Power Lines

It was well past midnight and he couldn’t sleep. They had tossed and turned for well over an hour, tried to watch some tv, read a book – everything. Nothing seemed to work. Begrudgingly, he had put on his hoodie and shoes and decided to go out for a walk to clear their head.

It was going splendidly; there was a nice breeze that ruffled the trees but it wasn’t exactly chilly. The street lamps were few and far between and the only other light sources were the porch lights on people’s houses.

Something near one of the power lines caught his eye, he didn’t have any other choice but to go investigate. The post was littered with stickers and ripped flyers with long forgotten staples, and on the floor was a brand new tool kit.

They looked around to see that the street was completely abandoned –that is until they decided to look up. He could faintly see the soles of two sneakers, but the rest of the person was obscured by the night.

“What are you doing up there?” The words left his mouth without him noticing. He wanted to know but he didn’t want to get in any trouble.

“What does it look like?” Answered a clearly amused voice. Whoever they were spoke without a care in the world as if they weren't high up in the air in close proximity to something deathly dangerous.

“Are you like a power line worker or something?”

“HA!” They barked out a laugh. “I’m not wearing a hard hat or neon vest, but good guess.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Why should I tell you?” He could see the slight shift in the stranger’s stance, and for a second, he thought they were going to fall.

“Cause I haven’t called the cops.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean you won’t.”

“I promise I won’t.” He smiled slightly, the absurdity of the situation finally dawning on them.

“Aren’t you persistent?” The voice groaned, “I’m getting revenge.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” As if their interest wasn’t piqued already.

“I know!” They sounded way too happy for someone in search of retribution. But who were they to judge?

“What did they do to you?”

“Meh, doesn’t really matter. This is definitely more important.”

“Is it even safe for you to be up there?”

A snort, “Absolutely not.”

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Okay, so whoever they were, they were probably insane.

“I read an article online, so yeah, I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing.” The voice spoke with the utmost confidence despite their discouraging answer.

That cleared things up. This person was absolutely and certifiably insane. “You’re going to die.”

The voice only chuckled, “Probably. But at least I’ll get even, not many people can say that.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” He said, not knowing how to respond to that.

There was a spot of silence where they looked and tried to imagine what they could possibly be doing and what would push them to do such a thing.

“Do you have anything better to do than just standing there staring at me? You’re distracting me.” The voice spoke.

“Sorry.” He mumbled.

There was a sigh. “Don’t apologize, I’m just getting a little frustrated. I didn’t bring a flashlight, so it’s pretty hard to see what I’m doing.”

“Oh yeah, that sounds like a pain in the neck. What are you trying to do anyway?”

There was a loud crack which caused sparks to fly. A split second later, the street was engulfed in complete darkness.

“That! Try submitting your final now jackass!” The voice screamed into the night with nothing but untamed joy, and he couldn’t help but laugh along with them.