A More Magical Experience

"I'm telling you, this could be huge! Think about it; a brand new galaxy may have sprung up right in view of our own! Radiation or asteroids or, or, anything could come raining down on our little planet Dad. This is-"

"Maverick!" my father nearly shouted into my phone. "I understand that you are exited about this. I can see it from my window at the office. I am literally the only one on my floor doing work right now. Everyone else is piled against the windows with their phones out snapping pictures. But do you really need to call me at work? It's almost eleven o'clock at night, son."

Yeah, it's late, but seeing this new thing pop up in the sky got my blood rushing. You see, I'm kind of a little bit of a tiny part of a nerd. Really, not so nerdy. I love astronomy. Just love it. Love the idea of space. Always have been, really.

Growing up, I was always a bit different. While other boys my age wanted action figures, or Legos, or video games, okay, I had a lot of video games too, but that's beside the point. While other boys wanted those, I wanted only one thing; an astronaut's helmet. I wanted to know firsthand what it was like to view other worlds from space. My dad did get me a novelty space helmet for my ninth birthday, but I'm seventeen now so it mainly sits on the top shelf in my bedroom, along with my model spaceships and other science projects from school.

So, when I was staring at my ceiling about an hour ago and saw this big ball of light flash in the night sky from my window, being the space lover that I am, I grabbed an orange T-shirt and slipped a pair of weathered jeans over my red boxers and zipped out to the balcony of my dad's apartment without bothering my shoes of socks. I was home after all. I had spent the last few minutes yelling at my dad, basically, reciting the notes of the anomaly in our atmosphere.

"Maverick," my dad says, exasperated, "please, go inside and get some rest. It's a school night."

"But Dad!" I whine back. "This could be huge! I need to get more information on this!"

"You have a basic model telescope-"

"A model E-x zero-zero-four-point-seven Geonet Telescope with custom zoom, bridge, and handle," I correct.

"Whatever," Dad answers. "You have a tiny telescope. What could you learn from staring at that thing all night?"

"The composition of the possibly new atoms created in the vacuum it required-"

"No!" Dad yells. "Don't start with me soon. Now, I want to hear you walk into the bathroom, right now."

"Dad!"

"Now, Maverick Garcia."

He only uses my full name when he's agitated. Mom used to, well, she still does, but I barely see her, or hear from her. She's over seas on a research project about whales or something.

"I don't hear any footsteps, mister," Dad hollers.

"Okay, okay... I'm going..." I open the sliding glass door and step inside and make an immediate right into the bathroom. I click on the light and step into the tiny room. We have a bathtub, grimy white and small, a toilet, same as the tub, and a sink, which is actually pretty clean, all within about a four by seven room.

"Are you in front of the sink?" Dad asks.

"Yes," I groan.

"Good, now look into the mirror."

I do what my dad asks. I see my reflection. I see everything about myself. My autumn brown hair, which hangs down into my eyes in the front and spikes up in the back, my matching brown eyes, my small nose, prominent cheekbones, pointed chin, which has a little bit of stubble growing back from my last shave, the large scar under my right eye that stretches from the bridge of my nose to my earlobe that I got from falling onto the edge of my bedframe when I was fourteen, my thin-lipped mouth, my white skin. I get out into the sun every once in a while, but I know I should do it more often, so I'm a bit pale. I see all that I can see.

My phone talks at me. "Do you see yourself?" Dad asks.

"Yes," I reply.

"Now... Ask yourself. What am I doing?"

I wait a bit before doing so. "...What am I doing?"

"You are up past your bedtime on a school night staring up into the sky, that's what you're doing."

"Dad!" I yell into my phone as I turn towards the opposite wall, "I'm seventeen! I don't have a bedtime! I just normally fall asleep around ten p.m."

"You are a growing boy with straight A's, perfect attendance, and my son. And that's really all you have going for you, since you won't go out for sports. You know you have the body for it Maverick," Dad says.

"Dad," I say sternly, "strength can't go everywhere in this world, you know. You need to make your living with your brain! Besides, it's too late in the year to try." Dad knows that it's the middle of December, but he still tries. I do have a bit of strength with me, but not a lot. I can easily defend myself or throw, but I'm not muscular or anything like that. I'm just that wiry tall kid in school, after all, I'm six foot two and a hundred and forty pounds or something like that.

"I just care about your health.," Dad says softly. "So please... go back to bed?"

"Ugh... Okay, Dad."

"Thanks Maverick. I'll be home in the morning to see you off to school."

I hang up and slip my cell phone into my pocket. "Off to bed I guess... Right after I get a few more notes on that thing in the sky!" And with that, I dash back out onto the balcony.

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

For the next hour or so, I spend my time going through my notes and gazing through my telescope up at the sky. The anomaly looks so... unique. Bright vivid colors, crimson, salmon, cyan, sparkle in and out of focus in the sky, giving the astral entity a sense of life. It pulsates and shines with a power I've never seen before. It's so beautiful, so beautiful.

I grab my pad of paper and take some physical notes, then grab my tape recorder. "Space Shine journal, entry twenty-three: After numerous changes in intensity of light levels, I can make the following influenced hypothesis: due to the amount of change in such a short time, there is a strong possibility that the anomaly has, in fact, created a vacuum that is pulling nearby asteroids and or satellites closer to Earth, creating the changes in light by reflecting the shines and colors created by objects entering our atmosphere. The anomaly dubbed Space Shine is experiencing another change in light. A-holy crap! Wow! A new color has appeared within the anomaly! A bright green has come into view! That may mean that Space Shine may have absorbed or contained a large amount of Sodium Tetraborate or Cupric Sulfate Pentahydrate, which may have been from a satellite. Wow!"

I put down my tape recorder, still recording, and grab my telescope. Focusing the lens, I zoom in on the sky to see the changes of color. "Would you look at that! There appears to be a bit of an electrical storm within Space Shine! I can colors bolt across from one section of the anomaly to the other!"

A spectral storm like this is extremely rare, something that many scientists must search for extensively to find, but this, it's happening right in front of me! I gaze through my telescope once more and scan the lights for any more lightning.

"...Space Shine journal, entry twenty-four. After a short amount of time, numerous electrical disturbances have been seen. Anomaly is now a possible threat to any orbiting space crafts. Lightning strikes appear to be increasing in both power and range, seeming to strike through the atmosphere." I look up from my telescope and gape. "... Uh, the anomaly has increased in mass, or, more likely, has moved closer to Earth."

Space Shine had indeed gotten bigger or closer, whichever. This got my blood running a bit colder. Something of this magnitude could cause damage to our planet. More lightning fires within the storm

I grab my recorder again. "Electrical strikes are continuing to get stronger. If they electrical strikes continue to increase in power, they may-" I'm cut off by a large thunderous crash. "Holy crap!" I grab my balcony railing and lean forward, seeing the carnage that has just been created a few blocks down. "Oh no, the electrical properties of the anomaly have grown powerful enough to strike the planet's surface!"

Another boom fills the air and shakes the ground. Now all my excitement turns to dread, panic, and fear. I stumble over my feet as I turn around and dash to the glass door. I take another look back and see a bright green bolt strike an open field a few miles away. My phone begins to go off in my pocket. I take it out and flip it open.

"H-hello?"

Static answers me.

"Okay, that's enough research for one night." I return quickly to my notes and gather them up. Piling my papers in one arm, I grab my tape recorder in the other and speedily walk through my sliding glass door. I walk down the hall, past the bathroom, and into my own room. A simple blue covered bed and a window stare back at me. I place my stuff on my bed and gaze at me shelves. Some of my figurines have been knocked over, and my space helmet is on the ground.

"This is bad."

I rush back into the hall and out onto the balcony for one last thing; my telescope. I grab the telescope's triangular frame and fold it up, and hold it outward so I can throw it over my shoulder. I'm about to do so, but a glowing light stops me. Turning my head slowly upwards, I stare back at the new astral entity. Its lights are shining brightly, it's stormy being ablaze with electricity. And then I feel it. The pain. The excruciating pain. It feels like my arms have been ripped apart fiber by fiber. I feel it first, and then my brain begins to register what happened. The light, the pain, my arms, my senses...

I have just been struck by a bolt of lightning.

The force of the shock throws me back and over the railing of my balcony and I plummet like a rock. Falling. I'm falling for what seems like an eternity. I look over and see my telescope falling with me, it's frame and body melted and warped. And then I can't breathe. I'm going into shock, I know it, because I didn't feel when I hit the ground.

My body isn't mine anymore. It's moving on its own, driven by the instinct of survival. It needs to get away from the storm. I don't even know where my legs are taking me. It's almost pitch black out, but my legs keep moving.

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

Feeling is beginning to return to my body, and so is my control. The pain, it's all I can feel, all I can think about. My arms feel like they're on fire, my spine feels like I'm carrying two tons, and my ribs ache when I breathe. I force myself to keep walking, but I do begin to think about my situation. I need to call Dad. I reach into my front pocket with my right hand, and the pain flares. My voice breaks and I yell out, but I get my phone out and open it... only to find it broken in three pieces.

I drop the phone and continue walking. If I keep going in one direction, I should hit a building and be able to call for help. I'm lost... This whole ordeal is terrifying. Besides the fiery pain in my upper body, fear creeps its cold tendrils into my heart. I need medical attention, I know it. A massive electrical shock can have lingering effects, like heart palpitations or extreme burns, which I know I have.

I keep walking, but My shins catch something and I fall forward onto a cool slab of cement. The sudden fall hurts so bad, I just... I can't explain it. My chest feels like it's crushed. I roll onto my side... and fall into cold water. The shock of the temperature freezes my body, then makes every joint and nerve I have left scream in pain. I follow suit, letting my lungs empty in a fit of yelling and screaming. The pain in my arms intensifies and spreads to my chest, my neck, my face, my whole body. It hurts so much. I want to die right there on the spot, it hurts so bad, but I don't die. I simply pass out.