Edith rushed out the door of her quaint suburban home towards her car. But she did not reach her car, for her children yelled at her, reminding her that she was about to leave them. “Oh, yes I almost forgot the children,” she thought to herself.
Edith was a typical working mother, trying to balance a career, home life and her own personal goals. She had her sights set at the top. Like most people in the business world she was determined to move up the “food chain.”
“Mom, you’re always doing this. Rushing off and almost leaving us!” cried her daughter.
“Sorry dear, mom has a lot of things on her mind. Today is an important day for mommy. She has to give a big presentation.”
“Well lets just go already! I am tired of waiting here with this little brat,” said her son Billy, the older of her two children.
“Well get in the damn car and we can go. If you two would not piddle around, I might not have started to forget you. Lets go already!” The children angrily got into the car, making an extra effort to let Edith know how they felt by slamming the doors and not putting on their seatbelts. This act alone caused Edith just to yell more at kids. They finally put on their seatbelts, but not until they had again heard a lecture on the importance of them. The tension now in the car was common to this family. Edith’s insistence on the kids wearing seatbelts was meant for their benefit, however her execution of conveying this information was not the best.
The ride to the school was silent, each family member kept their mouth shut in order to prevent any more hostility. Edith thought about her presentation as she drove. She imagined the promotion that would soon ensue and the new office she would get. She did not notice that her daughter sat the back seat staring out the window with tears running down her face. However, her brother noticed, but he said nothing and kept looking out his window in the front seat. This same scene had been repeated more than once.
Edith dropped the kids off at their respective schools and then headed towards the post office in order to buy some stamps. This was a alteration to her normal routine. Normally she would head straight to the interstate after dropping off the children. After running her errand, she headed towards the interstate inorder to drive into the city. Her mind was more on her presentation than the road as she neared the interstate onramps from the direction opposite of that which she normally took. She moved over to turn right as normal and saw that the light was yellow so she sped up to make it onto the onramp. But she did not make it. Because of her change in routine and her mind being focused on the presentation, she did not realize she was turning into the offramp. She did not have time to react before she saw the semi-truck in front of her. Nor did she ever feel any pain from the massive truck literally running over her small sedan. She died instantly.
Edith woke up and felt her body shaking. She was laying on a dark sidewalk near a bar in the downtown area of the city she had intended on driving to. As she was awakening she thought to herself about the immense realness of the dream she just had. Slowly the blackness that was unconsciousness faded into colors. She stood up and noticed her surroundings. “How the hell did I get here?” she said aloud.
“How do any of us get here?” a voice responded. “We just end up in the least likely place we should be and then wait for it. That way we can not get back to see the ones we love before we leave.”
“Wait for what? How did I get here? Who are you?”
“So many questions… do yourself a favor and accept it when the time comes.”
“Accept what…” her voice trailed off as the man who had been talking to her disappeared into the wall of the bar. The answer to her questions were there, in her subconscious, but she refused to accept it. There was no way. It was just a dream, she thought to herself. She thought she must have been drugged and then placed here. The street she had woken upon was empty. There were no cars going in either direction and there were none parked along the street. The only light being emitted on the desolate street was from two dim street lamps across from the bar and from the neon sign hanging about the bar’s door.
As Edith opened the door the sounds around her changed from a silence only broken by the wind, to that of a noisy crowd. She seemed to be swallowed up by people as she entered the bar. The bar was packed, it appeared to be a very popular place. But no one noticed Edith. Every person’s attention was heavily invested in the people of their party. Even when she cried out for help, no one noticed her. Not a head turned. She screamed as hard as she could and still no one noticed. Frustrated, she stood in the middle of the bar, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the people. She ran out of the bar not even noticing that she did not open the door but simply went through it.
Edith stopped in the middle of the street and sat on the ground holding herself and sobbing. She sat there rocking and feeling sorry for herself. She thought only of herself and repeatedly wondered why this was happening to her, not even considering what was happening. Then from down the street came a loud wooshing sound like a heavy wind was approaching. When she looked up she saw a light was approaching with the sound. Without thinking she ran in the opposite direction of the light. She told herself it was a car. She knew deep down what it really was, but would not believe it.
As she ran, reality began to blur and she lost the sensation of running but not that of movement. Then suddenly she was no longer moving. Even though she knew her eyes were open there was nothing but blackness. The darkness faded back into reality and she found herself back at her home. She saw her family and watched them as they went about their lives without her. She knew that they would not be able to see her or hear her. She realized that she had run away from her one chance to pass on. Now she was stuck.
She stayed in the house and watched her family. No matter how much she tried she could not leave the house. Everytime she walked through a wall leading to the outside or went through an open door she ended up back in the house. There she stayed watching her children grow up. No matter how much pain it caused as she watched their lives without her, she could not look away. She watched birthdays and eventually weddings. Then the kids moved on into college and off to their own lives. The house eventually became vacant and there Edith stayed watching the house rot. Her existence was tied to the house.
Finally the decay of the house became too much. She watched as people entered the house and talked about plans for its destruction. She could do nothing but watch and feel the pain of her existence. When the day came for the demolition she wondered what would happen to her. As the wrecking balls tore through the house her reality fractured like glass. Eventually, the last shard of color that tied her to Earth disappeared and fell off her vision. And then, there was nothing but blackness. With coming of the never ending blackness came the removal of the pain. In fact, she felt nothing. She simply existed looking upon nothing but blackness. All through her sentence in the house she thought over her life and finally realized the things that are important. But it was too late, or was it…
The blackness gave way to the light of a hospital room and she watched from the side of that room as she was born. She saw the doctor cut the umbilical cord and announce the arrival of a new baby girl. She saw her mother cradle her and look into her eyes. But something was different. She walked over and looked into her mother’s face and saw it was a different woman. “Thank you,” she whispered as a flash of light delivered her into her new body. I have another chance, she thought, I hope I do not screw it up this time. Her coherent consciousness of adulthood faded away into the half erased chalk board of infancy. The lessons she had learned were there, circling in her essence as a guiding force to shape her as she should be. This time it would be different.
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