Stalled

Though it was a thick, muggy day in August when Makenzie ventured outside, she could feel Autumn in her bones. Everything was beginning to feel tense in her life. She slowly crossed the street after glancing at a group of nearby teenagers with suspicion.

The teens eyes darted from her & they snickered. Makenzie looked at herself—no mustard stains, pants weren't slipping, hair was on point. Why were they laughing? "You're paranoid," she told herself & got into her Camaro. "I'll rev the engine & really impress them," she thought.

She turned the key. “Click-Click-Click.” The engine would not turn over! She saw the teens pointing and though she couldn’t hear it, their laughter rattled her to the core. It was evident that she in fact WAS the butt of their joke. That’s when she saw it, and she felt pale as a

blanched zucchini flower in cream sauce. No, paler than that. She felt like a piece of cellophane in a sauna. Well, that’s more transparent, really. She felt as pale as a cod’s belly.

She tried to gather her wits about her. No use cowering like the damsel in distress from some fairytale. No knight would come to save her. If she were to get herself out of this situation she couldn’t sit around about to faint. She took a deep breath and ran for the door.

She ran down the hall as fast as she could. "HALT!" echoed down the hall. She knew the voice & knew running was useless. She turned to face the voice, & as she did, the anger built inside of her. Freakin' lasers shot out of her eyes, and lit the bad guy on fire. She went home.