Dax Harrison thought he was normal. Painfully average, even. He had enjoyed baseball, and a few video games like Mario Odyssey, but he wasn't good at anything. He didn't get tired walking up the stares, but he probably couldn't run a 5k. He didn't have friends, but it's not like he was getting shoved in lockers every other day. Most people just ignored him, because in their eyes and his, he was just so painfully average.
And then one day the sun was green.
That morning, he stepped out of his house at the same time he always did, after having the same breakfast he always had. There was a group of guys from his school hanging out across the street by their car. He'd never tried to talk to them before. They probably didn't even know he was alive.
The only thing he did differently that morning was look up.
He never looked up. Why would you look up, especially during the day? Nothing changes about the sky. The sun is always yellow. The sky is always blue. The clouds are always fluffy and white. Why would you ever look up to check, and risk hurting your eyes?
Today, however, the sun wasn't yellow. It was green.
Is it always green in the mornings? Dax wondered, staring at it, using a hand to shade his eyes. I've never checked, so maybe it's possible…
He glanced over at the boys across the street. They didn't know him, but he saw them there everyday when he left for school. Maybe one of them would have an answer. "Hey!" he called out. "Is the sun always green in the mornings?"
They stared at him.
Okay. So, clearly, it's not always green in the mornings. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I have colour blindness in the mornings… He ignored their stares, turning around and walking away without saying anymore, which just made them stare harder. Honestly, it's not that bad. The sun's kinda nice when it's green. And it doesn't hurt my eyes! Nice!
Other than the green sun, everything was normal. His walk to school was unchanged and boring. He had to walk on a small bridge near the road to get there, and sometimes, if it'd rained, he'd get splashed when a car rushed past; but today the streets were completely dry, so he didn't have to worry about that.
His first three classes went by normally too. Every year, when he got his report card, his grades perfectly matched the class average. He never did amazing, but he never did terribly. That applied not just to his final marks, but also to everyday in class.
His first three classes went normally, but not his fourth; in his fourth period class, he had a substitute teacher. A man dressed in a priest's outfit, who seemed to be blind, considering he wielded a cane and a pair of black glasses.
Having a blind substitute teacher wasn't the weird part, though. The weird part was…
This guy doesn't know what the hell he's doing! Dax thought as he watched the teacher fumble around with the attendance. He hasn't even told us his name!
"Okay, class!" The man stepped into the middle of the room, fingers tapping against his cane. "What colour is the sun?"
Whispers immediately started to float around the room, passing from one ear to another. They carried questions such as "Who is this guy?", and "What is he talking about?", as well as "Does he think we're toddlers?"
The man tapped his cane against the ground, and the room went silent.
He turned to Dax, and, despite not being able to see his eyes… Dax felt like they made eye contact. "You. Answer my question. What colour is the sun?"
"Uhh…" Nobody ever called on him. Not the teachers, not the subs, not the students. He couldn't think of one time a teacher had even glanced at him while his hand was up, let alone while he wasn't even paying attention. "Um… like… today, or in general?"
The sub stared at him for a second. "Is it a different colour today than it normally is?"
"Yeah, today it was green." Most people would consider it a bad idea to tell people you were seeing green suns, but Dax had spent all his life being ignored. He never once considered what other people would think of him, because they never did think of him.
"Hm. Interesting." The sub gave a satisfied smirk, before turning back to the rest of the class and bowing. "Alright! All of you can do whatever you want, I don't really care." He walked back to the teachers desk and flopped into the chair, throwing his feet up on the desk.
Dax was normally the first to leave after the bell rang, but today, he was the last. He didn't know why. He just hadn't noticed it'd rung until everyone was already leaving.
"Dax. When it comes down to it… Let the sun flow through you." Dax turned. It was the sub, who had already left the classroom and was walking down the hallway before Dax could respond.
He stared for a second, wondering what the hell that guy had been talking about, and then shook his head. Whatever. It didn't matter.
But he couldn't help but think about it. "Let the sun flow through you"? What could that possibly mean? Could it have something to do with the sun being green?
"Hargh gra gra gra…." Dax stopped in his tracks. He was ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of something heavy growling behind him, its breath rattling like rocks.
He turned, slowly, and felt his heart squeeze.
Standing in front of him was a 6 foot monster. It had a wide snout filled with sharp, jagged teeth, and its mouth didn't look like it could close. Its arms each had a huge fist on the end, and no fingers. Its feet were also huge, while its legs were short and thick.
And it was made of hundreds of mismatched rocks and pebbles. Different sizes, shapes, colours…
"Oh! I'm dreaming." Dax sighed, realizing how impossible everything was. This MUST have been a dream! That was the only way any of this made se-
"GRAAAAAARGH!" The monster's roar shook the earth, and before Dax could react. It swung its fist into his chest, the impact sending him flying down the sidewalk.
He felt the impact rattle through his skeleton, the bark of a tree crunching as he crashed into it.
He didn't have much time to pause and think. He rolled out of the way, just barely dodging as the monster's fist smashed the ground where his head had been, dirt spitting up into the air.
He stumbled to his feet, and considered attacking it while it was in a vulnerable position, like now after just attacking, but there was no way he could do anything to hurt solid rock. Unless…
"Let the sun flow through you"
That's what the sub had said. But he was just a sub. There was no way he knew how to defeat rock monsters, or even knew there was a rock monster in the first place!
On the other hand, the sun was green and Dax was fighting a rock monster, so crazier things had already happened today.
"Let the sun flow through you"
Dax let out a deep breathe, bending his knees as he prepared to launch himself towards the rock monster. If this didn't work, chances are he'd get smashed to bits. Oh, well. Too late now.
He felt the heat of the sun on his neck, and tried to let that heat flow through him. He wasn't sure of what he was doing, but it felt right.
He lunged, taking 3 big, running steps, until he was in punching range - and then, he launched his fist forward.
As he threw the punch, he could feel energy building in his arm. His arm glowed with a golden aura, radiating power - and then the punch landed.
There was an explosion of golden energy upon impact. The monster's jaw crumbled where the punch had landed… and then the rest of it turned to dust. The golden aura around Dax's arm faded, and he stumbled forward.
"Good job. Didn't think you had it in you." Dax paused as he heard the words coming from behind him. He felt like he could just barely recognize the voice.
He turned around.
Standing behind him, on the sidewalk, with a smirk on his face, was the substitute teacher from before.