The Unbelievable Science of Love

Mayhem in the Morning

Yumi Johnson stepped out of bed, tossing the pink silk covers behind her.  The noises hadn't stopped.  My magenta curtains swayed in the midnight breeze.  That's right, it was midnight.  I walked up to the window, rubbing my tired eyes, trying to get a glimpse of the night sky.  Counting stars always helped me calm down.  

I sat on the window seat and clutched at my pink cheetah-print pillow.  I immediately caught sight of a shooting star.  I grinned.  Things hadn't been so hot lately what with the move and Dad's new job hours.  Sometimes I wonder if that star had been meant for me like a sign of better things to come.  I soon began to relax.

Then it happened.

A sort of pitch blackness blacker than the night sky swept past enveloping everything in my sights.  I jerked up and my green eyes widened.  

I immediately took up my iPhone and snapped a pic.  This could be big. 

I instinctively opened up the window to get a better view of the black swarm hovering outside my window.  Did I hear a noise...a laugh?  

I gazed upwards and saw it.  A man in a black coat with a black mask that covered his entire face.  A white light gleamed where his eyes should have been.  I nearly screamed but kept my mouth shut in case he hadn't seen me yet.  

Instead, I looked at the blackness, examining it thoroughly with my nearly perfect vision.  The more I looked at it, the less uniform it looked - as if it was a sort of swarm of tinier objects making a wave of darkness in the night.  

I adjusted my glasses just as the man began to scan the area.

I ducked back inside, hugging myself tight.  

He mumbled something, I assumed to himself, and continued on, riding the top of the black mass.  

My mouth hung wide open.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  What had I just seen?  What phenomenon had I just witnessed? 

I shrugged and unlocked my sparkly gold-cased iPhone 7 and stared at my wallpaper.

Believe in Your Dreams, it said in bright white lettering.

I gave myself a mental facepalm.  

"Of course, you idiot, it was all a dream," I thought aloud.

Although, I never quite believed that.

-

"Wakey wakey," a chipper voice sounded in my head, "six o' clock!  Time to get up!"

"Mom I said not to wake me up anymore!" I wailed, swatting at her blindly.  I buried my face in my pillow.

"The sun's out honey, and when the sun's out-"

"We're out," I finished grumpily.  

She nodded cheerfully and left me alone.  Finally.

"Your eggs benedict and Poptarts are waiting!" she called from the hall.

I smiled as I climbed slowly out of bed.  At least she paid attention to my food preferences.  

I took a two-minute shower, brushed my medium-blonde hair all the way through and dried it thoroughly.  I glanced at myself in the full-body mirror.  

"Good morning, gorgeous," I giggled, admiring my "elegant" pink towel.

I raced to the closet and picked out my outfit for the day.  This was definitely my favorite part of the day - besides science class.  I like to exercise my brains and beauty equally.

I snatched my favorite plain black crop-top with a v-neck, my short, ripped denim shorts, and my galaxy converse.  I modeled it all in the mirror, doing a little spin.  I rubbed my chin in thought.  

"Something's missing," I muttered.

I ran back to the closet and snapped my fingers in realization.  I'd found the perfect accessory - my red plaid flannel.

Again, I stood in front of the mirror.  

"Just give it a little tie," I narrated, tying it behind my back and looking at it.

"Perfect!" I squealed in delight.

My eyes wandered to the bathroom sink, then to the mirror again.  

"Oh, yes, yes, yes," I remembered, "curling."

I quickly curled my bobbed hair and practically danced downstairs to the kitchen where I was met by the strange but wonderful aroma of eggs benedict and Poptarts.  

"Can't you take your smelly food outside?" groaned my eleven-year-old brother Kurtish.  

Mood officially ruined.

"Gladly you worm," I sneered, happily partaking in my breakfast.

I munched loudly in front of him making sure to breathe in his direction.

"Oh, get out already!" he said squirming away from me.

"Sure thing fish-head!" I called as I exited through the bright red door.

There is a bench right next to the driveway where I sat down with my glorious morsels.  I sighed deeply, thoroughly enjoying it all - the crisp summery air, the food, and the sight of all those pink and white trees swaying with the gentle breeze.  

Nothing could be better.  

My thoughts drifted away as my breakfast became extinct.  I hurried back to the door when all of a sudden a sharp stinging pained my ankle.

I blurted out angry jibberish as I fingered the spot where I felt it.  

"Probably those blasted rose bushes," I mumbled, staring right at them in their perfectly aligning rows,  "You think you're all pretty now, well just wait till I get my hands on-"

There it was again.  The sharp pain.  Like a bee sting.

I dropped my plate at the shock of it sending me into another train of angry nonsense words.

Expecting to see a wasp or thorn or at least some blood for evidence, I was surprised when I saw nothing there.  

Instead, lying still on the ground beside my feet was a tiny black...something.

At first glance I thought it was some kind of instict and held back a shriek of dismay, but when I picked it up to examine, it didn't move.  

That is until it did.

I might have missed it if I'd blinked.

It lept out of my cupped hands and took off down the street in the general direction of my friend Patti's house.  An idea popped into my brain.

"I'm going to Patti's, Mom!" I yelled.

She responded positively, only reminding me to be back by at a reasonable time and to not speak to strangers.  

I shot her a happy glance and a huge thumbs up and took off after the strange object.