2) Stay out of the light!

As we got closer to the light, I noticed it had sort of a magnetic pull. I couldn't turn away even if I wanted to. The beam of light was calling me to it with promises of sunshine.. But it was not sunshine. In fact, there hadn't been sunshine in 5 years.

"THE LIGHT WILL KILL YOU!"

"STAY OUT IF THE LIGHT!"

"RUN! GO AWAY FROM THE LIGHT! FIGHT IT'S FORCE!"

It seemed every living thing on this planet was attracted to the beam of light. Meanwhile, there were some along the way calling out warnings to avoid the light at all costs.

"What could be so dangerous about a beam of light?" I asked. It came out more sarcastic sounding than I planned..

"It is not the light you should fear" warned a crackly voice just above a whisper "It's the source of the light that one should fear! For they will snatch you up and you will disappear!"

"Who are you?" Mani asked at the same time I was asking "Who is the source of the light? And why do they want us?"

"Nevermind who I am." The crackly voice said "Stay out of the light if you want to live!" And then it was silent. Whoever the voice belonged to had left us in the shadows with so many new questions and no answers.

"Well, let's go see what this light is all about then." Said Mani holding his elbow out for me to hold " Shall we?"

Mani didn't flinch when I took his arm. He didn't show any interest in being more than a friend, however he was the only one who ever let me touch them without wincing at my ugliness. And because of that, I was developing feelings for him. Feelings I knew would break my heart and shatter my confidence. But I didn't let that stop me from allowing those feelings to fester in my heart and mind.

We needed to get close enough to see where the light was coming from but stay far enough away to not get caught in the beam. The once dark and silent world around us, lit up in a spectacular show of lights and sparkles. There was so much life around us.

"Honestly, I thought the whole planet was dead till that light turned on and everything came to life!" I told Mani "Oh it's so lovely!"

Mani didn't respond. He looked worried and stressed. "If that beam of light is to attract living things to snatch away, I'm all in!' Mani said picking up the pace.

"What do you mean? Aren't you afraid??" I asked, horrified at the thought of him disappearing and never seeing him again.

"I am not afraid, Claire, I am curious. I want to know who is taking the life forms off this planet and why? And what happened to the sun? Why is it always so dark?"

To me it was obvious- Whoever was shining the beam and snatching beings from this planet must also have stolen the sun.

We were getting close to the beam and I still couldn't see the source. I kept searching the sky near where the beam was coming from and could only see the light beaming out of the clouds.. Nothing else.

"I'm going in!" Yelled Mani as he moved faster toward the beam.

"Wait!" I begged "What if something happens to you? I'm going with you! You can't just leave me alo.." my words were cut off as we reached the light beam and Mani disappeared. What is happening I wondered as everything was enveloped in bright light. It was so bright, even with my eyes squeezed shut as tight as I could get them, they still hurt from the brightness. It was hard to breathe and for a moment I felt like I was floating. Then the darkness crept in and pulled me out of the light. I landed on the ground hard. It felt like sand under me and I could hear waves crashing. Everything was dark again so I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me as I repeated my only wish "Please let me wake up in the sun. Please let me wake up in the sun. Please let me wake up in the sun"