Timesense

continued
It's several days before he can comprehend his situation. He is recuperating in a small medical clinic some 2 days travel from his home village in the jungle- and plantation-covered mountains. He is constantly aware of his injuries, even as he recovers: the large and seeping burn on his right shoulder, and the other on his right ankle,charred around the edges, still smelling, 3days later, like cooked meat.

They tell him he was struck by lightening, but he does not remember the event. His last clear memory is of walking down the path from the village church after Saturday's evening Mass. The sun was setting, the feint orange and pink beyond the horizon just kissing the undersides of the farthest clouds--

A "bolt out of the blue", they call it, and he muses over the saying. There was no rain, no smell of ozone,no thunder that he can recollect. A bolt out of the blue--

A nurse helps him walk to the veranda for some fresh air, and he settles shakily into a chair, his face a bit tight. He looks up to thank her, blinks,

--and she (was/is/will be) suddenly young/old, brunett/grey, living/rotting, here and gone.

The sun (exploded/shines/will fall in upon itself) in a brassy blue/black day/night sky.

He blinks again, drawing in a sharp breath, remembering his previous vision, his face very pale. What is HAPPENING to him????

"Are you alright?" asks the nurse with concern, and he shudders, the vision of her decaying face haunting him, even while he views her present vitality.

IS he alright?

Timateo forces a grin, and answers too quickly. "Fine." he says as casually as he can, trying to reassure himself, and wanting so much to believe it.

^^^

A month has passed. It seems like forever, to Timateo. His disturbing visions continue to plague him, overtaking his consciousness at the most uexpected and inopportune times, and he struggles in vain to make sence of them, his 18-year-old mind at a loss to explain or interpret them.

He tries to maintain a normal routien. He goes to work on the plantation, and walks his girlfriend into the village on the weekends to dance at the Rec center. His parents and sister have given up trying to figure out what's come over him. He has become quiet and withdrawn since his "accident", resisting their probing, and finally they desist, leaving Time to heal his wounds, both physical and emotional.

His girlfriend, Cara, is another matter.

TO BE CONTINUED...