There’s nothing as exhilarating as the moment when your hair stands on end, your tongue tastes like tin, and you stand mere inches away from death.
All that separates you from your mortal end is the glass of the jar that now contains little streaks of blue, zig zagging light. It flashes and sparks, trying to escape its captivity, and that internal struggle of negative ions is what pays the bills.
We are the lightning bottlers.
It’s a dangerous career path, fraught with missing eyebrows, more wayward sparks than would generally be considered safe, and the loss of a fair few brothers in arms. But it’s lucrative. Extremely lucrative. Just ask the scoundrels in Penthouse 5. They’re the most recent recipients of lady luck herself. The capturers of a one in a million positive strike. The jar of pure purple energy was enough to power the entire New York City skyline for months, and the Execs were more than happy to pay for it, hence the scoundrels being promoted to Penthouse 5.
But me and my crew, we ain’t got that kinda luck. All we’ve got is one beat-up Mobile Capture Station, a handful of bad attitudes, and more debt than we care to admit.
With a storm on the horizon, though, all of that could change. One strike of positive lightning and the ledgers would be cleared. The problems gone in a literal flash.
And that’s why I do it, the chasing of storms and courting of death and everything else that comes with being a bottler. Because there’s gotta be a better life out there. Not just for me, but for my crew. Their families.
So, with the flip of a switch and a crackle of electricity, I set a course for the storm brewing in the distance.
Thanks for reading and for being here at Claire’s Short Stories! This one is hot off the press and inspired by the lightning storm I had the privilege of hiding from the other day. What do you think of lightning, scary or really cool? Or maybe a bit of both.
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I loved your opening sentence. It pulled me right in. What an awesome story with a strong voice!
This is definitely a dangerous career choice. Thanks for giving me something interesting to think about.