They’re playing football in the backyard like nothing is wrong.
Like dark clouds aren’t rolling over the horizon, like lightning isn’t already crackling the air. I can feel it, and I’m inside the house.
No, they’re tossing spirals, laughing, having a good time.
They can’t see what I see.
“Jeremiah!” I slide the screen door to the side, my hand smudging the glass, body heat against cool air. “Everest! Come in! Now!”
They look at me, Jeremiah with his arms crossed around the pigskin. Everest has one eyebrow raised. “Why? Is Mom calling us?” he asks.
I point to the sky. That should be answer enough. Already I can feel the wind picking up, hugging drops of sprinkling dew to my skin.
Jeremiah looks up. “What?” he says. “It’s sunny out.”
They seriously can’t see it? The wind--the sky--the sunshine--it’s not--“Come in!” I scream. “Come in!” My voice echoes through the air, vibrating, expanding. I can see it in one sheer sheet of silvery mass. “Come in!” Without thinking, I hurtle towards them. I used to be on the track team at school.
They try to wriggle away from me.
“Ava!” Everest slips under my grasp. “It’s sunny out! What are you talking about?”
But they know what I’m talking about.
This has been happening for years.
“Just let me pull you in, okay? Let me pull you in!” Thunder booms around us. They finally let me grab their arms and drag them inside. I push the glass door shut just as the lightning crackles down and sets our cut grass on fire. Crumpling to the ground, I shut my eyes and let out a moan.
“Mom!” Jeremiah calls. “Mom! Ava’s doing it again!”
They’re my brothers. We were all born in the same womb and came out at the same time--Everest, Jeremiah, me. Triplets.
But somehow they see eye-to-eye to my mom and dad, and I can’t. I never have.
Tears smart my eyes as I turn to the wall and shut my eyes. The sound of thunder overpowers the soft scraping noise of the sliding door. I know it’s sunny outside. I’ve learned to trust their instincts over mine. It’s sunny outside.
But my eyes, ears, nose are telling me that there’s a storm. And as long as there’s danger, I have to rescue them--no matter what reality they’re living in.