The Day I Was Shot

I was walking out of 7/11, slurpy in hand and a skip in my step. It was a warm spring day and I had left my trackjack at home. It was Saturday and I didn’t have a care in the world. A dangerous thing when you’ve got a day to kill and 20 dollars to spend.

I saw him out of the corner of my eye, dressed in black and his eyes hidden in the shadow of his brim hat. He was walking out of the shadows, bringing the darkness with him in his steps. There was something about his presence that seemed to distort the air around him, as if his mere existence was an uneasy prospect for reality.

I looked down to the ground and began to walk the other way, minding my own business and sipping on my beverage when a strong grip pulled my shoulder back. I tried to yell but my body was knocked against the concrete wall, my breath stolen from me. I still couldn’t see his eyes but his smile grew across his whole face.

“I want your money.”

“All I’ve got is a twenty!” I tried to explain, hoping he would see me as someone not worth bothering. His smiled remained.

“I also want your slurpy.”

I reacted out of instinct, sure that it was my slurpy or my life and I didn’t want to see the two separated. My fist flew and hit his face hard, the energy of my punch expelled in a blue glow. The man fell back, surprised by the power, but his grip didn’t let go. He pulled me up off my feet and threw me across the parking lot the way a mother tosses laundry aside. I smashed into the car windshield and I could feel the glass shards pierce my skin. My bloody hands tried to lift my body out of the window when the man leaped from his spot and landed on the car’s already damaged hood. He moved down to lift me up, but adrenaline ran through me and I rolled off the car. Without thinking. I channeled the energy into both my hands and pushed the car with all my strength. The blue power poured across the vehicle and the man, and then both erupted in fire. I was knocked back by the explosion but rolled to my feet.

The man had transformed, his tall stature now a prehistoric predator, an Allosaurus, or so I thought I recognized it. I whistled and began running, keeping my whistle’s pitch at a constant. The dinosaurs bite got closer and closer, causing me to trip in my step. I ran into the street, dogging traffic left and right as the monster behind me followed, crushing the cars in his way. I let one last whistle out and turned to face the Allosaurus. As he came at me, his hot breathe full of hunger, I closed my eyes and lifted my hand in trust.

The Pegasus flew in just as the dinosaur’s jaw snapped and I was in the air, holding on to his mane and throwing myself over on it’s back. I turned behind me and saw the man was now following us on a cloud, moving through the air with defying speed. I kicked the Pegasus and it dived down back to the city, into the subway system. It’s wings flapping hard, the flying horse was in constant change from flight to running, the man close behind. I could hear the subway coming, directly in front of us. I kicked the horse, commanding it to turn around and I let go, falling backwards to the tracks. The man flew past me, his face in surprise and horror. I smiled and the train sped over me, my body pressed flat against the ground. I didn’t see the man hit the train, but I could see the cloud dissipate into nothingness.

The train passed and I climbed to my feet, still clutching the slurpy in my hand. I smiled, and sipped my beverage in joy, knowing I had earned it.

The bullet hit my side before I heard the shot. I stood there, shocked, and my hand began to shake. I tightened my grip on the drink, but I fell to my knees, blood spilling to the ground. I turned to my head, confused, and saw the man adjusting his hat, his eyes still hidden. He leaned down, removing the slurpy from my hand. A tear fell from my face to the puddle of blood under me. The man smiled.

“I get what I want.” He said, his voice almost singing. “And what I want is your slurpy.” He laughed and began to sip the drink, walking away and waving back at me without turning. My vision began to fade and I fell to the ground, my Saturday ruined.

-Eric Mikols