"Did you get your share of the snacks, Scarlett?" asks Mr. Wahimi – my chemistry teacher – as he closes the chemical supply closet. "Yeah, thank you for the snacks, Mr. Wahimi," I chipperly reply while packing the last of my meager school supplies into my backpack. As I leave the classroom and walk throughout the scarcely populated halls, I hear Mr. Wahimi shout, "Have a great day, Scarlett! See you at graduation!"
I smile at the portly man and yell equally as loudly, "You too, Mr. Wahimi! See you next week!"
Today was my last day of senior year in high school, and if it weren't for the messy chemistry supply closet, I would have been out of this accursed place two hours ago. Although Mr.Wahimi is my favorite teacher and I'm always disposed to giving a helping hand, today was the day I've been dreaming of for years. I honestly wanted school to end sooner.
I am not an official graduate, but I could already feel a sense of liberty wash over me – liberty with a hint of anxiety. My prospective future has me full of anticipation, but the responsibility that comes with living alone and being an adult has me a bit scared.
My aunt was the only one in my family that ever went to college, so I've heard only tidbits of advice. Aunt Lily once told me that the college curriculum wasn't what I had to worry about. According to her, student life and self-discipline were the most challenging aspects of being a college student. Even while knowing this, I want to experience this challenge for myself. I'm willing to shed the protective blanket my mother has practically glued to my skin. Aunt Lily would agree with my decision.
With thoughts of my future and my aunt's advice, I made my way to the school's parking lot and unlocked one of the few cars on the lot. My green Kia lit up, and I position myself inside - right after throwing the snacks Mr. Wahimi gifted his senior class on to the passenger seat.
I slowly drove away from the large white and yellow building and took in the scenery around me for one last time. Graduation wouldn't be held in the school's auditorium, so today was my last stroll through the long and winding road of cotton filled trees and vibrant orange flowers. This picturesque scene before me is one of the few things I will miss in Hopewell, my hometown.
My attention is drawn to my passenger window, where a single short tree with its beautiful purple flowers displayed its vibrance. It wasn't the first time I'd seen the tree, but it would surely be the last.
Just as I was about to look back at the road, I hear a sound come from my phone, and I quickly pick it up. While making sure to look forward before reading the text, a loud sound reaches my ears, and everything goes black.
I could hear shouts coming from somewhere. Someone was desperately crying, and a mechanical voice repeated welcoming words. Still, I couldn't fully interpret anything within the dark void. I couldn't see, smell, or feel anything for a long time. When I started to regain some cognitive ability, my senses came back slowly – along with a skull shattering headache.
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was my small steering wheel wrapped in a pink Cheetah print cover. There were loud vibrations that kept me jumping in my seat; the same vibrations were probably the culprit of my alert mind and open eyes. I cranked my neck upwards, but my vision blurs, and I almost pass out from the excruciating pain coming from my upper body. The pain was intolerable. I lean back on the car seat and rest my eyes for a little while longer until the vibrations start again. Along with the quaking earth, I could also hear a booming sound resembling stomps. My eyes go wide, and for the first time since I've been awake, I see the giant rock structure in front of me.
With pained groans and a hastily palpitating heart, I step out of my car and take in what happened. I could thoroughly deduce that I crashed my car into the boulder from the way my hood was releasing steam. I spin around to see any other abnormalities and find more than I could have ever imagined.
The sky is red and not the orange-red color reflecting the setting sun – the sky is blood red. Everything is dead around me, and I can't see any cotton or orange flowers for as far as the human eye could see. What the fuck happened? Where am I? This is all I can ask myself before I explore my surroundings a bit more.
I walk around the boulder with a limp and notice that my right leg is lame and swollen and that I'm bleeding from my head. My skin is also irritated from where the seatbelt pressed against my torso.
All thoughts of treatment or calling for help were thrown out the window when I noticed something extra peculiar behind the boulder. It was a long tail, about a meter long, and covered in white feathers. My curiosity is peaked, but I'm not stupid enough to see what's behind the freakish rock, so I run as best I can with a lame right leg to my green KIA. While shuffling inside the car, I try to turn on the engine but the car doesn't even make a sound. I remove the keys and again attempt to turn on the vehicle, and this time I can hear the engine rumble, but the car doesn't turn on.
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It would not relent, so I removed the keys from their place. While releasing a heavy breath, the world begins to shake once again. I jump in the car seat and panic when I hear a loud screech come from behind the tall boulder. My arms scrambled to get the keys inside their holster one last time while the cry gets closer and closer to my general location. One more time! One more time!
I continuously chant prayers in my mind as I attempt to turn the car on, but nothing appears to work. My fists start to hit the car's dashboard with anger while a hot stream of tears falls from my hysterically wide eyes.
Right as the screech is beside my passenger window, the car roars to life, and more hot tears stream down my face. As I shift gears to reverse and manage to escape the open mouth of a white feathered reptile, a manic grin appears on my face. I step on the gas pedal with my swollen right leg and speed back to the place I thought I'd leave behind forever.
To my surprise, the reptilian bird wasn't shaken off by my speed at all; on the contrary, the bird stretched out a pair of wings I've failed to notice, and it clawed the road's pavement. He propelled himself forward with his winged arms and fierce claws. It did not seem like he could fly, but his methods were good enough to reach 110 miles per hour – which is approximately the speed I'm going at.
The trek that would typically take 20 minutes took half as long, but when I arrived near my school – or at least where my school once was – I could only see a bloody ocean. For as far as the sky stretched, the red sea stretched as long. My speed didn't decrease in the slightest because of the white menace beside me.
Yes, beside me. My car was going almost 120 miles per hour, but the white-feathered monstrosity was right beside me. It didn't have a beak to peck with; instead, it had a long purple tongue that extended itself to my car's passenger window. I move my car in a zig-zag motion to stop the lizard from wrapping its vicious tongue around my passenger door.
After what felt like hours - but was only minutes - I look to my right to catch a glimpse of the beast's whereabouts, but the monster is nowhere in sight. My swollen leg hovers over the breaks in anticipation, yet I refuse to slow down.
A stump as loud as they come makes me, once again, speed up my dingy car, but my heart slows down its pace, and I finally breathe out.
I look through my rearview mirror and my eyes make a double take. What I find is horrifying, to say the least, and it gets my heart pumping blood at an unimaginable speed once again. I am no longer plagued by one reptilian bird. No, I was now being hunted by three – each one faster than the last. This is a fucking nightmare.
Why can't I see that damn school?! I couldn't help but internally scream. A black reptilian bird stayed at my rear and bumps against the back of my worn-out car. The two other reptiles – both white – come to either side of me and throw their feather-covered bodies against my vehicle. I swerved my car as a response to the reptile's attacks and soon find myself hitting my breaks as hard as possible.
The birds were a threat, yes, but the cliff ahead of me appeared deadlier. I'm panicking and screaming as hard as I can, but I topple over the cliff anyway. Thankfully, my car doesn't flip over and instead leans back a tad until we land back on solid ground. Something hits my head again, and everything goes back to black.
Nothingness didn't entirely cease the fears that sprung from every crevice of my mind, but it did help numb them. My eyes open once again, but I take longer to move around and look through my blurry vision. I get through yet another bout of unconsciousness, but the pain from my swollen and beaten body almost lulls me back to sleep.
As my arm stretches to open the door to the left of me, all I can feel is empty space. There is nothing there. My head shoots up, and I almost faint again from the agonizing pain. My neck creaks to the left, but all I can see is a dark ocean stretching for miles. Some of the ocean water seeped into my doorless car, and now my jeans were soaked with piss, and what I think is saltwater. I look to the slightly elevated right side of my car, and I am astonished by the sheer number of shrubs and wildflowers overtaking what was once a man-made construct. My snacks and backpack are still intact. The half-filled water bottle next to my bag was calling my name, so I drink from it without hesitation. The snacks are the next thing to be devoured by me.
Something about almost dying after being attacked by a pack of feathered dinosaurs and falling off a cliff made a girl hungry and dehydrated. As I eat my bag of Cheetos and milk chocolate bonbons, I take in the scenery around me. A red flower with a bell-like shape and hundreds of spores coming out of it was glowing in the moon's bright presence. It was strange and honestly disturbing. I grab it, tear it from its stem, and throw the disruptive plant out into the ocean. The rest of the plants mysteriously wilt away, and now my sight is much clearer.
I realize I am moving shortly after propping my head up. Well, not me per se, but the island I landed on.
Is it weird that at this point, I really don't care anymore? I crashed into a large boulder, got hunted by a pack of reptiles, and fell off a cliff and onto a moving island. Today has been an impossible day to deal with, so I'm not going to deal with it.
I take off my yellow and white striped hoody and leave my sweaty black undershirt on. While I lay across the backside of my car, I hug the hoody tightly. "The moon looks brighter than ever," is the last thing I said to myself before closing my eyes and succumbing to the nothingness I've become sourly familiar with.