The Shining Beacon

Black hair falling past her shoulders as she knelt down in front of the amplifier, Blake plugged her bass into the input jack and turned the volume up to her desired volume.  Blake flipped the switch and adjusted the knobs on her instrument and clicked the play button on her laptop, starting the song.

We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment,
We are choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside
This holy reality, this holy experience.
Choosing to be here in

This body. This body holding me. Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal
All this pain is an illusion.

Alive, I

In this holy reality, in this holy experience. Choosing to be here in

This body. This body holding me. Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal
All this pain is an illusion.

Fingers drifted smoothly across the strings as Blake played the song she had most recently learned.  She’d been at this for most of her life, playing music being second nature to her.  With a smile on her face, she continued through the rest of the song, not caring about anything else.

Twirling round with this familiar parable.
Spinning, weaving round each new experience.
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing.

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. we are eternal.
all this pain is an illusion.

As the last note rang out, Blake turned her video camera off before she knelt down to turn off her amplifier and set her bass back on its stand.  She twisted the cap off of her water bottle and took a few sips before falling backwards into her chair.  She opened a new tab on her web browser and typed in the url to her microblog.  

“The new bass cover will be uploaded later today.  This time it’s Parabola by Tool, as promised.”   She clicked the “post” button and closed out the tab.  

“Blake, I need you to run to the store for me,” her mother called from downstairs.  “I’m baking a cake tonight and need eggs, milk, and red velvet mix.”  

Blake stood up and grabbed her jacket from her bed, slinging it over her shoulders as she ran down the stairs.  “That’s all you need, mom?” she asked.

“Yes, dear,” her mom answered.  “Take my car.  It has a full tank.  I know how you run yours to empty most of the time.”

Blake shrugged the comment, knowing full well that her mother was right and she would more than likely run out of gas before reaching town if she drove her own vehicle.  Her mother’s car was nothing outstanding and certainly had better fuel economy than her own charcoal Suburban.  Blake opened the door to the white Chevrolet Malibu and started the ignition.  She backed out of the driveway and continued down the mostly straight route to the nearest supermarket.

Once Blake arrived at the store, she shifted her mother’s car into park and walked into the store.  “Okay, eggs, milk, and red velvet cake mix...I think that’s all she wanted,” Blake said to herself, barely paying attention to where she was going until she slammed her stomach into the shopping cart in front of her.  “Oh I’m so sorry...I wasn’t watching where I was going.”  Blake raised her head to see the person standing behind the cart.  She was a girl just a couple of inches taller than herself with long, wild blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed almost purple, which was strange given her apparent asian descent.  The girl wore a yellow tank top that bared a small portion of her stomach and a brown leather jacket.  

“Don’t worry about it,” she said.  “Are you okay?”

Blake nodded.  “Yeah, I’m alright.  My name is Blake.  Blake Belladonna.”

“Yang Xiao Long,” the other girl said, pronouncing the “a” in her given name like “bank” rather than the usual pronunciation.  “I know it’s mispronounced, but my dad is the only one who pronounces it the way it is supposed to.  You can just call me Yang.  I just moved here with my family.”

“Well, then, welcome to Vale,” she said.  “You’re not going to find a more quiet place for as large as it is anywhere else.”  

“That’s exactly why we moved here,” Yang said.  “Things were too crazy back in our hometown.”  Yang looked down at her watch, her eyes opening wide.  “Crap, I’ve got to get going.  I’m picking my sister Ruby up from the school in like fifteen minutes.  We both had to do some last minute transfer paperwork.  She’s filling out the last of hers.  It was nice meeting you, Blake.”

“Likewise, Yang,” Blake said with a smile.  “We should meet again sometime.”

“I’ll wait for you outside school tomorrow,” Yang replied.  “Bye.”

“Bye,” Blake said as Yang dashed away to the checkout line.  “Now...what was...oh yeah.  Milk, eggs, and red velvet mix.”  

It didn’t take long for Blake to find what she needed as each of the items were relatively close together, given the store’s small layout.  Blake carried the groceries to the checkout lane and paid for them within a few minutes.  She placed the bag in the passenger’s side and drove back home, her mind still on the girl she had just met.  She seemed really nice, not to mention she was extremely beautiful to Blake.  Blake shook her head and continued on her way to her home.

Blake’s mom was waiting at the front door when she arrived.  “Blake, your aunt called.  My brother is in the hospital getting his appendix removed.  I won’t be home until much later tonight,” she said, passing Blake and giving her a kiss on the cheek.  “The cake will have to wait until tomorrow.  Love you.”

“Alright, mom,” she said, removing her jacket and hanging it up.  “Drive safe.”  Her mother nodded and dashed to her car, driving off toward the hospital.  

Blake climbed the stairs up to her room.  She closed the door behind her and brought up her Youtube page, setting her newest video to upload.  After editing the information to her liking, Blake turned off her monitor and laid down on her bed.  She looked up at the ceiling and sighed.  Rolling onto her side, she pulled out her copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and turned to her mark.  It was her assigned reading in Literature class, but she had read it multiple times prior, this being nothing more than a refresher.

She read about two thirds of the pages she had left before putting it up for the night.  Blake rubbed her eyes and left her room, walking down the stairs to the kitchen where she found a note on the refrigerator.  “Blake, I left some money for you to order a pizza.  There are coupons on the counter.  Love you.”  Blake smiled and pulled her phone out of her pocket.  After placing her order, she moved into the living room and sat on the couch.  With about thirty minutes to kill, Blake turned on the TV and tried not to doze off.  There was something to be said about how boring an empty house could be when you had no idea what to do with yourself.

After what seemed like an eternity, Blake heard the doorbell ring.  She stood up and answered the door, greeted by a boy with shaggy blonde hair that was haphazardly tucked in a Dominoes hat.  “Belladonna?” he asked with a smile.

“Made it here in fifteen minutes flat again, Sun,” she said, handing him the money and taking the pizza.  “There’s a tip in there for you.”

“See ya at school tomorrow, Blake,” he said as he walked away, waving to her before Blake closed the door.  

Blake sighed and set the pizza on the kitchen table.  She fished a paper plate out of the cabinet and a can of soda from the refrigerator.  Since her mother wouldn’t be home for quite a while, she decided to bring her food into the living room and eat while she watched TV.  After a few reruns of some crime drama she wasn’t invested in, Blake looked at the large clock on the wall to see that it was already 9PM.  She finished off the rest of her pizza and stretched out on the couch, inadvertently dozing off during a commercial for a self-operating vacuum.

Blake’s dark brown eyes fluttered open as she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.  As her vision focused, she could make out the form of her mother standing above her.  “Hey, I’m home,” her mother said with a warm smile on her face.

Blake smiled and sat up, giving her mom room to sit down beside her.  “How’s Uncle Clark?” she asked.

“He’s fine,” her mother said, taking her seat and picked a chicken nugget out of the small box in her hands.  “They removed his appendix quickly and easily.  I honestly don’t know why your aunt asked me to come.  It’s a simple procedure with minimal risk.”  

“You know how she worries,” Blake said, a small laugh escaping her lips.

“True.  So what did you do all day?”

“Nothing.  I ordered a pizza and fell asleep,” Blake said.  “What time is it, anyway?”

“Midnight,” her mom answered.

“I should really go to bed.  Night.  Love you,” she said as she stood up.

“Goodnight, dear,” her mother said, placing a gentle kiss on her daughter’s forehead before heading to her own room.  Blake ran upstairs to change into her pajamas, a simple gray nightgown that came down to her knees, and brushed her teeth.  Blake stared into her own light-brown eyes and spat out her toothpaste, turning in for the night so she would be ready for yet another day of her junior year.