««—»»

The old man emerged from the shadows of the alley and took in the destruction. He had sensed the power and was drawn to it. He looked up, up and up at the decapitated building and felt sorrow for the loss of an old friend.
Something caught his eye and he watched as it descended from the sky slowly floating down, dancing on air currents.

The old man heard the sirens blaring long before the police car came speeding around the corner followed closely by a monstrous fire truck and even more emergency vehicles. But he didn’t take his eyes from the sky. Instead, he remained stone still in the middle of the street even as the police car barreled toward him.

Shock crossed the face of the police officer as he realized someone was standing in the street amid the smoky debris. He only had a split second to act. He jerked the wheel hard and went into a sideways skid and out of the driver’s side window he saw the fire truck hurtling toward him. The officer’s eyes went wide with panic as he heard the red behemoth’s tires squeal atop the pavement and saw smoke rise from the melting tires. All the officer could do was close his eyes and wait for the…

With a slight wave of his hand, the old man brought the potential disaster to a grinding halt. Everything around him went motionless and the harsh sounds of emergency vehicles were abruptly extinguished. Now it was just the old man and what he was watching drop out of the sky. He waited patiently and after a minute more he held out a hand and let the glowing white feather land oh so softly into it. He held it out before his face for some time, taking it in and a small tear ran down his wrinkled cheek. “I am sorry, Jericho. You deserved better than this. I had hoped for your assistance in the task before me. But I waited too long. I will make amends to you, old friend. This I promise.” And with that the old man wiped the tear from his face with his coat sleeve then slowly opened his jacket and gently placed the feather inside a hidden pocket.

He closed his jacket, turned to the men and their vehicles frozen in time, all with expressions of panicked horror lining their faces. He sighed deeply and then was gone.

Neither the police officer nor the fire fighters in the cab of the fire truck knew what had happened. All they knew was that they had been a split second away from catastrophe, but now they sat safely in their respective vehicles breathing heavy and letting nervous laughter drift out their windows.

The police officer, still shaking, was the first out of his car. The fire truck driver followed suit. They met in the middle of the street and exchanged anxious looks while shaking their heads. Neither knew what had happened.

After a few more seconds of uncertainty, both men shook off the images of their deaths and went into action that years of training had worked into their DNA. They had a job to do.

Neither would ever mention what had just happened again. It was just too damn weird.

««—»»