Constellation

How often in life does fate really intervene

18th October 2009. That was the day Daniel disappeared.

As I looked out of the shop window, I saw that the sky was black, gathering darkness as the seconds ticked by. I glanced at my watch, the time read 5:25 and I was relieved that I would hopefully be able to make it home before the storm hit. We hadn’t had a storm since October, the weather had been surprisingly calm for November and I couldn’t help but shiver at the timing. It was a month today that Daniel had disappeared, in a storm as deadly as this one was threatening to be. As the day thankfully came to an end, I waved goodbye to my manager and pulled my coat tightly around me as I headed out into the street, it was a 20 minute walk and I prayed that I would make it in time before the storm hit. The darkness around me seemed dense and it took a while for me to realise that there were no streetlights. Glancing behind me nervously, I quickened my pace and cursed the fact that my phone had died an hour ago; I couldn’t call my dad and get him to come and get me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move and I span round, squinting into the impenetrable darkness. I could feel my heart beating sporadically; I had to be dreaming didn’t I? I could have sworn I just saw Daniel.

Daniel had worked with the company as long as I had but as we worked on separate floors in the shop I rarely saw him or even speak to him. Until the day of the storm, my only conversation with him had been regarding the Christmas work do which I had been roped into setting up. But on that particular tempestuous day, I had been sent upstairs by my manager as they were short staffed and told to help Daniel on the till. I smiled as I remembered how nervous Daniel had been when I breezed in and started talking to him as if I’d known him forever. I had been told my whole life that I could talk my way out of a paper bag and as the day went on he had started to relax and talk back, making jokes and smiling more than I’d ever seen. I started seeing the real Daniel; he was very caring and considerate, an absolute gem with the customers who I found difficult. On more than one occasion he came to my rescue when I was unable to answer a query due to having never worked on that floor. He was almost nervous when asking delicate questions about my family and friends although I could tell he was genuinely interested in what I had to say. By the time our shift finished at half past five, I knew I’d found a friend. There was nothing not to like about him and when he smiled, I was amazed at how beautiful he actually was. But that day was the last time I saw him.

The heavens opened and suddenly I was soaked, the street was flooded and everywhere there was water, swirling menacingly around me threatening to sweep me away. Tears of frustration escaped me; I was only 5 minutes away from my house, why now? I could hear the rumbling of the thunder above me as I tripped and lost my shoe in the gutter.
“I hope you’re happy!” I screamed at the sky above me, my emotion exploding as I fell onto the path and sobbed, my tears mixing with the rain. It was in that split second that I looked up and saw the flash of lightning as it streaked across the sky and hit me. Everything around me was blinding white, I could no longer see or feel the water, and instead I felt as if I was burning. I tried to escape but the light was everywhere, it was hurting my eyes and I shaked uncontrollably as if the very atoms of my being wanted to disband. I felt a tug on my hand and without thinking I closed my eyes and let it pull me away, floating along in time and space with no knowledge of who I was.

I could feel the light fading but I didn’t dare to open my eyes, I could sense that my eyelids were blistered and I gingerly tried to feel my face but I was unable to move my hands. Or my legs. I couldn’t connect with any part of my body at all, it was as if my brain and my thoughts were just floating in the sea of light that had been so bright but was slowly and gradually dimming. I tried to collect my thoughts together but everything seemed a jumble, I was struggling to distinguish between memories from today and what happened years ago. One minute I was at work on the shop floor tidying the bookshelves before the scene shifted and I was a little girl again running around in the park outside my house. The memories continuously shifted until it was just a blur, running through my head like a movie on fast forward. And then out of nowhere I remembered the flash of lightning that had hurtled down from the sky and had set me on fire. For surely I could not have survived, this was just my chance to say goodbye to my life before it slipped away from me. I waited for the end to reach me, the light almost gone now, so surely death should be close. But instead I found myself more alive than I had ever felt before, I was able to flex my fingers and wriggle my toes. I ran my fingers over my face and wasn’t surprised to find the skin raw and blistered but at least I was alive. I slowly opened my eyes and waited for them to get used to the light but instead found myself staring straight into a pair of bright blue eyes that pierced through mine. They were Daniel’s eyes.

I stood looking at myself in the mirror, my once soft, wavy hair was now gone, burnt away from my scalp leaving it red raw. My skin was blistered, I no longer had eyebrows or eyelashes and I had a jagged scar running from my neck down my chest and across my stomach from where I got hit by the full force of the bolt. I was completely unrecognisable; my own mother wouldn’t have known who I was. A tear slid down my cheek as I said goodbye to the girl I once was, I’d never be her again.

“Gemma?”

I came face to face with Daniel as he put a hand delicately on my shoulder and slowly span me round to look at him. But even when he smiled at me, I felt rage against him. For Daniel had no scars, no blisters, his skin was as smooth as the day as I last saw him. I shrugged his hand off me and turned to run away but he was too fast, his strong arms encircled me and held me tight while I struggled and tried to pull away. My fists connected with everything, his chest, his arms, even his face but Daniel still held me fast. My rage subsided and I found myself crying, slowly I stopped trying to fight him and let him just hold me, his hand found my hair and I was comforted by the calming stroking. Gently, he put his hand under my chin and lifted my head up so that we were looking into each other’s eyes.

“You still look beautiful to me.”

“No I don’t, I’m hideous, look what’s happened to me.” It was only then that I realised that he’d had his hand in my hair, my hair had been burnt away, and I’d seen my naked head myself. I span round and once again looked in the mirror, but Daniel was right. My wavy brunette hair was there, sitting on my shoulders, my eyebrows and eyelashes were back and there was no sign of a scar. It was as if it had all been a dream. But then Daniel let go of my shoulder and I was once again deformed, my hair had disappeared and the burns looked sorer than ever.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, turning back to face him.

“You will do,” Daniel replied, his voice steady and reassuring. He stepped away from me and his fingers lingered on my cheek before letting go. I saw the change in him before I felt his touch leave me. The lightning scar that covered my neck and chest ran from his head all the way down his back and down his leg, ending in a gaping wound on his foot. His flesh looked as if he was being boiled alive and his head was naked like mine but the burns were more severe. Looking at Daniel, I felt selfish at the relief I felt that I’d escaped lightly.

“Do you understand now?”

I nodded as he stepped back towards me and clasped my hand tightly, together we looked at them transform into the hands we once had. Our hands fit together so perfectly, it was as if we were meant to be.

Author's Note

Not finished yet, still deciding on an ending...