‘Today was strange,’ Ayumi thought as she walked to her suburban home. Well, technically, it wasn’t even her home, but her best friend’s home. Ayumi hadn’t been inside her parent’s home in months, and she had no intention of going back this time. But that was beside the point. The entirety of the day had been completely off.
First, school had been disorganized, to say the least. Half the students and faculty never showed up, then all those alerts. First the fire alarm, then bomb threats, something about a terrorist attack downtown, which was never confirmed. Suffice to say, school was let out early, but with no confirmation as to what was wrong, if anything.
Ayumi’s best friend was also missing, which made it all the stranger when her friend’s father, Mr. Winters, picked her up from school. He assured Ayumi that her friend was fine, but he insisted on taking Ayumi to his workplace. When asked why his only response was, “just to be on the safe side.”
Now while Ayumi wasn’t a straight-A student, she was smart enough to tell Mr. Winters was giving her the whole story. He was scared and driving slowly, especially as they came to his workplace, a biology lab on the far side of town. Normally, you’d have to buzz through security and the like, but they were just letting people in. It wasn’t a lot of people, mostly the staff, who each brought one or two friends or family members.
No one was panicked, there was no talk of what was happening, and no one seemed that bothered either. Ayumi’s confusion only greatened as Mr. Winters led her to his own lab space. He suited them both up in lab coats, gloves, and the like and told Ayumi it was time to fulfill a promise. He had told her he’d take her to his lab one day and let her study some of the insects. It was a pleasant surprise, but Ayumi couldn’t beat around the bush anymore.
“What’s happening?” She had asked him.
“Well,” Mr. Winters began before he turned away, apparently having heard something Ayumi didn’t. “I’ll be right back, and I’ll tell you when I return. Busy yourself with the insects for now.” With that, he walked out of the lab, leaving her alone.
Something was definitely wrong, but Ayumi had always wanted to be an entomologist, so she heeded his wishes for the time being. So, the young girl studied the insects, the lab had several enclosures, but all of them seemed a little barren for some reason. As though they were at half, or less, capacity.
Ayumi studied and waited, and she studied and waited and waited some more. Mr. Winters never came back. In fact, the whole lab sounded dead quiet, aside from insect enclosures. Ayumi could have sworn she heard some chatter from down the hall a few minutes ago, but now it was silent. This realization made her skin crawl and her hair stand on end. Then “something” started to happen. She didn’t know what, but she could feel it deep in her soul.
A wave of “something” washed over Ayumi and the whole room. It felt like static, and it was beyond uncomfortable. But, once it passed, it passed, and it was like nothing had happened at all. Ayumi could almost feel the color return to the world, as though everything before was dull and grey. The insect enclosures looked a lot fuller as well. No, they were always like that. The once silent halls refilled with animated chatter, and whatever ominous feeling had hung over the world before had been dispelled.
Ayumi eventually scoured the building for Mr. Winters, but he was nowhere to be found. The assumption was he left, but no one had seen him go. With no reason to stay, Ayumi left the lab and began the trek to her friend’s home. Perhaps she’d find Mr. Winters there. No, she hoped she’d find him there.
Finally arriving, Ayumi inserted the keys gifted to her into the door. But that’s when she realized they were Mr. Winter’s keys. When did she get them? She quickly realized her own keys were missing, so they must have gotten swapped, but how? Regardless, Ayumi pushed the door open and walked into the familiar home. It felt warm and friendly, but something was off. Not in a bad way, but in a strange way. The same sensation one gets when they return home from a long vacation. Ayumi could have sworn there were three picture frames on the table in the foyer, not four. And she didn’t remember being in the family portrait. Plus, there was a fresh layer of dust everywhere, and since when were there all these tiny scratches on everything?
The sound of the television in the next room clued Ayumi in to someone’s presence. She peeked around the corner into the living room to see her best friend watching the news. Something about a near disaster safely averted.
“Oh, hey,” Ayumi’s friend noticed her presence and invited her onto the couch.
“Why weren’t you at school today? I thought we left together?” Ayumi asked.
“Dunno, today’s been strange,” her friend replied. “It’s gotten to Mom, she’s taking a nap in her room, but I haven’t seen Dad since this morning.”
“He picked me up from school since it let out early,” Ayumi revealed. “He took me to his lab and then just disappeared on me.”
“Huh,” Ayumi’s friend accepted the explanation. The other girl seemed a little shell-shocked.
“Something’s a little off like something changed, and I can’t put my finger on it,” Ayumi explained.
“You too, huh?” Her best friend agreed.
“It’s not all bad, though,” Ayumi took a moment to stretch, “I feel a little lighter and sharper. Almost like I could leap onto the ceiling if I wanted.” Ayumi intended to do a faux jump to emphasize her point, but despite the little force she put into it, she proved her statement far more than intended. Ayumi did leap onto the ceiling and managed to cling onto it by going spread eagle.
Her friend looked up in absolute shock, and Ayumi looked back with equal surprise. The two stared at each other for an uncomfortably long minute before Ayumi returned to the ground with inhuman grace. Which prompted another staring contest of shocked gazes.
“Yep, today is definitely strange,” Ayumi commented.
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Sometimes things change and you're not quite aware of when or why. After all, if a world changing event was occurring somewhere far away, would you necessarily know?
This story may seem a little strange (no pun intended), but if you're at all familiar with comic book events (like say, one of DCs Crisis events) and what usually happens in them, then you might have an idea of what was going on.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
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