Friends of the Time/Light Continuum

Kaden calmly plucked his ukelele. Each reverberating note started sounding all around them - suddenly - ZAP! An electric snap hit the air and another fly dropped out of the room. The sound of giant bowling balls rolling across the sky shook the windows. “Jack loves thunder.” He thought to himself. 

What he wasn’t thinking is how stunned Jack would be to witness him killing bugs with just the sound of his ukelele.

Lightning flashed outside the window like burning plasma in space. Too bright to comprehend.  

A loud pounding on the door moved Cameron from the couch. “Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!” He sang as he danced his way to the door. A blackened sky radiated the smell of recent rain. “Three cheese pepperoni?” The man asked as electric sparks crackled in the street behind him. 

Cammy took the pizza and handed him cash. “Thanks for coming out in this weather,” he said as he closed the door.

Kaden seemed entranced. His stare went off beyond the few gnats and single fly still circling the room. Cameron looked at his brother. “Dude. you're starting to worry me” he said. Kaden plucked another string. Again the string tone vibrated into the air, and ZAP! A gnat fell to the floor.

The barely-perceptible sprinkling of electric spark made even the hairs on their heads feel like they were standing on end. Cameron's eyebrows furrowed. His eyes were glowering. He began wringing his hands.

Kaden released a deep sigh. Jack was mad at him. He knew this because he refused to say goodnight the last time he left his house. He imagined it was because he was so surprised that he beat him at the last one-on-one basketball game they played. Jack loves to win. Especially at sports.

“OK. That's just creepy.” Cammy stated as the next gnat fell from the air. “Have some pizza, and try to think happier thoughts. You’re killin’ me.” 

Kaden gently set the ukulele on the couch and went to the window. The crackle of lightning continued increasing with what seemed like the force of the wind. The bright flashing was so electric both boys felt the hair on their arms standing up. The windows shook again. Kaden could see Jack's face in his mind. He wasn't smiling when they left, either. 

“STOP IT!” Cameron shook Kaden’s shoulders. “You remember the last time you got upset? Every time you started to talk, frogs came out of your mouth! Kaden eyed a fly that entered the room through the kitchen. He began to reach for his ukelele. “NO!” Cameron demanded.

Then came a flash so big the entire room lit up in the house. The windows rattled for almost a full minute. “I hope that pizza guy gets home ok,” Cameron muttered. “Kneedeep. Kneedeep.” Cameron whirled around. Kaden was squatting near the floor, knees almost up to his ears. “STOP THAT!” Cammy yelled.

Another crack of lightning pierced the room with a glare like diamonds in the sunlight. The two brothers winced. They covered their eyes. Shimmering sparks seemed to cling to everything in the room. Random snapping sounds popped through the air.

“This is what we get for messing around with the time/light continuum. I told you it was a bad idea. Everything we see becomes affected by lightning. Everything we think could change everything" Cameron complained. Suddenly Kaden remembered. 

That was it! He knew exactly what to do next. Kaden picked up his ukelele and reached inside its center. He felt around for the tingly sparking piece that came from a rainbow he met in Hawaii last year. Ever since that trip to Hawaii to visit Pele, everything had seemed different. Cameron was sure it was because they had forgotten to perform a section of the ritual she liked the most before visiting her lava flow.

“Do you think this lightning is because of the rainbow spark?” Kaden asked. “I’m telling you I think we never should have brought that piece of rainbow home. It left an empty space in the center of the time/light continuum. Now we have electrified music and light-smashing thunder at our door!” Cameron was upset. He looked annoyed. His fingers ran through his mop of brown hair. He took a nervous bite of his pizza.

“And now Jack is mad at me too.” Kaden lamented. 

“I know what to do!” Cameron announced suddenly. “Give me that piece of rainbow.” Kaden reached further into his ukelele. He removed the vibrating brilliant glow of color. He handed it to his brother. “Please be careful” he mumbled quietly. Cammy studied the glowing light. It made his hand tingle. It was almost hurting from the strong buzz of electricity.

Cameron threw open the front door and waited. A huge flash began as he wound his pitching arm and hurled the sparking piece of light directly into the hole in the center of the flash.

The sound of rushing wind seemed to pull the glowing color ball into its center. Sounds of crashing waves of electric light being sucked into a vortex emanated from the air above them. Two brothers, silhouetted against an agitated sky, stood spellbound in the doorway.

It was almost like the sound of the last swirl of water going down a drain. Only sparking electric rainbow-colored popping made up the water, and some kind of vortex above them was the drain.

Cammy closed the door. The light mellowed outside, and it grew quiet. Only the random chirp of a bird could be heard through the open window. A car rolled up into the driveway. Out jumped Jack. He ran to the front door. Kaden threw the door open. “Hey KK” he said, smiling. You forgot your good shoes at my house, I knew you needed them, so Mom brought me over to drop them off.” 

“Thanks, Jack! I hadn’t even missed them yet!” The two hugged briefly and Jack ran back to his car.

Kaden returned to the couch and picked up his ukelele. He strummed it gently. A fly buzzed by his head. Nothing special happened. Both boys smiled.