I'm With the Beatles

The Inner Light

I busted through the front door, giggling and already reminiscing about where I just was. The living room was dark, except for one lone lamp glowing in the corner close to the bookshelf. I took off my sparkly, black flats.

"Grandma?" I questioned with hesitation.

Yes, I was currently living with my maternal grandparents. My parents were always in horrible fights; so horrible that my father beat my mother into a coma. He was put in jail for life. Mom, on the other hand, passed away two weeks after the incident. I was only twelve. Now, at age nineteen, I am waiting until my grandparents say it is okay for me to go out on my own. They have a feeling that I may follow the same path as my mother.

"Huh?"

I, instead, heard my grandfather's nasally voice. I peeked around the wall and was greeted with both of my grandparents sitting on the loveseat. The T.V. was a little bit loud, but at a tolerable level. Of course, they were watching the public broadcasting station. I glanced at the hallway mirror and fixed any impurities with my dirty blonde hair and flushed face. My black bow headband was tangled in my long hair. I sighed.

"Did you have fun, sweetie?"

"Yeah, grandma. We mainly just played Rockband at Judi's house." I described as I sat down on the red LA-Z-BOY. I was still pulling at the annoying headband.

"Need some scissors?" grandpa joked.

I smiled smugly at him and janked a third time. Ah, third time's a charm! The metal loop flew across the room and landed on the hardwood floor. I exhaled in satisfaction and attempted to control my mane.

"It was so much fun! Percy brought over the Beatles Rockband! Y'all would've loved it!"

Both of my grandparents looked at each other and grinned warmly. Grandma pointed at the screen. They were watching a marathon of The Beatles! I smiled with ecstasy and re-situated myself in the comfy chair. Grandpa's hard throat clearing interrupted my thoughts.

"Can you pick up your hair thingy, darlin'?"

"Yessir."

I jumped up and quickly walked to my accessory. I decided just to put it back on my head. The big chair cradled me again.

"You do know what day it is, don't you?" grandma asked with excitement.

"Yeah, do you Elizabeth?" grandpa added.

I gave them both a confused look. What was so big about today, the ninth of February, 2014? Then, my mind switched to The Beatles and I began to get stumped.

"The Ed Sullivan Show!" grandpa hollered with glee. And with that, the exact show popped up on screen.

"Oh yeah, their first appearance on the show!" I remembered out loud.  

Grandpa lifted himself off of the couch and made his way to the bedroom. Grandma started to do the same.

"Where are y'all going?"

"Oh, grandpa likes to go to sleep at a certain time now. There's some early show that he just can't miss." she answered as she yawned.

"Okay, but can I still watch this?"

"Yes, sweetie, as long as you go to bed at a decent hour." she calmly stated. She made her way down the dark hallway and closed the door gently behind her.

I looked back at the T.V. and began to watch. At least ten seconds through the beginning, I noticed a huge smudge on the screen. I couldn't watch it with a splotch as big as a baseball gracing the middle of the picture! Getting up from the chair for a second time, I walked over to the television. I attempted to clean it off by friction with my finger. Zap! The T.V. gave me a bad electric shock! I grabbed my right index digit and rubbed it hard. Ouch!

"Maybe it's because I don't have any shoes on." I whispered to myself as I slipped into the flats that I wore earlier.

I tried to clean the screen again, but it felt like water. That was weird. My finger touched the plasma again and my whole hand went through! My breathing started to accelerate as I squinted at the television. Ed Sullivan was still talking and nothing with the show seemed out of the ordinary. The mark was still there! I put my hand back on top of it. Then, a fast breeze blew through my hair and I was sucked into oblivion!