It took quite a while for me to find my voice, “I...didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

Avi held me in his gaze steadily as he said, “It will have to be now; time is limited.”

“What do you mean?”

Avi took a step closer to me, “I will offer you a warning. Whether you heed it or not will be your choice.”

His words made me shiver as I asked in a small voice, “What kind of warning?”

Avi was silent for a long moment as he gazed at me. I didn’t break his gaze.

“I told you before that I am not fond of humans and I still hold true to that. But strangely…..” his voice trailed off. I saw his eyes shift side to side and, for a moment, I entertained the idea that he might have been embarrassed.

“You’re…different.” He said before quickly adding, “I told you this before. You clearly have the ability to understand things that many humans don’t. That makes you….less annoying.”

“Uh...thank…you?” I really wasn't sure if that was the proper response.

Avi continued, “Be that as it may, I have decided I will give you this warning. Make sure you are at home tomorrow by 11:47 a.m. and that your doors are locked and your windows are shut. No matter what happens, whatever you see, whatever you hear, do not go outside for any reason. Do not open your door. Do not open your windows.”

I swallowed and whispered, “What’s going on?”

“This is my warning, Nya.” Avi said sternly, “If you heed it then you will be able to see me again. If you choose not to…..”

Why did I sense an impending threat? Not necessarily from him but that something big and life altering was about to happen. I could feel it in my bones.

I mulled on it and convinced my parents to stay indoors and not open the door. Even if it had turned out to be nothing, it wouldn’t hurt anything. It didn’t take much to convince them because they had no plans and the weather man had promised a snow storm. If it was anything like they said, no one would be going anywhere.

Wait...a SNOW STORM?

“I didn’t tell you?” my mother asked.

“A snow storm in the middle of July? No, ma, you did NOT mention this.” I finally managed to blurt out.

And just because I needed to verify this with my own eyes, I looked it up on the weather website. And sure enough, they had been tracking a snow storm. I had never heard of such a thing in my life and neither had my parents.

When I pulled the curtain back the next morning, there it was in all its glory; a grand total of six feet of snow. I swallowed. What had happened? Even staring at it, I still could not comprehend snow in July.

I looked at my clock. 9:52 a.m.

I washed up and wandered out of my room and was not surprised to see that my mother was already up. I didn't know why but a sense of paranoia overcame me. I spent a lot of time wandering through the apartment checking the door and windows. Not that we had many.

At 10:38 a.m. my dad came wandering out. We had a quiet breakfast that lasted until 11:15 a.m. The closer it got to 11:47 a.m. the more nervous I felt. At 11:40 a.m. I was practically running all over the place making sure to check every nook and cranny, making sure we were locked in and shut up. My father had settled into his favorite chair to read the newspaper and my mother had the news going as she washed the dishes.

I watched the last few seconds tick by.

…..….......5

……......4

……...3

…...2

...1

“It’s 11:47 a.m…”, I announced, quite unnecessarily I might add.