TURN ME OFF - Short Story

4:02 AM.

The alarm clock was the first thing to blare.

Its sound pierced the quiet echo of the early morning, and seemed louder than it had any other morning. Aaliyah turned over and groaned, the numbers of the digital clock swimming into focus. 4:03. What? She thought, as she flopped her hand over and tried to hit snooze. The screech of the clock didn't stop.

Aaliyah stood up and pushed the bangs out of her face, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. There was more than numbers on the clock, she realized in confusion. Three bright red words flashed across the screen, reading: "TURN ME OFF".

She reached up and unplugged the cord to the clock, but still the echo filled the house. She was close to panic, as more words blared on the screen. This time, a full sentence rolled across her vision. "GET AWAY FROM ALL ELECTRONICS BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WE ARE PREPARING." As sudden as it had begun, the noise of the clock died down and the silence filled the air once more.

Aaliyah: 14-years-old, shining bright blue eyes, and a perfect skin tone any girl of Indian descent dreams of. She is smart, vibrant, and young, and is known for her tranquility in stressful situations. Aaliyah found herself covered in sweat, her mind reeling, listening to the soft thud of her temples. She grabbed her phone from under her pillow and pressed the power button.

The same words floated across the screen, so bright it illuminated her whole room. "TURN ME OFF TURN ME OFF TURN ME OFF TURN ME OFF".

She threw her phone across the room; it landed with crack near her dresser. Aaliyah turned over in her bed and faced the wall, pressing her eyes shut and letting a single tear roll down her cheek. The clock turned on again, but she didn't notice. It said, "WE ARE PREPARED. HUMANS. BE READY." Then, it turned off again, and the screen read 4:12am, Friday, October 13.

Aaliyah kept her eyes locked; the pain of fatigue overcame her within seconds.

* * * * * * * * * *

6:10 AM

The microwave woke her up. Someone was cooking something, she thought as she sat up. The events of the morning reeled in her thoughts, as she flipped her head around to look at the clock. There was nothing unusual about it, she realized as she read the time. It was just a dream. Thank heaven.

Aaliyah stepped out of bed, grabbing a robe off of her door and slipping it on as she trudged through the cold house. The tile was cold, even with socks on, and sent a shiver up her spine. When she reached the kitchen, she turned on the radio and opened the microwave. Inside was empty.

"Lynn!" She called out. Her younger sister popped her head into the hallway a minute or so later. "Why did you do this?" 7-year-old Lynn walked into the kitchen and yawned, her green eyes stretching infinitely. She shrugged.

"I didn't do that."

Aaliyah stared at her. "Why are you up so early?"

She crossed her arms and glared, the bags under her eyes prominent. "Your alarm woke me up."

A brief flash of panic sped over Aaliyah's body. "What?" She whispered.

"It was like 4 in the morning, why did you even have the alarm set that early?" She shrugged and yawned again, taking a yogurt from the fridge and grabbing a spoon as she hobbled back to her room.

She tried to shrug it off and grabbed the kettle from the stove top, filling it up and setting it on the glass stove top. Almost instantly, the kettle screeched and sent a whistling gust of air shooting back.

Aaliyah slammed off the electric stove, the glass a threatening shade of red, and picked the kettle up by the handle, peering inside. The water was boiling. She dumped the water into a mug and placed in a bag of mint tea. The tea bag filled with water and the color seeped around, filling the cup with an almost green tint. She dumped in a spoonful of honey and mixed it around, allowing the flavor to come out.