Friday, January 18, 2008

   Out of the Blue: by Stormlight: Chapter One
"Aaaiiieee I'm late! Why doesn't anybody ever wake me up?!"

The shrill yell shattered the peaceful morning stillness of a neighborhood lying just inside the city of Tokyo. A peacefully-slumbering man two blocks away grumbled and turned over as his wife insisted that he go out there and shoot whatever mangy cat was wailing outside the window.
In the Tsukino's house, meanwhile, the true source of the noise was up and moving at warp speed to get ready for school and eat breakfast at the same time. After managing to bolt down five pancakes in as many minutes, Serena blew her parents a kiss, smacked Sammy on the back of his head for his remark about his sister the "bottomless stomach", and bolted for the door, grabbing her lunch and school bag on the way out. "Serena, take an umbrella with you!" her mother called after her.
"Can'tnotimetostop!" Serena yelled back as she slammed the door behind her. From the bedroom window, Luna the cat watched as Serena raced down the street, then heaved an exasperated sigh, shaking her head sadly.
"That girl will never learn," she sighed.

~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@

Almost there, Serena thought as she sprinted down the street. Whew! All this running! I should join the Olympics! I'd probably win; I get enough practice at it! She slowed to turn a corner, but the leg suddenly appearing around the other side of it gave her warning that someone was there. With a startled squawk, she veered left…and managed to run right into a stop sign. Only by grabbing hold of it with both arms did she manage to keep from flying into the street, and it was a good thing, too, because at that moment a bus roared past…mere inches from her nose.
She stood there, hugging the sign, gasping for breath, her eyes wide with shock. That…that could have been me out there… she thought dazedly. Out loud, she gasped, "Whoa! That was close!"
"I'll say it was! Look what you made me do, you Meatball Head!" came a highly annoyed voice from directly behind her.
She stiffened. Darien. It just had to be Darien… Not that that was anything unusual. Lately, it seemed like it was always Darien!
"Well, Meatball Head, once you're done hugging the pole, why don't you make yourself useful and help me gather these papers you made me drop," he said arrogantly. "Thanks to you, I'm gonna be late to class!"
Serena straightened proudly, swinging around to glare at him. He was kneeling on the sidewalk, hurriedly gathering scattered papers. A report, by the looks of the typed pages, and a big one judging by the amount of them. He saw her standing there watching him, and straightened, clutching a fistful of papers. "Well? Are ya gonna stand there all day?" he snapped. "I worked on this report for weeks, and if I lose it, I'll hold you responsible!" Her eyes widened and she stared at him. She had nearly been killed, and all he could worry about was a stupid report?! Anger simmered inside her, and she bit her lip against the tears that filled her eyes at his unfeeling remarks. There was no time for a tantrum.
"Well, gee, Darien! I'm so sorry! I tried to avoid you—nearly got flattened by a bus in the process—but hey, what does that matter? It's your stupid papers that are more important!" She snatched up a handful and shoved them at his chest. "Pick the rest up yourself! I wouldn't want to be accused of wrinkling them!" With that, she turned on her heel and raced away again, her hair streaming like two golden ribbons, leaving a stunned Darien to stare after her.


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