Sarah James stretched as she woke up from her afternoon nap. She sat up on the bed and jumped off in an excited sort of way. She was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness and had to grab her bedpost to support herself.
'Not again,' she thought annoyed.
It had been the third time that week she'd had the dizzy spells hit her. She shook her head to clear it and walked out into the living room to see her mother.
'I don't need to tell her. It's probably nothing,' Sarah convinced herself.
"Hello sleepyhead. Finished napping now?" her mother said teasingly.
Sarah poked out her tongue at her mother and then smiled.
"Yes ma, I'm done."
"Excellent, now you can take the dog for a walk."
"Aww, but ma!" Sarah complained.
"No buts, she's your dog and you have to walk her," Mrs. James curtly replied.
Sarah made a face, as her mother was right, and walked out into the garage to fetch the dog lead. She walked back through the house and out the front door, calling for her dog.
"Come on Maxie, we're going for a walk!" Sarah told the dog in a bright tone.
Maxine, Maxie for short, wagged her tail happily in reply and rushed over to Sarah and almost knocked her over.
"Woah there Maxie-boo. Let me put your lead on and we're off."
The dog wiggled impatiently, but allowed Sarah to clip on the lead before heaving the small, thin girl down the front stairs and started to head up the street.
"Maxie slow down!" Sarah chided the dog, trying not to laugh at her enthusiasm.
Girl and dog proceeded up the road at a moderate pace, stopping every now and then so Maxie could 'smell the flowers'.
They neared the first street corner and Sarah halted, making the dog stop also. A large truck was coming along the street they were to cross, so Sarah waited for it to come.
Without warning a cat streaked across the road and Maxie, unaware of danger, pulled savagely on the lead and brought herself and Sarah out into the middle of the road just as the truck was about to turn the corner.
There were two loud yelps as truck hit flesh and in desperation, Sarah released the dog lead as she was flung high up into the air.
Things started to go in slow motion as Sarah fell. She literally saw her life flash before her eyes and she called out to the dog as she landed again on the ground with a loud 'thud'. As the world went black, all Sarah could think about was how she never wanted to give up the life she had gotten.
***
Kai awoke with a start. He had had the weirdest dream of a girl being hit by a truck. He sat up in his bed and looked around. He was still were he fell asleep. He got up and the room swam before his eyes as he lost his centre of gravity and crashed to the floor. He yelled out in surprise and in pain.
He heard loud thumps of footsteps as the others rushed upstairs to find out what caused the yell.
"Kai!" Max, Tyson and Ray exclaimed in unison as they appeared at the door to find Kai heaving himself off the floor.
"Hey man, are you okay?" Tyson was the first to ask and stepped over to Kai and put a hand on him.
Kai shrugged the hand off and grumbled, "I'm fine. I just fell, that's all."
Ray tilted his head to the side and peered at Kai curiously, "Are you sure Kai? You look kinda pale."
Tyson snorted and gave Ray a pointed look, "Kai ALWAYS looks pale Ray."
Ray swiped at Tyson good-humouredly before replying, "I know that Tyson. I mean more pale… than usual."
Kai shook his head to clear it as the room was starting to spin again slightly and pushed the three boys out of the room, "Really I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. Just lost my footing."
"How can you—" Max started to say but the door was closed before he could finish his question.
"—Lose your footing on a flat carpeted floor?" Ray finished and he and Max shared a look.
Tyson looked at them with a blank expression, "What are you guys talking about? I lost my footing once when I was in my room. Boy I didn't see my own two feet. I nearly fell—hey! Where are you guys going?"
He watched the blonde and raven-haired boys walk off down the hall leaving him to talk to himself.
"Man, how rude!" he grumbled before following them.
Inside the room, Kai sat back down on his bed and wondered what had given him the dizzy spell. He recalled how the girl in his dream had the same dizzy spell when she woke. He shrugged it off as fatigue. Once again he got up off the bed, this time he didn't feel giddy. He grabbed his Beyblade and opened the door. He felt like challenging Tyson to a match.
As he neared the stairs, he thought again about the girl and why he dreamed of such a thing when suddenly as in his dream, a cat sprinted in front of him, causing him to trip.
His Beyblade sailed in the air and Kai went forward, crashing down the stairs two at a time before finally stopping at the base in a crumpled up heap. He tried to stay awake and as he saw Tyson rushing towards him, he lost consciousness.