Chapter 8: Taylor

It’s the most amazing thing I have ever seen. A tree made entirely of cerulean light has been on the news for the past two days. No one knows where it came from or who created it. It just appeared in the park.

Crossing the street in front of said park, I am almost hit by a car; the driver distracted by what I hope is an emergency phone call, otherwise, why answer it while driving.

I get home to find my front door unlocked. I cautiously enter. Looking around, nothing appears out of the ordinary. I must have forgotten to lock it in my rush out earlier. I have been so distracted lately. I turned twenty-one two days ago and I received a gift I never expected.

I never really knew my father, he died when I was really young. Almost two years ago, my mother died. While I was going through her papers, I discovered that I was adopted. The adoption was closed, so I had no idea who my biological parents were and I wouldn’t have cared under any other circumstances. But now, now I need to find out who they are.

Starting with the adoption agency, I call them to see if there is any information they can give me about my birth parents. They say I can write a letter and they will send it to them. While I am on the phone, I notice a midnight blue truck parked in front of my house. I have never seen it before. Maybe one of my neighbors got a new car. Once I finish my call, I get ready for work. I work at the bowling alley. It is usually pretty dead during the day; but at night, it is super busy. Almost everyone in town bowls.

I arrive at Neon Lanes a bit distracted. Opening the doors, I am greeted by Mr. Reese, my boss. He tells me that he needs to leave early tonight and I will be closing up at the end of my shift. I clock in and get to work behind the counter. I have thirty minutes before the rush hits. I spray all the shoes with disinfectant and wipe them down. Then I wipe down the counter and register. There are a few customers laughing and chatting at lane nine. I wave to them and walk to the snack bar for a soda. As I get back to my station, a crowd comes in. It’s Tuesday, league night, one of our busiest nights of the week. There are eight teams in Tecumseh and on league night, they get the first eight lanes. Leaving lanes nine through twelve open. Tomorrow is kids’ night, our other busiest night of the week. I don’t mind though. I like it when it’s busy, gives me a lot to do and I don’t have to think about my life too much. It’s usually pretty great, but recently things have gotten a little scary.

My name is Taylor Welch. My life was simple. I'm a bit of a loner, but I do have a few close friends. I work and occasionally hang out with those friends. On my twenty-first birthday, my life changed. I'm not going to lie, it's freaking me out a little. Okay, maybe a lot. At first, I just thought I was drunk and seeing things.

It was Sunday night and I had just left the bar; I'd been celebrating with my friends - Tim, Nate, Yasmin, Tiff, and Dom. I decided to take a shortcut through the park to get home faster; I thought I was going to puke my guts up. Halfway through the park, my fingers started to glow. It was a beautiful blue light. And being drunk, I thought cool, let's see what I can do. I had never been drunk before, so I thought this was a normal imagination running wild because you're drunk thing. I noticed that drawing with my glowing fingers created what I was drawing in the air. And I was able to manipulate the light. I ended up creating a tree thinking it'd be cool if it were real. When I woke up Monday morning, it was all over the news. I couldn't believe it. I started freaking out wondering what was happening to me. My fingers weren't glowing anymore. I had no idea how they were glowing in the first place and I couldn't get them to glow again, not that I wanted them to, but I needed to know.

I decided now was a good time to go through my mother's things. There had to be answers in there somewhere. I showered and got dressed. I grabbed my keys and headed for the storage shed. I haven't been in here since my mom died two years ago. I put all her things in the shed not knowing what to do with it all. And now, I am finally going through it. I just need to find all her file boxes, take them inside, and go through them.

I set the boxes in the living room, five in all. I started going through them, most of the papers were my mom’s real estate deals and other business stuff. Then I found it, hidden in a file with my old artwork from when I was a kid. My birth certificate and adoption papers. I was adopted! I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I was adopted when I was four days old. My birth parents were not listed. I went through the rest of the boxes looking for more information. It was late when I finished. I found an old business card for the adoption agency, it’s too late to call them now. I decided to call them in the morning and went to bed.

I slept for maybe two hours. I woke up, anxious. I felt like something bad was about to happen. I couldn’t explain it. I rushed over to Dom’s house. I’m not sure why, I just had this feeling. I stood outside his house wondering why I was there. I sat on his porch until sunrise. I got up and knocked on his door. It took him a minute but he answered. He was surprised to see me. He invited me in for coffee when he realized how anxious I was. While we drank the coffee, I told him I had discovered I was adopted. We talked about it for a while. He was very supportive. I felt better talking it over with him. And when nothing bad happened, I left.

I took the shortcut through the park. And then I saw it, for the first time since that night. It truly was amazing. The tree of light I had created when I was drunk, was still there. I looked at it in amazement, I had created it. Everyone was talking about it. But I was afraid to tell anyone. I continued home.