Chapter 1: The Flash
The first thing everyone saw was the flash.
Karen stood at the edge of the community swimming pool, breathing hard, her face twisted with anger. The afternoon had been peaceful only seconds earlier. A few residents were gathered around the deck, talking quietly while children played nowhere in sight. The pool itself was completely empty.
Karen did not care.
She had been complaining for nearly twenty minutes that the family using the pool area had stayed too long. The posted hours were supposed to end earlier, and Karen had decided that meant she had the right to force everyone out.
Then she grabbed the loose electrical-looking device she had dragged toward the pool.
A gray-haired man named Frank saw what she was doing.
He barely had time to move.
Karen threw the device into the empty pool.
A sudden white-blue flash spread across the surface.
Several residents screamed and stumbled backward.
For a moment, nobody moved.
The blue water shimmered beneath the harsh burst of light. Karen stood rigidly beside the pool, almost daring someone to challenge her.
Frank rushed forward.
“What the hell did you just do?”
Karen spun around.
“I told them to stay out!”
Her voice was loud enough to carry across the entire pool deck.
Frank stared at her in disbelief.
“You just threw that thing into the pool.”
“Nobody was in the water,” Karen snapped.
That answer frightened Frank more than the flash itself.
It was not an apology.
It was not regret.
It was an excuse.
One of the older residents, Margaret, grabbed her husband’s arm and pulled him farther away. Another resident hurried toward the gate.
Karen pointed at the pool as though she had just proven something.
“Now maybe they’ll listen.”
Frank stepped between Karen and the water.
“You’re done.”
Karen’s eyes narrowed.
“Get out of my way.”
“No.”
For the first time, the confidence in Karen’s expression faltered.
People were watching.
Not one or two neighbors.
Everyone.
She could feel their eyes on her.
Her face reddened. Her jaw tightened. She shoved Frank’s arm aside and started toward the pool again.
Frank immediately blocked her.
“Stay away from it.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
Karen pushed against his arm.
Frank caught her by the upper arms and forced her backward, away from the pool.
Karen lost her balance for half a second.
Her arms flew outward.
Then the camera of a resident’s phone captured the moment.
Karen’s eyes widened.
The recording continued.
And for the first time that afternoon, Karen seemed to realize that the story was no longer under her control.
