Najee Lightning

One can take away the power of words once they realize that is all they are. The endless babble that arose from the mouth of humanity started to have its way with Najee as she voluntarily tuned into the local radio station. She was driving back from a personal trip that she had taken to get a taste of "proper urban life", as she deemed it. Being from a rural environment, hearing numerous radio ads was quite a nuance as the only signals she could pick up from her home were music stations, which was all she felt she needed. The drive from her vacation spot back to her house was around four hours, so she kept the radio on in order to keep her company. With about two hours left of her jaunt, she passed by an exit that just happened to be called "eighteen". This was now a significant number in her life as eighteen represented the number of years since she'd been adopted at the age of three. Every year, her "number" would rise and allow her to become fixated upon it wherever she went. However, she noticed that she didn't immediately take notice to the exit number until she had already passed it by 10-or-so miles. This proceeded not to phase her as she went right back to picking up loudness within her car.

Najee was vastly approaching the final-hour-stretch of her journey when she noticed that she was very low on gas. Her spirit was one filled with hope and promise, the complete opposite of fear, so she had very little concern about finding a gas station in time. She soon spotted an exit about a mile ahead. Right before she signaled to turn off, a sickeningly-high-pitched sound flooded her vehicle. The noise was giving her an incredible amount of anguish, so much so that she had to pull over on the side of the interstate. She seemingly wrestled herself out of her seat belt as she tried to get out of her car. Najee repeatedly tried to find a way to break free of the noise, but she just couldn't escape; it was as though her car had, essentially, locked itself. After trying to vacate her car for about ten minutes, she was brought to a halt by a demanding voice that was coming from her car's speakers.

"Najee! I see you. Najee! I hear you screaming. Najee. I feel you."

Directly after the short speech from the mysterious voice, Najee reached for her car door and finally able to step out. Shaken from what had just occurred, she took a few minutes to gather herself before getting back in a driving to the much-needed gas station. As she arrived at the pump, she got out of her car and walked up to a wooden rocking chair that was impeccably placed right in front of the station's convenience store. She allowed her body to take to the gentle movement of the chair; her head facing in the direction of the beautiful sunset. Her mind was close to drifting off into an innocent slumber went she was awoken by a jean-donning gentleman.

"Why hello there! Welcome to Carl's station! I saw you darn-near draggin' yourself from your vehicle over there. Continue to have a rest or two while you allow me to do the work."

Najee quickly took-up on his offer as she started to pull out some cash from her wallet.

"Oh, no thanks, ma'am. You can pay me after all of this. It's the very least I can do."

She reclined back once again as the slim serviceman cleansed his forehead of oil with his plain, white t-shirt and walked off to her car. The sun had already set and Najee felt a gentle tug at her shoulder.

"Hello there, miss. I Just wanted to let you know that your vehicle doesn't seem to want to start. We've tried over and over again, but it just died on us."

"Well, are there any alternative options?" asked Najee

"Well, the next best thing is to fetch you a rental car that you can drop off at a station close to you, since you don't live but an hour-or-so from here. That will be around.....two-hundred-fifty, ma'am."

Najee panicked as she knew that she did not have that much on her, but it was pretty much her only option. She had spent most of her trip's budget in the city, but still had just enough pocket money to get gas. She started to realize that she would have to either find the nearest bus station to take her back home, or call her mother, with whom she shared a farm business with.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I just can't affor.."

"No problem. It's covered."

Suddenly, a voice appeared behind her as she was about to confess her truth.

"There is no problem, whatsoever. I can pay it all."

The voice continued as it revealed itself as belonging to a soft-spoken girl; her head, shaven and her attire, militaristic. This mysterious "girl of hope" walked right up to the serviceman and placed the money in the palm of his hand.

"Well, well! Looks like you got yourself a guardian angel, or somethin'! I'll have the rental out in just a quick buck."

As the serviceman went to retrieve the vehicle, Najee immediately showered her giver with appreciation.

"I don't know what to say. You really saved me. How could I ever repay you...uh...what is your name?" said Najee.

"Ayelet. You can call me Ayelet and there is absolutely no need to repay me. Just have a safe trip home, okay?" Ayelet gave a friendly and assuring pat to her back before running off to her own car and cruising away. Najee stood still has she had, indeed, sensed a guardian-like aura about Ayelet; something that she certainly wasn't a stranger to. However, her spirit came off as being quite a bit friendlier than anything she had ever experienced before.

Najee had finally set back out on the road, nearing midnight, when Pavarotti's rendition of "Nessun Dorma" came over the airwaves. The somber, and yet, optimistic tone of the song reminded her of what had just taken place earlier. The events allowed her to see just how vulnerable she truly is; questioning whether or not she is really as strong as she leads her own self to believe. All of these thoughts and more resonated with her as she pulled into her long, unpaved driveway.