Illumination

by Archie Appleby

Jamie drew a thin, silk cloth from beneath his bed uncovering an array of rusted mechanical parts from an old torch. His father had died when he was a young boy, leaving him to a small orphanage at the edge of town. A faded photograph of Jamie and his father posing next to a half-built car laid face up on the carpet. By moonlight, Jamie began carefully placing the parts together but the rusted bulb simply would not fit. He rummaged around in his rucksack, cutting his finger on a sharp nail; it tore a deep hole in the bag. Jamie lunged off his seat and sprinted to get a plaster, when something pierced through the night sky, shattering the window. Jamie spun round. On the floor, amongst the shards of glass sat a bulb, fit for a small torch like his own.

Jamie peered through the broken window. A blue streak flashed past the moon causing Jamie to tumble back into his chair, almost dropping his torch onto the carpet. He picked himself up and glanced down at the bulb in his bleeding hand. He took his torch and attached the bulb. It was a perfect fit – as if it was made for it. Jamie tentatively turned the torch on. He peered outside. A light breeze blew his hair from behind him. But no other windows were open and there was no-one else in the room. He turned off his torch and spun around. Nothing. He called out. No response.

He turned the torch back on. A tall, blue figure was suddenly illuminated and stood ominously before him. Jamie tried to scream, but no sound came out. The figure didn’t flinch. Its bright white eyes darted around searching for something. Its eyes locked onto the torch. It reached out for it. Jamie swiftly retracted the torch and began stepping backwards. He shone the torch into the figure’s eyes hoping to stun it, but the torchlight passed through the figure, exposing a second figure directly behind it. The second figure was smaller in stature and seemed to be staring straight through Jamie. Jamie was transfixed on the figure’s huge, bulging eyes. A third figure entered the room but only when its eyes zoned in on the torch did it come closer. Jamie continued to stare in terror, petrified that the figures would suddenly attack him. Somehow, he knew they could easily overpower him. What would they do to him?

The first figures’ head suddenly spun backwards, rotating all the way around. Jamie felt nauseous. Taking in a deep gasp of air he glanced towards the other two. They weren’t staring at the torch anymore. They were all staring at him. They were intimidating him, using him, controlling him. They wanted the torch. The torchlight had revealed them. Paralysed with fear Jamie somehow managed to turn off the torch. The figures vanished but there was still something there. Something inside of him…