Shelter

Imagine lush fields of green flowing over each other, the whistling wind blowing through the rich trees and flowers sprouting their first bloom. You turn your head and hear the sound of children playing around a tree, swinging from the branches, making daisy chains on the grass. You watch them. You smile. They’re your children. But then you hear a thunder behind you, surprising you. You turn your head quickly and see a meteor heading down, down towards the tree. You watch and run towards your children unable to help them.

I woke up though it didn’t feel like sleeping. It was like a daydream. Whatever it was, I shook it off quickly. I was walking home with my children from town. I decided to walk today as it wasn’t far and they could play in the park as a treat. We stopped for a picnic by a small oak tree. The kids had their lunch and wanted to have a play while I finished mine. My eldest climbed into a tree while my youngest made a few daisy chains. I had this feeling in my head like déjà vu. Then I remembered the daydream. I ran and shouted to my kids to come to me and leave when suddenly there was a loud crash thundering above us. It was different this time but still we had no time to react. I grabbed my children and held them close to me. I closed my eyes ready for impact but about 5 seconds later, nothing happened.

We were still on the same patch of grass. I looked out and saw a powerful blue translucent dome surrounding my family and outside a crater of black and smoke. The dome surrounded half the tree so the other half was now missing. I could hear the soft crackle of fires then screaming in the distance. We needed to move. The smoke started to ease and I could see the dome was still attached to some untouched grass. We all hopped through the shield onto the intact but singed grass. We turned back to the dome, but it faded and the tree, grass and dirt fell into the dusty ruins within the crater. Sirens were moving closer and screams felt louder.

Whatever that dome was, it gave us shelter when we needed it. We had to hurry home as if we were bystanders. We can’t let the public figure out if any of us were powered. After what happened with my husband I’m not sure I want to be in that public eye. My son was questioning our actions but I could hear in his voice he was excited by this. My daughter, like her father, was reassuring me that it would be okay. They were brave like him too but I kept worrying and pulled them home.