Lurking

May 21, 2044- Saturday

The students walk on the school bus in a single file. There is only one bus headed out of the parking lot on the Bakersfield High School’s track parking lot. Kevin climbs the step in front of Rise. With his tack bag and school bag, Rise is slow to climb the stairs, because of the weight of his belongings. Past the rows of green seats until there is an empty seat. Rise switches spots with Kevin at their seat in the back of the bus. Rise places his head on the thick windows and gazes out. The sky is dark in the early morning. High above them the moon is visible with a glow on its shape wanting to keep tonight from leaving. The interior lights inside the bus shine brighter than anything outside.

“How did you do in the history final?” asks Kevin once the bus is in motion.

“What the scores are up?” asks Rise.

“Yeah, like late last night,” says Kevin.

Rise pulls out his phone to check on the score.

Kevin and Rise compare scores on their phones for their history class. However, they can only see the overall score and will have to wait until Monday to see the individual questions score.

“What other finals do you have?” asks Kevin.

“My English class and math class finals, you?” asks Rise.

“Also English final and science finals,” says Kevin.

There is limited room to lay out the school notes all around them, as the bus seats are cramped. With their school bags and Rise’s track bag, there is little room left. They use their school bags as a type of impromptu desk, propped on their legs. Because they have a two-hour ride, they take notes from their courses to study. Rise and Kevin study alone and spend time quizzing each other. With only thirty minutes left for the bus’s arrival, Rise puts away his school notes. After shuffling through his playlist he finds a calming piano song to focus his mind. For five minutes he listens to the song through his headphones. He imagines the notes like the steps of imaginary runners on the track, as their footfalls land a note from the music lights above the moving person. Many musical notes float around the imaginary runners who race around the track. When the final note echoes, the first runners reach the end.

The bus pulls to a halt next to the outline of other school buses. There is morning light reflecting off the metal. The early sunrise paints the sky in a beautiful splash of tropical colors. Rise follows after his coaches and teammates. They sit their belongings on the bleachers in one corner.

“Everyone competing follow me to get registered,” says Coach Duke.

The steps down the metal bleachers ring in the air like a wind chime. Rise walks down the steps cautiously, for there is a great gap in between each row. Widening his strides he clears the bleachers. Across the bleachers is the registration table. Each coach and athlete gather around a large tent. Rise gets closer to the woman behind the table.

“Name and event,” says the woman.

“Rise Prongs, 3200-meter run,” says Rise.

The woman searches through a pile of papers and hands him a paper bib and pins. She writes notes in her notebook.

“Next,” says the woman.

Rise walks back to the bleachers. On his way, he pins the paper bib with the number 27 bold in the center. It flaps onto his black track uniform shirt. The color of his uniform traps the heat despite the light material it's made from. In his track bag, he pulls out his new shoes. In the sun they look almost neon blue.

He ties up his shoes, tying them into tight and breathable knots.

“Your event will be the 3rd one to go off the running,” informs Coach Duke.

“Better warm-up,” says Rise looking into the infield.

There is a spot of even, short grass in the infield to do some stretching and warm-up exercises. Rise does a butterfly stretch. The sudden thought of the men and women in black crosses his mind. He scans the faces of the people in the bleachers, but they are all a blur. The more he tries to look the more the faces blend. A shadow paces behind him. Rise turns around quickly, heart racing.

“Whoa, didn’t mean to startle you Rise?” says Kevin.

“All 3200-meter runners, first call. All 3200-meter runners first call.” says the announcer.

Kevin sits down next to him on the grass. Then places a hand on his shoulder and stands up giving him a hand. Rise stands up and walks to the starting line with Kevin doing final stretches with him along the way. From the starting line, Rise watches as Kevin stands on the outskirts of the track next to one coach and some teammates. Rise turns back to look at the track in front of him.

Pop. The sound of the start gun echoes nearby. A smoke trail floats up into the sky as a gray dragon. The ground rushes underneath Rise as he propels himself forward. The runners pack next to him, soon they thin out into packs of runners. Rise stays close to the front. The heat from the sunlight and the bodies of runners make for a warm time. Rise focuses on the exercise he uses at practice to focus on the wind through his hair as he runs. The thoughts of relaxing wind calm his muscles enough to keep him calm inside his mind. He is second, toe-to-toe with the leader of the first pack of runners with only two more laps to go. Rise starts to move forward with more force. During the last lap, he is ahead of the runner, whom he passes on the outside. He kicks his feet into high gear, Passing through the end. He is asked to confirm his name by the attendees.

He walks toward his teammates who congratulate him. Any thought of the people in black is buried in the back of his mind behind the celebration.

The semi-state track events continue until the afternoon.

Rise sits with his other teammates at the bleachers overcast with clouds. Coach Light stands beside Rise and hands him a medal.

“The awards ceremony was cut short by the upcoming storm, everyone to the bus,” says Coach Light.

A flash streaks the dark sky. A crack of thunder booms in the sky; the bleachers rattle with force. People scream out. Others call for people to calm down. Soon the place is emptied.

Heavy rain begins to fall as the students rush into the school bus. Rise sits on his seat and the wetness from his uniform gives him chills. He pulls out his warm-up sweatshirt from inside his bag and flings it over. He checks inside his school bag but nothing is wet in there so he can study to his heart's content.

Kevin shows him a video he took of Rise finishing the 3200-meter race.

Rise looks at the person running on the track. He can almost not recognize himself if it weren’t for him looking at himself in the mirror every day. The version he imagines in his head is different from that in images.

“Very cool!” says Rise.

Rise rewinds the video in one frame and he goes back to stop it. His stomach drops. The man in black is standing in the crowd of people. His sharp jaw is indistinguishable in the pixels. The woman in black is right next to him, her honey hair shines. Rise is sure it is them.

“Can you send me the video?” asks Rise.

“Yeah sure,” says Kevin, grabbing his phone back.

Sweat builds in his lower back of Rise as he thinks of the video. He thinks of telling Kevin about the people in black but is unsure of what exactly to tell him. The only other person he would tell is his Ma. He grabs his phone and dials his Ma.

“Hi honey, have you arrived back?” asks Ma.

Rise hesitates to divulge thoughts on his mind, but says instead, “No, we left the meet an hour ago Ma.”

Rise tells her of his first-place finish.

“Okay, Rise see you in the next hour,” says Ma ending the phone call.

The line beeps for the end of the call, and Rise is left with an unsatisfactory feeling. He wants to run to his mother to tell her of the people in black, but fear of the unknown holds him back. He feels like a little child running to his parents from the fear of the boogie man.

The lights of the truck in his Ma’s truck light the way as they make their way through town. Each time a shadow dances across the road, Rise expects to see the people in black. They may hide behind the homes of their neighbors waiting to show up unexpectedly. Their motives are unknown. Shadows within the shadows.

As the two-story home comes into view, Rise feels a calmness flood like a bursting dam. Home without any unknown shadow lurkers.