Sometimes a seemingly normal event can turn out to be something quite odd. For example, if someone had described the weather on that day as a rainstorm, no one would think much about it. But if one were to go in more detail, and talk about how the rain didn’t feel like water, how the clouds were a dark shade of purple, and how different colored bolts of lighting would come down… chances are they would give it more than a second glance. Though as strange as it was, the people of Roseville were more concerned with getting out of it than thinking about it much.

Everywhere, they were hurrying into cars, and rushing into the buildings where they worked. Some people, very lucky people indeed, were asleep at home and weren’t paying attention to the rain. May, as well as the other students at Roseville high, were rushing into school as an attempt to avoid the rain. Despite her effort, May still ended up soaked, her red hair dripping as she walked along the halls. At least she wasn’t alone, every student that day was covered in rainwater.

When she finally reached her locker, she was somewhat drier than before. Her locker laid on the third floor, so it wasn’t exactly a short walk. Roseville High was a huge high school, with three floors that seemed to go on forever. Every floor looked the same—never-ending halls of lockers and classrooms. There were barely any windows in the school, the only ones being narrow and by the ceiling. As a person who quite liked most of school, May couldn’t help but be a little bit sad about the school’s dull and depressing appearance.

May began to open her locker when-BAM. The loud noise echoed across the halls as Troy, the boy who’s locker was next to May’s, found his books and papers fall out of his locker. This wasn’t all that surprising as this often happened every day. May sighed and shook her head. She opened up her locker. Unlike Troy, her’s was extremely organized, with her books and folders stacked neatly together. She put everything she would need in her bag with a science book… just in case.

Despite the strangeness of the storm, school turned out to be fairly normal. She went to all her classes, and tried to participate in every one. May correctly answered almost every question she was called on for. However, in English she had failed to be correct for once.

The teacher had split them up into groups, and they were quizzing each other on questions for an upcoming test.

“Ok… May, describe all the apparitions the witches showed Macbeth,” said Alex, the boy sitting across from her. It was clear he was uninterested, as there was no excitement in his voice.

“Oh… um…” May struggled to remember what had happened during that scene. When she had read it, not only had it been late at night, but she hadn’t been particularly fond of the scene. Tiredness and unwillingness to read had not served her well.

“Do you not know?” Alex asked.

May sighed. “No…” she knew she would have to study hard if she wanted to keep her grade up.

Macbeth wasn’t exactly a fantasy tale, but the scenes about witches and prophecies weren’t exactly May’s favorite. She wasn’t into fantasy, sci-fi, or the supernatural. She used to enjoy those things, but as she grew older that changed. In those stories, the characters would always go on extraordinary adventures with amazing friends. When she was little she used to think, just maybe, she would go on an adventure of her own. However, as she grew older, she only became more convinced nothing in those stories were possible. They were simply childish tales. Stupid, unbelievable, and pointless.

Nowadays May was very into science, history, math...really anything that had actual reason and logic behind it. Nothing she found stupid or impossible, just hardcore facts that could actually take place.

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Nevertheless, she knew she would have to force herself to study those scenes.

After English, she headed to lunch. She always sat with three or four other girls. They had been friends with someone May was close to in elementary school, but had unfortunately moved away.

The girls began to talk about a math test, but May simply looked down and ate. She wanted to join in on the conversation, but the idea of it made her anxious. What would she say? Would they judge her if she began to speak? She did truly want friends, but it seemed much easier to stay silent.

The rain continued throughout the day, and it only grew heavier as it went on. By the end of the day the rain was so heavy one could barely see through it. Once the bell rang, May dashed to the bus. She hoped the storm would be calmer by the time she reached home. But as she looked out the window, all she saw was rain pouring down. Every once and awhile, the colorful lightning would strike, and the world would be coated in light and color. She sighed and decided to try and read until the ride ended. She spent most of the ride like that, immersed in her book—when suddenly the bus came to a jolting stop. May looked out the window.

A line of cars was stopped in the middle of the street. This wasn’t the weird part as traffic could always happen when it rained. The truly weird thing was the cause of the traffic. Outside the front window, May could see a man standing in front of the cars. He was staring up at the sky, completely ignoring the beeping of cars and angry shouts all around him. Nothing could cause his focus to drift from the sky. May recognized this man, she was sure everyone in town did. He was a man everyone knew of, but no one knew personally. The man in the alley.

He was a strange, dirty looking man who seemed to spend all his time in one alleyway. No one knew who he was, why he was there, or if he had a home to go to. And they certainly didn’t know why he happened to be in the middle of the road, staring at the sky as if his life depended on it.

May stopped and stared for a few minutes, trying to figure out what he could possibly be doing. However, as the bus driver groaned and began to take a detour, she was forced to forget about it.

✶

Before long, May was in her house, rainwater dripping on the floor as she put her school bag away. The rain had only grown heavier throughout the day. At this point, it was like huge buckets of water were being poured from the sky. Thunder roared, and a blue bolt of lightning struck down. More and more lightning came, and kept growing brighter and brighter. More and more thunder came with it, and it kept getting louder and louder.

Boom.

Boom.

BOOM!

The sound exploded out through the town as a blinding bolt of lighting struck.

It took a few minutes for May’s eyes to adjust again, and when they did, she was displeased to find the power had gone out. She sighed, and started to walk to the closet where they stored flashlights. Not expecting anything out of the ordinary, she nearly fell over at what she saw when she reached the closet.

There was a boy standing there. A boy she had never seen before. A stranger in her own home.

He had brown, curly hair, light brown skin, and dark brown eyes. The boy looked to be around May’s age, but he was considerably short for his age. His clothing was close to what one might see if they were researching the middle ages.

“Who are you?” May asked quickly.

The boy whipped around, startled. “I should be asking who you are,” he responded.

She stayed silent, why should she have to give a stranger her name after all? She tried to think of who he might be. Perhaps he was a thief of some sort, or maybe he was just a kid who wanted to cause trouble. May knew some rather unlikeable kids in her school. The type of people who would enjoy something like breaking into someone’s house. In fact, she remembered hearing a story of a group of teenagers vandalizing a house last week. But if that was the case… why didn’t he seem scared to see her? Wouldn’t he be scared of being caught?

May shook her head and began to walk away. Even if the boy wasn’t up to what she guessed, it was still probably best to call the police. She nearly the chance to do it.

“Hey don’t walk away! I want to know how you ended up in my house!”