Metamorphose

It was 100 degrees Fahrenheit in December. Somehow, cicadas were buzzing and pools of water were hovering below horizon lines. In another couple of hours it would be freezing. The cicadas would shatter in mid air along with the pools of water suspended above the roads. Soon they would drop and crack into a billion pieces. The only thing that would break the silence at night would be the collapsing of the frozen ice sculptures. And, of course, the listless human figures casting mile long shadows and glistening under the moonlight as their feet shuffled against the frozen ice making distinct clinking noises.

The girl peered from behind a bush of frozen prickly pears and hid from the lethargic beings that stumbled on chunks of frozen ice and quickly ran to one of the electrical towers that were by the side of the road. A couple of the people noticed but continued on down the road and didn’t let the others know. She would have to be more careful because there was one of her and thousands of the others. The girl knew this area well and was able to find a safety hatch carved into the side of a hill that hid the backpacks with the supplies. As she opened the door, the smell of rainwater invited her inside. The lights flickered on when they sensed her movement and she grabbed the last bag hanging on one of the hooks; other people like her must have been here to help cut the wires too. She closed the hatch and ran out to one of the towers before they noticed her, and she started climbing. The view from above was hypnotizing. As soon as the girl climbed to the top she was able to see the sea of bodies moving towards the city.  As she took the electrical cutters from her backpack and set them up so they could cut the wire, she stared down at the brilliant lights of the city and the mass of bodies headed towards it. When the mechanical jaws snapped at the wire and broke it, there was a flash of light and the city disappeared. The figures stood motionless on the road and their eyes glazed over as the city lights started to fade one by one.

The girl scrambled down the tower because she didn’t have much time before they started towards the next city in their conquest for light. She tried crossing the road back to the hatch to avoid them, but one of the figures caught her ankle and dragged her into the crowd. She stumbled and fell to the ground. The moon lit her pale face and she slowly stood up, one vertebra at a time. Her feet crackled on shards of ice and she started dragging her feet towards the next town with the tide of other bodies.

Prickly Pears, Getting Colder 

Paloma Salas