Rubber Woman, Ch. 1

Ch. 1 of Rubber Woman by Alythea Lopez

The text below is a short excerpt of a longer story.

It was supposed to be a normal vacation, but nothing can last. It was the first week of summer vacation. I was out of school, and I was going to be going to my family’s private island for a whole two weeks!…but then the accident came along.

As I was walking around the island, I came across a hot spring. It seemed very hot, almost like it was boiling. I threw a rock in the pond to see what would
happen to it. To my surprise, it wasn’t water: it was some sort of acid. But when the rock came back up, it seemed like no effects had really happened. But I picked it out with a stick. The rock went from solid to a rubbery and elastic feeling. I could stretch it as far as I wanted! When it snapped back to its original form, I decided to keep this rock as kinda almost like a souvenir.

Once I left the pond, I decided to go back to the mansion where we were staying at the time. I saw my father’s partner Adam arguing with him about something about their science and engineering company, something about money, but I did not really care because it was not something for me to worry about. I was on vacation! As I got back to my room, I changed into my PJs and got into bed.

During the night, I heard glass shatter and a yell. This concerned me, so I went to go check it out. What I saw was anyone’s worst nightmare. My parents were dead at the end of the stairs. I ran up to my mom then my dad. I saw that they had been hit with something. Then I spotted a hammer. Then a broken vase. I grabbed the compass that fell out of my dads coat before I could cry or mourn. I heard a slam then everything was black.

Aaron, the girl, was carried out by a man, a man the girl knew but could not see. She was then carried deeper into the island until the man came across a pond he decided to throw the girl in to dispose of her. As for the parents, he would throw them into the ocean. As the pond consumed Aaron, the man left back to the mansion to get away in his helicopter.

As I had woken up I realized I was submerged in some sort of liquid—hot liquid. It wasn’t pleasant. I swam to the stop and crawled out. It was the dead of night when all of this was happening. Not too far from where I was, I heard a helicopter in motion. I ran to go see it: Adam was boarding it to get away. I sprinted as fast as I humanly could, but I was too late. I reached for the helicopter’s legs, but to my surprise when I reached toward the moving vehicle my arms stretched so far that my arms were probably taller than me! I was able to grab a pretty good grip on the legs, but when the helicopter went at full speed I was almost slingshotted across the water. But I held on for dear life.

I held on for about five hours since my hand was stuck on the legs of the helicopter. I didn’t really have to worry about slipping off. I heard the pilot say we were approaching Skydrop City, and I was relieved that I would get help. I saw Sky Labs Tower, which was the company my dad owned with Adam. As they landed on the top, I stayed hidden after they had walked away. I looked at the view of the city and admired it. The sky train was in motion with the cars going by—and the littlest view of the underground town. But I heard a door open. It was a guard who had come to get Adam’s wallet. I tried grabbing his taser with my arms, but as I stretched I missed and ended up tripping him when my arms snapped back. I grabbed the wallet, but he ran towards me. I ran but ended up tripping, and I fell off of the tallest building in the city…

As Aaron fell, she tried to look for a way to stop. She spotted the glass walkway for the building as she was falling. As she reached out to grab it, she was slingshot into a different direction. Aaron hit a building face first, then fell off like a worn-out sticker. As her fall came faster to the town’s surface, she put her arms and legs forward like a cat trying to stick a landing. But as she did her skin from her back shot up almost like she had a parachute. And she landed safely on the ground.

“WHAT ON EARTH JUST HAPPENED?” Aaron asked herself. A second before, she was falling at full speed and then she was safe on the ground. Aaron took a deep breath and realized she would never be able to have her old life back. She was an outcast now; she’s never going to get justice for her parents or get back at Adam. This was the worst summer vacation ever.

Alythea Lopez is a freshman at Munster High School.