O.M.G: Oh My Gravity

Friday night was a drag. I greeted mum and dad after school, had some dinner and headed straight for my room after answering their questions about why I was home early. My answer was simple.

“It was too hot so I gave up and came home.”

The sun was still up at 9pm and the moon wasn’t as close as before. It was brighter than when I was walking to school and I just couldn’t get to sleep. My pillow was soaked through with sweat and my breathing was heavy. I was struggling to find a spot of cold air to breathe in. Every few seconds I would get another upside down feeling in my stomach. It was with luck, finally, that I fell asleep and all pain in my head drifted away.

I woke up the next morning feeling so rubbish that I didn’t even know what day of the week it was let alone what time it was. The sun now took up two-quarters of the sky and my head kept on pounding as if something was coming to life in my brain.

“Darling,” mum’s voice was just a mumble under the ringing in my ears. I didn’t know if she was next to me or downstairs. “Your father and I are heading to the shops. You keep sleeping, it’s Saturday.”

I let out a small groan and rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. The sun was so hot that the air inside my room twisted and rippled from the force of its heat waves. After a few minutes I came to the decision that I wasn’t going to stay in my heated room a minute longer.

I rushed downstairs in my cotton boxers and threw myself on the white tiles of the kitchen floor, hoping they would be cold. Unfortunately they weren’t.

I grunted loudly and stood up, looking out the window not knowing what to do with myself.

I turned on the tap and let it run for a little while before filling a glass of water. Thankfully the water was chilled and felt like magic sliding down my dry throat. I continued to stare out the window as I gulped down a second glass.

Just then a small Dachshund waddled by, its long snout skimming the pavement. But after a few seconds it dropped to its side and stuck out its tongue. My eyes widened and I let out a small gasp. I dropped the glass in the sink and quickly ran out the front to pick up the small dog. I rushed him inside and placed the puppy on the couch. I then went back to the sink filled up a small bowl of water, and brought it to him. He drank for what seemed like hours.

“Thirsty little puppy, huh?” I cooed softly, my throat sounding scratchy. “What were you doing wandering the streets on a day this hot?”

The dog whimpered and looked up at me with sad eyes. His red fur shone in the sun and a thick black stripe snaked down his long back. He stretched his small wrinkly paws out and licked my nose.

“Aw,” I smiled. “What’s your name boy?”

I looked around the dogs neck for a collar with a name tag, but there was none. I frowned to myself.

“Let’s name you... Rusty,” I said and scratched behind his silky ears.

Rusty barked and shook his tail, as if he understood and agreed with the given name. I laughed and stroked his silky smooth fur. Then, suddenly, there was a loud bang and I fell to the floor, Rusty following short after. My head felt as if it had exploded and my stomach jumped into my throat. It was as if my whole brain was alight with burning red flames. I shut my eyes doing my best to try and get rid of the soreness consuming my whole body. I screamed in response to the spreading fire in my brain.

Rusty barked constantly, deep, loud, piercing barks.

But then the screaming stopped.

The barking stopped.

Everything stopped. But the sensation that I was upside down was still with me.

I opened my eyes.

“OH MY GRAVITY!” I screamed.

I was floating six feet off the floor! I had no idea what was happening. I was at a loss for words. My breathing came in heavy bursts and my body was covered in sweat.

“Help!” I shouted, knowing no one could hear me but still shouting anyway.

I hung there suspended for what felt like 5 minutes looking at the ceiling. I had no idea how to get down.

“Close your eyes,” said a girls voice, smooth as running water. “Do as I say and close your eyes. Do you want to get down?”

Hesitantly and riskily, not knowing if I should trust a random girl in my house, I closed my eyes and waited for her voice once more, because I really couldn’t stay floating near the ceiling all day.

“Now, take a deep breath and slowly open your palms.”

I opened my palms and I could feel my stomach returning to its rightful place. “Now open your eyes,” She said.

My eyelids fluttered opened slowly and I saw that I was finally back on the ground. I spun around and saw a girl who looked my age standing in my kitchen.

“Who are you and how did you do that?” I asked her.

She was absolutely beautiful. Her long blonde hair was braided with flowers and her skin was imbedded with permanent, sparkling water droplets. She was slightly shorter than me and as she shifted on her legs, her skin sparkled all the colours of the rainbow. She smiled at me and her light blue eyes creased at the corners.

“My name is Shadow Aqueous and I suppose you could call it magic,” She said, her voice sounding like a million wind chimes. “And that dog you’ve got there is mine. His name is Dallas. He is the reason why I am here, that is to say, he led me to you. I forgot to put his collar on this morning.”

I frowned to myself and looked out the window just as a ginormous burst of heat rushed into the house.

“What is going on here?” I asked, looking at her angelic face. “Is this some sort of personal joke?”

Shadow giggled softly and walked around into the dining room, where she sat down and rested her elbows on the table. Quite unexpectedly. A girl that beautiful must have at least some form of table etiquette

“No, Alex,” she replied. “This is magic, like I said.”

“How do you know my name!” I yelled at her.

“Relax,” Shadow whispered. She tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and looked up at me straight in the eyes. “You have been chosen, Alex. Just like I was.”

My heart started to race as I began to feel scared and confused. What was happening. Would you believe it if a small girl came up to you and said, “You’ve been chosen”?

I looked at her and slapped my hands on my face. I let out a deep sigh and walked over to the chair opposite Shadow.

“How am I supposed to believe that?” I asked her.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she answered. “You’ve just floated on thin air and you have been getting strange headaches.”

“How do you know?” I said.

“We have been watching you,” Shadow stated. “It’s what happened to all of us. We all got headaches when we were chosen. But once your power shows the headaches stop. We know what it’s like. ”

“What do you mean ‘we’?” I laughed hysterically.

“Sit back, Alex,” she said calmly. “Let me explain.”

I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms and looked at her expectantly.

“You see,” Shadow began. “It all started with an enchantment, a curse if you like. It was cast over all of London in the form of a bargain from a great magician, Mr. William Whitmore, your great-great-Grandfather. The bargain went wrong and the curse rebounded onto the sun itself, beginning the long process of the sun’s death as well as projecting strange fragments of the farthest part of the sun into certain human beings erupting strange mutations. William reacted in panic and knew the only thing he could do was place together these new Super Humans to act as a sort of rescue mission if they possessed the power to stop the sun from dying and to reverse the curse and You, Alex, have been chosen as the last member. As the descendant of one of the most powerful magicians of the world, you, Alex, where believed to be the head of it all, the cherry on top.

I stared at Shadow as she smiled widely at me. I found no amusement in the fact that we would soon meet our death with the sun.

All this information built up in my head like a stone wall. It wasn’t pleasant. I slumped over and rested my head on the wooden table.

“It’s so hard to process.” I mumbled. “How long until it dies and engulfs us?”

“Not long,” she said sadly. “At least 2 more days. We were hoping to bring you back to our base and train you then head off to try and reverse this curse.”

I laughed shortly. “I can’t believe you picked me. Out of all people.”

“Fate, I guess,” Shadow said shyly.

“Yeah,” I grunted. “What do I tell my parents?”

“Not to worry about that,” she sighed. “I’ll write them a small letter. Would you like to pack some things or would you like me do that for you? Oh, and put some clothes on.”

“I’d like to pack my own things, thanks,” I replied dryly. I walked upstairs and packed a small bag of basic needs and all the while I could not believe what was happening to me. Something in this strange gils eyes suggested she wasn’t telling me everything... which made me more confused.

I pulled on some shorts and a singlet and walked back downstairs, throwing my bag on the table and looking up. Shadow was standing at the kitchen bench holding a thin black pen. She was writing something on a pearly white piece of paper.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I just got a call from Grandma and Grandpa, they asked if I wanted to spend the weekend at their house with their telescope. I hope you don’t mind. I’ll be back on Monday.

Love Alex.

She put down the pen and folded the paper.

“Ready?” Shadow asked me with a smile. She grabbed my bag and put it on her shoulder.

“Not really.” I stated. “But I guess I have to go. Give me my bag. I can carry it.”

“No it’s ok,” she smiled. “Dallas, come here boy.”

The red dachshund ran to Shadow’s feet and sat down on her white shoes. I looked at both of them and the sudden grace they possessed; the dogs nose held high in the air and the girls posture so straight and so proper. There was an awkward silence and I started to feel uneasy.

“Where to now?” I asked her. She gazed up at the sky as if in wait for something and just when I thought nothing was going to happen, Shadow turned to me and said, “Hold on tight, Alex.”

She wrapped her arms around me. I’ve never hugged a girl before. Especially not one this pretty. Just then a beam of water shot down upon us yet somehow we remained dry. I held on tightly to Shadow as she closed her eyes. I did the same and I felt a tugging sensation deep in my stomach.

“You can open your eyes, Alex,” she told me. “Just keep your fists clenched just in case. It’s hard to hold all of us. ”

“Why do I need to clench my fists?” I asked, voicing the question that was stuck in my head since I started floating in my house.

“Because it helps maintain balance when the gravity cuts out,” Shadow replied. “It’s like you are holding onto something so you don’t fall. So I suggest you do it.”

I did what she told me, scared of the fact that I would fall if I didn’t.

Water surrounded us, tiny droplets floated upwards defying gravity. Shadow’s hair and white dress floated in the breeze that the spinning water had created.

“Science,” she laughed. “You can do all sorts of things with it if you use it properly.”

The water was thick and it was hard to see outside. I had no idea where we were.

“Shadow,” I said, the sound of my own voice startling me. “How do you know where you are?”

“One of our trainers gave me a tracking device,” she replied. She took out a small ball. It was shiny, black and covered with dark purple smudges. Light blue dots were spread out on each purple smudge and only one flashed.

“Is that supposed to be our Earth?” I asked, taken in at the beauty of the little tracking device.

“Yes. See the little purple areas?” she said softly pointing to the ball. “Those are countries. The blue dots are our bases and the flashing one is where we are heading.” She gave a small smile and sighed. “Not long now. Just a few more minutes and we’ll be there.”

“How can you tell?” I asked her.

“The blue dot flashes slower the closer we get,” she replied. “It’s hardly flashing now so we’re very close.”

I could see that Shadow was becoming more tired. Her energy draining more an more as the water funnel transported us closer to our destination.

I nodded my head slowly and frowned. It was still so weird to me. I thought to myself as we neared our destination, When will this ever become normal?

I sighed and shrugged it off. Watching the blue dot become slower and slower each minute, then slowing to a stop.