The Lightning in the Bottle - Chapter 1

Jakob Culling staggered out of a pub inebriated with alcohol on his lips. He began to wobble down the street back to his tenement. With enough force to push Jakob forward, cold, biting autumn air and brown, dry leaves blew passed him. Suddenly the curb came rushing to Jakob and he vomited into the storm drain below as consciousness faded.

---

It's now dawn and a small pile of leaves have accumulated between the curb and Jakob's torso. Jakob's head pulses and pounds. His ears ring and through his closed eyelids everything feels too bright.

Wait a moment.

Jakob lies face down into the storm drain. It's still dawn. It can't be that bright yet. Jakob's forehead and nose crinkle from a migraine as his eyes crack open. In between rivulets of water, he sees a glass bottle slowly floating down stream. Nothing out of the ordinary here. What's weird is that there is white electricity bouncing back and forth between the glass. The bottle continues to flow away from storm drain until the light begins to fade.

Jakob's face contorts with confusion and pain. Still laying face-down into the storm drain, he decides to find it. He slowly gets up and pauses for a moment. Dull light shines through the storm drains further down the street. Jakob steps onto the side walk and starts to follow the light peeping through the ground. He is now at an intersection and cars roll by. In the distance, Jakob sees the light traveling from grate to grate taunting him. He crosses the road only to get stopped by moving cars again. It's safe to walk now but sadly the sun is now higher in the sky and Jakob cannot see where the bottle is at. He vomits again, this time into the grass. Jakob walks back home disappointed and with an empty back pocket.

---

The first school day ends earlier for little Jael Ballard and her classmates. To the side of the entrance she walks out and turns just in time to see a boy run and crash into her. Her coloring books fall as both the boy and she fall. 'Dummy', she thinks to herself.

The boy gets up first and offers Jael a hand up. She slaps the hand away. "I don't need your help," she says briskly. Jael gathers up her books and gets up.

As she stomps away the boy calls out to her, "I'm sorry." Jael's footsteps falter then continue one foot after another. She clutches her books tightly to her chest and smiles. All the other boys thought she had cooties.

Jael's stepfather, Joseph, waits outside his modest sedan and waves her over. He opens the car door and makes sure she has her seatbelt on. "Thanks, Joseph," she says. Joseph sits on the driver seat and begins to drive away.

"So how did you like your first day of school, Jael?"

"It was okay. The lady gave us books and crayons and stuff. She said to give some papers to Momma later."

"Seems like an interesting day. Do you want to go to the park and get something to eat?" says Joseph while looking at her in the rearview mirror. She looks up from her coloring book and nods vigorously with a toothy grin. "To the park!" Joseph exclaims.

After what seems like a short time to Jael, both she and her stepfather arrive at the park. Joseph steps out of the car to help her out. He lifts her onto his back and Jael squeals in delight. Just before he closes the door Jael says, "I want my book bag." Joseph opens the car door back up and gets her book bag from the seat. "Thanks," she says.

At the park, there is a small pizza parlor. Its menu has many toppings which are accompanied by pictures. 'So many pizzas' Jael thinks to herself. She decides to go with what's familiar. She sits with her stepfather on a bench and begins munching on her pizza slice. She eats it all until the crust and hands it to her stepfather. "I'm going to play by the pond ok?"

"Just stay where I can see you," Joseph says.

She walks down the gentle slope to the lake. Despite the sounds of the city hidden by the thick of trees, she feels relaxed. Fallen leaves rustle and fly all around her. The sunlight bounces off the lake water as the geese bob for food. She watches water pour out of the overflow pipe and into the rocks just below.

Dim light starts to shine from the shadowy pipe. With curiosity Jael comes closer and steps on the rocks. The light becomes brighter and brighter until she sees a glass bottle come running towards her. She jumps away as the bottle rolls onto the rocks. She's seen electricity before from the static she sometimes creates but nothing like what's before her little eyes right now. The electricity wants to be free, to escape from its glass prison. She looks around and she is alone except for her stepfather who is talking on his phone. Jael is between the bottle and her stepfather. She swings the book bag in front of her and picks up the glass bottle. Almost instantly she feels a vibration coming from the bottle. Her eyes widen with surprise. She puts it into her book bag and zips it up.

---

The ride back home is uneventful. Jael is too short to see over the car door. She stretches her neck but still can't see over the far door. Frustrated she tries again. This time she moves within the confines of her seatbelt and folds her legs. "Hah!" she says with satisfaction.

Joseph looks back at her through the rearview mirror and sees that everything is alright. He continues driving out from the city and onto the highway. The driver to the right of him nods off and starts drifting left into his lane. 'What the,' he thinks to himself. He honks his horn but the other car keeps drifting left. He slows down and signals into the lane where the other driver used to be. Joseph continues pressing on the steering wheel as the driver continues moving left, now encroaches the opposite lane. Everything moves in slow-motion as the drifting car undergoes a head-on collision. Joseph muttered a curse under his breath. He looks back at Jael who has watched it all. Her eyes are wide open with a slack jaw.

Joseph pulls onto the back road where his family lives and turns onto the gravel driveway. When the car stops, Jael already has her seatbelt unbuckled and jumps out of the car. As she runs into the house, Joseph follows her in. The bathroom door slams behind her. Jael's mom, Carly, stares at Joseph with a raised eyebrow.

"She never told me she had to use the bathroom," Joseph says. His speech starts to deteriorate from nervousness as he continues to state his defense. Carly giggles at his nervousness and shushes him with a finger on his lips.

The link to the next chapter will be posted on October 7, 2015.