Dream Snatched Up

“Just a few more hours,” Deron encourages himself as he throws water on his face. The doorbell rings outside, but Deron doesn’t notice it. His stomach is in knots and he doesn’t want to leave the safety of the bathroom. He then picks up a hand towel and dries his face and hands. The lights flicker slightly, but Deron doesn’t pay any attention to it.

“Deron! Mr. Spencer is at the door,” an elderly woman shouts.

“Be right out grandma,” Deron replies while looking at himself in the mirror. He has a mammoth body, but currently feels minuscule.

Deron softly challenges himself getting pumped up, “You ready?” He beats his chest once and opens up the door.

“There you are, boy,” Grandma June takes Deron’s arm and directs him down the hallway. The whole two bedroom Georgian suburban home is packed with family and friends to support Deron. “D, steaks are almost done,” says his father.

Deron replies over his shoulder, “Thanks Pops,”

“Man, you’ve been in there so long we thought you got stuck,” his friend KP, who is much smaller than him, jokes while putting an arm around Deron. Deron convincingly tries to laugh it off.

“While you were there powdering your nose, we have been keeping Mr. Spencer entertained,” June scolds him.

Mr. Spencer, a well-dressed man in his fifties stands up and extends his hand. “Please madam, call me Sam,” he politely introduces shaking Deron’s hand.

“Thanks again for coming by today, sir,” Deron says with generosity.

“No problem, son. I know how stressful today can be and its best if I’m here to fill you in on trades and rumors,” Sam conveys.

KP states, “Yo, Double S, I’m hearing Miami is trying to trade up,”

Sam tries to smile off the ridiculous name they have given him, “Well, we have a few hours left until the dance so I would imagine a lot more teams will try to jump up,” Sam takes a seat on the couch.

“It would be nice to stay down South,” Deron thinks, hoping his agent can make this happen.

“I’ll see what I can do. Now we just hang for a few hours, eat some barbeque, and relax,” Sam crosses his legs and takes a quick glance at his phone.

Deron takes a seat next to Sam, “You really think I’ll go number one?” Deron cups his hands and looks at the television. On the screen, the sports experts are discussing the draft. Deron sees his name at the top of all the draft boards.

“It’s not an exact science, but I hear from every GM in the league and they all say the same thing about you, ‘Take him now,’” Sam looks at his watch. “Now, the film crew should be here soon,” Sam stands up. “It would be best if you sit in the middle of the couch with your father and grandmother on either sides of you. Sound good?” Sam asks while looking around.

“I’m deferring to you on this,” Deron stands up and moves over a cushion.

Sam says, “I’m glad you listened to me about staying here and didn’t fly up to New York for this,”

“Yeah, why didn’t you want him to go there?” KP asks.

Sam begins to say, “Always best to stay home for these things. Just in case something bad happens,” Deron looks surprised about the “bad” part. “And it looks better seeing you at home with your family,” Sam continues.

“Umm, what bad can happen?” asks Deron curiously.

“Well, like I said, it’s not an exact science. If you don’t go first, then you might drop down a bit,” Sam says while Deron nervously sits down.

“How far is a bit?” Deron wonders.

“Depends. If the first teams don’t pick you then some of the others will start to panic and then you find yourself in the upper twenties, if you’re lucky,” Sam nonchalantly takes out his phone and to answers a call.

Deron feels the knots in his stomach returns and wants to sit down, “No! Just play it cool. You’ll get picked…eventually, and eventually is better than not at all,” he reassures himself.

“BUUZZZZZ!” The television makes a quick high pitched sound and then goes black. “See! My boy needs that first round money to pay the bills up in here,” KP jokes, but nobody acknowledges him. The power goes out in the house. The partying stops and everyone looks around.

A firetruck barrels down the street followed by a half-dozen police cruisers. Some of the guests go outside. “What the Hell is going on out there?” Deron’s grandmother inquires following the group outside.

“Hello? Hello?” Sam looks at his phone, “Call dropped and I have no service all of a sudden,” he says to Deron.

The house begins to shake slightly. Everyone starts to steady themselves. Plates fall from the shelves in the kitchen. “Hey, everyone! Come out here!” someone yells from the backyard. Deron runs outside, followed by KP.

Deron swings open the door and stops dead in his tracks, “Move Deron I can’t see,” KP exclaims trying to push past. When he finally does, he stops as well and his jaw drops, “Oh my God,” he utters. Smoke columns rise up in the distance as missiles fly above them in all directions.

In the corner of his eye, Deron sees Sam jump into his car and speed away in panic. Deron is too scared to be angry at Sam. Deron’s father grabs June by the arm, “Deron! Go inside now,” his father orders, leading her inside.

Some of the other partygoers drive off as well. “Pops, should we leave to?” Deron looks around at the people leaving. Neighbors scream in terror as the came outside. An ambulance speeds by towards one of the pillars of smoke.

“We lock up and stay put until we figure out what’s going on,” his father looks to the other people while debating what to do, “Everyone come inside with us,” he says, leading people in. More explosions ring out in the distance.

As soon as Deron goes inside he locks himself in the bathroom. He leans against the wall and runs his fingers through his hair, “This was supposed to be my day,” he looks in the mirror and throws a punch that shatters the glass.