The Flashes

The Flashes. They always occurred at night to me whenever I shut my eyes for too long, in search of genuine slumber. At first, I assumed they were whimsical little daydreams of an imaginary creature's life. However, the third one was branded into my memory, scorching hot and horrifying. I was out camping with my neighbor and my parents, of course I was barely six years of age. These so called "creatures" were strapped up in a laboratory so bright you could here the buzzing of electricity flowing throughout the room. I felt tense, as if my nerves down my spine had been frozen, definitely a nightmare rather than daydream. All I could recall after the dream was a stalky web-footed naked creature whisper "help" to me, as if we were having a woman-to-woman conversation. The eerie part is...the creature stared at me with its hollow, wine red flakey eye sockets. Last flash, the creature's species eyes were periwinkle, just like mine and every other patriotic Liberian in the nation. This intense flash was the lighter fuel to spark my questions. My father always mentioned, "If you play with the same toys as your neighbor you'll be safe". Now I realize it is far too late to reverse the hands of the clock and my own actions that followed those hands.