Everyday's a Lifetime - Tell A Story To Me Contest #10

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Everyday's a Lifetime

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The day started like any other. I got a text from my best friend telling me to meet her at our favourite spot, she meant our local park. There's a particular bench there that we have claimed by inscribing our names into the blue paint. We’ve shared a lot of secrets on that bench and we’ve made plenty of memories in our short lives.

I was running late because mum had asked me to find something for her, in our house if you don't know where it is the ‘pixies’ come and take it into another realm, or at least that's what my dad likes to scare my brother with. Mum had lost her car keys and I helped her search the house for them. They have a bright pink fluffy ball attached to them so I am surprised it took us so long.

Once her keys were found she took my brother to his dreaded piano lessons and I made my way to the park. I know what you’re thinking, the park, isn't that where the degenerate youths go to hang out? Yes, the answer is yes, the park is where me and my buddies go to hang out, because we have very few other options.

My journey there was boringly uneventful, I checked my phone a few times with no new notifications appearing.

My name was called before I made it through the gate, my best friend came running towards me with a beaming smile on her face.

“You will never guess who just asked me out?”

I shook my head at her.

“Who?”

“Callum Rand.”

She started laughing hysterically and I couldn't help but laugh with her. We made our way over to our bench and started discussing all the things wrong with the boy.

The park was quiet today, there's a little boy being pushed on the swings by his mum and a few lads we know kicking a ball around in the enclosed section. The fences around the park are really high as there is a main road right next to it, a problem with modern towns.

After a few hours, our limbs were getting stiff from sitting still for so long, we take a walk around the perimeter of the fence. As we reach the gate again from walking full circle the little boy and his mum are coming out of the park, the women is struggling with the pram so we wait for her to leave.

Some may call it fate, others a coincidence, you might even call it a miracle. But I call it a life-changing event.

While the women struggled to get the pram out of the gateway, her son had wandered into the road, being the only one to notice I ran after him.

I didn’t realise a car hitting you at 30mph could hurt so much. For a few seconds, I was flying in the air until I landed and continued along the road. I don’t know at what point I died. I just know that I did.

I don't know if the little boy survived, if my actions saved him. I don't know if the boys mum will ever be able to go to that park again. I don't know if my friend will ever be able to close her eyes and not be flooded with images of my dead body. I don’t know if my family will ever forgive me for dying.

I won’t know the answer to any of those things because when I died, I woke up.

I woke up in a forest. I had never seen so many trees in one place before except in pictures. Leaves rustled in my hair as I checked my body for injuries, I’m unharmed.

I thought people went to heaven when they died, if they had been a good person, I wondered if this place was heaven at first, but a gut feeling told me it wasn’t.

A young boy appeared from behind a tree, I thought he was the boy I had tried to save but this boy was older. He came towards me slowly reaching towards me with his hand out.

I had so many questions, so I did the only logical thing I could think of, I took his hand.

“Where am I?”

“Who are you?”

“Is this heaven?”

“Am I dead?”

“Do you even talk?”

He didn’t answer a single question, not even with facial expressions. He kept a calm appearance as he lead me to, what appeared to be a village. There were small buildings placed in short rows, all made of a grey material that resembled concrete, they had straw roofs and most had smoke drifting through it.

There were people walking in the street with no real purpose in the way that they walked. They wore a mismatch of clothing, from a man in a top hat and coat to a woman wearing a bikini. I looked at the boy again, he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, nothing out of the ordinary.

The boy lead me through a few more rows of houses before I realised it was a bit larger than a village. He stopped at the start of a bustling market for a timber cart that was wheeled in front of us. There were tiers of stalls selling all manner of goods; sweet smelling fruits, a bizarre assortment of clothing, and farm animals.

When I started to notice my hands getting sweaty the boy stopped in front of a small house that had no visible window and only a small hole, presumably the doorway, covered by a thin fabric. Before I could ask anything a women came out of the house. She nodded to the boy and handed him something in a bottle. She signaled for me to enter.

A part of me told myself not to enter the crazy lady’s house but I figured I was truly dead by this point and I had nothing left to lose.

The only room in the building had a taller ceiling than I was expecting, there was a bed in a far corner along with a counter that contained an asortment of jars and bottles. In the center of the room was a fire pit surrounded by painted stones.

There was also a table, a foot off the ground with a crystal ball on it. There were cushions spread out either side of the table.

The woman indicated for me to sit down. I did as instructed. I was brimming with questions but a look from the woman made me hold my tongue until she was ready.

I watched as she stoked the fire and put a kettle on to boil. She handed me a plate with fruits, bread, and fish. I ate as she prepared a herbal brew.

If I didn't know any better I would have called this woman a practicing witch.

“You’re not the first to have entered the forest and come out seeking answers.”

It sounded like a riddle in my mind, I didn’t have a coherent response ready.

She handed me the concoction of leaves she had soaked in the boiling water. I drank all of it and finished the last few pieces of fruit.

“What did you learn from the forest?”

I didn’t have a clue what she meant.

She touched her hand to my forehead.

“Ah, your mind is still burdened with that life. The tea should help with that.”

She filled up my cup.

“Tell me the story of your life.”

And so I began.

This is my entry to @Calluna’s Tell Me A Story Contest.

Find out about it here.

Image from Unsplash

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