A Stroke Of Originality

My name is Nikol Johnson, and I was born with the ability to see the time people have left before they die. During my walk to the bakery, I saw an older, scruffy, pale man clothed in a dark red robe with a tattoo around his left eye. The symbol resembled a triangle with a line coming down his eyelid. This man was the first man I’ve ever seen with a negative time for his departure date. I must have been staring as the man eyes rotated and glared at me. I quickly averted my eyes and entered the bakery. Looking back out the window, I noticed the man casually made his way towards the bakery. My heart trembled the moment he stepped foot in the store. I kept my eyes focused on the variety of cupcakes as I could feel his gaze upon my back. In the corner of my eye, I could see the quickest path towards the exit. After a few deep breaths, I made haste towards the door, and to my dismay, someone’s hand graced my shoulder. I almost went into a full out panic before I turned around, only to see it was Esther, the bakery owner.

“You okay suga?” Esther asked. “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost, and I know you weren’t going to leave without your order.” She continued.

I reached for the bag she was holding. “I’m okay, I was just…” I hesitated as I peered over Esther’s shoulder and observed the man gawking straight at me.

“Nikol, you’re acting weird, and you’re all sweaty. Are you sure you’re okay?” Wondered Esther.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I reassured her as I waved goodbye and swiftly walked out the door.

I started power walking back home, taking every short cut I knew. Gave a glimpse over my shoulder while walking down an alley just to see if the man was following me, but I saw nothing. Maybe I was panicking for no reason, and it was all in my head. I started to slow my pace, and actually breathe. I began pushing the crazy thoughts to the back of my head while reaching the end of the alley. Suddenly, those crazy thoughts didn’t seem so crazy anymore. I looked up, and at the end of the path, there he stood along with five others all wearing hoods. I stared at them in disbelief, every last one of them had negative numbers. Who were they and what did they want with me, I asked myself.

“Hello, seer.” The man from the bakery spoke.

“Seer? What are you talking about, and what do you want?” I challenged, trying to seem unfazed.

“The way you looked at me back near the bakery, I could tell you can see the negatives we all carry. Am I wrong?” He questioned.

My facial expression must have given my answer away. Before I knew it, the men were all stepping towards me. I turned back around, dropped my bag, and went into a full sprint. My legs have never moved so fast before in my life, but no matter how quick I thought I was running, it seemed like I couldn’t shake them. I tried to kick some trash bags in their pathway to slow them down, but it resulted in me tripping and tumbling on the ground. They moved in closer, and I thought I was done for until a man appeared from the shadows and stood before me. He was a bald brown man, wielding a staff of sorts, with markings all over his body. He smiled at me, bowed, then turned his attention towards the men in pursuit of me.

“You are going to be okay Nikol, I won’t let them harm you.” The man assured me.

His voice was silvery, it made me feel safe. I watched as his staff began glowing, and the men in pursuit hesitated to get closer to us. To my surprise, his demeanor changed quickly. His face was menacing as he gripped his staff chanting words that made it shine brighter.

“Please, close your eyes.” He asked.

With haste, I shut my eyes and curled into my knees, listening to his chant, followed by what could have been the screams of the Negatives. When the horrible screeches stopped, A light tap on my head persuaded me to slowly open my eyes. Once I looked up, I was greeted by a smile on the face of the man who had just saved me. His hand was outstretched, but I was reluctant to take it.

“I am Abbas. Please, don’t be intimidated, I would never do anything to hurt you. I am here to assist you in understanding who you are, my seer.” Abbas claimed.

I took his hand and finally stood, I mean, he did just save me… right?

 

Thanks for reading! I had a completely different idea for this story, but as I started writing… Let’s just say it turned into what it is now lol. That’s how it usually goes in my head, I begin writing what I think the idea is, then my brain goes, “But what if we change it to this?”. Enough of my rant, I hope you enjoyed the story. Please like, share, and subscribe, so that you may be one of the first to receive any updates that may be posted. Until next time! Thanks again for taking time out of your day to read my Flash Fiction.