Our breath stretched out in the night air for miles. This milestone of luck we had been given felt bewildering and complicated. Everyone looked so pleased with themselves. They had told us this would happen, that we should prepare for this day to begin. I remembered them telling me I wouldn't be able to tolerate the heat. I quickly brought myself forward. As we looked up, we saw the whole sky turn fluorescent. I was awestruck, and at the same time my stomach was curdling upwards. Maybe they were right, although I had thought I would just know what to do when they came. I had imagined this day to be an extremely difficult process of walking straight into the light. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs - how unfair this was - and yet I knew I was specially chosen.
My boyfriend was an avid science-fiction fan and believed in them longer than anyone. I was always skeptical, until that day when I saw a rock with the salsa sauce dripped over it. When I went over to study the rock, I thought that I was hallucinating, but I wasn't. The salsa sauce was as thick and red as the store- bought kind. My boyfriend had read a magazine article which said one of the signs to look for was a rock on fire. I had asked him what that meant, but he said I shouldn't question it. He said that there was a purpose to it, which we wouldn't find out until much later. It was a prophecy, and sometimes they don't make sense, but you should always believe in them when they're right in front of you. I trusted that he knew what he was talking about. I don't have a lot of opinions. Maybe that meant I couldn't think deeply about things, but I really don't care about thinking seriously. It just wasn't fun.
I wondered how long it would be until someone came looking for us. My friends were curious about things, and I knew they would want to see if I would go through with it. As I stood there, my knees began to buckle. My boyfriend held me up as best as he could, but I weighed over 200 pounds, and he was a lot smaller. I felt like running for dear life. For the first time, I wished I didn't weigh so much. Everybody thought I was in denial, but actually I liked being big. It meant I was different than most, and I always had a positive attitude about it. I liked who I was as a person and if anybody felt differently, then too bad. I wasn't changing.
City hall was only two blocks away, but it might as well have been on another planet. I couldn't get there in time because the lights were starting their call. I knew the only place where I could hide and they wouldn't find me was at the town's infamous city hall, where they had barbed wire and aluminum foil covering the windows and the roof.
I thought I would puke as I looked down at my hands; they were turning bright red. My knees unbuckled. I began to feel more at peace. The night air was beginning to warm up. I looked at my boyfriend and asked him to remove his jacket. He only blankly stared straight ahead. I put my arm around his shoulders and whispered, "I love you" in his ear. Turning my head backwards, I looked at some of my friends waving flags and eating popcorn. It was pure magic. As we walked into the fluorescent light, I heard the noise get louder and louder. The jar of salsa sauce was warm, and I hoped it wouldn't break in my hands. It was finally our turn. I just couldn't believe how fast this was happening.
This was something to remember all right; none of my friends were going to go until next year. During the drawing, I had the first pick and my number was ten. That meant that only nine other people would be before me. I wondered if they ever got back. No one had heard from them, but that didn't mean anything. The prophecy said we wouldn't return until the Earth was healed. I was lucky that they considered me one of the weak and mild. I was looking forward to inheriting the Earth.
My boyfriend had brought his favorite pet rock with him. It was kind of cute, how literally he was taking everything. I wondered what would have happened if we had never met or if we didn't have the prophecy to lean on.
Looking down, I saw the salsa. I hoped they would tell us what it's for because I really had no idea what I was supposed to do with it. My boyfriend told me to look up and as I did so, I saw the door opening. I couldn't believe how ordinary they looked. That was a relief because I had wondered how we would be able to relate to them. As we made our way past the blue ribbons and kazoos left on the ground, a thought occurred: What if the people in our town were the only ones chosen?
(Copyright 1998 by Laurie Christenson - No reproduction without express permission from the author)