• Shattered Bulbs (1)

    “In the year of 2019 there’s a 16 year old boy, his name—Derrick Light.”
    “That’s a good first part but you need to say it in a deeper voice,” said Kyle. “Take 42.”
    “No Kyle,” Derrick said as he put his hand over the camera of the phone “It’s one A.M. I’m going to sleep. Set up your bed,” he said, hitting the light switch. Then he climbed into his leaving Kyle alone in the dark.
    The next morning Kyle woke up, snuck out of the room. As he went down stairs, he looked back to make sure Derrick wasn’t there. He ran right into Derrick’s mom and fell backward onto the tile.
    “Hello, Kyle. I was just going up to wake Derrick,” she said offering her hand. “There’s toast on the counter, syrup and butter are on the second shelf—”
    “Yes, Mrs. Light, you tell me every time I come over,” he said as she hoisted him up onto his feet.
    “I know honey, I just thought you might have forgotten,” said Mrs. Light as she walked up the stairs. Kyle got his toast and, soon joined by a sleepy Derrick, ate his breakfast. Once finished they ran up stairs and while Kyle tried to clean up the room Derrick turned on the lights. But after only a second, a bulb blew. So he unscrewed it, trying to run back downstairs to get a replacement. a couple he hit the table lamp on his dresser and it fell, shattering. Derrick eyes raced around his tiny bedroom as two small lights ran across his floor illuminating a little more than half of the room. They were like mesmerizing marble size stars. One smacked itself into a window. Another ran in circles, desperate for a way out. Then the lights stopped dead in their tracks as Derrick’s mom open the back door of the house through the tunnel-like hall leading to the stairs. In an instant they had gone out the back door and disappeared.
    Kyle, having seen nothing, asked “whatcha staring at Derrick.”
    “Huh,” said Derrick just realizing he was still in his room. “Oh when the lamp smashed I saw little things that were lit up race across the room with lightning speed. One hit the window and the other just raced around in circles. Then when my mom opened the door they sped outside and disappeared.”
    “I didn’t see anything. You’re seeing things, bud,” said Kyle
    “Kyle, I’m not seeing things. I swear it was real, look,” he said walking over to the window and pointing to a spot that looked like a car had hit it. “Right there, it hit the window”
    “Well sorry to burst your—” started Kyle
    “Look,” Derrick almost screamed jabbing his finger at the mark on the window, “that,” he continued, pointing at the window again, “is not fake.”
    “Dude I didn’t see anything,” Kyle said again
    “Maybe you can’t see them,” Derrick suggested.
    Kyle sighed, “Fine, I give up. I’m going down stairs.”
    “Hey,” added Kyle, “if your mom finds out about this lamp we’re in big trouble.”
    “Oh yeah.” He thought for a few seconds, “the hatch under the hope chest drawer hurry.” they packed it in as quickly as they could. But after a few minutes, thanks to his alarm system, he heard his mom coming up the stairs. So they quickly swept most of the stuff under his dresser and closed the hatch. They covered the rest of the glass with the extra blanket Kyle had used as a bed just as the door opened.
    Mrs. Light walked through the door asking, “Are you ok in here?”
    “Yes mom,” Derrick replied.
    “There’s lemonade if you wanted some,” Mrs. Light said eying the boys suspiciously as she turned and walked out of the room.
    “Thanks mom,” he yelled after her. “Okay, let’s get this finished,” he said turning back to Kyle. They picked up the glass and hurried down stairs with their backpacks.
    When they got down stairs they each grabbed a bottle of his mom’s homemade lemonade. Derrick told his mom his mom racing out the door, “we’re going to go out mom. Later.”
    “Be back for dinner,” she demanded.
    “Yes mom,” he replied. “C’mon Kyle lets go,” Derrick said, unlocking his bike.
    A couple minutes later they were dropping off their bikes at the park where Derrick usually met his girl friend Jessica. She was, as Derrick’s mom described her. “A lovely young girl.” Derrick’s mom’s favorite time to say stuff like that was, of course, in front of Jessica.
    Jessica’s tall, only a little bit shorter than Derrick. Actually she’s stronger than Kyle and almost stronger than Derrick. Derrick’s mom would always say she has to work out more.
    “You have to be stronger than Derrick if there’s going to be control in this relationship,” she would say. Derrick and Jessica were just fine with their “relationship” as is. Jessica always rode with Derrick on his bike and then they rode to city hall. Kyle usually would go with them
    Jessica lived right next to the park. So on the way to city hall she rode his. Derrick often went to the concerts held there. Jessica would ride with Derrick. Today they were going to a Disturbed concert. Afterward they would
    When they got to the city hall there were workers all filing in and out, holding boxes, bars, and crates. They made their way in greeted by some falling pipes and wood. All of them stopped dead when they saw the wreckage that was on the stage. Instead of the regular concert there were pipes crashing through the projection mirrors there were fragments of the Disturbed band in a shimmery blue all over the stage suspended in mid air. some workers stepped into their way asking, “What are you doing in here?”
    “What’s going on here?” Derrick asked.
    “The pipes broke, water leaked everywhere,” he said. “Stuff keeps falling while we work so we evacuated. The Disturbed concert was rescheduled for wed—” CRASH! A light bulb hit the floor yet again. Derrick watched as little lights raced at the windows. They saw the door and raced outside.
    Derrick turned to Kyle, but he hadn’t seen anything once again. Derrick sighed.
    “Not your lights again,” Kyle said.
    “They’re real. I’m not imagining this. I’ve seen them twice now! It’s got to be real.”
    Jessica, also not seeing anything, asked, “What are you guys talking about?” No one heard her because another piece of wood fell making a lot of racket. “Guys, what’s going on here,” she yelled making sure to be heard
    “Derrick’s seeing things,” Kyle replied in a very calm voice.
    “I’m not seeing things,” Derrick yelled to Kyle. “There are little lights that come out of light bulbs when they break and they search for an exit. When they find one they speed so fast I can barely see them right out of whatever the exit is,” he said to Jessica in the sweetest voice he could manage which wasn’t very sweet. At least it wasn’t yelling.
    “They can’t be real things. We would have seen them, right Jessica?” Kyle asked.
    “Maybe they are real and we can’t see them,” she suggested.
    “Exactly what I said the first time we saw them,” Derrick said.
    “Hey I said out kids.” Just now realizing they were still in the city hall and had been for a few minutes. They left with Jessica on the back of Derrick’s bike. They went out to a convenient store where they spent five, maybe six dollars and got some food and drinks. After eating Derrick bought some hot fries and they left. They stopped at a store and bought a few light bulbs and headed out for Jessica’s house.