Pulse of Heroes Read Free Page B

she did conclude with honesty about going to the
public carwash and helping Samantha wash down the VW.

    By the time Michelle cleaned up the horrible
mess of eggs, makeup, and sweat, she had a horrendous headache. She
glanced over at the clock and sighed at the numbers that read 3:10
AM. Her headache only got worse when she lay down, so she decided
to sit up in bed and wait for the pain to subside. She thought
about the dance, and about Tim, and of course about the mistake
that could have killed them all. How stupid she thought to herself,
to risk a life in order to throw foolish shells at 12-year-olds.
Eventually, Michelle’s mind began to drift, and with her headache
less severe she lay back down and managed to fall asleep. During
that early morning she had the most strange and vivid dream that
she could ever remember…
     
    In her dream, Michelle was standing on an
unfamiliar seashore. It was a warm sunny day, with a bright yellow
sun and white fluffy clouds passing along the bluest of blue skies.
She could see the footprints of her bare feet stretching out a long
way behind her. She was holding some sort of a pail or bucket, and
began collecting shells that were strewn along the sand. Most of
them were still closed and she tried prying a few open, but to her
disappointment they were all empty. She then looked out across the
water and saw gentle foamy waves in the distance, but the water in
front of her feet was amazingly clear. She waded out and began
picking up more shells and placing them into her pail. From the
corner of her eye she saw a very large yellow shell, and decided to
wade in deeper to reach it. She tried to pull it out of the sand,
but it wouldn't budge. She knelt down on her knees in order to get
a better grip, and she managed to pull it free from the sticky
sand, but slipped backwards and fell head underwater. She panicked
a bit, but then realized that the water was clear and sweet to the
taste. She stood up and opened the palm of her hand, only to
recognize that what she thought was a shell was not a shell at all,
but rather a large starfish, which suddenly began to pulsate and
shine. Then, the starfish disappeared in a flash of bright white
light. Michelle immediately looked up at the sky to see a bright
star pulsating with immense brightness. She said one word to
herself, ‘pulsar’. She then turned to face away from the water,
with the pail still in her hand. To the right of her feet, she saw
an iron arrow stuck in the sand. Thinking that maybe it could be
used to pry open the shells, she pulled it out of the sand. But
just then, Michelle noticed a large armchair on the beach a few
feet away. The chair looked very familiar, but she couldn't tell if
anybody was sitting in it, so she decided to walk up and take a
look. When she reached the chair she saw that it was empty, but
upon closer inspection she observed a small pearl sitting perfectly
in the middle of the worn out cushion.
    Michelle woke up with her hand stretched out
in front of her, still reaching for that pearl in her dream.
     
    * * *
     
    About a month earlier…
     
    Michelle slammed the button on her alarm
clock with her fist. She heard loud voices and at first she thought
she might still be asleep. But as her eyes began to focus on the
wood beam above her bed, it became clear that the voices were just
her parents making a ruckus in the kitchen. Michelle was mature
enough to understand that parents are people too, with problems of
their own, so the occasional argument or slight raising of voices
didn't really bother her. But she had hardly slept at all that
night, staying up well past midnight trying to make up missed
homework assignments. She hoped her parents weren’t arguing about
her, because they had recently become unusually interested in her
school progress. She wasn’t sure if it was because her older
brother Toby had moved to Arizona for college, or if it had to do
with her father getting voted onto the Town Council. Because