My hands are up for a moment, as I walk towards Rebecca, but I can't do what I want. She opens her eyes as soon as I come near her and darts off, towards the living room. My arms lower, coming back down to my sides, as I think about what just happened. The smoke alarm went off, and it was like it was pounding into her being. She screamed and begged me to turn it off. Before she realized I was coming forward after it was turned off, she was curled up, shivering on the floor. Is the sound truly that volatile to her? Is there something amplified in that sound, given her shorter height?

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I do know that it bothered and hurt her. Turning back around, I want to make sure this incident doesn't repeat itself. She might need a moment or two to be alone, so I make my way back to the stairs, where the smoke alarm is set up. Reaching up, I push a small button on it, opening up the battery compartment. I take a deep breath as I have both hands raised, digging my fingernail into the space around the battery, trying to pry it out. My other fingers wander and I eventually get under it. As I try to pry it out, however, my other finger touches a metallic part of it and a shock is sent into my body.

“Ouch!” I say, as I fall down, onto my butt. My finger roamed to just the wrong place at just the wrong time. The electric shock that I felt had surged through my entire body and forced me to push away from the alarm, leading to me falling down. As I sat myself up, I shook my hand around, trying to get the shocked feeling out of my finger. My eyes were shut as I moved it around, violently, and I could feel the joints in my wrist coming in and out of place as I shook it around. Clenching my hand into a fist, several joint cracks can be heard and, eventually, the pain goes away.

Pushing myself up, I look back up towards the smoke alarm, but decide to turn towards the kitchen, instead. There's a better way of getting this out. A way that will allow me to avoid getting shocked by that, again. I walk into the kitchen and pull out a small, straight-edged screwdriver from a shelf. The tool has a plastic handle and gives me more than enough space to reach that alarm without having to put my fingers up there. Content with what I find, I work my way back to the hallway, aiming to get that battery out of the alarm, if it's the last thing I do for right now.

I carry the tool over to the smoke alarm and, out of the corner of my eye, I see a little face peeking out from the wall in the living room, watching what I'm doing. How long has she been there? I didn't notice her there before, but maybe that was because I was too focused on the alarm? Did she see me getting the life shocked out of me? Did she see me shaking my hand, in pain, and leaving to get the screwdriver? I don't really know, and for right now, it doesn't matter what she saw. I'm in the middle of getting that battery out, so it won't bother her anymore, and that's what I'm going to do.

Not saying a word to her, I extend the screwdriver through my hand as far as I can make it go while still maintaining a steady and firm grip on it. Reaching up, I pry it into the space between the battery and the device and my hand slightly trembles, thinking about what happened the last time I tried to get this battery out. In the back of my mind, there are thoughts of a shock coming through the screwdriver and hitting me, even though I know it wouldn't travel through the handle. My breathing gets deep and heavy as I wait for a few seconds, looking at the alarm and thinking about the past.

Getting a grip on my trembling, I force the screwdriver forward and turn it, prying the battery out, sending it flying down, to the floor. I end up jumping out of the way as I see the battery coming down, towards me. It pings as it hits the floor and I drop the screwdriver, my heart beating at a rapid pace. My breathing is deep and I almost can't hold onto myself from the stress that situation took out of me. Before long, however, my attention turned to something else. In the doorway of the living room, was Rebecca, standing in the middle of it and looking over at me, an almost-blank look on her face.

Leaving the battery and screwdriver on the floor, I slowly walk towards her, halving the distance between me and the doorway. She slowly takes a few steps backwards, as I do so, so I stop and sit down on the floor, not wanting her to run off. The last thing I want right now is for her to keep running away from me every time I come near her or something happens, like this alarm going off. I sit down, my legs crossed as I wipe my head across my forehead, brushing my bangs to the right. I take a look at her and begin speaking, hoping to find out if she's okay.

“I'm sorry about the smoke alarm. I didn't realize that it would hurt you so much, or I would have taken the battery out sooner. I left the food on too long, and well...sorry. I didn't mean for it to hurt you like that.” Rebecca just stands there, looking at me, not saying a word. She can hear me, can't she? I'm sure she can hear me. I lay myself down on the floor and look up at the ceiling. “It took a good bit out of me, but the battery's gone, and you won't have t worry about that anymore. So...I'll go dismantle the other alarms later.” As I continue rambling, I let out a yawn and hear footsteps coming near me.

Looking to the side, I can see that girl, standing right next to me. From the floor's perspective, she actually looks fairly tall. She looked at me, changing her expression to that agitated look again. “I'm hungry!” I smile and start chuckling a little. This is quite the lady, to be sure...