Woe is a heatstroke

Splash.

I heard laughter as my mom and baby sister played in the pool.

It was the last day of summer vacation and tomorrow would be her first day onto first grade, as well as my first day in highschool.

Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but feel anxious at the thought. Cassie was my closest friend through middle school but she'd moved away during the summer. We tried to keep in contact yet we hardly even text each other anymore.

I'd be alone.

"Syddie!", I felt nauseous as my stomach took a sudden headbutt.

"Maymay, don't do that!", this brat.

"Syddie, mommy says I got to sleep, but I don't want to! The sun is still up, so why?"

"Ah! Don't pull my hair!"

"She said I could play all day today, I still wanna play in the pool", please let my hair go.

Luckily my mom came and picked her up. After a bit of soothing, my sis decided she would go to bed after she watched the sun go away.

We sat by the pool as the sky turned red, the sunset was nice.

"Mommy, why do I have to go to school again?", Maymay was clinging to mom with a sad face.

"So you can get very smart."

"But I'm already smart!"

"That's true," mom decided to change strategies, "but summer's almost over so that means that summer break will be over too."

"Oh," she pouted, " I wish it didn't."

Me too.

We waited, then waited some more. Uh, it was taking a while wasn't it.

'Mom, is it supposed to last this long?'

?

My voice, no, my mouth. Why isn't it moving?

Not only my mouth, my body isn't moving. Nothing is moving.

I'm stuck staring at the sun.

It slowly starts to rise, and I can move.

So why?

Mom, May, me, doing stuff.

Backwards.

Don't like.

Hurts.

Mom it hurts.

Help

Eve rythin g is goi

in g ba ckw

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"AAAAAAAAAAAA"

I hear screaming

Who

I feel my head gradually clear up and I realize that my throat hurts.

I stop abruptly and heave as I try to calm myself, but the screaming, I still hear it.

All around.

---

You know, if time was gonna move backwards, wouldn't it be nice if it did after the hottest day this Earth has to offer?

We're in the living room, mom, dad, and May.

The news channel is playing on the TV.

"A category 5 anomaly has hit worldwide..."

I tone out the man's voice, it's too hot, ow my head. Our air conditioner was broken at this time. Very unlucky.

Category 5, huh?

Why couldn't it be a category 1, like that giant flock of upside down flying birds.

Or not even a category. I know I wished that summer didn't have to end, but I didn't mean it. Who wants to deal with this hellish heat.

Right, we went back a whole month. A whole month of moving backwards. Speaking, eating, other stuff, backwards.

It was awful.

I'm surprised any of us is still sane. At this point, isn't the whole world traumatized.

Awful.

It's hot, so I walk out.

"Cassie...", I hear my dad call out, but I'm already out of the house.

Well, it's not much better out here that's for sure. I keep walking to who knows where. I just need to go.

Most stores are closed and I hardly see anyone. Yeah, that makes sense. It would be nice to enter a convenience store though, I'm already sweating bullets.

I don't remember how long I walked for. I'm at the town park, no one's here of course. I can see the forest nearby, wasn't there a lake in there?

Should I go, it's hot. The pool we had was an inflatable we bought next week.

Yeah, just a swim. Oh man, I can't even jog over there.

I eventually make it, the tree's shade instantly lowers the temperature, if only a bit. Walking, moving plants, getting bit by mosquitoes, uh, it's a bit annoying.

It's funny, how much I wish could be in school right now. Because that would mean nothing's happened. And I would only be thinking of how lonely it is, of the awkwardness of choosing a seat at lunch, the dread of introducing yourself for each class again and again.

Ah, a clearing. And the lake!

"Oh thank goodness," I quickly make my way over. Jump.

Splash.

Great! Amazing! Very cold! Back to shore!

"What's that?", I notice a frog floating a foot from the ground.

It hops in place and croaks a series of sounds. Now that's a familiar sight. Simple anomalies, harmless and fun to look at.

I'm reminiscing on all the odd stuff I've seen when I hear a rustle behind me.

"Oh!," I sit up and see a girl my age exclaim,"oh wow, I didn't think anyone would be here."

"..."

"Hi, my name's Allison."

"..."

"You can call me Allie though"

She made her way over, I should answer too right? Yeah. My name, name, name.

"I'm Sydney", nice.

"Whatcha looking at?", She leans over my shoulder. Oh, oh, I should stand up as well. She plops down next to me before I do.

"A frog, cute! I remember we learned about this last year. What was it?"

She lifted her hand to her chin with a focused look. I also try to remember.

"I think," I speak, "it was because of light. Um, and space thinking the frog is still there. Maybe."

So, the frog is somewhere else. Invisible."

That seems about right.

"I forgot, yeah, it's somewhere else invisible right now. So cool. It's like we're spying on it"

This is nice. We speak for a while. About the frog, the weather, school, we'll go to the same school apparently.

We talk about what classes we'll take, what clubs, but we never mention the fact we went back a month.

We came here to forget that, if only for a moment.

Yet, out of everything that's come out because of that anomaly, this isn't so bad.