Free Pulse of Heroes by A.Jacob Sweeny

put back into the cabinet, her mom led her into
the living room where a large Christmas tree stood. Michelle was
surprised that it had been there the whole weekend and she hadn’t
even noticed it, not even by smell. She might have been a bit
cynical about Christmas, but was always powerless to resist the
fragrance of a fresh Christmas tree.
    It used to be a family tradition that
everybody would pile into the car and go pick out the tree on one
of the many lots that dotted the area. This had continued even
after Toby left home. Michelle couldn't help but feel disappointed
that she missed it this year, and that her father had been forced
to go pick one out by himself while her mom was busy worrying over
her temperature. Michelle felt sorry for her father when she
imagined him walking around the Christmas tree lot all alone, cold
and wet without any of the rest of them there. She wished she could
have gone along with him.
    The sound of rattling ornaments in a
cardboard box roused Michelle from her daydreaming. Usually, the
tree would have been decorated by now, but her mom had wanted to
wait until Michelle felt better. Every year it was the same ritual
of placing each ornament in just the perfect location, while her
mom retold the history and memories associated with it. When she
was little, her dad would hang them as she pointed out where they
should go. Michelle had heard the ornament stories God knows how
many times, and yet every time she heard them they still made her
smile.
    “Mom, what’s that smell?” Michelle asked.
    “Oh my gosh! The cookies! I hope they’re not
burning,” her mom answered in a panic, already rushing to the
kitchen. So while her mother was tending to her famous gingerbread
cookies, Michelle was left to finish up the tree on her own.
     
    Michelle was nearing the last of the
ornaments when she came across one wrapped in white tissue paper.
She couldn’t remember ever having seen it before. It must be made
of glass, she thought as she unwrapped it, but to her surprise it
wasn't. It was an odd looking pear-shaped ceramic ornament, flat
and crudely made, and pressed into the lower section there was a
roundish disk that did look to be made of glass, but unlike any
glass Michelle had ever seen before. It had whirling colors of
blues and turquoise with iridescent specks of purple, gold, silver
and green. There was also some sort of crackling effect to it; it
almost looked like the glass was somehow peeling, not unlike the
colored layers of an abalone shell. Michelle moved closer to a lamp
to get a better view, but the light wasn’t bright enough. So she
walked into the downstairs bathroom where her parents had recently
replaced the regular light bulbs with new iridescent halogen ones.
Michelle was shocked. The little piece of glass was beyond
beautiful. It had so many layers of color and so much depth; it was
unbelievable. She kept tilting the ornament under the light, and as
she did so she was no longer looking at the glass but into blue
eyes. She had seen those eyes before, but only once. With a sudden
fear and realization she dropped the ornament straight into the
sink and it made a loud clank and crashing sound. It was those
eyes, the eyes belonging to the boy in the mall. They looked just
like that glass; that's what had made him seem so unusual. They had
layers of blue in them with specks of gold and silver around the
pupils. They were unlike any eyes she had ever seen before:
beautiful, gripping, stunning, not human, monstrous.
     
    Michelle was startled by a knock on the door
and her mother's voice calling her, “Honey, is everything okay in
there?”
    Somewhat frightened, Michelle looked down
into the sink. The ornament was lying there, shattered into bits
and pieces. “Yeah, I'm ok, Mom. I just dropped my cell phone,”
Michelle answered, trying to sound as normal as possible. She heard
her mother's footsteps walking back towards the kitchen. Guilt and
remorse swiftly filled Michelle's