- Brandon's POV -
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Right when I was finishing the last bite of my sandwich, I felt the strangest sensation in my stomach. It wasn't indigestion, just kind of…fluttery. Are these…butterflies?! I thought incredulously. Sure enough, I felt very excited and happy, just like the butterflies I remember getting around girls I liked when I was younger. Why am I feeling butterflies? I literally just finished my sandwich. That’s no occasion for butterflies. What the heck is up?
The butterflies continued to momentarily show up every so often even after I returned to work. I’d think they had left, and then they’d abruptly show up again to make my stomach turn flip flops.
Back at my desk, I filled in some details on the girl’s arm and shook my head again. “Random anger for no reason, fatigue, the papercut that didn’t bleed. What next?”
Changing my color, I began shading her arm. “And this all happened after I got struck by lightning…” I focused on the girl’s other arm, shading it as well. “Wonder if there’s some correlation?”
I stopped working and slapped my head. “That’s ridiculous. Wow, Brandon. What will you think of next? You’ll believe you have superpowers or something. Pfft. Stupid. Ridiculous.”
Still annoyed at myself, I gave the girl’s neck and face some depth and dimension. “Your brain is addled by the lightning. You should get that checked out.
“No, that would worry Mom,” I reminded myself. “Best to leave it alone. I’m probably just imagining all this anyway. Focus on the work. You have deadlines.”
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I decided to hit Starbucks on the way out of work, just because I could. I wanted something sugary. Something sweet and good. Something very unhealthy.
Interestingly enough, when I stepped up to the register I noticed the cashier was the same girl from that morning. “Hello again!” I said, smiling. “We’re just about friends now, huh”—I scanned her name tag again—“Taylor?”
“I guess we are,” she said. She smiled back. “What’ll it be this afternoon, Mister…?”
“Brandon.” I scanned the menu. “I’ll have a unicorn frappe, please.”
She whistled softly. “Wow, didn’t know people knew we still sold those. Okay, $6.94 it is.”
It was my turn to whistle. “Dang. That’s a lot. Okay.” I scanned my card and paid for the drink.
“Yeah, it’s pretty expensive,” Taylor agreed. “But there’s a lot of sugar in it, so…”
“Makes sense."
Taylor waved after me as I turned to wait for my overpriced sugar in a cup. “See you!"
“Later!” I called back. As I turned on my heel, I accidentally stubbed my toe forcefully on the edge of the counter. “Ow!” I yelped, jumping up at the sudden pain.
Strangely, I heard another “ow” echo mine. Surprised, I looked around to find the source of the exclamation and saw Taylor bending down to rub her foot. She had a pained expression on her face.
Huh, I thought. We must have both stubbed our toes at the same time. How coincidental.
I stowed the incident in the back of my mind as I went home and cooked myself up some more rice to go with my leftovers. I thought about the strange happenings of the day, pondering them until I had thoroughly confused myself.
At around 8 pm I decided to do some research on the effects of being struck by lightning, just in case. I theorized the side effects might be psychology related, judging by my sudden mood swings.
I found some cases of lightning-struck people claiming to be psychic and telepathic. “'A specific case, Jim Minor of Alabama, is allegedly able to experience what those around him experience as a result of being struck by lightning in his backyard,’” I read aloud. “'Jim feels the same emotions as targeted people surrounding him. These people have included close family members and love interests. Occasionally, the psychic link expounds to the physical as well, causing him to feel the physical sensations of the targeted people.’”
I leaned back on my couch and closed my eyes. “I wonder…”
What if that’s it? I thought. What if that’s what’s wrong? And I’m just feeling the experiences and emotions of the people around me? That would mean someone at work cut their finger, someone at Starbucks was really tired, and…someone in my apartment was really angry at something. Hmm…
A part of me insisted that it was too far fetched, but a different nagging voice pointed out that it could be true. There was always the possibility.
I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting as I pondered the probability when suddenly my stomach clenched. “Ow!” I exclaimed in pain. I quickly thought over what I had eaten that day, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Hmm. Food poisoning, maybe…?
My whole abdomen seized up. “Agh!” I cried out, gently dumping my laptop off my lap and onto the couch. I curled up into a ball on the cushions, my whole stomach cramping. I whimpered. I’d had food poisoning and stomach aches and nausea, but this was worse than all of them. In fact, it felt like all of them combined. Along with a strong feeling of having to use the bathroom.
A wave of nausea hit me and I ran to the bathroom, sure I was going to puke. I was wrong. I stayed in the bathroom for a good half hour, alternating between wrapping myself into a tight ball on the floor and bending over the toilet. My whole abdomen felt like it was trying to self destruct. I honestly wanted to die.
Finally, the pains subsided. They left; gradually, but they left. It was well timed; I was on the verge of calling someone—I didn’t know who, maybe a doctor.
I gasped on the floor, contemplating whether to move or not. I didn’t want them to return. “That,” I whispered, “was one of the worst things I have ever experienced."
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