Eagle Eurus: The Element of Surprise

One: Bus Troubles

Hi, I'm Eagle Eurus. I know what you might be thinking already. 'Is that really your first name?', or 'How do you even pronounce the last name?'. Well, let me just tell you that you can blame my mom for my first name and my dad for the last.

Anyway, you didn't open this to listen to how humiliating my name is or how my social life ended from it. You opened this because you're curious about me and my gift. I just hope you're not a cat. (First thing about me, I'm punny.) Well, I wouldn't want to keep you waiting for the tale of how I died......kidding! Well, yet.

It was a normal summer morning. The sun was shining! The birds were...sleeping? Hold up, where's the sun? My military time alarm clock buzzed with the fury of a thousand bombs. I stretched my long pale arms, and pounded the snooze button. I groaned. The clock read five A.M.

Yep, a normal summer morning! Except for the fact that it was the first day back to school, and my first day of ninth grade.

My room was pretty normal with camo walls and white carpet. I had a desk in one of the back corner with my laptop, and a huge bookcase in the other. If you said I was a bookworm, that would be an understatement. I owned a mini library in my room. My friends come to me for books they need or want to read. Of course, I loan them the book. They just better bring it back when they're done. My bed was in the middle with the headboard on the front wall. You could say my style was army, fun, and organized.

My dad and both grandpas were in the army at one point, hence the influence of camo. My dad works as a salesmen now. I don't get to see him very often. It's mostly just me in our house. If you're wondering about my mom, I wish I had an answer. I never knew what happened to her. She went to work one day, and didn't come back. That's all my dad will tell me.

I dragged myself out of bed, and went to my door mirror to see what I had to fix this morning. My black hair was a braided mess, and bags under my gray eyes. (I have my mom's jet black hair and her free spirit. All I got from my dad was his gray eyes.) My dry mouth matched my pj's. I wore a desaturated green tank top with tan shorts. I've had worse mornings.

I cracked my door open, and snuck through. The house was still like it was holding its breath, waiting for the perfect moment to breath out again.. There was no sun to light up the stairwell. I made my way down using the walls as guides. I reached the bottom and flipped the light switch. From the stairwell you could see the living room. It's white walls and carpet ran throughout the house, except the kitchen where there was very light brown stone floor with groves. The living room was small compared to the kitchen. It only held a small couch and a flat screen TV with a gaming console.

I turned right and headed into the kitchen. The kitchen was set up in a U-shape with a two person island in the center. Aligned with the island was two ovens. There's a sink to the left side of the U and a fridge on the right. The cabinets and counters were dark wood with marble counter tops. Deeper into the kitchen was beautiful white doors to the patio to the side. At the very end was an oak dining table that hasn't been used in years.

I opened the closest cabinet and grabbed a thing of Poptarts, found a clean plate in the dish drainer to eat off of, and before you knew it I was sitting at the island with an empty plate and a full stomach. Man, I love Poptarts.

I headed back upstairs to get ready for school. By then the sun and birds were up shining and singing their beautiful rays. I put my hair up in a pony tail and put on my favorite outfit, my school t-shirt with our mascot (A squirrel) and jean shorts. On my way out to the bus I threw on my mom's army jacket and feather necklace. The jacket had a patch on the right shoulder. I've tried look up what it stood for, but nothing ever came up. It was a Nightingale bird with a glowing tree branch in it's beak.

I ran out the front door just in time to catch the bus. Let me tell you a thing about high schoolers on a bus. Complete mayhem. I heard screaming, cursing, and the tapping of cell phones. I looked across the top of the seats, searching for any familiar faces. I saw a hand waving in the air. My best friend Tyler was saving me a seat three rows back. Tyler has brunette cowlick hair and brown eyes. He always tries to befriend everyone. I was one of the many people who befriended him back. He's also very nerdy, and quick on his toes. By that I mean he's speedy with comebacks, which can make our whole group laugh, or just stare him down.

I quickly made my way through the aisle, and plopped down in the seat.

"Hey," I yawned.

"G'morning sleepy head," Tyler said energetically.

I looked around. "Where's Tim? I thought he was on our bus." I asked Tyler.

Tim was another friend of mine. He has brunette cowlick hair similar to Tyler, but he bleached the ends. His eyes are grass green to match his earthy personality. He could come off a shy, but don't let that fool you. We didn't nickname him Einstein for nothing. He's really funny too. No matter how bad of a day you're having, just his pure white smile can brighten it.

"He caught a ride with his uncle." Tyler explained. Tim's uncle, Uncle Frederick, has been like a uncle to me as well. He always comes and checks on me when my dad's away. He's the closest thing I have to family. Tim lives with his uncle, who works as a teacher at our school, so it makes sense that he rode with him.

"Did you bring the package?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Here." I threw a brown paper sack into his lap. He looked at me with sketchy eyes, then looked around. Finally, after confirming that it was safe, he opened the bag.

"Yes! Score!" He whispered. He pulled out a Little Debbie cosmic brownie. Tyler loves food more than anything. Give him food and you will have found yourself in a permanent, never ending friendship.

"How much do you have in your stash?" He asked. My friends always ask for my brownies. They joke about me having a secret stash of brownies since I bring so many.

"I'm like King Midas! Everything I touch turns into brownies." I joked.

"Mhh. Can you do that with my homework?" Tyler asked mid way through his brownie.

I heard a scream. The bus driver slammed on the brakes. Everyone flew forward, and Tyler lost his brownie. He's lucky he didn't choke. My head crashed into the seat in front of me, and then into Tyler. I stood up a little too quickly as adrenaline pumped through my heart.

Apparently we had flipped over. Time seemed to slow down. Glass was floating in mid air. Kids we're frozen in place. I was the only one who was moving. I caught myself as I fell on my side. Standing back up, I looked to the windshield. My vision was getting fuzzy, but I know what I saw. I saw my mother in the middle of the road. As I blacked out I could hear her voice whispering in my head. She sounded so young, but worried.

"Rest, my child. You're time will come soon."

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Italicized parts are Eagle's dreams. Not real events.

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