Ben began. “Long ago, before man was ever created...” I squirmed a little. He had managed a sentence, and I was already uncomfortable with how this was starting.He sensed my discomfort. “Please, just hear me out. It is important that you hear this. I really shouldn’t be the one explaining this to you now...and at your age.” I backed away, slightly offended and wholly confused. “I’m only twenty-five!” I barked. “And what does any of this have do with me? What is happening to me?” He tightened his grip on my arm where his hand had rested. “I wasn’t saying you’re old.” He suppressed a laugh. “I will clarify. I am not the one who was supposed to be teaching you, um, explaining these things to you.” He looked over at Richard who was now looking at us but still smoking his pipe. “We all had this explained to us at a very early age. And unfortunately for you, I am not a very good teacher, but I will do my best to explain it to you as it was described to me.” I sighed. I didn’t understand.
“So, you have lived many times before? Do you remember any of those lives? Isn’t that kinda the same as reincarnation? But humans can be reincarnated too, can they not?” I knew I had just bombarded him with a host of questions, but there were a multitude of them coursing through my mind. I had just started with the simple ones. “Yes, I have lived many, many times before. I don’t know exactly how many. But we all live and die and are reborn. And we all have a way of finding each other. It’s like we’re linked somehow. This link does have its drawbacks. The Corrupt can find us just as easily as we can find each other and believe me, we don’t want to be found by them. Since the beginning of all of this and the separation of the Fallen angels, into the Virtuous and the Corrupt...” “We align ourselves with the Virtuous, by the way.” Richard interjected. Ben nodded and repeated. “We were divided into the Virtuous and the Corrupt. The Corrupt have determined to seek out the Virtuous and kil
I had to grip my goblet. I felt as though I might drop it. That was the last thing I needed to do. Injure myself again. I sat the glass down firmly on the table and glared at Ben. “Why? Why would you say that? Why would you put that off on me? Stevie and Paulo were with Carrie way before...” “For about four months before you were sent to Yarber Heights.” Richard interjected. I whipped my head around to look at him. “About the time your parents had started to consider sending you there. Honey, we can project into the future within reason. However, sometimes humans can change their mind and throw the projection off course but not in this case. Your friend Carrie did have problems. She was a manic depressive and mildly schizophrenic. She had contemplated suicide. So, her parents had her placed there because they were afraid she would follow through with it. But it wasn’t until George and Sue decided to send you there that Stevie and Paulo attached themselves to Carrie.” I didn’t unders
I never realized how lovely grass smelled, nor had I ever savored the musty scent of the rich dirt just beneath it. My legs were numb and so were my arms. I couldn't lift my head, hell, I couldn't move an inch of any part of my body, so I just continued to lie there, on the ground, letting the delicious smells of the earth violate my senses. It was dark, and though I could not see the sky above, I knew there was no light from the heavens breaching the blackness of this night...yet. I tried to look up, but my face was paralyzed, forever staring at the pitch-dark shadows of the grass surrounding me. I was almost face down in what appeared to be a ditch, my eyes fixed on the blackness surrounding me, threatening to engulf me. It hurt to breathe, and my jaw ached from my mouth being frozen in this open position for only God knows how long. How long had I been here? Where was here? How did I end up here? The grass lit up in a brilliant radiance followed by the ground trembling as the sky
I was happy. Ecstatically happy. That kind of happy you get from just feeling satisfied with life. When you’re driving down the road and the trees look greener, and the scent that wafts in through the open windows smells of honeysuckles, fresh clean air, and all things good. The sky was cloudless and a brilliant shade of blue, reminding me of a clear, blue sea - sparkling, pure, immaculate. I peered at the rearview mirror and gazed at my beautiful daughter, Evie, who was now slumped over in the seat, mouth wide open, and asleep with that completely peaceful expression that only an innocent child can embody. I don’t know why I felt so good. I mean, yeah, I’d had a nice lunch with one of my best friends at a recently renovated local restaurant appropriately named The Lunch Box, named so because, well, they were only open for lunch. I had lunch with my good friend Amy whose husband had acquired the rundown business months earlier when the previous owners had been forced into foreclosure.
I dropped Evie off at Carrie’s. Carrie was petite with reddish-blond hair and childlike freckles. She was going to be eternally cute. You know those people who just have that simple look to them and even though they age, they continue to look like a woman or man-child. That was Carrie. Also, she had one green eye and one brown eye, which I’d always thought was the coolest thing. She was only a year younger than me, and she was my oldest and dearest friend. She had been my closest friend since we were teenagers when we met under unusual circumstances. A long story for later. Now, she had two kids of her own who were close to Evie’s age. Evie was so overjoyed as we pulled into the drive that she unbuckled her seat belt before the car came to a halt. I cut my eyes at her and thought to reprimand, but my mind was too preoccupied with everything that had just happened in a matter of minutes. The scene at the house, the call. I couldn’t process it all. I shook my head as if the action would
Carrie offered to watch Evie for the night and for as many nights as I needed. I was appreciative and gratuitously accepted. I went to the house and gathered up Evie’s clothes, toothbrush, and her lovey. It was while I was plundering through her drawers that I noticed something glistening beneath her bed. I knelt down to lift it from the tangles of the carpet. It was an earring. An expensive one. On my baby’s bedroom floor, and it didn’t belong to me. This brought my attention to my daughter’s bed which was tousled, the comforter folded down at the pillows. I knew I’d made it before I left this morning, and I always tucked the comforter beneath her pillows. I put my nose to the covers, and there was that smell again. The perfume, the cigarettes, the sex. With a fury like I’ve never felt, I screamed. I screamed so loud that I hurt my own ears. I did not care. I dug my fists in her bed just before I started ripping the sheets and every stitch of fabric from it. My first thought was to
The last box was brought in through the front door. Now, I had in front of me the unpleasant task of muddling through all this stuff and figuring out where to put it all in my new cozy but unbelievably tiny house. I was scared but excited about beginning my new life. Maybe that was why I had that feeling that day over two months ago. That day I’d felt like I was on top of the world, and that life was anew with so much wonder. That same day that my life had been turned upside down. My life had changed. It had changed so much and so fast that I still had whiplash from it all. The death of my parents then the moment I listened to Peter’s voice message. “I won’t be home…” was all he said flatly. Faintly, in the background, I could hear a female voice in the background tag on the word “ever!” followed by the sound of their combined maniacal laughter just as he hung up the phone. I simply sat there. Tissue in my hand, eyes already puffy and tender from the night of forceful crying, and I