Crossing Over the Arcane Hiatus

Chapter 2: I Hate Lightning

Well that’s just peachy.

It was high noon and that thunderstorm was back, raging harder than ever and lightning was arching out in the distance. Figures I was taking a shortcut through the middle of a field. That is no place you want to be during a thunderstorm. You are much more likely to be struck by lightning out in the open. It was also pouring rain now, and that probably made things worse if lightning did strike close enough. I can’t wait to get to town and wash these clothes. Thank goodness I had my hoodie on or I’d be freezing right now. This thing is surprisingly warm...

In the center of the field there was a small hill, and at the top of that stood a large Oak tree. Being the closest sort of cover I could find, I dashed over to it and hunkered down. The tree must have been old, since it was quite thick, maybe three or four feet in diameter. It had an enormous canopy which thankfully kept the rain from falling on me; but not from flying into me. Sudden and random wind gusts shot the rain horizontally, so it kept hitting me in the face even though I was under cover.

“Guess I’m not going anywhere soon. Maybe I should set up the tent. Great, I'm talking to myself. I hope this doesn't keep up... Dammit.” My little self-commentary was the only thing to keep me going, actually. I kind of just wanted to huddle on the ground and sleep.

The tent had a rubber bottom, so that should provide some protection from lightning that decides to jump across the ground. I was setting it up when a lightning bolt struck near with a loud cracking sound that cut through the air. I did get a noticeable shock, and that only encouraged me to get the tent up faster. I threw all my bags in and quickly sat down. I guess I’m not going anywhere for the time being. Town will have to wait. I was also running low on food and water, so I could probably spend another night out. Checking the map, McMinnville must have been about four miles to the north.

A few hours passed, and the storm showed no signs of letting up. Thunder was constant and I kept seeing flashes of light through the mesh of the tent. It was now 7 o’clock and the wind was still going strong, rattling the tent. Only in between gusts did I first hear the static. It’s the same kind of noise you hear when you leave a TV on and gets all snowy. Over the next couple of minutes the noise was getting louder, to the point where I couldn’t hear it anymore. Actually, I couldn’t hear anything. It was 5:12 when the noise became so loud I couldn’t even hear the rain and then the light appeared.

After all the flashes of light I had been seeing through the tent, I knew something was up when one appeared but didn’t go away and it brightly illuminated everything. My hearing stopped at that point and all I wanted to do was retreat somewhere, but curiosity got the best of me. The light started pulsating, and I slowly opened the tent and peered out. About a hundred feet away in the field, there was a white orb dancing around in the rain.

Ball lightning?

I wouldn’t know since I’ve never seen it before. The orb was about the size of a basketball and it wasn’t all that bright either; maybe that of a basic light bulb. It also seemed to be orbiting in the same spot. It was flying only a couple feet off the ground and in an elliptical pattern but it seemed to be slowing down. I kept studying it, and I don’t know what ball lightning was even capable of but this thing was beyond what I imagined. As it slowed it started to discharge small streaks of electricity that arched around the ground. As the orb was gradually slowing the bolts became more erratic and stretch out further, but no longer than a couple yards.

Suddenly it stopped everything and hovered above a small spot on the ground. The thunderstorm was still raging, and albeit the wind calmed down the rain still hadn’t let up, and I still couldn’t hear over the static. That’s when the orb began getting bigger, and then right as I knew what was happening, it hit me.

Or, it almost did. If I hadn’t dived outside the tent onto the grass I probably would be dead right now. The orb shot off like a rocket right at me faster than anyone could imagine, missed me, went inside and out as it punched a hole through the back of the tent. Considering it was likely made of pure energy, I shouldn’t be surprised by its speed, but I really had not been expecting what it did. Right now I had no clue where it was; partly due to the fact I had my face buried into the muddy grass.

But it hadn’t gone far. I picked my head up to see it simply hovering about a foot in front of my face as I laid there like a complete idiot. I should have been running for my life! Oddly, it looked like a big ball of fuzz, didn't give off any sort of heat, and if anything the light had gotten dimmer. The orb wasn’t emitting any more lightning and it just sat there and hovered by me for a couple seconds before shooting straight up and through the tree canopy. It should have made a nice, clean hole in the leaves like it did to my tent. But it didn’t. It just floated up and threw the leaves and now I had no clue where it was, and I did not plan to find out. I was about to turn to retreat back into the tent when I heard the only thing loud enough to break the constant static; lightning.

*CRACK*

This wasn’t normal lightning however, and that much was clear. The bolt that had just struck landed near, maybe thirty feet in front of me. I know this wasn’t normal lightning on a count of two clear facts: the bolt was a vivid hot pink, and it hadn’t disappeared. It was dancing at a single place on the ground, haphazardly shaking as it traced all the way back into the storm clouds. I was dazed by the sight of this and soon came to the conclusion that I was scared shitless. I quickly got up when another bolt struck.

*CRACK*

This one was too maybe thirty feet away and another thirty feet from the first lightning bolt. It too was in one place, ran back to the sky, and danced like its friend, but this one was a vibrant orange. I turned and ran back to the tent intent on grabbing all my things and away.

*CRACK*

I had everything together now and I looked out through the hole in the tent. There was another bolt that struck maybe forty feet away and it mimicked the same actions as the others, but this one was a different color; a smooth turquoise. I threw on my backpack and slung the duffel bag over my shoulder and quickly thought about taking the tent.

No, I can’t drag it, and putting it away would take too much time. I’ll have to buy another.

*CRACK*

Another bolt, but this one a dark red. This pretty much left me with only one exit route. Well, technically there were others; I could run through either of the gaps between the lightning, but this one was considerably the largest. I made a break for it and when I was almost out of this trap another lightning bolt struck.

*CRACK*

The blast of it impacting was more than enough to send me recoiling back. This one landed right at my feet, and it was just like the others but its color was a bright violet. Why hadn’t I been electrocuted? Deciding not to find out I ran back up the hill to hide under the tree. That plan too was abruptly foiled when I noticed the white orb from before was floating right above it, and the lightning hadn’t been coming out of the clouds, but seemed to be coming out of the orb. Oh, and the tree was on fire. So I stood halfway between the burning tree and purple lightning, and went to make another run between two of the lightning bolts before any more appeared.

Good news: the static noise that clung the air had stopped. And so did the rain, thunder, and wind.

Bad news: so had gravity.

Worse news: I found this out after accidentally doing a front flip and smashing my head into the ground.

Looks like God forgot to pay the gravity bill. I was floating a few inches off the ground, and suddenly I realized my summersault hadn’t stopped. I quickly wrapped my hands around some wet grass and latched onto the ground before smacking my face into it again. Blood was trickling… no floating, towards the ground in little bubbles, presumably from what was likely a gash in my forehead. I looked around and saw that the lightning was still there, the tree was still burning (I do not understand the least bit how that still worked), and the orb still glowed above the tree, glistening brighter than ever. Also, I still heard rain and thunder. Somehow, the rain and wind wasn’t doing anything inside the pentagonal shape that formed from the lightning. There was a slight tugging on me and looking behind me, my duffel bag was starting to float up, so I quickly tugged it back in. Then I noticed I was also being pulled up. The wet grass I was holding had torn without my knowledge and I was frantically try to grab it. And I could grab it, but it kept tearing out whenever I made a lunge, so I had to keep switching between patches until there was nothing but mud left within reach. My iPod had also seemed to escape me and I tried to grab it, but it floated away. Then I started floating up too towards the white orb, or more accurately into the burning tree, following a cloud of grass.

And as quickly as it started it stopped. I must have been only feet from the inferno when gravity kicked back in and I fell face first into the ground. My duffel bag had slid in front of my chest and mainly broke my fall, and thank god it was filled with clothes. The bad thing was that my backpack had somehow come off, and landed on my right leg shattering it and sending a jolt of pain up my leg. I tried to carefully slide my backpack off and flipped over onto my back. The storm had stopped and I could see clear skies now. I checked my watch.

7:18pm. There is no way the sky should be blue. Was that a ceiling? No, I was still outdoors, hence the burning tree, so I hadn’t been knocked out.

Then it dawned on me that the lightning was gone, and so was the white orb; I was just looking at the sun, which is weird considering at this time the sun should be setting and not rising. I ran my fingers through the grass and it was still wet, and so was my… forehead. I shot up but quickly was repelled by the pain in my leg. I slowly sat back up and my forehead was defiantly bleeding, which is no good. I took off my sweatshirt which was soaked with water and stained with mud, but the inside was more or less untouched, other than my sweat. I took it off and tightly bound it around my head, stopping or at least absorbing the blood. The rest of my clothes were equally soaked and stained, and my leg was bent at an angle it probably shouldn’t have. The damn car battery probably did most of that. Well, I had my phone still. Could I call 911? Would I be able to tell them where I was?

Looking around, I noticed I wasn’t even in the same place as before. Well I was, but I wasn’t. The tree that was burning with my tent beneath consumed in similar flames, and this was the same hill, but the open field that surrounded it before had been replaced by a forest. Off in the distance I could see a small town through the woods that wasn't there before.

“Where in the hell am I?” I asked aloud to the deaf ears of no one. My vision is pretty good, so I was able to make out some features about the town: There was a farm, and behind it was what must have been the center of the town. I saw a distinctive building style similar to that of German Cottages. I wasn’t sure if they were made of stone or wood, but the roofs seemed to be composed of some sort grass, maybe hay? A river ran through the center of town, and I could vaguely make out tiny outlines of figures moving about. I was getting an eerie sense of deja-vu here when it hit me exactly what that place looked like.

Heh, Ponyville. Wait… what?

Now, it couldn’t be. That was from a cartoon show, My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. There was no possible way I was in a cartoon show. But then again, I would of said there was no such thing as gravity abruptly turning off on Earth, but I had just experienced that too.

“My mind is full of fuck.” I told myself as I laid back down, shooting another bolt of pain through my leg.

Just as I was trying to figure out what to do, I heard some commotion.