. Her head hurt and she didn't understand what was going on. She quickly got up, grabbed her backpack and began to run down the street, her footsteps weren't soft anymore, but instead echoed against the pavement and slightly shook the earth beneath her.
Luckily, as she narrowed home, no one saw her, but Jen crept to the shadows by her house, leaning carefully against her home and falling to the ground. She took in a few deep breathes and stared up at the sky. Not realizing it, but while she was relaxing, she turned back into her normal self. It wasn't until she looked down at her hands, that she saw she was back to normal and sighed with relief.
"Jen," came a voice, soft and smooth.
Jen looked up from her hands to see her mother, a tall, slender, red head standing in front of her. "Mom," she gasped, "how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough," her mother replied, taking a seat right next to her daughter. "I heard you coming." Her mother laughed slightly, but looking at her daughter's expressionless face, knew that it wasn't the right moment to make a joke. "I'm sorry."
"I don't get it!" Jen whispered, "Why did this happen to me? Things like this happen in comic books and movies, not in real life." Jen leaned her head back on the house's siding. "I'm scared, I don't understand."
Her mother let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Oh, my dear," she cooed, putting an arm around the girl, "listen to me, there's something I have to tell you…"
Jen looked at her mother and raised an eyebrow, "Oh really, mother?"
"Yes," her mother breathed, "it was a very long time ago, started back when I was ten, but, the more important story comes in when I turned fifteen, sixteen. Your age, you know? It's a secret I've been keeping from you and your brother. It's about time the truth came out."
Jen nodded, a bit intrigued, but what story could her mom have that was so secretive? If Jen remembered correctly, her mother seemed to have the same boring life that Jen was sentenced too. Her mother was a secretary for a real estate agency; they lived in a boring ranch style home, making average money, living an average life, making an average living. Even if that was the case though, Jen knew she was now a little bit more than average. Right now, she felt special and in a way, that made her happy.
"Look," Jen's mother whispered, "why don't we go inside and get Devlin? I think he may want to hear this too."
Jen rubbed her arms and agreed with her mother, "Okay."
With the help of her mother, Jen stood up. Jen's mother put a loving arm over her daughter's shoulder and in return, Jen placed her arm around her mother's waist. "I promise you though," her mother whispered, "this story may or may not change the way you view the world as you know it."