FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #8

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' she told me the first time we met.  I paid no attention to her.  I strained my muscles in my arms to pull the lifeless form in front of me towards the side of the road.

                “He’s. . .dead!” I yelled at her.  “Gone!  I hit him, and he’s gone!”  I couldn’t look away from the man who lay in front of me on the street.  He was twice my size and dark, a hulking form who must have been very menacing.  The clothes he wore were black and formless, cloaking him in darkness, making him invisible.  I hadn’t seen him until it was too late.  His eyes were blank and wide; his expression frozen in shock.  I couldn’t believe this was happening. 

                “Leave him be,” the woman said.  “Look away from him.  Staring won’t bring him back.”

                I did as she said, though I couldn’t say why.  I looked instead at this stranger.  She was tall and much older than I, but beautiful as well.  White ringlets spiraled off her shoulders, shimmering down her back.  Her eyes were light and forgiving, with an expression so calm a wave of relief washed through me after just seeing it.  The rain poured around us, but she was untouched.  “Who are you?”  I asked. 

                “This man, he has a family.  Two little boys are waiting for him at home.  His wife has a spot set at the table just for him.  There people will never see him again.  Do you understand?”

                I nodded at her, tears staining my eyes.  As if I didn’t feel bad enough already. “You know him?” 

                “I know you, too.  I know you are a good man, David.  You don’t want this man to die.  You would take it back if you could, wouldn’t you?”

                I nodded. 

                “Well, there is something you can do.”

                “How?  He’s already dead?”

                “He is in limbo, between life and death.  I can either take him to his life after death or push his spirit back into this world.  To do this, another life must be saved, one that would otherwise be lost.”

                “Whose life?”

                “I can tell you where.  Quickly, there is nearly no time.  Another life must be saved within the hour.”

                Thirty minutes later, I sat in my car on the side of 24^th street, wondering if I had dreamed the past forty-five minutes.  Despite every ounce of logic in my body I watched the street with diligence, searching for someone in danger.  Bright care lights sped past me, temporarily blinding me.  The hour was growing to a close, and the urgency I felt for something to happen filled me to the brim with anxiety. 

                A few stragglers walked by every now and then, but mostly the street was quiet. It was too late for someone to be walking around.  Yet a figure approached, small and nearly invisible, cloaked in shadows.  Though the forms were opposite in size, it brought to mind the memory of the man who lay broken I the road  a few miles back, the man with the family waiting for him to come home.  I opened the door of my truck and stepped out, water splashing up around me.  The noise must have been loud because the figure turned, and both of us froze. 

                A car approached behind her, outlining her in the darkness.  She was young with wide eyes and a dainty mouth curved into an o.  I yelled for her to move, waved my arms so that the car might see, and ran towards her to push her out of the way.  She turned and saw the headlights inches from her face.  She took a few steps towards the sidewalk, but the car clipped her side before spinning out of control on the road.  She spun before landing in a heap on the ground. 

                I hurried to where she lay.  What if I missed me chance?  I thought.  I might as well have killed two people.   Her eyes were closed and I lifted her arms, feeling for a pulse.  The weak, but steady throb I felt in my fingers made me cry out.  She was bleeding, losing blood fast.  I ripped the jacket off my back and pressed it against her tightly, holding it there as I picked her up and carried her to the backseat of my truck.  I waited, hearing the nearing approach of sirens. 

               A police man held me at the scene, insisting I wait for paramedics, though I hadn’t been touched in the wreck.  I explained I was just a bystander, and he believed me as far as I could tell.  “How is the driver?”  I asked him.

                “Just a little shaken,” the man said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.  “He suffered a minor concussion, but he’ll recover within a week.  They’re lucky you were here.  If you hadn’t caught the driver’s attention, the girl would have died.”

                We hear yelling from across the way.  The girl was attempting to stand, pulling at the paramedics attempting to restrain her.  “Let me go,” she yelled.  “I need to talk to him.”  The officer and I hurried to the group. 

                “You,” she said, pointing at me.  “You knew what was going to happen.  I saw you get out of the truck even before that car turned the corner.”

                “She’s in hysterics from the stress,” one of the medics said apologetically. 

                “I said let me go,” she told them. 

                “You’re losing too much blood,” he answered.  “You need to lie down.”

                I walked closer to her, afraid she suspected something, although I knew she couldn’t have really known.  “Thank you for saving me,” she said with narrowed eyes.  “I guess I have to say that, but I want answers.”

                The officer was helping the two doctors now, dragging her towards the ambulance.  She gave in, but called a number over her shoulder.  “I need answers.”  The ambulance shut with a definitive sound, and the car sped off. 

                I drove back to the dark one way I’d been at before.  I got out of the car, examined the whole road, but didn’t find a trace of anything.  I was sure this had been the same spot, but the man was gone, the mysterious woman was gone, and I felt at peace. 

                I caught a glimpse of a white skirt disappearing around a corner.  I followed after it on instinct.  It led me down street after street, though I never caught a full glimpse of what I was chasing.  I soon lost the figure. I stopped to rest in front of an old brick house, breathing hard.  I looked up as someone stepped in front of me.

                It was the woman from before.  “You saved her in time.  Your sin has been taken back.”  She pointed at the house. 

                I recognized the man standing in the window.  He’d been plastered to the street not long ago.  But now, he looked untouched, like nothing had occurred.  “How is this possible?”  I asked.

                “It doesn’t matter.  You’ve done what you need to do.” She pointed at my jean pocket.  “Now I believe you have a number to call.”  She walked around the corner, and was gone. 

                Cell phone in hand, I pushed the buttons and waited as the call went to voice mail.  “This is the man from the car wreck,” I said into the speaker.  “I have the answers you need.”

back to Contest #8