Zzzap flying to space and back in seconds

“Good-bye, George. You’ve been a good friend. I’ll miss you.”
“Wait, you can’t be seri—”
The gleaming wraith shot up into the sky, a falling star in reverse. In an instant he was one pinprick of light among thousands. Another star in the night.
And then he was gone.
St. George stared up into the sky, his jaw still open, unsure what had just happened. The after-image of Zzzap still burned his eyes. He shouted his friend’s name, then yelled it again over their private radio channel.
No response.
He sank down and the heels of his new boots clanged against the roof of the water tower.
Then a bolt of light shot down out of the night and halted in front of him.
“Nah, I’m just *****ing with you.”

Excerpt From Ex-Communication, pg 599
Peter Clines
https://books.apple.com/us/book/ex-communication/id635706546