As I'm trying my best to quickly limp to night classes, my crutches scrape themselves against a crack on the sidewalk, slowly bringing me down. Whilst I sit there, shocked that I wouldn't be familiar with the crutches by now, I feel the lingering embarrassment from the multiple gazes filled with a sense of pity. I wish all of these people would just disappear. The last thing I need is a couple of more strangers pitying me. I pull myself up with the crutches, bringing my hobbling to a swift halt and pull myself back with the other crutch, anxious to take a quick break.
Whilst I breathe rapidly, gasping for air, I spot a silhouette in the distance. It's nothing unusual to me since the sidewalk that I walk on almost every day is filled with people, but this certain person feels different from others. I hesitate to take my glasses out of my pocket. There's certainly something different about her aura. I cut my break short to limp to the other side, eager to catch a glimpse of the unknown individual.
The person walks towards me, but I think nothing of it since many people pass my way. However, as soon as we cross paths, I catch a glimpse of this individual. Not a silhouette at all, but an angel-looking girl struck with the blessing of Persephone herself. After I glanced at her and turned my head away, I noticed a lack of footsteps. She'd stopped walking.
I look behind me, and she suddenly challenges me with a ferocious glance that makes my theory certain that she came here for me, and me alone. We both turn ourselves around simultaneously, and she begins to strut toward me. I'm eager to limp towards her to meet her halfway, but a chilling presence freezes my body; her ice-blue aura enlightens me. "You're the one I'm looking for," She utters with a petrifying voice.
"I can tell by your gale-green eyes. They emit an aura." I hesitate to respond to her, as she's posing with a fierce stance. So fierce, that it nearly pierces me in the stomach. "What's your business with me?" I question with caution.
The lady smirks and proceeds to lean closer to me. She licks a hint of lipstick off her lips, and whispers in my ear: "Listen. There is something approaching that only you can handle. Join me and help save this world!" As soon as she releases those words, I almost fall over from laughter that I try my best to hold in. The first impression that I get from this mystifying woman is that she's insane. But the truth is, I don't even have the energy to do anything.
My daily snack raid to the corner store just got delayed after all. I want to respond to her, even yell at her for the mockery she attempts to make of me. But forgetting all of that, I respond. "You're joking, right? Even if you're not, can you not see me? I'm a simple 17-year-old boy who's physically disabled." The woman begins to look at me with pity and realization.
Almost as if she didn't know I wasn't able to walk without crutches. Soon after, light rain starts to drizzle upon both of us. The woman looks into the sky, and her face stiffens. She reaches her hand out, balancing tiny rain droplets onto the palm of her hand. I hear her mutter under her breath, "But how? I thought it would be here by now, but it's just a simple shadow spawn? I thought they'd be here for Astra."
As soon as she announces those specific words, a sudden sting travels throughout my body. The questions in my head begin to scramble around, unable to organize. Firstly, how did this unknown woman know my name? The woman pulls a small pill out of her pocket and pops it into her mouth. She then looks at me with seriousness; like she wants me to accomplish something at this very moment.
"The atmosphere. Slightly-green fresh trees with shades of orange, green grass, dandelions, and a navy-blue colored sky. These are all things that you need to observe in moments such as these." She says in a teacherly manner. Even though this woman is trying to teach me something I can't even comprehend, the words that rapidly come out of her mouth continue to perplex me. But, once I see the unnatural occurrences in the sky, I suddenly understand everything she was saying.