Alive for the First Time

Nicholas came alive on the third of October, which was strange because he was born on December fifth, twenty years earlier. His mother had often told him he was an accident, a claim that never made sense to Nicholas. Why would someone—his mother, in this case—accidentally go to the hospital and have a baby?

Nicholas did come alive accidentally. He had been trying to figure out why his toaster wasn’t working and had flayed it open while it was still energized—“plugged into the juice,” as his father would say. In Nicholas’s estimation, the disassembled toaster was not as interesting or mysterious as a fish in the same state. Then, as he thought this, his pinky finger inadvertently brushed against a shiny screw connecting a wire to a widget.

At once, the world smeared into a bright white light. The kitchen table, the cupboards, the entire house—everything sucked up inside Nicholas through the tip of his finger. He felt as if he were riding atop a shooting star.

An instant later, Nicholas found himself sprawled across the kitchen floor. Though achy and disoriented, he felt alive for the first time.

—Mitchell Hegman