Miles Chen, Period 2, 3/28/23

Creativity & Fiction

Blood-red scales lined every inch of its enormous body, giant wings the size of a yacht sail unfurled, and the smell of ashes wafted through the cave as snarling lips pulled back to reveal a set of sharp teeth illuminated by embers coming from deep within its jaws. My feet stayed glued to the floor, and my eyes were wide in shock, even as the dragon started to trot towards me. I could only watch in despair while the dragon’s jaws slowly opened, a torrent of fire swirling inside.

With a jolt, I spring awake in a cold sweat, but I’m back in my room. I roll out of bed with a grumble, wondering what’s for breakfast. Suddenly, my vision goes blurry, and I see a glimpse of a plate of pancakes in front of me, but with a quick rub of my eyes, the scene disappeared as quickly as it came. I groggily trot down the stairs and plop at the table. Right in time, my mom places a plate of pancakes before me.

“Good morning, and enjoy,” she says with a bright smile, but I only stare back with a confused look. Maybe it was a coincidence, I thought. I decided not to give it a second thought, instead pulling out my notebook from my bookbag. I had a physics exam during third period today, and you can never study too much. I close my eyes and rest my head on the table. I wish I could nap a little longer, but my mom would kill me if I failed, so I have to study. I open my eyes and stare at an exam paper where my pancakes were sitting just a second ago.

I stand in shock and look around, but my pancakes are gone. Instead, it’s just my classmates sitting around me, diligently writing on their papers. No one seems to have noticed that I’m standing up, not even Mr. Duke, who’s still sitting at his desk and reading a book. I tap on the student sitting next to me, but to my surprise, my hand goes through him. Tripping over my foot, I stumble back with a yelp and find myself back at home, my pancakes in front of me and my mom staring at me with a worried look. “Everything all right?” she asks, and I nod reassuringly, but an uneasy suspicion lurks at the back of my mind.

I sit down at my seat in Mr.Duke’s classroom, and of course, it’s the same scene I’d seen before. The same exam paper, the same student is sitting next to me, and Mr.Duke is already holding the same book. Twice isn’t a lot, but I had nothing to lose. Closing my eyes, I think about getting my test back and looking at my grade. I open my eyes and see Mr.Duke walking toward me, paper in hand. He places it on my desk, a big red F at the top of the page. Luckily, I can see all the correct answers. I blink and find myself in regular time, sitting in front of a blank test. Grinning from ear to ear, I rush through my test, circling all the answers I can remember. “How lucky,” I think to myself as I hand in my exam, barely able to hide my glee.

I can’t help but shake in excitement as I wait, a smirk on my face. Mr.Duke walks over, holding my paper, and places it on my desk. I flip it over, already knowing what I’ll see. My grin slowly fades as I realize that the letter isn’t an A but a big red F. With a glance, I noticed that I had accidentally left a question blank, messing up the order of my answers. I hated myself for making such a dumb mistake, but I could see the potential of my new skill now, and I couldn’t wait to use it for something else.

Enthusiastically humming while skipping home, I began to think about the endless possibilities. I could win the lottery if I wanted to! Heck, I could become the wealthiest man in the world! Stopping at a crosswalk, I watched a white BMW streak past. One day that could be me, I thought to myself. I close my eyes to imagine what it would feel like to drive such a car, but instead, I’m staring at two glaring beams of light as a car speeds toward me. I try my hardest to move, but my legs are frozen. I look away, eyes shut, trying to shield myself. I hold my breath, but nothing happens. I peek through my arms, and the headlights are gone; the only thing in front of me is a kid staring at me in confusion from the other side of the crosswalk.

Terrified that what I saw might be the future, I walked home hesitantly. Trying my best not to cross any streets, and when I had to, I made sure there weren’t any cars even remotely close. Eventually, after what felt like a century, I was just a single street away from home. “I know what happens. I can change it.” I muttered to myself. I checked left, then right. There wasn’t a car in sight. Still hesitant, I slowly cross the street and sigh in relief as I step onto the sidewalk, but as if on cue, the screech of tires blares behind me. I turn around in time to see a blinding beam as a car swerves off the road and right toward me.

I flop onto my bed, staring at the ceiling in silence. The car had come to a jarring halt right before me, but fear still held me in a tight embrace. I understood how helpless I was now to be able to see the future but not change it. I’d never truly understood the phrase, but ignorance indeed was bliss.