Where am I? (The Story of John Winston: Part 3)

Mary slowly walked to me. “John, are you okay?” her voice got a little higher like it does every time she is worried. I could feel my heart start to beat harder again. Deep breaths checked in and out of my lungs like they were a one second stay hotel. My eyes darted around the garage looking for something, anything that was strange or out of place. My gaze fell upon the rear view mirror of the car. Written in red sharpie was a sentence that I had to read twice. “She isn’t real.” An arrow was under the lettering, and it was pointing in Mary’s direction. Slowly I turned to look at her.

“John, are you okay?” she sounded more desperate for an answer this time. “John”, she said. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the concrete. “John”, she continued to call out. Over and over she called my name, but her voice started to grow faint in my ears. My vision started to fade. Before I knew it, the world around me faded into nothing but blackness.

The pounding in my head was unbearable whenever I tried to open my eyes. My hands clenched. Some sort of fabric folded inside my fists. At that moment I realized that I was in my bedroom. I heard footsteps and a clanking sound right next to me. Forcing my eyes open, I saw Mary standing next to me starting to put a couple of sugars in a cup, and stirring them into a liquid that smelled like tea.

“Good morning”, she said in her usual soft, soothing voice. She handed me the cup as I sat up. Feeling the warm, sweet liquid run down my throat made my muscles relax. My head started to stop pounding.

“Thank you, Mary.” Her teeth showed through a smile. “What happened?”

“You started to freak out in the garage, and fainted. I think you just needed a good rest.” I nodded in agreement. I did feel quite tired throughout the week. Maybe she was right and I did just need a rest. “So, how did you sleep?”

“Pretty well, except for the excruciating head ache I woke up with.”

“That’s what the tea is for.” She giggled a little. I never noticed how much she giggled. It was almost as if she was always trying to make everything a good thing. Come to think of it, I don’t even think her and I have ever been in an argument.

“How long have I been out?”

“Right not it is 8:00 AM, and you got home about 5:00 last night. About fifteen hours.”

“Wow, I was tired.”

“Yeah you were.” I took a moment just to breath. Then I threw the covers off, and started to get ready. “What are you doing”, asked Mary.

“I have been sleeping for fifteen hours, I feel fresh, and I want some ice cream. I am going to the store, and when I come home, you and I are going to have a lazy treat day.”

“Ooh, my favorite kind of day.” After running a comb through my hair, I grabbed the keys and started on my way to the store.

This sunny Sunday morning instantly made my day start off wonderfully. Everything was peaceful. Everything was normal. The streets weren’t too crowded, the store was full of weekend shoppers, and the ice cream section had a kid crying to his mom in attempt to get a tub of the delicious treat. I filled my carrying basket with two flavors of ice cream and a variety of toppings.

Once I got everything done and paid for, I headed outside. Everything was still operating as normal. I stepped down off the curb when the car horn sounded out. I turned and saw a car speeding toward me. Fear froze me in my place. My breath slowed and deepened. Time seemed to move like icebergs. People surrounded the event. I didn’t remember so many people being out and about this morning. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of red. I turned to see what it was. I saw Clara in her red rain coat and boots. It had started to rain again.

When I turned to look back at the car, an immense pain shot through my stomach. I closed my eyes as I felt my body fly backwards. Every bone in my body was in agony.

As soon as I hit the ground, I opened my eyes. I was no longer lying in a parking lot right after being hit by a car. I sat straight up. There was something that was coming out of my mouth. It was a tube. My instinct reaction was to pull it out. As I did, I could feel it come up my throat as well. I pulled on it so quickly that it scratched my throat on the way out. Coughs hurled themselves out of my lungs. My heart was racing once again, and my breath was heavy. Looking around the room, I noticed a picture sitting on the table next to my bed. It was a picture of Clara in her same red rain coat and boots. She was splashing in rain puddles.

To Be Continued

Strange Things (The Story of John Winston: part 2)

The next day was Saturday. When I woke up, Mary had already gone to her mother’s. I walked into the kitchen, and saw that she left me a list of things she wanted me to pick up in town. Every Saturday she leaves me a list because she knows I would be bored out of my mind being inside all day. The list had all the usual things. Milk, bread, oil change, etc. I was about to put the note in my pocket when I noticed an addition to the list, a puppy. I laughed and shook my head.

“Looks like I’m going to be making a trip to the pet store today”, I said to myself.

In town, the streets were more crowded than usual. It had taken me a couple of hours to go to all the different stores and put everything in the car. I was just about to leave the candle store, and head to the pet store when I saw a little girl on top of the hill behind the store. She was staring right at me. She seemed like she was lost, so I started to make my way through the suddenly empty parking lot and over to her.

“Hello. Are you lost sweetie”, I asked her once I was close enough. The little girl was maybe six or seven years old. She wore a red rain coat with matching boots. In her hand was a brown raggedy teddy bear that was missing and eye. Her brown hair curled as it flowed down her shoulders. “My name is John Winston. What’s yours?”

“It’s me Carla”, She replied. Her voice was so sweet. It took me a moment to realize how she answered.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

“Please wake up.” I tilted my head in confusion.

“Come with me. We’ll find your parents. How does that sound?”

“Please. I need you to wake up.” A sudden clash of lightning sounded. I looked up at the sky as it started to pour rain. When I looked back the little girl, she was gone. I looked around to see if she had just ran off, but she was nowhere in sight. The rain started to lighten, and I turned and started toward my car. It stopped raining, and the parking lot was full again by the time I was back. My encounter with the girl put me on edge a little bit, but I didn’t let it get to me. I just turned and walked toward the pet shop a couple of blocks over.

As I walked through the streets, people pushed and pulled past each other. It was near impossible to get five feet without having at least three people come close to tripping over each other’s feet. I had the pet shop in sight when someone slammed their shoulder into mine, causing me to fall over like a tree in the woods.

“Oh, I’m so sorry sir”, the man rushed. He grabbed my hand, and pulled me to my feet. I was just starting to brush off my jacket when the man put his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear, “This isn’t real.”

“Okay sir, whatever you say.” He was sharply dressed. That would have never made me guess that he was one of the conspiracy nutters. I just waved the situation away, and forgot about it.  I wouldn’t have given it a second thought if another person, a woman this time, didn’t bump into me and whisper, “Come back to us.” Then a little boy had “Open your eyes” written on his balloon. I heard and saw phrases like this everywhere. I could feel a hammer pounding a hundred times a minute in my chest. My head spun with confusion. I shut my eyes tight, and covered my ears with my hands.

“STOP IT”, I yelled not to anyone (or anything) specific. Then I started to run, and I didn’t stop until I was at my door. Once I was through the door, I slammed it behind me and leaned my back against it. I took a minute to catch my breath.

“How did the car work today sweet heart”, called Mary from the kitchen. A groan grew from my throat.

“I’m sorry Mary, I left it in the parking lot in front of your favorite candle store.” Then I realized that I didn’t even know what that store was called. In fact I didn’t know what any of the stores were called.

“No you didn’t. You drove it home, John. It’s in the garage.” Mary appeared at the top of the stairs.

“No it’s not. It’s in the parking lot.” I reached out for the garage door. “See!” Mary had a concerned look on her face, but she wasn’t looking through the garage door. She was looking at me. I looked into the garage. The car was there. The exact car I was driving was there. I hurried next to it, put my hand on it, and quickly took it back. It was real. 

To Be Continued

A Regular Day (The Story of John Winston: Part 1)

“John, dinner is ready”, called out my wife, Mary’s sweet voice. I stood up and wiped my grease covered hands on an old rag. On my way to the door I over looked the engine I was just hunched over a few seconds ago. When I walked through the door, I took my boots off. I started to make my way up the stairs, and to the kitchen.

In the doorway to the kitchen, I watched Mary spoon some spaghetti into a bowl and bring it to the dining table. She looked up at me with a smile.

“I made your favorite”, she said as she started to fill another bowl.

“Ooh, smells delicious.” Suddenly a ding rang through the room. Mary perked up, and went to the oven. “You even made my favorite cheesy garlic bread. You would think that it was a special day, or something.” She put the tray of bread on the stove top, and said, “Well it is a special day.” Mary walked over to me, put her arms around my neck, and gave me a kiss. “Happy birthday, sweetie.” I could feel the corners of my mouth curl into a smile.

During dinner we talked about lots of stuff, such as the highs and lows of our day, the project that Mary was working on at work, and the preparations for the camping trip this weekend.  I was right in the middle of telling her about a story that a co-worker told me about this morning when a clash of lightning appeared out the window, and rain started to hit the glass. 

“Was there supposed to be storm tonight”, I asked.

“How should I know? I don’t watch the weather channel.” Mary laughed a little. I laughed along with her. Laughter was a very familiar sound to the walls of this house. It was almost constantly in the air. Our laughter was accompanied by a roar of thunder. Another strip of lightning shot from the sky again, but this time it struck a power line. A flash of light turned into total darkness.

“Well this is great.” The sarcasm in my voice was very recognizable. “Now I can’t see my delicious spaghetti.” Mary giggled some more. I could hear her chair slide across the floor, and then the squeak of the kitchen drawer opening. The sound of a match scraping across a rough surface, and was closely followed by the sight of a young flame. My wife brought to the candle that was on the dining room table.

“Now you can see your delicious spaghetti.” I took a great big bite.

“Yummy. This is the best birthday yet.”

“You know”, started Mary. “You haven’t opened your birthday gift yet. You’re never going to guess what it is this year.” She went to the hallway closet to grab a box that was wrapped in blue paper. I took it in my hands, and gave it a little shake. She didn’t cringe at all, so it wasn’t anything fragile. It was only about 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. I ran my fingers down all for sides. There were two seems that was constant all the way around. I looked up at her.

“It’s three movies”, I said. She had this look on her face like she wanted more. I fingered the present as I spoke. “They are probably movies that you think I would enjoy. I’m not saying your selfish sweetie, but you knew that I would want to watch at least one of them tonight. With that being said, you picked movies that you as well would enjoy.

“Within the last two months we have rented about ten movies. Only six of them we agreed were worth watching twice. Three out of those six we were most impressed with.” I looked up at her. A very slight smile was starting to cross her mouth. “But, you knew I would come to that conclusion.” I took a slight pause. Her smile faded, and one crept up onto my face. “The three movies are Going, Going Gone, Out of This World, and Star Wars III. The only Star Wars movie I don’t own yet.” Mary shook her head, and giggled.

“How in the world do you do that”, she asked. I smiled and ripped open the paper, and sure enough there were the three movies.

The power was still out for the rest of the night, so we had to watch the movies on our little portable DVD player. By the end of our last movie, Mary was out like a light. I shut the DVD player, and set it aside. Then I just closed my eyes, and fell asleep with my wife while I thought about how lucky I am to have utopia for a life.

To Be Continued