The Green Light

Micah opened his eyes to find himself in his bedroom, seated at the edge of the bed while his mother loomed over him. She was unhappy, her words echoing disappointment and anger, though Micah was having trouble hearing what they were. Something about throwing glass bottles over their neighbors fence to shatter, but he couldn't be sure. Micah could feel the tears down his face, his body heaving with sobs, though he couldn’t hear them. The air around felt numb almost; a slow pitched buzz filling the space where normal sounds should be. Additionally, though Micah could feel his body heaving with clear sadness, he did not feel it. It was like a first person view of a silent movie. Outside, from the corner of his eye, Micah could see the rain pouring down, a flash of lightning momentarily blinding the room. That flash of electricity must have cut the power, as there was no light save for what little bled through the dark clouds outside. Micah’s mother left for a moment, and Micah watched as a beam of light from a flashlight lit an area outside his door, slowly growing as his mother approached. When she turned the corner, the light shone into Micah’s eyes, but it was green instead of white. He instinctively closed his eyes and covered his face, the darkness and silence becoming oppressive and overwhelming. For an instant, there was a flash of images; a steering wheel, a street, a car, a dashboard, before returning to darkness once more.

Micah opened his eyes to find himself in his high school, standing in the hallway with his class of around forty teens watching as two police officers dragged one of the teachers away in handcuffs. There was a vague memory that drifted through his head, something about the teacher stealing money from the school, or something like that. Micah's class buzzed excitedly around him, the other kids seemingly discussing what might happen to the teacher now. The heavy rain drummed against the roof above them, adding to the slow buzz that permeated the space around Micah. The two police officers began to struggle as the teacher was yelling and twisting around, trying to break free. In a moment, the teacher managed to turn around to the side, as a flash of lightning lit up the hallway momentarily. The light glinted off of the handcuffs, a bright green light, blinding Micah. He again closed his eyes and covered his face reflexively, entering the darkness once more. Another flash; heavy rain, horns blaring, bright headlights, a scream, before being enveloped in the darkness again.

Micah opened his eyes to find himself standing at the altar on his wedding day. His wife, or soon to be, was standing just a foot across from him, her golden brown hair tucked neatly underneath her veil. The pastor was reading from a script, but again there was no sound Micah could make out, just the buzzing. His wife was looking at him with pure happiness, but for Micah he only felt fear. Panic. He remembered this moment, and remembered being the happiest he’s ever been, which meant that the panic he was currently feeling was not from this memory, but from his current state of being. The knowledge of this made him start scouring the peripherals of his vision, looking for something that might give him a clue as to what was going on. Micah could see the stained glass windows of the church, twenty feet tall, slightly alive as the pouring rain outside caused the waves of water to warp their view. It wasn’t raining during their wedding day. He began to focus more on the windows, as clearly the rain was out of place here, and even possibly in the last flashes of memory he’s had as well. Micah was focusing on the only window he could see, a verdant green pasture with flocks of sheep and a shepherd. A flash of lighting lit up the room, with the green light through that window blinding Micah, causing him to close his eyes and cover his face. The darkness, as always, devoured his senses once more. Another flash; screeching tires, a loud crunching sound, and a nausea inducing spin of scenes as the car flipped over and over, as the darkness returned.

Micah opened his eyes to find himself behind the wheel of his car. Panic, sweat and fear pumping adrenaline through his body, his arms shaking badly. His head was pounding badly and he could see the other cars around him idling normally, waiting for the light to turn green. Micah looked up at the light, and as it turned green the flashes made sense. His grip tightened on the wheel, and he waited. Almost immediately there was a cacophony of honking from the cars behind him, something that sent a wave of relief through Micah, as he could hear them clear as day. Only seconds later, a freight truck barreled through the intersection, its brakes on fire, right where Micah would have been. As the adrenaline wore off, Micah could hear the pounding of rain on the roof of his car, followed by a low rumble of thunder. The cars behind him had stopped their honking, and Micah could already hear sirens getting closer. Whatever had happened, he was given a second lease on life, a chance to continue onward. Passing through the intersection, Micah could see that the truck managed to come to a stop a ways up the road, with no injured parties. He breathed a sigh of relief, and continued onward. Micah continued driving home, looking in every direction to make sure he didn’t encounter the same thing again. He eventually pulled into his driveway, the rain having slighted just a bit. Stepping out of the car, Micah began to walk across the pathway that leads to his front door, where his wife was waiting with a frightened look on her face. Micah gave her a weak smile as he rounded the corner, the motion activated lights blinking on, shining a bright green light into his face. Micah closed his eyes and covered his face, the darkness consuming him one last time.