California. Florida. New York. Why couldn't she live anywhere other than plain old boring North Dakota? NOTHING ever happened here. Nothing of interest anyways. Seventeen year old Izabella Silvers gave a grumpy sigh as she continued her seemingly endless quest of cleaning the tiny kitchen. “I swear these grease spots multiply every time I turn my back….” She mumbled to herself. From the living room, she could hear the sounds of whatever football game her brothers were watching with her dad. At twenty one, the twin boys were their father’s pride and joy. Abraham Silvers conveniently forgot the presence of his daughter, unless something needed to be cleaned or a meal needed to be cooked. She was nothing but a glorified servant. Izabella blamed her mother. If Laura Silvers had not run off just three years after Izabella was born, then perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out so bad. Or maybe things would’ve been worse. No way to tell now. A roar of cheers from the living room snapped Izabella out of her thoughts. “Iz! Where the hell is the food?” Her father’s gruff, half slurred voice demanded angrily. “Great…” she thought, plopping burgers onto a plate. So he was drinking again. Their team must be losing. Heck, maybe they were winning. Abe Silvers never missed an opportunity to open up another beer.
Keeping a blank face, she carried the plate into the living room and set it on the table in front of them. Her brothers, Frankie and Jonathan, shouted for her to move out of the way. From his chair, Abe eyed his daughter. “What took so damn long?” he griped. “Izzy kept her gaze on the stains in the rug. “I was cleaning…” she said quietly. If only she had left it at that and gone out of the room. Things would’ve been better. But in a mockingly obedient tone, she added. “You know…like you told me to do because Frankie and John are too precious to scrub some pans.” The room was silent, save for the television. Abe’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say to me?” he hissed, his voice dangerously quiet. Izzy didn’t move. “I said what I said. If you couldn’t hear me, then maybe you should turn down the volume a bit and sober up.”
That had done it. With an enraged snarl, Abe leapt out of the chair and grabbed a fistful of his daughter’s long brown hair in his hand. He all but dragged her down the hallway and threw open the door of her bedroom. “Get off of me!” she yelped, wincing in pain as he jerked her around to face him. “Don’t you EVER sass me like that again, you hear me girl? I put up with it for too long already.” Abe positively glowered at his daughter who, for some reason, glared up in unexpected defiance. “I do everything around here Dad! All I want is some help now and then! The twins are older than me; they could be helping with the chores too!” Izzy said angrily. Her father’s response was a sharp slap on the cheek that sent Izzy sprawling backwards onto the floor. “You’re grounded.” He snapped in a low voice. “Don’t leave your room for the rest of the night.” The door slammed shut behind him as Abe left to return to his football game and beer.
Izzy’s gray eyes swam with tears as she locked her door and pulled herself onto her bed. She hated this life. Wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt, she eased her window open. Outside, the wind had started to blow and thunder rolled in the distance. A big storm was brewing in the distance. Perfect. Izzy had always loved thunderstorms, especially ones with lots of lightning. It seemed like there would be such a storm tonight. Pulling a hooded sweatshirt on, she eased herself over the window frame and grabbed onto the wooden trellis that supported the creeping ivy. As she had done hundreds of times before, Izzy quickly shimmied down to the ground and took off running. There were a set of average sized cliffs overlooking the calm waters of Devil’s Lake. It wasn’t that long of a walk from her house on 46th street. It gave her time to calm down slightly. As Izzy reached the clearing of the cliffs, the rain had started to fall in a dark curtain. She stretched out on the hard rock and arranged herself into a more comfortable position. The rain felt wonderfully soothing as it hit her skin and Izzy soon let her mind wander to the sound of the rain hitting the earth.
When the lightning started, Izzy eagerly sat up and watched the dark sky with avid interest. All she was waiting on was the first strike and…there it was! The sight made Izzy freeze. Had that lightning been…purple? No, it had to be some sort of trick. Her eyes must be deceiving her. Yet there it was again. Purple lightning zigzagged across the stormy sky. Four more times, in rapid succession. Each time was brighter and bigger than the last. It almost seemed as if it was getting closer. Izzy shrieked in surprise as a bolt hit the far shore of Devil’s lake. The lightning seemed to arch and spread across the water. As it faded, another bolt struck. This time it was dead center on the water and spread out like ripples on the surface. It was definitely getting closer to the cliff Izzy sat on and she could do nothing but sit and watch in utter fascination. Suddenly, a bolt of the purple lightning struck the cliff just a few feet from where Izzy sat. The flash of light was almost blinding and caused her to fall backwards. The girl hit the ground with a thump, her head striking a rock. Her vision swam and Izzy oh so ungracefully fainted.
