Awakening

Forest Hills, New York September 16 2002

Visions of giant spiders and arachnids flood my vision, my body tense up with the heat fuming from it, almost sizzling. Sweat comes and Sweat goes but my body doesn't relent. My muscles feel like they're being shredded and woven together all over again. A shrill piercing feeling entered my palms as if it were drilled by tiny stingers. The nightmare ends and my eyes open!

Lips dry, throat parched, nose runny. Waking up, my face felt stiff. Feet rubbing together to create friction.

"Pete." A small frail woman's shout came out. My ears ring out because of sensitivity.

"Pete! It's time for school!" The voice seemed to be older but there was a kind of firmness in her tone. Wait a minute, I didn't know any old ladies, in fact I didn't know any women other than my girlfriend and her bunch of annoying friends.

My vision plunged into lightness as the next thought took place in me.

'Where am i?'

Head perking up from the blue sheets.

'Wait a minute. This isn't my room!'

Damn it, I told Shreya's friends not to party too much, guess i should have taken up my own advice. Panic set in. Okay I've broken into someone's room, now i have to explain to the lady downstairs that. Oh my god, I can't wait to get this over with. Please don't scream lady, I'm not a burglar, just a guy who had too much gin and rum. I push myself up from the bed in one stroke like how I always get up. Like how I did in the military.

Standing up on the bed, the mattress made a squeaky sound, 'Oh sorry, I thought this was my bed.' Still, that's an old bed. On the wall there was a picture of the famous Einstein with his tongue out along other weird science posters. There was a messy desk with what seemed to be full of electrical equipment. Was that a soldering board?

"Peter, you're gonna be late for class." This time it was an older man. Wait a minute, why was he speaking English? No really where was I? The window was open, the road was weird. No place in India has these clean roads. Sure they were a bit dusty but no potholes seriously? This has to be some kind of dream. Cars were sparse and in between, the number plates didn't start with KA, instead they were coloured orange and blue. All of this felt too real to be a dream. A cool breeze hit my bare chest, I reflexively closed the window until I saw that my brown hands were white now.

What!

I just stood there. Looking at my new white fingers, stretching them out like I was a baby. The door knocked now, startling me.

"Pete are you alright...open up." The knocking was constant and the lady's voice filled with worry. My breath was heavy, heart pounding.

I move forward, I don't know what's happening but no point in running away, maybe if I'll explain to them about my situation then maybe they'll understand. I reach for the knob and just as I was about to turn it, I see the mirror next to the door.

I didn't see Vijay Prakash, I saw a well built white man no a white boy. He…I looked young. His face was plain, nothing to sing about but his features were what can i say? Simple but handsome if not for the light freckles and acne. The brown hair with the neat hairstyle suited him but was a bit too nerdy.

Then it came to me, a roll of memories rushing into my skull. Of a young boy, too young to remember his parents funeral in its entirety but not young enough to forget the comforting embrace of his aunt and the reassuring smile of his uncle telling him 'it'll be alright'. Plane crash took them both, he was four. The boy remembers bringing his favorite toys in his small briefcase packed with his even smaller clothes into this strange room. Throwing a baseball to his uncle and learning to bake a cake with his aunt for his birthday. It was a vanilla cake. A girl with red hair wished him happy birthday. An angel. Growing up, reading the science book his uncle brought and being enamored with it, not letting go of it for at least a week. Until his uncle got him his first public library card.

Uncle Ben complaining about a bad back and helping aunt may with the dishes. Kids at school being mean to him but finding solace in Science and Math. Growing up and meeting his best friend Harry. Learning about the piling expenses at home, unable to help the people who saved his life. The frustration of not being able to ask out MJ, at not being able to stand up for himself, at being so weak and small. Puny Parker, that's what Flash Thompson and his posse called him. MJ was with them when they did. Then the spider stung him in the laboratory during the visit.

For some reason this memory stood out for a particular reason.

"Peter, Lord I've been calling you, Peter are you all…." She couldn't finish the sentence,

"A...aunt May?" I asked her, despite knowing exactly who she was.

'Oh Peter honey are you alright? You're sweating." The elderly woman gestured to my naked chest. 'Oh no', before I could look for my shirt. Aunt May entered my room and began sorting through the mess on the floor and found my brown shirt and helped me put it on like she used to when I was kid. She had a worried look and the wrinkles didn't help.

"I'm alright Aunt May, just under the weather. You know?" I said with the most superficial cheerful face I could conjure up. Her face remained unconvinced and full of worry while her hands were busy straightening my collar and rubbing my shoulder.

I could hear the footsteps of someone approaching the staircase, It was Uncle Ben.

"You alright kiddo, we were worried about you there for a second." He said with his usual warm smile.

"I was telling Aunt May here that I was a little under the weather. I don't think I'll be able to go to school today. I guess it must have been something I ate on that trip yesterday." I say in a practiced tired voice. They worry too much and I have to be careful to not add to their list of problems.

They looked worried but assented once I kept on guaranteeing my good health.

"Well alright kiddo, take all the rest you need. School isn't going anywhere, Einstein. May let's give Peter some nap time."

She still looked concerned but Uncle ben's insistence, "Gee alright then but Peter if you aren't feeling well then-"

Uncle Ben came to my rescue, "I'm sure the boy's alright honey, like he said it must have been something he ate." Aunt may wouldn't stop mothering me until uncle Ben gently escorted her out

"He's always been a little sickly boy, I thought he was done with that…"

"I know May, I know." Uncle Ben kept nodding along as he went out and before he closed the door, I swore I thought he winked at me.

The door shut and I could hear their footsteps heading down.

I fell down onto the janky mattress in disbelief, "I'm Spider-Man."