I was dreaming that I could fly when I heard the alarm go off. The freedom and excitement I felt from racing through the clouds quickly wore off, as I realized that It was just a dream, and I was still in the same bed I fell asleep in last night.
It was 7 o'clock in the morning, and already the heat of the day had made its way into my room. This was made worse by the fact that our air conditioner broke last week, ensuring that I woke up coated in sweat every morning. I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom for a quick shower. As I walked past the mirror I noticed that my dark brown hair was getting longer, and beginning to spill over my ears.
"Almost time for a haircut", I thought.
After the shower I brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes, grabbed my backpack, and headed downstairs. I was greeted halfway by the mouthwatering smell of cooked bacon. My sister Ava was in the kitchen washing dishes, and a plate of bacon and eggs sat on the counter, looking just about as good as it smelled.
"Morning Jackson", she said as I entered the room.
"I made you bacon and eggs, your plates on the counter".
"Thanks Ava", I said as I took the plate to the table.
My sister Ava was twenty two years old, five years older than me. Without her, I'm not sure how I would survive. Ever since my mom died she has always been there to take care of me, or at least as much as she can.
With my dad out of the picture, she had to get two jobs to pay for the mortgage on our house, so most of the time she's working. I feel bad for her sometimes because she had a full ride to college, but decided to stay here and look after me instead. She says she's happy when I ask her, but I just can't help feeling like deep down she regrets it.
As I started eating, my sister turned on the T.V. A middle aged man wearing a black suit and a younger woman in a green dress appeared on screen, sitting behind a large desk.
"Good morning to everyone tuning in", the man said as the camera closed in on him.
"Bryan Lynch here with CF local news, and this lovely lady to my right is Elizabeth Heartwell".
The camera panned out.
"She is the newest member of our team here at CF local, and will be joining me as a co-host for our morning and evening news broadcast's".
"Thanks Bryan", she said with a smile. "I look forward to all the work we'll be doing together".
She turned to the camera.
"Today is Friday May 31st. It's going to be a hot one out there folks, with the low at 74 degrees starting this morning, and the high going all the way up to 91 degrees around noon."
The man chimed in;
"So just a regular day in Canyon Falls!"
The hosts chuckled and continued on.
"In other news, the increase of verified UFO footage released from the Pentagon recently, has led many who may have been afraid to tell their own stories beforehand, to come out and share their experiences."
The man looked down at some papers lying on the desk, then back into the camera.
"CF local news will be live at eight o'clock tonight, for an interview with Jeff Oswald, an Arizona native that claims to have video evidence of a UFO encounter from last April".
"Be sure to tune in at eight to get the full scoop!", the woman said energetically.
I turned to Ava, who was drying a pan over the sink.
"Can you believe that?" I asked.
"Can I believe what?" She said without looking back.
"The Pentagon released videos of UFO's that they can't explain, and now even more people say they've seen them too".
She chuckled.
"Now you're starting to sound just like Owen".
Owen is my best friend. We met in our freshman year of high school, when his family moved to Canyon Falls from another small town in Utah, and we have been friends ever since. Owen has always been very outspoken about his interest in aliens and UFO's, to the point where he got in trouble last year for arguing with our science teacher about the origin of humanity. Some of his ideas may be a bit far fetched, but he's the smartest person I know.
Ava looked at her watch, then put down the pan and turned the T.V. Off.
"Aliens or not, I've got to get to work, and you've got a bus to catch".
I sighed.
"Alright".
She picked up her purse off of the counter and gave me a hug.
"I've got to work late tonight so I won't be home in time for dinner. There's some soda in the fridge and a frozen pizza in the freezer you can make if you're hungry. Be good in school today, I'll see you later.", she said as she opened the front door, then turned back to face me.
"Love you Jack".
"Love you too", I said as she walked out and closed the door.
I hurried to finish my breakfast, then grabbed my backpack and headed outside. After locking the door I walked to the street and turned around to look at my house. We had lived in the same house in Canyon Falls, for as long as I can remember. After my mom died, we almost had to move out, but thankfully my sisters hard work allowed us to stay.
After all this time, the wear and tear of nature had left it's mark on the outside of the house. From the cracked shingles and bricks, to the overgrown grass in the yard, it was clear that the property had seen better days.
Ava works so much, but after the mortgage, electricity, and water bills, she barely has enough to keep us fed. We always talk about fixing up the house, but I know that in our current situation, that's just a pipe dream.
Regardless, that house has been there for me my whole life, and I wouldn't give it up for anything.
The walk to the bus stop started off as uneventful as it usually is. The sky was clear and the sun bathed the Earth in its warming rays of light. The world seemed to be in perfect harmony, if only for a moment.
I walked down the sidewalk past a few houses when I noticed the dark bird looking down at me from the top of a tree branch.
It was a Raven.
Normally I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but as I walked around the block, the bird seemed to follow me.
It flew ahead of me and landed in a tree, waited for me to cross the street, then flew in front of me again.
This pattern continued all the way until I reached the bench at the bus stop. I was so focused on the strange bird that I almost tripped over it.
As I sat there and waited for the bus, I looked up at the raven, it's pitch black eyes staring right back at me.
Moments passed like this, in what seemed like utter silence, and I began to feel very uneasy.
It was as if I could feel a shift in the atmosphere, as if suddenly the air became darker, heavier, almost harder to breath in.
I couldn't look away.
I'm not sure how long I stayed like that for, but I was finally interrupted by the sound of the bus turning the corner. My gaze shifted to the bus for a second, and when I looked back at the bird, it was nowhere to be found.
The feeling I had experienced just a moment ago had disappeared, however, the whole ordeal left me with a sense of unease that I couldn't shake.
As the bus pulled to a stop in front of the bench, I looked back at the tree once more, and, finding nothing, got on the bus. I took a seat and, for some reason, recalled what the newscaster had said on T.V. earlier:
"'Just a regular day in Canyon Falls', huh?"