The term by the drop of a hat generally refers to something happening suddenly, without any planning and for no obvious reason. An unexpected circumstance that sometimes happens so quickly you don't even know what hit you. Figuratively of course. A split second event that can change the world, also figuratively again, or maybe, if you squint...literally.
It happened just after 11:00 am Monday, when I was left home all by myself to suffer in the unexpected, unpredicted sweltering heat wave lashing out at the West Coast for over two days now. It was the last official day of summer, not for the rest of the world or Google, or my best friend, or even my school but for me.
And I was not only exhausted from my summer job but was now sorry for spending all my money. When the summer had started, my savings account from throughout the school year had been fat, but I had bought every useless summer item which caught my eye right down to the last penny.
I had somehow pictured a trip to someplace cheap I could convince my mother to go. Somewhere to lounge in the sand and read the latest Archie comic while sipping on a Caribbean mixture with a paper umbrella stuck in a piece of fruit.
This is the short range and complexity of my fantasies these days.
But dutifully, my mom had stomped that idea down, and now I was, as I said, stuck at home with a banana sandwich and a game of Pacman.
My terrible gaming abilities yielded to level six in less than five minutes, the little box of high scores asking for my name. Being here alone, with the computer on mute, and no other thing being on in the house I made no more noise than an ambitious rat.
I closed down the laptop and called Mom.
"Mom, can I go into the city?"
"You want to go into the city?" she made a play of mimicking my voice, "How?"
I'll get Bella or Jacob to take me?" somehow it came out as more of a question or suggestion than a response.
"Jacob? The one that works at the auto shop and drives that bike? No Edward! Do you think I want my son being seen with those people? Then people whispering if you have any parents and how they let you ride around with men-like teenagers with bikes? I will not be whispered about Edward! I will not!"
"But..."
"No buts, I have work to do, Goodbye."
The abrupt click signaled her hanging up."
I stayed there for at least five minutes, staring at the large portrait of a small boy fishing beside a lake, before putting the phone down.
"Thanks mom."
Ever since we moved four months ago, I'd been dying to go to a real beach or into the city. LA was most likely a six-hour drive from San Francisco. But mom was less concerned about the time, and more concerned about something happening to her little baby, that only she and a person she could lecture for hours on end about what would happen if I didn't come backing one piece, with every single hair on the right section of my head (she had attempted to count them once) could take me even around the corner.
Because of her insane obsession with action movies, she was convinced I'd get unwillingly dragged into a gun fight and would have to learn the art of shooting and all that. Then I'd probably end up entering a tournament and have to compete on an island where only the fittest survive. With skilled fighters such as those I'd probably end up killed, in a torture chamber, or in a basement.
In shorter words, my mom was insane.
Positively.
Sighing, I plopped down on the sofa and grabbed the remote, barely sparing a glance at the cartoon going on before I deemed myself hungry again. I went to the kitchen.
During the spreading of cream cheese on a bagel I'd found, I heard the distinct putter-putter of a bike coming up the drive.
Taking a bite out of my bagel, I wondered why Jake was coming to my house. It couldn't have been any one else. He was the only one I knew with a bike.
It wasn't that I didn't like Jacob, he was my friend. But the fact that he chose to dangle in my face that Bella had chosen him over me, whenever possible, irked me to no end. Whether directly or indirectly he always found someway to talk about that fact.
Whether we were just looking at a billboard or a movie poster with the main characters making goo-goo eyes at each other, he would always say that he and Bella where in love just like that.
We only hung out when Bella wasn't free to either of us, and we were both stuck with either no one worth our time, for him, or just hardly any friends, for me. In short, I was a bit antisocial. But I blame my mother...
Just saying.
So I was surprised to hear the bike stop and not actually ride away like they were at the wrong house.
Taking another bite out of my innocent bagel, I listened as the soft soles of an unseen shoe came on the porch, followed by the clomp of Jacob's boots, and then started toward the door.
The moment I went around the corner to the door, the bell started being rung forcefully over and over again, until I got fed up and shouted 'okay!' directly in front of the door.
"Edward, open this door!"
Bella? I opened the door in surprise. I was originally planning to let Jacob and whatever friend he had stew, until I heard her voice.
I didn't open the door fully before Bella edged past and rushed in.
"Wha- What? Bella?"
"Hey Edward, where's the remote?" she called from what sounded like the living room.
"I don't know." I looked confusingly up at Jacob, hoping he would explain what this sudden intrusion was about.
No such luck. He patted my shoulder and in one word seemed...scared?
What was going on?
He walked past me, patting my shoulder. "Oh you'll see."
To say I was confused was an understatement. Throwing away the now cold bagel, I ventured into the living room to find Bella upturning the pillows on the sofa.
Sitting down on the loveseat, I watched as Jacob threw the now found remote over to Bella.
"Just wait." She sat down and flipped through the channels until she found CNN.
A dark-haired news reporter showed up on the TV in front of an unfamiliar building, but the building was huge, with people and police-officers out in front spanning the security tape keeping the people away from the building.
Had someone been killed? Assassinated? The President? Another country? Were they seeking help from the military?
"...Unexpected phenomenon, that has in one word baffled the world! Persons from small towns around have...gathered in front of the Town Hall and are still coming in swarms towards it. Helicopters as you can hear are uh, arriving, and we have gotten word that other countries Heads of State and Prime Ministers have been calling in. NASA is trying to access one of its satellites to try and figure out how they possibly maneuvered around it..."
True to her word, the helicopters drowned out her voice for a couple seconds, and she combed back her long hair as it flew in front of her face.
"...I have gotten word that the...uh...President is on his way here at this very moment, and we can only wait with baited breath on what will be the outcome. It is obvious that no one expected this as we can see. But this is what scientists and astronauts have been striving to prove and had died trying. But they have found us instead of the other way around."
The television went to a split screen between the lady and a news anchor as he asked her a question.
"Has there been any word from the...people...inside?"
She nodded her head listening, her response coming a few seconds later because of the transmission.
"No there has been no word, or reaction from the persons inside. We have yet to find out if this is a hoax, but as we have seen earlier, this is most likely not. A video of their alleged spaceship was caught by a startled resident. There is not much to be seen from the looks of it..." A video of something flying by extremely fast came up in her place with grainy quality and a great deal of shaking, "...but if you play it in slow motion, one can most certainly make out a very large object, with a determined length and size of a large cruise ship with an unusual shape."
Another helicopter sounded above. "This looks like the President!" the camera focused on a settling helicopter. "Yes, this is the President of The United States! On the other side he is seen coming out of the helicopter, with...yes his family! We are hoping to resolve this matter as soon as possible. This is one more moment that the world sits on the edge of their seats to find out what is happening. Victoria Hudges reported from the state of Washington outside the Town Hall of Seattle in King County. Back to you Peter."
"Thanks Victoria." He turned to the camera, "For those just joining us, the biggest stir yet in the History of the World is taking place right now. At 11:00 am Western Time today; there was a report of an Unidentified Flying Object over the town of Seattle. Right now the world is experiencing its hours of unknown. It seems that aliens have, in two words, found Earth."
I had been surprised many times in my life. I had been scared shitless. I had been joked around mercilessly. I even gotten the crap kicked straight out of me once or twice, but I had never in all my sixteen years been as surprised as I was now. I heard Bella gasp, and I heard Jacob suck in a breath, but they were just background sounds as I processed this information.
Aliens?
No way in a thousand years...
For the first time since Bella had turned on the TV, my eyes drifted down to the little boxes on the bottom left hand corner of the screen.
The headline was as clear as day: Aliens alleged in Seattle; President arrives on scene.
The male anchor didn't care though, he continued," Six persons who look just like people have come and claimed that they are from another planet. It is not certain if they have come to be friend or foe, we can only wait until we have all the information...There now seems to be a feed coming in from Seattle..." he adjusted his ear piece, "Yes Victoria? What seems to be happening?"
A box with Victoria popped up, "Yes Peter...it seems that the President has spoken to these...people and is now ready to say something to the world about this. Here he is right now."
They zoomed in as two persons brought out a podium to speak from.
The President walked out and I naturally zoned out from his speech. I didn't like speeches, but he didn't spend very long, I was sorting out my thoughts when the last bit caught me, "...no threat to us. They also wish to say something on their behalf." He stepped back as the six persons talked about prior stepped out.
Then my mouth fell for the second time that day.
The one in front...had slim hips and a slim waist and a slim everything and a petite body that was like a mini fashion models. She was the one who walked up to the podium like she was on air, which could have been a possibility, her short dark brown hair bouncing with every soft step of fragility, and her big brown eyes filled with softness that was like melted chocolate over vanilla.
On the right of her were two dazzling people, a blonde with her hair pinned back lightly, and looking soft to the touch, her perfectly widened hips and slender waist helping her body achieve the dream look. Her Caribbean Sea blue eyes held a look that somehow did not display coldness, but a simple disregard for what she didn't find worthy of her attention. With his hand on her hip was a titanic guy, but his muscles on top of muscles and his loftiness only helped in making him very attractive. He grinned at the people obviously liking attention and his light brown, gold freckled eyes lit up with a sort of joy that held true happiness.
On the left side of the small one, were two equally stunning persons, another blonde and a chestnut haired lady. The blonde held his head high with a certain power, but with certain warmth that said people could come to him for anything. His oddly pure golden eyes surveyed the crowds with warmth and kindness and peace. The chestnut haired lady held an even higher level of kindness with her. She seemed like the mom everyone wanted. She made you want to run up and give her hug, and she wouldn't ask questions...she'd just hug you back until you broke down and hugged her even more. Her warm smile was like a blanket in Christmas, and her brown, blue speckled eyes were like the summer sun in the late afternoon or early morning, a welcoming warmth.
The last person though made my eyebrows rise. He was alone, a little to the side beside the hulking guy and the blonde female. What struck me was that his gaze and face were blank, an unreadable slate. His churning pool of ice-blue eyes reminded me or a glacier in The Artic. He looked around him with no feeling. Neither coldness nor warmness; He was closed off to the world. His curls of sunshine blonde hair whipped around in the wind and he looked off in the distance as the world stared at them and him.
The small dark-haired one took a breathe, before she started talking and the crowds, the streets, even the dogs hushed in silence and the cars stopped, in anticipation of what she would say.
She parted her thin pink lips, and in the tone of a small baby's lullaby and a mockingbird's song, began the first sentence...
And there was actually more to write, but I wanted feedback before I actually begun this story. The idea just came to me and I wanted to see what I could do with it. It was kinda fun writing this chapter, and even if you don't like it, or are apprehensive, leave a review please, just to let me know. It will get better, if I get some positive feedback, so...yeah that's it. Uh, until a next time...
-Werepire