My Name is Monster

Struck by lightning, I respond, "I'm more alive NOW than I was ever!"

Ron seems incredulous, looking at two me's. One on the ground, one glowing with an azure blue aura around me standing right next to him.

After a moment of stunned silence he asks again, "no really - are you alive or dead?"

I pause in my excited state because it's clear to me he's trying to gather his wits, so I join him in the fun of gathering wits. I look at him seriously and say directly to him, "it always depends on how you define it. No matter what level, to whatever degree you happen to be in the moment, it depends on how you define life."

Now his brow furrowed with consternation and he looked directly back at me, and I could see a fire in his eyes that was more than merely the reflection of me on his iris. He demanded, "but DO YOU HAVE A PULSE? Are you a physical being?"

I reached my hand out for him to touch me, and he extended his own hand with some nervousness. Our hands moved closer together until he could feel my flesh, at which point we clasped in a good healthy handshake. It was like leaping across a chasm for him, but having landed on the other side he settled in and stood more straight. "Finn do you know what you're doing."

"No. Do you? Have you ever? Isn't it always just a day after another of doing what you hope against all hope will work for you today?"

He was not amused. He expressed resistance with a shrug and shook his head in bewilderment. Then he looked down at my limp body on the ground, and back at me. He muttered as if speaking to no one in particular, "it seems we have a body to dispose of..."

And that did make me pause because nowhere in the manuals does it talk about what you do with your physical body after transmorgrifying into a higher state of being from getting struck by lightning. This was UNCHARTED TERRITORY.

...

By way of backtracking, I can put this in context. I had just finished forging my ritual knife, and I had gotten with Ron for a drive into the mountains to reach the nearest promontory, where I could brandish heaven. The bestest of best time to do that is when a storm is rising, and this one promised to be a doozey. I'm a storm chaser and the evening was growing more and more electric, with static building up from late summer dust and smoke in the air. The wind was fickle, mostly a confused breeze swirling throughout the entire valley, unsure of where to go, it was just circling, being pushed by a change in the temperature. Evening approached and the hot day was very quickly turning into a cool summer rain approaching over the mountains. Before the smell of petrichor could be sensed, we jumped in the car for a nice summer drive. He had no idea I had smuggled my knife into the sheath of my jeans which were baggy enough it didn't show. As I was the passenger the knife was on the door side and he didn't know I was packing. But when we found the best spot, a turnoff that led to the highest point in the foothills, we parked and hiked out into the fields so we could watch the storm and smoke a joint. Before even lighting up, the wind had really picked up and he started pacing with nervousness. He actually uttered his fear, that he didn't want to be on high ground right before a storm moves in. I told him, "you go on to the car. I'm going to soak this in for a minute."

When he returned to the car I drew the blade and brandished it to heaven, which made me the highest point of metal contact with the sky. The drive back was the heaviest dust storm the valley had seen in decades. Furious winds drove summer-dry dust into clouds so thick we had to slow the car to a crawling pace and hold our heads out of opened doors to make sure we were keeping on the freaking road. We weren't. I told him "hold up, Ron. We're not on the road." He stopped and his headlights were peering straight into a farmer's front yard fence, which we backed out from as quietly as possible we didn't want to disturb them by driving any further into their front yard.

Now when it comes to intimacy after a lightning strike, you gotta be careful. I've always been a storm chaser because I crave the electricity in the air. You know how you can slide your feet accross a carpet floor, then touch something and get a static shock? It's like that. Honestly I don't know if it's like that for everyone, but it always has been for me. Maybe it was a combination of me and my girlfriend, in close proximity we were prone to setting off a spark; once, that happened in a summer wheat field, also during a lightning storm after a sultry hot day. We lay down in the golden blades and as I got close, to whisper about the scent of bread baking in the wheat, a huge spark leapt between our lips. Our LIPS! While they were at least 6 inches apart! It was incidents like that which formed our relationship, and I wasn't sure exactly what would happen if Ron were to drop me off at her house and I pop in casually, with a blue aura and an extra few amps in my touch. I wasn't sure what woud happen, but I was pretty certain whatever happens would be exciting! I turned to Ron in the car and said, "drop me off at Wanda's. She has GOT to see this!" and Ron lit up a cigarette and muttered "Lord help Wanda..." and smiled at me beamishly.

Driving back into town the roads were covered in dust as thick as a snowstorm. Traffic was almost non-existent, even though it was early evening. I mentioned to Ron, "hey, um... if this blue-glowing thing starts to be a problem can I call you? Are you gonna be up later?"

"Oh sure. What, you think you might need a ride out of there? What could go wrong? She's going to see her boyfriend turned into a blue Avatar, but what the heck, She'll get over it!"

I joked "maybe I could get a part in an X-Men movie or something" and we laughed. It became a nervous laughter though, as it sunk in 'what the heck am I gonna do??'

...

The next morning I woke up snuggling with Wanda, and she was still asleep. I moved my arm to see if I was still glowing blue, which I had been all (-ALL!) night. This business about being turned into a blue avatar made great sex but you can't base a relationship entirely on that. For one thing, appliances kept shorting out. I stopped a clock, and she had to stop me from using the microwave, she feared what might happen. I drained batteries just by touching the appliance they were in. While we were having sex, we whipped out her vibrator which went dead as soon as I grabbed hold of it. So Wanda and I broke up. After a while Ron introduced me to Lucy, who lives out on the range in Starbuck. She took me in but we devolve into a hot mess, and my blue aura stopped showing. Now I don't see anyone, and my color is returning...

It's getting chilly, as summer winds down its warmth. Alone in my own apartment, I put on my long sleeve plaid flannel, which was draped over my spare bedroom computer where I had put it away, not being much use. It's OK, it got plenty of air and incense and if I recall correctly was washed but it was un-ironed and wrinkly. No one was around to see it though so it didn't much matter. After Wanda, seeing people didn't much make sense. Lucy was a cool-down stretch. I sat down at my keyboard, put on my static wrist-guard and started writing... It feels good to be alive again.