One Minute to Midnight (13 page)

“
Noooo! Daddy!” I
screamed.

His eyes glassed over as death took
him. Bloody tears of rage streamed down my face as the men stopped
advancing. In a fit of rage, I suddenly levitated off the ground.
Storm clouds rolled in like an approaching army of doom while
electric sparks shot from my fingertips through the air connecting
with their bodies; first one, then two, and then all of them, in a
spiritual massacre of hatred. I felt their hearts stop beating
through the current as rain began to fall in torrents. I was out of
control, unable to stop until they burst into flames and exploded
in every direction like meat sack bombs. When I regained focus, my
feet touched the ground and I realized that my father had also been
in the path of destruction and his body was no longer there, but a
pile of ashes, left in the wake of the flames. Martin, Cynthia and
Peter had been electrocuted when water flooded the tomb, and in my
lightning fit I had inadvertently killed all three of them.
I loved my father and Martin's family very much, and they were all
I had in the world that was good. A new world was awakened when I
became possessed. Now I walk in a world of shadow, locating others
with powers like mine as I travel from town to town, alone. A world
of miracles not seen for over fifty thousand years is upon us and
those, like me, who have the gift, will inherit the earth.

reborn

Memories of past life experience are
considered nothing more than dreams. Is that the truth of the
matter?

Shaun found himself in a waiting room with a
group of three other people who were wearing white robes, and
slippers. He could not remember how he had arrived and the others
seemed to be just as confused as he was. A coffee table on his
right was covered with Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Cosmopolitan
magazines. They never have anything for guys, he thought. Shaun
looked over at a very pretty woman with long brown hair and soft
features. He recognized her, but did not know from
where.

"Pardon me, ma'am, but do I know you? My
name's Shaun." He asked.

She looked up from her magazine and he felt a
spark shoot between them. Her initial reaction was to look at Shaun
with disinterest and mild annoyance, but then her expression
changed to a friendlier, familiar demeanor. She quickly softened,
put her magazine down, and fixed her gaze on Shaun.
"Let me ask you something, Shaun. What do you remember before
coming here? I mean, to this waiting room?" She asked.

"Well, I was the pilot of a spacecraft, and
then I hiked some mountains and captained ships at sea. I remember
light brown beaches so long they stretched beyond imagination, and
children playing in the surf. It's an odd assortment of memories,
really. They all seem somehow disconnected at the moment. What
about you? What were you doing before you came here?" He
said.

She took a deep breath, noting the
similarities in her own memories.

"My most recent memories, before this waiting
room, were of living along a golden coastline, hang gliding from
high mountains, and sailing the seas in search of adventure. But
that was my heaven. Before that, I painted nature, raised three
children, saw the world from cruise ships, and took excursions to
ancient cities that are no longer in existence. I can remember
those same coastlines, and for some reason, I remember you. Your
face is so familiar." She said.
Shaun eyed her with a suspicious, troubled glance, and then looked
away. He felt a strong connection to this woman, but what she had
just said had confused and alarmed him. It was true, she did look
familiar. But why?

"What's your name?" He asked.
"Bethany. It always has been." Bethany said.
Shaun's eyes suddenly lit up, and in his mind's eye he could see
the two of them meeting as teenagers long ago. Shaun stood to give
her a hug. She returned his embrace, and then pulled
away.

"What's wrong?" Shaun asked.

"Well, I've been sitting here for I don't know
how long, and then you appear, and a flood of memories just
returned. I mean, I couldn’t even remember who I was before right
now." She said.

"Me too, until I heard your name I couldn’t
remember who
I
was. You have
any idea what we’re doing here?"

They could hear static on a loudspeaker
mounted high on a wall on the other side of the room.
"Number 42 please, step through the door labeled
Observation
." A voice said.

A man with a mustache, a pasty complexion,
greasy disheveled hair, and a round belly, who had been staring
with a blank expression at the colorless white wall before him,
looked down at the right flap of his bathrobe and saw that the
number
42
was embroidered
upon it. He rose, looked around with a confused expression, and
nodded to Shaun and Bethany before walking to the door. As he
opened it, a flood of color and noise escaped into the waiting
area, and just before he disappeared they saw him smile.
"What’d you think he saw in there?" Shaun asked.
"I don’t know, but whatever it was must have been more interesting
than these magazines out here." Bethany replied.

There was just one other woman in the room
with them, and she was thumbing wildly through a Vanity Fair
magazine. She was frail, and very old. Her arms were so thin that
Shaun imagined they were nothing more than toothpicks covered in
skin. She tossed her magazine onto the table and picked up National
Geographic, and began to read it quickly, too. Her expression of
distress stopped Shaun and Bethany from talking to each
other.

"Is there something I can do for you, ma’am?"
Shaun asked.

She put her head in her hands and began to
weep loudly.
"Are you OK?" Bethany asked.

The woman did not answer and began to cry
harder.
Shaun sat in the chair beside her and placed his hand on her
back.

"It’s OK, you know? Everything’s going to be
alright." Shaun said.

"I don’t know what these things are. They
appeared here one day while I was staring at the wall, but I don’t
understand their significance. I touch the people but they never
move or talk." The woman said.
"Those are magazines, you know. Pictures of people with stories and
ads to sell people crap they don’t need? These look like they’re
from the mid nineteen nineties. How long have you been in here?"
Bethany asked.

"What’s your name?" Shaun asked.
"I don’t know, and they never call me. Others have come and gone,
but they never, ever call me." She answered.

"What are they calling people for? What’s on
the other side of that door?" Bethany asked
"I don’t know, but once you go through you never come back." She
said.

"Oh my!" Bethany whispered.

Shaun could tell Bethany was becoming fearful
and got up to put his arm around her, then kissed her on the
cheek.

"Don’t be afraid. I’m sure whatever’s over
there will be fine. I just wonder if that’s the way only out of
here." Shaun asked.

Shaun looked over and the door labeled
Observation
had disappeared. There
was nothing but a blank white wall. He walked over to the wall and
began to feel around where the door had been. Nothing remained.
There were no seams, or hinge marks, or covered up screw-holes. It
was as if the door never existed. All four walls were just as bare,
but he figured he had nothing better to do, so he inspected every
square inch.
"I’ve tried getting out before. Nothing works. You’re stuck till
they call you." The old woman said.
"Do you remember anything from before you were here in this room?"
Bethany asked.

"Yes, I was sitting in a field of red and
yellow flowers, looking at the barn my family owned. I was a little
girl then, on my family farm, and my mother was there hanging
clothes, and daddy was working on the tractor. It was so nice being
there again. But, they had both been dead for so long." She
said.

The lady trailed off and began to stare at the
floor again.
"Then what happened? After the farm when you were a little girl?
Was there anything else?" Shaun asked.
"Oh yes, there was my husband Jeffrey. I was married, you know. For
something like fifty years, I think. I can’t quite remember. I do
know it was a long time though, because we were both so in love,
and oh, it hurt me so badly when he died." The woman said.
She began to cry again.

"What happened to Jeffrey?" Shaun asked.
"I’m not quite sure… no, wait… it was a city bus. It hit him while
was crossing the street one day. The driver looked down for a
minute." She said.
"Your husband was killed by a bus? That’s horrible. I’m so sorry."
Bethany said.

"I cried so much after that. He was all I had
in the world." The woman said.

They suddenly received an image of a bathtub,
filled with bloody water, and they could clearly see her floating
in the pool with a straight razor laying on the edge of the tub.
This woman was a suicide.
"I remember going to sleep in my bathtub, and then I woke up in
that field as a girl. The dream seemed so real, and then when I saw
Jeffrey get hit by that bus, I became so sad and then I was here.
I’ve been here in this God-forsaken room ever since."
Bethany fixed Shaun with a wide-eyed terrified glance.
"What is this place?" Shaun mumbled.

Static emanated over the loudspeaker
again.
"Number 43 please, step
through the door labeled Observation
." A voice
said.

Bethany looked at her robe and then back to
Shaun. Her eyes were wide with panic.

"Bethany, it will be OK. Go through the door."
Shaun smiled.

She threw her arms around his neck, and he
held her close.

"I love you." Bethany said.

"I love you, too." Shaun replied.

The door reappeared for her, so Bethany walked
over, opened it, and before she vanished from sight, Shaun saw her
smile. Then the wall was solid once more.
"Well, it looks like it’s just you and me, my dear." Shaun
said.

"They never call me." The woman went back to
her pile of magazines.

On the table was a Time magazine from the
1970s, and on the front cover was picture of a little bookstore
called the Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind. The magazine was doing
an exposé on the store’s owner Calvin Tower, and his longevity as a
book retailer. Shaun thought the bookstore seemed familiar for some
reason, but he couldn’t recall anything specific. When Shaun turned
around, a pretty blonde woman was sitting beside him in a bathrobe.
He almost fell over from the start, but managed to retain his cool
and have a seat across from her. Shaun was just about to strike up
a conversation with her and then he heard static across the
loudspeaker once again.

"Number 44 please, step through
the door labeled Observation
." A voice
said.

"Well, that’s me. Ladies, have a nice day."
Shaun said.
He walked to the door and opened it. On the other side stood his
mother and father. Shaun smiled and walked through. They both
approached Shaun and each gave him a hug. Shaun was in a darkened
room with stadium seats, and a movie theater projection screen down
at the end of a short series of stairs.
"Mom, Dad? What are you two doing here?" Shaun asked.

"Have a seat, and we’ll explain. The show is
just about to start." Mom said.

"We’ve been expecting you, you know?" Dad
said.
"How long have you been waiting? Where am I? This whole thing makes
no sense, where’s Bethany?" Shaun asked.

"Bethany is fine, and you two may see each
other again someday." Mom said.

"Yes, you may see her again. If that is what
you want to do." Dad said.

"I don’t understand." Shaun said.

"You’re in an observation room. It’s sort of
like a movie theater, and you’ll have an opportunity to decide
whether you would like to go back and live on earth once more." Mom
said.

"You won’t look the same as you do now, and
your parents will not be the same, but if you choose this life and
accept responsibility for it, you can go back and live again." Dad
said.

"Is that what Bethany chose to do?" Shaun
asked.
"She did." Dad said.

"I’m going back so I can find her then." Shaun
said.
"It doesn’t work like that. You have to watch the entire movie of
your life, and then if you decide to go back you are under
contractual obligation to complete your next life before you can
come back here again and chose another." Mom said.

"Yes, you have to complete that life in the
order of the events that unfold. There may be situations that rise
that take you off the timeline and events shown to you in a few
moments. That’s what free will is all about. What you are about to
see is the most likely outcome, based on statistical analysis, but
it’s not set in stone."

"Do I have to choose this life? What if I
don’t like the choices I make that are show to me?" Shaun
asked.
"What you choose to do when you go back is up to you. Your memory
of past lives will be reduced to a level of your consciousness that
will only manifest itself in dreams, or feelings of déjà vu." Dad
said.
"What about Bethany? How will I find her if I don’t look like
myself and she doesn’t look like herself?" Shaun asked.