Born
by Natalie
Entry 2005 Fireside Stories
It had been quick. It wasn’t the man’s fault, just fates mistake. It had been raining for days; the streets were slick with mud and old leaves. The truck hadn’t been going that fast, but the cat was rushing to the other side, tired of having soaked fur. The driver had swerved, it wasn’t his fault he didn’t see me.
It had been quick, just a burst of pain, then I couldn’t feel anything at all. When I opened my eyes I felt the rain hitting my face, it was soothing, and tingling warmth started up my legs. If I wasn’t so drowsy I would have smiled at the blurring gray sky. I couldn’t hear anything but the rain hitting the pavement by my head. I was so sleepy, and I just wanted to rest.
I saw people rushing towards me, but their bodies slowed down as they got close, and blurred like I was looking at them through a wet window. I never got to see any of them get to me.
His voice was calm and had an edge of humor to it, “Need help?”
He was reaching out a hand to help me up and after a moment, I found I had the strength to take it. He was the same as everything else, a big blur, but warmth emanated from him like a golden light. It was a calming light, and I felt weightless with him as he held my hand. Never had I experience something like this.
I was looking down at myself, people were huddled around talking but I couldn’t understand them, their speech was muddled. Red blood pooled around me like a halo, mixing with the rain water and running down a nearby drain. Paramedics were working on me now, but I wasn’t there anymore, and they couldn’t get me to come back.
“Had a bit of a fall I see.”
“What happened?” I asked.
He was silent for a moment, “You’ve died.”
This didn’t surprise me, I wasn’t scared, I just didn’t know what would happen next. My family was never religious, so I didn’t really believe I’d ‘go’ anywhere after I died. But here I was wasn’t I? I was somewhere, I could still think.
Suddenly I was in a cemetery, and all my friends and family were around. They were all crying and I knew they were crying for me. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t comfort them, tell them that I was ok. I saw my mom, dad and sister and felt a sinking feeling. I stood by them the whole time, whispering to them about the happy times, but I knew they couldn’t hear me.
“They’re sad you left.” He said next to me.
“I wish they weren’t, I’m not worth their tears.”
He didn’t say anything, just placed a warm hand on my shoulder and it eased my spirit.
I was walking down a country road and the soft rain was soaking me. Suddenly I felt lost and stopped to look around. No direction seemed right, like everything was uphill. I felt like I wanted to cry, but then I saw him again. He was clear to me now, his young but wise face smiled, he held out a hand.
“It’s this way, you coming?”
I took his hand and we walked into the glow.