The Seer

It’s your 18th birthday and, upon it, you parents deliver some pretty shocking news: You’re not really human. They admit that they’ve been covering up the fact that you are actually a (fill in the blank). After hearing the news you still decide to go to school, but this school day is different than all your school days past, especially when it’s revealed to others what you truly are. Write this scene.

Post your response (500 words or fewer) in the comments below.

The Seer

I went to bed ten and woke up eighteen.

The moment I awoke, I knew something was wrong.  My room was dark—the blackness impenetrable.  I let out a whimper, but it sounded different; not a child's whimper, but a woman's.

I jerked my hand to my mouth, and as I did, my lips and chin blinked into focus.  Trembling, I pulled my hand down and positioned it directly across from the other. 

My eyes were in my hand.

Shimmering blue eyes, framed in dark lashes, embedded into the center of my hand.

A scream was torn from my throat. At the sound, my parents hurried into the room.

“What is it?” Mom asked, alarm in her eyes.

“It looks like Iris had a bad dream,” Dad said, his face relaxing.  “You haven't had one of those since you were little. By the way, happy birthday.  Eighteen years old!  The time went by in a flash.”

“You have no idea,” I said, my voice shaking. I began to cry—tears dripping down my palm and into the crook of my arm. “Mama, something's happened.  What's wrong with me?”

“Sweetheart, we told you about this.”

“No, you didn't!”

“Of course we did,” she said.  “Remember, you're not human, but a seer? We told you about our ancestors crashing to earth years ago and assimilating? You simply changed, is all.”

“It can't be!”

“Iris, if you keep this up, you'll be late for school.”

Despite my protests, my parents herded me to school, dropping me outside a crowded high school.  Fear blossomed at the sight of it. High school was where old kids went.  I didn't belong in high school!

With my hands held up to my face, I walked with shaking steps.  Would they scream when they saw me? But they didn't even blink, some people even nodding hello.  As I scanned the hall, my eyes stopped on a boy with hands on his face, eyes protruding from them. My heart stopped at the sight. Was he a seer, too?  

It wasn't until I was standing in front of him that I saw the bomb strapped across his chest.

“Oh, god, you're going to blow up the school.”

He sneered at me.

“School? This will blow up half the planet!”

“But why?”

“You should know. You've picked on me since I was ten like everyone else!  As soon as I moved here, you made my life miserable.”

He pushed a button and the world around us spun.  Through the chaos, a girl with red hair and blue eyes in her hands came into focus. 

“You have to stop it, Iris.”

With a start, I recognized myself.  

Then flames took me, and I closed my eyes against the horror of the end.

When I opened them, I was once again a ten year old.  I hurried to get ready, taking the stairs two at a time.

“Where are you going?” my mother called.

“To the bus stop!  I have a friend to make!”