TavesSoul - Issue 1: Let There Be Light (Rough draft)

It all
started a couple Thursday’s ago. I had gotten home from work at about
12:25am, as usual, and went downstairs to start my normal routine of
checking my e-mails and Facebook. I went to flick the light switch on,
and it wouldn’t go on. “Weird,” I said to myself. Yes, that’s right, I
talk to myself. Always have. Maybe that makes me alittle crazy, but I
was told long ago that it’s a sign of intelligence to speak to oneself.
Personally, it helps me organize my thoughts, and in situations like
this, it helps me keep myself calm. Anyhow, like I said, the light
switch wouldn’t work, so I went into the next room and tried the next
one. Nothing. “Great, Greg. The fusebox must have tripped, and you have
no clue where it is.” Now luckily by now my eyes had pretty much
adjusted to the dark, and so I wasn’t too worried about wandering
around in a house I only sort of knew, since I hadn’t lived there long.
I started to make my way into the workshop room, the place I thought
would be the most logical place for the breaker box when I heard the
sound of a door close upstairs. ‘Weird,’ I thought to myself. ‘My
uncle’s not home, and the dog’s up at the cottage with him.’ I quietly
made my way up the steps, wanting to investigate solely to put my own
mind at ease, not expecting to find anything but an empty house
upstairs. I figured maybe it was just an open window that had blown a
door shut. As I turned the corner I froze. There was someone standing
in the doorway to the spare bedroom, and it clearly wasn’t my uncle.



Now,
to understand my thought process for this next part, you have to
understand a little bit of who I am. First and foremost, I’m a fiction
junkie. Whether that be in novel, movie or comic form, I love it all.
Comics especially. I don’t get them as much anymore, but I used to buy
comics by the truckload as a kid. I loved reading about heroes, and how
they always turn out victorious in the end. I loved the idea of being a
hero, and of saving people. It’s what I strived to do in my bland life
up until that point, but in more mundane ways. So when I saw this
apparent robber, for whatever reason, my brain saw this as a chance to
become a bit of a hero. Stupid, I know. So I started running at him,
with my shoulder down, in what I assume was my attempt at a bodycheck
maneuver. He heard me coming, and turned in time to plant his feet.
Have I mentioned I’m not that big of a guy. I’m all of 5’8” and 125
lbs. I hit him as hard as I could, but barely managed to drive him back
into the wall. It stunned him for a second, which was long enough for
me to connect with an uppercut to the jaw. I went for another punch,
but he got his arm up to block it, and hit me across the face with the
flashlight. I went down, jaw aching, and before I could get back up, a
boot connected with my stomach. That was it. The fight was over. I
glanced up to see him holding a gun, and pointing the flashlight in my
face. “Oh shit.” I said, to no one in particular. I took the moment to
offer a prayer to God.



Now this next part is going to seem nuts,
I know. If someone told me what I’m about to tell you, I’d think they
were crazy too, but here it is anyhow. The flashlight went out. I mean,
it just died. Not that shocking, but what is shocking is the room was
still bright in light. In fact, it was even brighter. I was wondering
where the light was coming from when I noticed the criminal had a
shocked look on his face. He was looking at me, but why with such
astonishment? I brought my hand to in front of my face, and looked at
it, only to see it illuminated in light. It was like my hand had been
replaced with a light. I mean, it still looked like my hand, but light
was illuminating from it. In fact, light was illuminating from all of
me. It was as though I had become light. I don’t know how to explain it
other then saying that. Anyhow, it must have really spooked the crook,
because he shot at me twice. I thought I was dead, but to my surprise,
neither of his bullets seemed to hit me. ‘Finally, some good luck,’ I
thought, ‘He’s a terrible shot.’ I stood up to and started coming at
the man, but he took off running out of the room, and then out of the
house as fast as he could run. I wasn’t about to pursue him. I figured
I got lucky enough to have him miss twice. I picked up the phone, and
called 911. The cops were there within 10 minutes. By the time the got
there, I had returned back to normal, and I decided to leave that part
out of my story. I figured they might not buy a glowing man. But
inside, I was celebrating. I had a power! Greg Taves had a power! A
seemingly lame one, but at least it was something. Sure, I didn’t know
exactly what it was, or how I did it, but it was better then nothing.
My world had just become illuminated!