Estimated reading time: ±7 minutes
I am sitting on the terrace of a café where I like to go after school, mainly to watch people pass by and ask myself what is happening in their respective lives. It's probably more interesting than what's going on in my life. I finish drinking my coffee and eat the last bite of my sandwich before getting up and going to pay for my meal. By that time, my father will probably be gone to work. I pay by saluting the cashier, who is always so radiant and smiling. Maybe someday I'll ask her out for an activity.
I get out of the coffee and head home. A few blocks later, the light falls red. I look quickly and start crossing the street. I hear a horn followed by a squeal of a tire. I barely have time to turn my head to see the face of the person who was probably going to kill me in this inevitable accident. I close my eyes, I feel like my life is passing me by at full speed; the kids who bully me at school, my father who has fun hitting me when he feels like it or when he's just not in the mood, the beautiful Cassia from the café to whom I'll never be able to ask out. After a few seconds, I open my eyes, I'm not dead. I mean, I don't think so, both my hands are on the hood of the car and the driver is looking at me; he's even more terrified than before the impact. I feel like it's not just my hands the size they are. I look at my arms, yes, it is my arms, but why have they doubled or even tripled in size? I feel my body returning to normal proportions. I stumble a little and fall on my butt. I close my eyes and faint.
Strangely, I hear the ambulance coming and some passers-by approaching and wondering if I'm all right. I can feel the paramedics taking my pulse and checking if I'm breathing. They put me on a stretcher. I hear some people passing by shouting things like "He doubled in size and took his original shape after! " or "He's an escaped monster from the zoo!". The paramedics are asking them to stay calm. A man shouts that he has filmed everything. I feel like I'm getting into the ambulance and the doors are being closed.
A few long minutes later, I open my eyes and one of the paramedics looks at me.
Paramedic: Can you explain what happened?
Tim: I don't know, I saw a car coming towards me and then nothing.
Paramedic: Don't worry sir, we'll take you to the hospital to make sure you have nothing.
Tim: I don't like hospitals...
Paramedic: You won't be there long, I promise.
I'm trying to check myself out to see if I'm okay. I can move my feet and hands, but I'm tied to the stretcher.
Tim: Can you untie me, please?
Paramedic: Can you move your hands and feet?
Tim: Yes, I have no problem doing that.
Paramedic: Difficulty breathing?
Tim: I don't think so, maybe because of the strap?
The paramedic untied me gently and I stood up slowly. I sit and watch him.
Paramedic: What's your name?
Tim: Tim Allam.
Paramedic: Do you remember the date?
Tim: Yes, this is Venaol 12. It begins to make a milder temperature and the terraces of the restaurants are reinstalled.
Paramedic: Right. We may ask you these questions again later, to make sure you don't suffer a concussion.
Tim: Okay...
The paramedic is looking over his shoulder, probably to see if we're approaching the hospital. I sigh and look at my hands. I don't have any marks; it's really strange. Normally, I'd have injuries to my hands, that's when I stopped the car.
The ambulance stops and I turn my head to see the hospital. The ambulance driver comes out of the vehicle and opens the doors. She looks at me, surprised I'm awake. The paramedic helps me down and they bring me a wheelchair.
Tim: I can walk, thank you...
Paramedic: We follow procedure, Tim. Come with us.
I follow the paramedic, he's taking me to triage. I fill out papers, give my personal information and then I describe what happened. The only thing I could explain was something like "I got hit by a car, but I don't know why, I can still walk." The receptionist looks at me raising an eyebrow; normally their job includes not judging.
I follow again the ambulance driver who takes me to a room so that a doctor can examine any injuries I may have. After half an hour of waiting, a doctor finally arrives. He does a check and notices bruises on my arms and a bit on my back. I try to explain to him that this was not the result of the accident, without admitting that the injuries were caused by my father. The doctor seems discouraged by my silence and vague explanation. He finishes his checks and prescribes me a cream against bruises. I take the paper.
Tim: Thank you Doctor.
Doctor: Take care of yourself and whatever the reason for your bruising, don't let it happen.
Tim: Okay, Doctor.
I get up and put my sweater back on. The doctor leaves and calls the next patient. I leave the hospital and head home. At this hour, it is clear that my father will not be present. An hour later, I finally get home, my father is gone as I hoped. When I get there, I'm going to grab something to eat and take refuge in my room. I watch my hand while I eat. I still have trouble understanding what is going on with me and I contract my hand a little. I have to try things to reproduce what happened, but maybe not something as loud as a car coming at me.
I think a little and get out of my room and into the living room. I sit on the couch and turn on the TV at the news station. I stare at the TV without paying too much attention, absorbed by my thoughts. I notice he was talking about the car accident I was in. The video is even shown there. The video is blurry and moves a lot, but you can see what's going on. A car coming at me, crossing over a red light. I see myself turning towards the car and then the top of my body double in size to stop the vehicle. The next thing I knew, I was back to normal height and fainted.
Tim: Shit! If anyone recognizes me, I'm screwed! I'm going to get sliced to serve as an experiment.
I'm starting to panic. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? I get up and feel my body changing a little bit, in fact, I feel my body getting bigger. I look at my hands and arms to see that they are bigger and much more muscular. Is it the adrenaline rush that triggers this, maybe? I take the remote, it looks very small in my hand now. I press the button on the remote a little too hard. The TV goes off, but I can hear the plastic cracking under my movement. I probably broke it. I put the remote control down and go back to my room to try to calm down. I have to control myself every time I intend to touch something if I don't want to break everything. I lie on my bed and sighs, trying to calm down. What would I do if someone recognized me? No, it's impossible for anyone to identify me, I'm practically invisible. I take my pillow, put it on my face and yell at it to let off steam. When I calmed down, I took it off and looked at my arms, they had returned to a normal size. I'll take my cell phone and see if anyone's written to me. Nothing.
I unlock it and start playing one of the games installed to pass the time. After a few minutes, I close the application and go back to see the news from my cell phone. I try to find the one who talks about my accident, but I can't see her again. This is all strange. I keep looking and I finally find something that talks about the accident indicating that the video is rigged.
Tim: Seriously!? A rigged video! That's my luck! I don't know who or what decided it was a fake video, but it's to my advantage.
I smile a little and place myself well in my bed. I still hope it's still considered a fake video.