ONE
Off the bat, I want to say this never happened, but it will. Max walked towards the opening, worry grew on his face the closer he got. "HELP!" he exclaimed, as his feet moved closer and closer to the door. Jaime was startled by his proclamation since she was headed the same way. She saw no reason to ask for help for her goal was to get through the opening, to break through to a higher plane of existence. Max tripped over Jaime's feet, realizing what happened Max got on his knees and thanked her for saving his life. Jaime couldn't hear him for the opening started to vibrate and hum. she got closer and closer, then she was at the door face to face with what could only be.
She slipped her hand in first, not knowing of the curse. Max looked back at the opening and saw Jaime beginning to disappear. He grabbed her arm just as she vanished when he opened his eyes. He was in a free-floating chamber that was baren of light. Max screamed to his wife, not knowing where to go. He was lost. There was a light brighter than the sun which seemed to be light-years away. He called to it, no answer, Just a little movement from the orb.
TWO
Jaime felt alive, like how a kite fills catching a summer breeze and rising into the clouds.
She took a look around, she was in a chamber filled with light. She thought back on her life and everything that was insurmountable before seemed to be not as important now. She knew how to move around almost instinctively. There was only one spot of darkness in the entire room, as she got closer to it, her body began to shake at its very core.
Max decided the best course of action would be to get away from the light as fast as possible. He finally figured out how to move when he noticed the light getting bigger and bigger. He figured the light was God coming to judge him and send him to the burning part of hell. Realized that he must be in purgatory
Now Jaime was sprinting. (well the floating version of sprinting) Her curiosity got the better of her. She needed to know what the darkness was, but it seemed to move farther and farther away from her.
At this point, Max was yelling at his self, he lost the one chance to see his wife again. "how could I have been so stupid," "why would I try to save a woman I didn't even know?"
"She was trying to end her life, how crazy can a person be?" he said to himself. Then he thought about it and remember how big of a smile that woman had before she vanished. 'She must have known something,' he thought, 'but what could comfort a person that much before death.'
Jaime was finally getting close to the darkness. When she heard a voice call to her, it had to be her father. When she spun around the light took complete control of her sight. she was talking to her dad on the front porch, they were talking about the soccer game they just watched.
"I know you have the capability to beat any one of those girls on the field," he coached, "All you need to do is believe in yourself and work a little more with your footwork, and you'll be a pro soccer player in no time!"
Jaime stared at his face remembering as a baby pulling on his huge ears and whiskers."Hey Dad... I think I'm dead."
"Your mom must have found out about that party last night didn't she"
"No Dad you don't understand, I think we are in a flashback" She argued. "I'm positive you died 5 years ago"
"...but sweety, I'm still standing here aren't I," he explained, "are you feeling ok..."
"Yeah dad I'm ok, I just miss you." "what do you mean sweety? We just ate supper and watched a soccer game together." She jumped into his arms, the warmth that came from this hug was beyond anything she had ever felt when she opened her eyes she was back in the blindingly white room.
Max hared screams coming from the direction he was headed. He was stopped in his tracks. He saw an amusement park rushing towards him. He thought it was going to run him over, but it stopped just as the gate got to his feet. When he took his first steps inside, he immediately knew exactly where he was. "This is Six Flags, my family would come here every summer when we lived in Baltimore," "Mom?" tears poured out of Max's eyes. he ran as fast as possible towards her. The closer he got, the shorter he felt. As he reached his mom, Max jumped with all the might he had in his tiny legs. His mom caught him by his armpits and started tickling Max. He was laughing so hard he forgot he was in a dream. Well, he guessed it was a dream.
Jaime felt weird as if her childhood was ripped away from her. At a loss for words, she continued on towards the darkness, which had stopped moving at the moment.
After a while, Jaime had returned to her normal energetic self. She started to sing her favorite song called "Good News" - by Mac Miller than went on to sing a couple of gospel songs she knew. She had stopped paying attention to the darkness, but it was no longer moving away from her it was headed straight to her.
Max hadn't been this happy since he had to move away from his parents to find a job in San Francisco. He really loved video games and was just starting his new job working as a producer on a new game for Treyarch when this happened.
"Mommy, where are we" "you are right where you need to be"
"What are you saying, Mommy, I don't belong in hell, you us-s-s-e to t-t-teach me no one deserved hell"
"What makes you think you are in hell, my beloved?" "Here stand on your own two feet, I'll show you the way" as she put Max down he grew to his normal size in seconds. Max flew after his mom while following her he thought about all the time he spent with his mom. which led to thoughts of his dad dying a hero's death putting out a fire. Max always had great respect for his dad, if only he had a chance to meet him.
His mom stopped suddenly, she turned to him and explained that he must not move any closer to the light, for the light shall come to him. He was very anxious before the theme park, but now that he has seen his mother, his nerves were at ease.
Jaime was passing by a massive forest with trees that reached into the abyss below her. Jaime could not resist the chance to go into a magical forest. When she finally got close enough to see the trees in detail, she noticed that the light surrounding her could only penetrate a few feet into the forest. The closer she got the heavier she felt then just as she reached the first tree, she started to fall (the better word is 'plummet'). she dug her hands into the bark, and it slowed her down a little, but the ground was approaching so she pushed full force off the tree, she did a couple of flips before her feet found their home settled beneath them.
Jaime took a scan around. All the trees seemed to be the same species, but each had a dignified and authentic look about them. she walked up to one and touched the light brown bark with green moss growing all over it. She yanked her hand back, "WHAT THE HELL!" The tree had a heartbeat that caught Jaime a little off guard. she slowly put her ear to the tree. Sure enough, there was a heartbeat coming from the tree, but there was something behind the sound of the heartbeat. Was it...
"I see you're having a listen to the trees, they're all so nice don't you agree!" Exclaimed a curly-haired little girl. Jaime looked up at her, "who are you, sweetheart?"
"I'm the Keeper of this forest, I make sure all the trees are doing their best, and I also take care of all the young saplings that sprout up. I haven't seen a human for a couple of millennium, how did you get here?"
"I'm quite the curious person, I was headed towards this dark spot in the distance because I wanted to know..."
"OH GOD, why are you here, you should get back on to your journey, right away!"
The little girl grabbed Jaime's hand and headed for the tops of the trees. on their way up Jaime noticed so many colorful fruits growing from the trees. Not only did she see the fruit she saw thousands of vines connecting all the trees to one another. the ones cut off from the vines did not show fruit or green moss. these trees were dead so Jaime asked the Keeper "what will happen to the dead trees I see all over the place?" The Keeper replied, "first all their seeds will fall out, allowing for more saplings to take root. After that the tree falls over, it will decay into its base materials providing nutrients for the rest of the forest."
Max was floating around in circles when he saw what at first he thought was a sunrise. He could see the light emerging from behind some trees, so far away max didn't know how he could see the trees.
His mom put her hand on his shoulder "Are you wondering what that forest is?"
"No, I'm enjoying sitting in your lap once again. I can't believe how good it feels to be in your arms, I can't believe, I couldn't make time to see you before you died. I'm so sorry."
"Honey, I know you wanted to, and I know how deeply you loved me. I don't care about that, just stay right here in my arms as long as you can"
Jaime was running the Keeper's words through her head, "I hope you have a good trip, my beloved, my alpha, my omega, my beginning, my end, I love you! Bye!"
'What was she talking about I'm no God, I Left my family and my religion years ago. I thought I was reaching a higher form of thought. where the hell am I?' she was thinking.
The darkness at this point had grown to take up about a fourth of the light surrounding Jaime. As Jaime came to this point her mom stepped in front of her. Jaime fell hard backward. She hit the floor of her childhood home with a crash and a little bang. her mom picked her up and held her tightly, "Don't cry my baby, don't cry. I'm sorry I didn't see you running there."
Jaime has bawling crying so hard you would think someone was killing her. It wasn't because she fell but because she was experiencing the emotion that she felt when her mom and dad died in a car accident five years ago. When she opened her eyes, she was hugging her best friend Sean, at her parents' funeral.
Sean asked Jaime if he needs to stay the night, in order to comfort her. He thought the idea of Jaime sleeping in the same house, by her self, was just too sad to bear. Jaime refused claiming she needed some time by herself at the house. really she didn't want Sean to see her cry anymore. She hates when people feel bad for her. If only they could see into the mind of each other. She would know he doesn't feel bad for her, as much as he genuinely wanted to comfort her. Jaime looked at her Mom's and Dad's caskets one last time before she turned around to face the darkness still very far away.
Max found a really fun way to fly around. He would fly straight up, slowly come to a stop, as he started to fall, he would spin himself as fast as he could, but this time when he did it something weird happened. He couldn't stop! He couldn't do anything but look around. Max couldn't focus on anything but the focal point of the spin. He felt as though he was being pulled into it, and it looked like the pictures he's seen of black holes. Max looked for his mom
for help, he saw no one, but he heard her voice say, "Don't be afraid."
Jaime was terrified by the darkness turning into a tornado in a moment's notice. She watched as the last of the tornado of darkness disappeared at the base. What was she going to do now, there wasn't any more darkness to follow.
Max opened his eyes to his dad sitting in front of him, on a truck headed to a fire. "We have reports of the wildfire spreading towards the city!" His dad screamed. All max could say was, "What do you need from me?"
His dad answered in a hurry, "Come on John, We went over this at the base. We are the team digging the trenches to stop the fire before it can get to the city." "What do you want to name this one?" Max guessed he was one of his father's co-workers, he was very confused by everything that was happening. All that would come out was "what?"
"I know you got a name for this one, you always come up with the best names." Max figured he was talking about the fire. "How about Jasmine."
"I like it, it sounds like it could be a fiery redhead." His dad joked.
"that's what I was going for." Max played along.
Max was stuck between happy and scared. He kept the conversation between him and his dad going till they reached their destination. They all hopped out of the truck each in their fire suit and a shovel in their hands. Max followed his dad to the dig site. Max was wondering when he would be snapped out of this.
Max was losing himself in the digging when he looked up, and he heard his dad calling for John. He ran in the direction of the voice. He crossed the trench headed in the direction of the danger zone. The scene that greeted him made him sick. His dad was laying with his body over a little girl. On top of His dad was a tree knocked over by the fire. Max grabbed the little girl's hands, and his dad pushes against the tree as hard as he could. When max got the girl in his hands he made sure she was ok enough to stand then put her down behind him.
Max looked at his dad stuck under the tree staying still as a rock. He grabbed his hand and looked deep into his eyes.
"I can get you out of this" Max said hopelessly.
At this point, the fire had almost reached the house the little girl must have come from. Max asked his dad if there was anyone else in the house. He told him that the parents were at work, "...well that's what the kid said anyway."
Max was pulling on the tree with all his strength, it just seemed to hurt his dad, who was screaming to John to get out of here with the child. Max couldn't hear him over the screaming of fear in his head. Max's dad grabbed him by the chest and pulled him close. "You know what you have to do!"
Max felt every bone in his body relax. His hands stopped shaking, he was just staring into his dad's eyes. This moment held max like a baby, cradling him in time and space.
When he let go, all the sound and feelings came rushing back. He stood up and grabbed the little girl. He began to run back towards the trenches.
"WHY DID YOU LEAVE THAT MAN BACK THERE!" The girl said seeming upset.
"Don't worry baby girl, I'm gonna get you to safety then go back and help him." Max lied. He couldn't possibly get this girl to safety and go back for his dad before the fire got to him.
"Oh, well that man was nice, we held hands and he sang me songs to stop me from crying." Max couldn't believe the story. How could his dad hold the weight of the tree off the girl and sing and hold hands with her at the same time? He grew to love his dad so much more after this experience.
As soon as he reached safety with the little girl, he put her down and started to run as fast as he could back towards his dad. He was running through a lot of smoke when he went face-first into a branch. He fell back and seemed to fall through the ground. When he landed he was in his mother's arms.
"Damn I'm getting better at this," Jaime said slamming a paddle into a small white ball.
She had dreamed up a ping pong table that she used to play on, at her grandparents' house.
The score was 20 to 20 game point, Jaime was serving up one with a crazy spin on it. It connected to the paddle just right. The ball came streaming off the paddle in a blur. The ball quickly was returned to her. She gripped the paddle so tightly in her hand, a little blood dripped on to the table.
Jaime backed up a good 6', took a full swing at the ball, moving at her faster than a bullet, she never saw the ball but it was in play. The player on the other side was unphased, calmly connecting with the ball at the center of the paddle. Launching it back at Jaime at twice the speed. Jaime saw a slight shift in her opponent's stature to the left.
Jaime dove to the right in a spin. Jaime caught the ball on the right side. the ball at full impact looked like a pancake. If you were close to the table you would feel the wind coming off the spin of the ball. Her opponent began to slide to the left but immediately noticed the spin. With all the weight on his left leg, he took his left foot off the ground. Then when he was falling, he moved his left leg further left. He slammed his left foot into the ground launching him straight right. Hit the ball on the very tip of his paddle. This made the ball's speed increase tenfold. Jaime action-rolled to her feet. she couldn't believe her eyes. He connected with the ball. Jaime had to predict where the ball would go from his swing. Jaime was getting tired and wanted to end it with this one. She felt like she swung too early, but the ball connected at the tip-top of the paddle. Jaime putting so much backspin on the ball, it hit her opponent's side then came back and flew way out of reach.
The whole time Jaime was wondering who her opponent was. She got closer, "grandpa?"
she said confused. He was young and missing all his familiar wrinkles. She did know that her grandpa was a professional ping pong player, back when he was younger.
"How have you been, my..." a giant explosion cut him off. Darkness crossed Jaime's eyesight. She turned around and saw the tornado forming again, but this time it did not disappear. It took up the same space in her frame of view as it did before it disappeared.
"Welcome back babe." Max was stuck in the moment he just left.
"PUT ME DOWN, I've got to get back to him!" When his mom put him down, he felt his body and mind start to catch up with his place in the universe.
"Sorry sweetie, we just wanted to show you how your dad died. It will be very important when you finally meet your light." When she said that the light started to grow again.
"Mom, what is this light?"
"It is your life!"
Jaime gave her Grandpa a hug and got going towards the darkness. She thought she was finally gone get to the darkness. It ate at her, the unknowing, the doubt, the need for more.
To Be Continued...
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