Five minutes left until sunrise

Another evening that didn’t go as planned, but pleasantly so. I spent good time with a friend. Now I’m sitting down to write this blog post and I have a very happy purring kitty who is sure I’m here to love on her. My iMac is, after all, the cat throne. It’s been claimed and furred. They think they’ve claimed it and I know they’ve furred it.

I wouldn’t call this a First Sentence exactly, it’s something that would be in the middle of a story. A scene, written just now:

“Five minutes left until sunrise,” Tony announces.

Damn it. Focus. Concentrate. Channel the energy through my hands into- Shit, I’ve lost it again!

“Slow down,” Anita instructs, unflappable as always. She’d probably be her same calm self approaching the damn heat death of the universe.

“Did you not just hear him say we have five minutes? There isn’t time to slow down.”

“Four minutes and-“

“Shut up,” I say through my teeth, “I know it’s less than five minutes now!”

“You don’t need all four minutes and whatever seconds. Not if you slow down,” she continues as if there’s been no interruption.

“That doesn’t sound counterintuitive at all.”

“Trust me. Face the barrier again. Extend your hands. Close your eyes.”

I follow her instructions. I don’t have much choice. Five of our friends will die in that suntrap if I don’t.

“Breathe out through your nose and out through your mouth. Deeply. Good. Now, keep the breathing up.”

I resist the urge to make a joke, try to stay focused.

“Stray thoughts are natural. Feel the warmth in your hands. Let the warmth extend naturally from you, like you’re the sun. Let it wash over the barrier smoothly, slowly.  Excellent! Open your eyes.”

I do. The barrier is…gone. Our friends are stepping through to freedom, no longer trapped. I did it. Without even knowing.

Anita pats me on the back. “Someday it’ll be second nature, like breathing. Until then, don’t rush it.”

“Three minutes and fifteen seconds to spare!” Tony crows. “Let’s get out of here, the chopper’s on the roof!”

I grin in return. “Sounds good to me.”