It's fourth of July of 1998. Hurrah. For normal people it's a reason to get drunk and forget their troubles. Dad takes full advantage of the opportunity. We attended one of those all day carnival that on one attends all day. I know it's somewhere on the eastern shore. Maybe Boston. Dad's somewhere getting drunk in the crowd of a heavy metal band. I told Sammy to stay at the motel. He'd probably just stand of in the back mooning over some girl with a book in her hands anyway. I've got a beer and a big bag of overpriced popcorn next to me as I lay in the waist high grass. I'm well enough away that no one will bother me but I can still hear the music somewhere behind me. Than again I think I hear people on long Island complaining about the music.
I'd just finished walking down the grass and got comfortable when I a meteor shower started. Dad actually went to the trouble of checking the weather before we came out here and we saw nothing about a shower tonight. I laid back and just relaxed. Letting the light from the meteors dance on the back of my eyelids.
I'd found the brink of sleep when a speck of light on my eyelids grew bigger and didn't stop growing. My eyes shot open just in time to see something ablaze the size of a garbage can crash to my left. I expected the music to come to a grinding halt but past the fire nothing was out of the ordinary. I sat up slowly and gripped my switch blade. As I tried to survey the danger I went through what this could be in my head. It was second nature now but I was crossing off every creature I knew. My train of thought was broken by the words. "Really Balthazaer. I..."
A man in a tattered trench coat stood up from the ruins. Soon the flames seem to have put them selves out and he was brushing himself off. He didn't appear to notice until I stood up and faced him.
He looked at me but not in the eyes. More like around my face and said. "Oh, I'm so sorry. He can be very rude sometimes."
I brought my hand to my face and found I was bleeding. Not profusely but a little from many cuts around my face down to my left shoulder. I felt stupid for not realizing this in the first place and now it started to sting. The man put his hand to my forehead and closed his eyes. I felt a cold rush of air and suddenly the stringing was gone.
When he pulled his hand back I looked at the wounds but I couldn't find any.
"I suggest you find somewhere's safety for the next few days. A war is afoot." He said plainly.
Before I got the chance to asked what the hell that mean there was a bigger gush of air and he winked out of existence, and so did the damage. Like it had never happened. I laid back down and fell sleep in the grass and pretended it was all a dream. But when I woke up I remembered it clear as day. I told myself it was all a dream. but I did insist we should get a safer motel room. Dad being drunk at the time it was no problem. In the next few days the there were many more unexpected meteor shower all around the country. Some did considerable damage.
A week later I was telling Sammy about it when he laughed and said. "I guess Mom was right. Angels are watching over us."