Cindy found herself in a wide field of grass with large holes and fissures in the ground. She remembered being in her office about to call for her manager when the building shook and then swayed. Her secretary ran into the room, screaming in fright. Living most of her life in Southern California she knew what an earthquake felt like and she was about to say something to her secretary, when her necklace grew warm on her skin.

She became encased in a hazy amber colored sphere. Cindy tried to yell at her secretary, but she was whisked away. She broke through the window and the building she was in started to topple and fall. She screamed and screamed. All the high rise buildings fell and she heard the sound of crashing struts and buildings. It echoed with the sound of people shouting and yelling.

Cindy was not sure what happened next. She was flung away, landing in this park. The sphere disappeared and her high heels sank into the grass. She knew where she was. She was in Central Park, but all the landmarks were erased as if a giant had pounded the earth, creating large mountains and picking up trees, flinging them around.

The usual large high-rise buildings that surrounded the outside of the park were gone or fractured. Another tremor shook the ground and she held out her hand to steady herself. She sucked in some air, realizing she had been holding her breath.

She wondered why an earthquake shook New York. This is crazy, she thought. Things like this did not happen in the real world, but only in blockbuster thriller movies and she was not in a movie. She heard screaming coming from her right and Cindy saw several people running toward her. A woman and a teen rushed to her with a police officer close behind. He was waving his gun, gesturing at her to move.

Cindy looked around. She was not sure why they were running until she saw something crawl out of the large hole behind them. At first, she knew what the "thing" was. Cindy had seen these insects many times in New York and also at home in California. Yet it was much larger and much more menacing. The insect waved its antennae around as if searching. She also heard another noise. It spoke a word over and over, "Grog, grog."

The large roach lumbered out of the hole and started toward her. The police officer yelled, "Run!" The first creature scrambled to her. Cindy ran because several hundred roaches moved toward her. Cindy tried not to panic but she screamed, looking for an escape route. The roaches were coming from everywhere. The lady holding her dog caught up to her. The officer was close behind. He held his gun and took several shots at the first group of roaches. The bullets slammed into the creatures, but the insects kept moving.

Revulsion filled Cindy. Her feet slipped a few times. She forgot she was wearing her high heels. She flung them off and ran, her stockinged feet barely feeling the grass and dirt.

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The man said, "This way."

They ran up a steep hill and turned around a corner. A castle rose above everything, the structure amazingly intact. They ran up the steps to the front entrance, but a creature broke through the interior causing a big hole to appear in the front of the castle. Cindy stopped. They were surrounded. The people around her also stopped. The roaches came at them on all sides.

Terror filled her and Cindy wanted to scream but then she felt her necklace grow warm. Her arms flung outward.

She said, "Duck!"

The police officer looked at her as if she was crazy, but he sensed something was coming because he told everybody to drop to the ground. Cindy was filled with intense light and power. Her body trembled and she suddenly let loose something. Ice shards appeared and shot at the roaches, killing many of the insects.

She heard the sound of squishy explosions. Guts and blood filled the ground. Her body started to fill with white hot energy. She created waves of water from her outstretched hands which slammed into the roaches.

The water pushed trees, dirt and parts of the castle far away from their position. Cindy's arms felt like lead and she dropped them to her sides. She swayed where she stood. Her spell ceased and her body shook and then she fell to the ground. Her eyesight dimmed and she knew no more.

***

Cindy awoke, finding the officer staring at her. He was handsome with short black hair and an Italian face which was contorted in fear. She noticed his hand was close to his pistol. The sun shone from above in a cloudless sky. She took a long breath and moved to a sitting position. Her body ached and her head felt like it had been hit several times. Gripping her temples, she moaned.

The officer said, "Who are you?"

She brushed back her short blond her, wishing he didn't stare at her with fright.

"My name is Cindy Paulson. I was a manager at Ames and Zucker Financial services."

"I am Dan. The lady over there is Mary and the girl is her daughter, Rochelle." He paused, "How did you do that?"

Cindy shook her head. "I don't know. I just did it."

Rochelle had dark red hair like her mom. She gazed at her with wonder. She said, "Are you a wizard?"

"Sorry," Mary said. "My daughter reads a lot of fantasy books."

Cindy looked to Rochelle. "No. The power just came to me. Officer Dan, where are the other police officers. Are they coming to help?"

He shook his head. "I tried to use my cell phone, but it doesn't work. I lost my walkie talkie while we were running from those things."

Rochelle's young face looked scared. "How did those roaches get so big?"

Officer Dave said, "I don't know. I have seen large roaches before but nothing as big as those things."

"Maybe some radiation leaked out somewhere?" she said.

Dave said, "if that was true then we should be sick or something."

Cindy said, "What do we do now?"

"We should find a police precinct," Officer Dave replied. "Are you fine to move?"

"Yes, give me a few minutes. I’m a little shaky."