I took a deep breath and after a few seconds of hesitation, pushed the button. The boots began pulsing as if someone was tapping on them with a hammer. Then, without warning, a huge, orange-white lightening bolt streaked through the air between the electrical substation and the boots! I almost swallowed my tongue as I fell backwards to the ground. I just sat there, frozen with fear!

The horrible lightening kept on going! It held tight to my toes and fluttered around in the air like a giant electric snake. The wild electricity danced all over the transformers and wires on the substation.

There was a deafening buzzing sound that drowned out my hysterical screaming and the bright light lit up everything around us like it was daytime. Shadows jumped around behind the trees and bushes. I looked at Tommy for help, but he just stood there, bug-eyed and scared. As for me, I was way too terrified to be scared!

My muscles froze up in fear and I could feel my hair standing up. My body tingled like when you rub a balloon on your head and an electrical charge builds up.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, something in the substation exploded and massive orange and yellow fireballs shot up into the air. The bolt of electricity vanished and sparks showered down on us like a Fourth-of-July firework exploding to close to the ground.

The darkness of dusk tried to reemerged, but was beaten back by the flames on the substation and the little crackling fires on the ground all around us. The large flames on the substation burned violently and thick, black smoke billowed into the air. I could feel the heat from it. It smelled like burning leaves and the time my sister’s hairdryer fried, only a lot worse.

Some of the falling sparks landed on Tommy. A little flame popped up on his right sleeve. He shrieked and began dancing around like a deranged turkey, slapping his hand on his sleeve.

“Stop, drop, and roll!” I yelled to Tommy. He stopped dead in his tracks, finished pounding out the flame on his jacket, and glared at me. A tiny wisp of smoke curled up into his face and he let out a little cough.

“Not cool!” Tommy yelled. “Not cool at ALL!”

“Well, you’re the one who said we couldn’t do any damage up here!” I scoffed. “We just blew up the substation and set fire to everything!”

I checked myself over for flames and missing body parts. I appeared to be all there and uncooked, despite the fact that I just had a giant lighting bolt attack me! And with that thought, I realized how warm the alien boots had gotten. They were very warm; almost hot, like the time I nearly melted my tennis shoes by sitting too close to a campfire. I decided I’d better get them off.

I reached down to shut off the power when something odd caught my eye. The power gauge line that was nearly empty before was completely full with a beautiful yellow glow! It seemed impossible, but it was true; the boots were recharged! My throat choked up with excitement as I tried to tell Tommy, but he was to busy complaining to listen.

“I don’t like that button!” Tommy exclaimed. “What good is it? I suppose if we ever get the urge to barbeque ourselves, we can just go ahead and push that button! My mom is NOT going to be happy when she sees my coat, J.T!”

“Wait a minute!” I cried after clearing my throat. Tommy continued his ranting.

“Better yet, maybe we can use it on the Fourth of July!” screamed Tommy while pointing his flashlight in my face. “Maybe we should call it the button of flaming death!”

“Get that light outta my face and check this out,” I said raising the controller up so Tommy could see it. “The boots are completely charged!”

“Are you serious?” Tommy asked as he ran up to get a closer look. “You’re right! So that’s how to the boots get recharged. They pull electricity from a nearby source, like this substation, but it probably couldn’t handle the drain, and, well, look what we did.” Tommy voice sank as he pointing down at Chesterville.

“Oh, no,” I said.

Chesterville’s lights had gone out. The only lights in town were the ones on cars. Horns honked and people’s voices echoed in confusing chatter.

A couple of cars were swerving around the bunched-up traffic. Flashing blue and red lights appeared on first car along with a siren that told us it was a cop. The two vehicles began racing out of town in our direction. We watched as they flew down highway 20 and turned onto the winding road that led up to Poker’s Bluff! The sounds of fire truck sirens started echoing from town also and then more flashing lights headed in our direction!

“Dude, your hair it totally standing up!” Tommy commented as he shined his flashlight onto my head again.

“Never mind my hair,” I said. “Those cars are heading up here! They’re gonna find us and the boots!”

“No they won’t?” Tommy said “We’ll just take the other road back down.”

“Did you forget that the other road is under construction, not to mention the bridge is out?” I asked

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Tommy said. “We’re trapped, like rats!”