Excerpt: Invasi|ion. . . . .

I jolted up out of bed with a start, panting and sweating. I realized that I was covered with cold sweat and that my sheets were soaked through. I got up and walked over to my bathroom, careful to avoid the toys that were scattered throughout the tiny bedroom. I opened the door and looked into the mirror. "It was just a dream… just a dream…" I said loudly as I looked at the alarm clock on the counter. The display turned from 3:59 to 4:00 AM. "Great, another sleepless night…" I thought tiredly.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway, the peach colored carpet feeling good on my bare feet. I paused at the hallway window, there was some sort of floating green orb rotating slowly in the next-door neighbors window. I shook my head, not really wanting to know if it was a trick of the eyes, or a real floating orb... thing. A door softly opened and Maegan walked out. She didn't look tired, or even looked like she had tried to sleep. She had long dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and deep green eyes.
She usually wore a white t-shirt and her gym shorts to bed, but tonight the shirt was pink.
She walked over and folded her arms against her chest. “Isn't it a little late to be up?” I smiled a little bit and shook my head, my blond hair getting in my eyes.
My Dad, Henry, had blond hair, and my Mom, Kristen, had bright red hair. “I could say the same for you,” I said softly. She grimaced and leaned against the wall. “I don't know what it is, but I can't sleep. Mrs. McGrady wants that math test in by tomorrow, right after class, but I also have to go and help Lacy with her Geography. Not to mention the hundred other things that I have to do. Tomorrow's going to be busy. Kyle, when aren't I busy?”
I smiled and shrugged. She was one of those people that always made more friends than they can count, let alone remember. She smiled and then walked downstairs, saying something about getting a drink. I looked at the window to see that the glowing light had vanished. “I don't want to tell her about it. She has enough worry on her hands.” I thought. I turned around and walked back to my room and sat down with my head in my hands and sighed. Tomorrow was school, and they wouldn't want me to go there too tired to walk.

7:04.54 AM, USA MOUNTAIN TIME:

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed three pieces of toast lying on the counter. Meagan walked down the stairs, wearing a red T-shirt with a too-low neckline, a white undershirt and jeans. She walked over to the fridge and got out a few waffles and walked over to put them into the toaster. She got out a plate as I finished the first piece of toast. The waffles shot out of the toaster and landed on her plate.
Dad had plotted the exact trajectory of a piece of toast and where it would land, so every morning we would put our plate there and it would always land in the same place. She walked over to the cupboard and grabbed some syrup while I took another bite. Maegan walked over to the small table and sat down on the other side of me. "Kyle, did you get any more sleep?” I nodded. “How about you?”
She shook her head and asked, “What do you think of my clothes?” I shrugged and took the last bite of toast. “You're asking me?” I said, raising an eyebrow. She nodded and said, “Well, you're my brother..” She trailed off and finished her waffles.
I got up and started walking to the front door, waiting for Maegan to catch up. I opened the door and let Maegan out, and closed it behind me. Sitting right beneath the bus sign was Caleb, a friend of mine since kindergarten, he loved making Movies and had light blond hair. We walked down to him. “Hey, Caleb!” I called out. He looked around and got up, walking towards us with a smile.
“Hey, did you guys get the news?” I shook my head and his smile got wider. “There's no school today.” I smiled and said, “If there's no school, then why were you sitting at the bottom of the bus stop sign?” “Because I knew you guys would come here. School's been canceled while they clean up some toxic stuff from Science.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
Science class was always spilling something, whether it be in the halls or in the bathroom. Usually it wasn't toxic, but smelly. I turned around and started walking up the front lawn, waiting for Caleb and Maegan to catch up. Caleb ran up the lawn and walked to my right, while Maegan was on my left. Someone called Maegan's name, and she turned towards them. She ran towards who ever it was and Caleb and I walked inside the front door.
“So, what do you want to do?” asked Caleb.
“Not much, maybe eat something more than toast.” came my honest reply.
“Fine. I'll just hop over your fence and be home.” He walked to the sliding door and slid it open. “See you later!” He said as he closed the door. I nodded and walked over to the couch. The door opened and closed and Maegan walked in. “It was Joe. He was trying to get me to go to his house and 'hang out'. That kids creeps me out. I keep getting the feeling that he likes me. And that isn't a good thing.” she said as she walked over to the couch.
She threw her unopened backpack onto the La-z-boy and sat down. She laid her head back and closed her eyes, stretching. I sat down and said, “Why don't you just tell your hundred-forty plus posse to get him off your back?” She paused and then responded, “Because I can't do that too him. It'd embarrass him in front of the entire school, and then he would always remember my name, and hate me.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it, defeated. “Maybe I'll just go there and see what he wants. . . “ she said. I shook my head. “He's a wrestler. If he doesn't have good intentions, you couldn't do anything to get away.” She nodded, looking gloomy. “Sorry,” she said, “bad topic.” I smiled slightly and she closed her eyes. After a while, her breathing got deeper and evened out.
“Finally, she fell asleep.” I thought. I got up and walked to my room, getting onto my computer and logging into my Google-Mail. “Eighty messages!!” I thought, staring at the screen. For the next hour-and-a-half I checked and sent E-mail.

Thunder boomed outside as rain poured down onto the patio. The lights flickered and then went out, leaving us in darkness. It was several hours later, and Maegan was curled up, asleep on the couch. I had gone back downstairs and fallen asleep on the couch for a while, but the thunder had woken me up. It was hailing now, the hail around the size of a dime or penny.
Chuck Norris, my golden retriever, was asleep on the couch next to Maegan. Bulls-eye, the cat with a black circle around one eye, came and sat down, licking her paw clean. Another stroke of thunder boomed outside, but both pets were used to it. They didn't even jump.
I got up and walked back upstairs, getting my flashlight. I opened the door to my room and grabbed it off of the top of the dresser. I pushed the little button and the light turned on, I walked downstairs and looked in the pantry for something to eat and found a bag of Chips. I ripped them open and spilled the contents onto the floor. “Crap, stupid weak bags..”
I thought as I picked them up off the floor. The front door opened and then closed, and I looked around the corner. There wasn't anything there. I turned around-
And woke up.
Maegan was still asleep on the couch, the lights were on and Bulls-eye was lying on my side, curled up in a little ball. I gently moved her and got up, stretching. It was a sunny day outside and the grass was a light, yellow-green in the middle of October. Such as it is in Utah, where you can get heatstroke and frostbite from your car door in the same month.
I walked over and sat down on a stool, drumming the tabletop with my fingers. I walked around, wondering what there was to eat besides whatever was in the pantry. Something struck the door outside and I looked out the glass window. There was a dead bird lying outside.
Suddenly, the lights flickered and then went brighter and brighter, and then they exploded, the pieces of glass flying everywhere. I ducked and covered my head with my hands, wondering what in the world was going on. Maegan woke up and blinked several times, wondering what was going on. I looked out the window to see a huge lightning bolt hit the neighbors house.
Another bolt of lightning hit, and then another, and then four at once. And then there was a longer than normal flash as a black one came down, striking the grass about 40 feet away from the house. The grass died instantly, and I gasped as another one hit the ground. “What is going on!?” shouted Maegan as three more black ones hit the ground. “I don't know! Who do you think I am!?” A huge funnel of air suddenly formed in the air and something surged into the ground far off into the distance.
The funnel collapsed and was gone. The house sopped rocking and the last light-bulb left turned on, bathing the kitchen in yellow light. Meagan walked stiffly over to the small closet and got out a broom and dustpan and walked over to start cleaning up. I helped, feeling a little dazed. We both kept the silence, working and wondering at what had happened. After we finished, Mom walked in and tripped, almost doing a nose dive.
“What is going on!?” She asked as she walked into the Kitchen.
We just shook our heads and wouldn't reply. Mom sighed and went to fix the kitchen up more. I went upstairs and sat down heavily in my chair. “What in the world happened today?” The TV downstairs turned on and a worried voice filled the downstairs room. “-I don't know about it either. That giant funnel thing sucked up my house! I want my money for lost possessions!” The man sounded like a farmer, and the newscaster came on, “Well, this has been a strange day. A large meteor just slammed into the ground near Toronto, Canada, and another one impacted near a city in Africa named Marrakech.
We have yet to confirm whether anyone was hurt or not, but we have...” “What in the world? That funnel sucked up some old guy's house, and two meteor impacts in one day?”
“..both meteors were larger than a house when they landed; and the one in Toronto, according to our most recent resources, has split open. Molly Jandorsen is live at the scene.”
I got up and walked down the stairs. Maegan and Mom were standing at the counter, watching a portable TV. We didn't have a huge Plasma one like everyone else. We preferred to get the news on the Internet. I walked over and stood next to Maegan as there was an explosion. “..Oh my- we just had a truck ignite into- What is that!?”
The Camera-Man was trying to get the camera to focus properly, finally getting the settings right, the TV zoomed in to show a hideous creature attack a car. It was at least twelve feet tall, it had two huge arms coming from just behind its narrow head that had bone-like protrusions that looked like a blade of some sort. Above the creatures eyes was a metal-like surface. The creature had four powerful legs at the abdomen, and two beefy almost human arms right below the jaw.
At the tail end of the creature, it coiled up like a cockroach. Out of the tail came small, dart-like objects. One such thing hit the Camera-man in the stomach and he collapsed, the camera shutting off. The view switched to that of the news people, and all three of them were staring, stunned at the events in Marrakech.
Mom turned the TV off and sat down. Maegan just stared at the TV as I went slowly upstairs. Without any dinner, I fell asleep.
I woke up, sweating just like that night a few weeks ago. Shaking my head, I stood up and walked into the hallway, wondering if Maegan was still awake. I walked into the bathroom to see the display turn from 3:59 AM to 4:00 AM. I rubbed my eyes to try and wake up more, but it didn't help. Turning around, I looked into the window in the hallway.
No lights. At least, not tonight. I heard the creak of a door and turned to see Maegan in a black T-shirt and shorts walking towards me. “ What do you think of what happened last night?" She asked. I shook my head. "I don't know. It seems like, it seems like it almost isn't real." I said. She shook her head and leaned against the wall. “What if they spread? Whatever 'they' are.” She said, genuine curiosity in her eyes. I sighed and shook my head. “I don't know. If they can swim, then we are in a lot of trouble.” I admitted. Maegan nodded. “I wonder what will happen...” I nodded and just stood there, looking closely at Maegan. “She didn't looked like she had even tried to sleep.” I thought, “Her eyes aren't tired, and she didn't wince when she walked into the hallway light.” I walked over to her and leaned against the wall. “Are you okay?” She just smiled and nodded slightly, her eyes telling a different story. “I think so, but I can't sleep very much anymore. I don't know what it is, but every time I close my eyes, I see those creatures.” I frowned. “Just try and get some sleep,” I said, “You don't want to be too tired in the morning. There is school after all.” She rolled her eyes and walked back into her room.
I walked slowly back to bed, wondering at the stupid dream that I kept having and at what Maegan had, or hadn't, said. “I hope that she can get some sleep, because I doubt that I will.”
I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes, but that's as far as I got. I laid there for a few minutes and then got up. Maegan's door was still slightly open and she was doing homework in the dark. I shook my head and walked back to my room. “She's not sleeping well, but I wonder why? I mean, besides those creatures. Is it the same reasons for why I can't sleep, or is she hiding something?” I stayed awake until around Five, and then hurriedly got dressed, running down the stairs and jumping the last six, ate my toast. Maegan ran down the stairs, already dressed in a deep blue shirt with short sleeves and a hood. “Are we even sure there is school today?” she asked as we headed for the door. We both walked at the door, her slightly ahead of me. She crossed the thresh-hold and disappeared. I blinked and looked around. Mom was busy putting away dishes, and Maegan was gone. Down the lawn was the school bus, pulling up for the kids to get on. I crossed the threshold and blinked.