6. Out of This World and into Another

   Sam Pete would never leave his car out unattended in such an insecure place.  The hour was very late, and his car stuck out gleaming like a diamond in a pile of coal.  Our town may be small, but we had our own problems just as all other towns did.
   Wait.  It was the dead of night.  My car was shut off, and there were no lights for miles.  How was Sam’s car gleaming?
   I approached slowly, repeatedly glancing from side to side.  Yet, I could not figure out where the light was coming from.  I don’t recall Sam having turned his car into a giant light bulb, though it did look ridiculously like one.
   When I had come within a few feet of the car, I had to shield my eyes and turn away.  The car was that brightly lit.  I even felt a wave of heat radiating off of it.
   I’m not sure what came over me just then, but I had a strange urge to feel how hot the car actually was.  My right hand shot out and went smack into the slick, cold steel.  Cold steel.
   Nevertheless, I felt heat from pouring down upon me.  If not from the car, then from where? As I pulled my hand away, I noticed something strange.  My hand created a thick, solid shadow about the surface of the car.
   Just as I glanced up, the light and heat disappeared, but I saw it.  I glimpsed it.  A huge, white flame hung above me and the car for just a split second, before silently jetting off into the night sky.
11-26-06
   It all seemed like a dream to me.  There was absolutely no sound, almost a similar feel to a silent movie.  It was just too surreal; I must have been dreaming for sure.
   I reached into my pocket, found something round and rubbery, and threw it at Sam’s car to have it rebound straight back at me.  If this was no dream, I should probably feel something.
   As it flew, I caught a glimpse of what I had thrown, but it was too late.  The cap flew off as the green, egg-like object soared through the air.  It missed the exterior of the car completely and crashed through the side window.  For no apparent reason, I jumped up into the air as high as I could, not sure if out of surprise or an attempt to find cover.
   Yet, nothing happened.  I inched my way toward the car to see if the grenade was still there.  My common sense seemed to have eluded for the moment.  I wasn’t sure what I was thinking.
   An explosion sounded from within, followed by the shattering of the car windows, before the metal exterior of the car itself finally ripped apart and shot off in all directions.  I leapt up into the air again, again for no apparent reason.  A sheet of metal somehow struck me just perfectly at my feet to boost me several feet into the air, where force of the explosion caught and threw me up even higher.  I waved my arms frantically to find hold of something.
   Something hit me in the face.  I swear it was a potato, but it was too dark to be certain.  I reached out my right hand as far as I could to find it.  Instead, my hand collided promptly with a cold hard metal.  The rest of my body followed, crushing my outstretched arm and smashing my nose for the third time.