The sun's welcoming rays shine through the closed blinds. A girl stirs in her sleep on the brink of awakening. She smiles as she sits up and yawns. Her long brown hair, falling to the middle of her back, shines in the morning light. She opens her eyes as she stretches her arms and stops as she looks at her alarm clock.
"Oh no! I'm late!" she runs out of her bedroom, getting dressed as she runs down the stairs. She skids across the floor to a halt in the kitchen, nearly falling in the process, and says in a rushed voice "Sorry mom! No time to eat, I'm late for school!" She grabs her bag.
"Sahra! Wait! School is canceled today!" Sahra pauses mid-step at the door and turns to look at her mother. "Yeah, a pipe burst and the school is flooded." Her mom laughs.
Sahra relaxes and says "Why didn't I see that coming?"
"What was that, dear?" Tammy says.
"Oh nothing! I was just talking to myself!" Sahra replies in a hurried voice, trying to cover up her brief lapse of thought. Tammy looks at her daughters retreating back and sighs.
"I will never understand that girl." She sighs as she continues with making lunch.
Sahra drops her bag onto the floor and walks into the living room where she finds her dad and brothers watching TV. From the sound of it, it sounded like football. Sahra shakes her head and runs upstairs to the serenity of her room. She turns on her stereo and plays her sounds of nature CD. Soothing sounds of waterfalls with a soft flute solo circle her room. She rolls out her rug and sits on it. Crossing her legs, she begins to relax her mind, taking deep breaths and letting the stresses and worries of everyday life ebb away into nothingness. She smiles to herself as she drifts into an acute state of meditation.
Sahra closes her mind and concentrates on her inner self. She sees shapes and shadows, but she can't make anything of them. She concentrates harder, drifting into a deep state of near unconsciousness, thinking only of what she sees before her in her mind. The shapes begin to focus and she knows something is about to happen. She tenses up slightly for the revealing of these troublesome images, excitement coursing through her body. The images flash rapidly through her mind. Suddenly, the doorbell rings.
Sahra snaps out of her deep state and gets up to answer the door. "I got it!" she shouts down the stairs to her parents. She walks briskly up to the door, knowing before she even opened it who it was standing on the other side and smiles.
"Hello Donny!" she says cheerfully as she opens the front door. Her best friend, Donny Winter, stood before her smiling right back at her. His blondish hair falls neatly upon his head and his eyes withhold a realm of intelligence behind his glasses.
"Hey Sahra!" He replies, a look of worry on his face. He adds in an undertone "have you sensed anything-" he pauses to look around to make sure no one was listening "-strange?" He looks at her with unease in his eyes.
Sahra hesitates for a second, then says "Yes! I was going to ask you the same thing!" she beckons him inside. "Lets go upstairs, it will be much quieter and we can talk about this in private, without listening ears." Sahra shouts to her parents "Donny's here, we're going to go upstairs and study."
"Alright honey, lunch will be ready shortly." her mom shouts up to the backs of the ascending teenagers.
Sahra opens the door with a flick of her hand and walks inside. Donny follows her.
Sahra sits on her rug and invites Donny to sit beside her. She looks at her school books and levitates them toward her. The CD player begins to play the sounds of nature with another flick of her hand.
"OK, now we can talk. What do you think it is? I was just meditating about it before you came." Sahra sighs.
"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, its not good." Donny replies with regret.
"I know, I've had this feeling of impending doom hovering over me." She sighs, glad to have Donny to talk to about her thoughts. She didn't know what she would do without him.
"Sahra?"
Sahra jolts out of her thoughts and says "Yes, what is it?"
Donny hesitates for a second, then repeats "I was just asking you if you had seen anything." He looks at her with an amused gleam in his eyes.
"Not really," Sahra replies quickly, recovering herself "I've only seen shapes and shadows. How about you?" she fiddles with her fingers.
"Same here. I've tried to figure it out, but I've gotten nothing."
"Maybe we should try to figure it out together? Here, give me your hands." she holds out her hands, palms up, to Donny.
Donny rests his hands on top of hers and closes his eyes. Sahra says in a quiet voice "Relax and take deep breaths. Listen to the peaceful sounds of nature." Her shoulders relax as she slips into a meditative state.
Just as she slips into the state, her heart begins to race. Something was coming, something huge. Her body begins to tremble from fear and excitement. The ground beneath them seems to tremble, though it was only the effects of the images imprinted within their minds. Donny, who was experiencing the same feelings, gasps as a bright flash illuminates their minds. They open their eyes with a gasp, their eyes full of shock and fear.
"What was that?" Sahra exclaims in a worried tone.
"I'm not sure, but it can't be good. We need to figure this out." Donny closes his eyes and concentrates on the fading image that he saw. After a minute or so, the image vanished and he opens his eyes, defeated.
"Sahra! Donny! Lunch is ready!" calls Sahra's mother up the stairs. Sahra looks at Donny and sighs.
"We'd better put on a happy face and go eat. We don't want her to suspect anything." Sahra smiles and leaves the room, leading the way downstairs.
As they walk into the kitchen, the smell of freshly made grilled cheese sandwiches fill the room with a tantalizing aroma. "Oh! It smells so good!" Sahra grabs a plate and helps herself to two sandwiches. She grabs a glass from her cupboard and helps herself to a glass of milk as well. "Donny, want some milk?" She says, reaching for another glass.
"Sure! Thanks." Donny smiles at Tammy and says "Thanks mom! It looks very appetizing!" He grabs a plate and sits at the table beside Sahra.
"Well, I'm glad you approve!" smiles Tammy. "So how is studying going?"
Donny and Sahra exchange looks and say "Oh, its fine! We're getting it done!" Sahra smiles, hoping her mom didn't suspect anything. Sahra could sense a slight bout of disappointment from her mom, but she didn't have time to think about that now. More pressing matters weighed upon her mind.
Tammy smiles and says "Good! It makes me fell very happy to know that you care so much about your schoolwork!" She merrily washes the dishes, humming as she does so. Sahra takes the last bite of her sandwich and looks at Donny, who was already finished.
"Donny and I are going to go for a walk." Sahra says to her mother.
"OK! Have fun and stay out of trouble!" Tammy says as she hugs them both.
"Don't worry, we will!" Donny and Sahra reply in unison. They walk toward the door and step into the sunlit afternoon.
