Short Stories, Volume 1

  

~ ONE ~

Sadie nearly tripped over her legs as she tried to run faster. She was sure that she was a sight to behold, sprinting through the school parking lot as if someone was chasing her.

Something WAS chasing her—Time. She was at least 10 minutes late for practice already and didn’t want to make it worse. Cross country practice was always scheduled for 4:30pm—Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays—it never changed. What had also never changed was Sadie’s obsession with writing. Today, she had lost track of time in the library—curled up in a corner with her purple notebook. She only remembered that practice was happening because the library closed at 4:30.

Now, at 4:45, she was running down the sidewalk towards her teammates. The team had gathered underneath the big magnolia tree behind the school parking lot, prolonging their retreat from the blazing Mississippi sun. She had given up on making the least amount of noise possible—too many things to do at once. She ran up behind Macy and tried to listen to Coach’s words.

She tried to catch her breath quickly—she was already tired from the run here.

Coach noticed her arrival and frowned. “Sadie!” He shouted, “This is your last time being late to practice before you’re off the team. I don’t care what your excuse is!”

Sadie cowered behind Macy in embarrassment. Coach Ted had every right to be frustrated, but she didn’t like the yelling. While she knew it was harmless, she began to lightly tremble in fear. Oh no, here we go, she thought. Once her body started its little shivering dance, it would take a while for it to stop. She tried to hide the fact that her body had begun to tremble. Thankfully, it was too subtle for anyone to notice.

“I’m sorry Coach—it won’t happen again,” she said between breaths. She was so tired.

“That would be no loss, Sadie. You suck.” Macy hissed.

Sadie was used to Macy’s sentiment, but her words cut deep today. She was already trembling, but she didn’t want anyone to notice that it had gotten worse, so she stumbled to the ground. People would understand the mild trembling as she shifted to stand up again.

This was annoying. She was already late and embarrassed; she didn’t need her body to rebel now.

“Team, listen up!” Coach’s voice interrupted her thoughts, a welcome distraction, “You all need to take running seriously—it’s the only way to get better! Bare minimum, you all need to run 3 to 4 days a week, 30 minutes a day! The routine has to go beyond what we are doing here!”

Once Coach finished his reflections, he sent them off on a four-mile run, which was a slow jog for Sadie. The better runners, including Macy, seemed to be sprinting by her. Brushing her shoulders as if she was truly in the way.

“I don’t know why Sadie’s here. It’s not like she can even run 10 minutes without stopping,” Macy said softly—but just loud enough for Sadie to hear. She had to know that Sadie heard her. The girls running alongside her giggled softly. They didn’t want Coach to notice Macy’s mean words.

Maybe 15 years from now, Sadie would look back on this incident and laugh, but right now she was close to tears.

Macy’s words forced to reflect on her purpose. Why was she on this team? She was the slowest person on the team by a long shot. She really couldn’t run a mile without stopping to take a breath. According to Macy, she also looked like a wet giraffe when she ran…whatever that meant.

These thoughts tumbled through her head as she ran along the wide and winding trail behind the school. As expected, she was running alone, at that wasn’t a bad thing.

She didn’t want anyone to hear her disastrous breathing. She heaved with every step. Running was really hard, but it usually gave her some form of calmness and stopped her from trembling for a little while. Plus, if she ran long enough, she would begin to picture herself as a running gliding through the woods. In her daydreams, she was faster than everyone else by minutes! The rolling hills on the trail were nothing for her to conquer.

As she rounded the corner to begin the second lap around the school, she pictured herself nearing the finish line—the clocking fighting against her. It clicked, 19:50, 19:51, 19:52… She ran harder, faster. In her dream, her hair was fitted into a perfect ponytail that bounced in the wind as she charged towards the finish line.

Suddenly, it happened. The trembling that she had assumed was gone when she started running began again. This time, it was worse. The finish line became blurry, and she felt her legs beginning to give up.

Maybe she could make it to the starting line before completely shutting. She sped up—get there, get there, GET THERE—her mind began to scream.

Then, her foot hit a large root on the trail. She hadn’t been paying attention. She fell to the ground and slammed her head on something very hard.

For a moment, she was just fine. While the sound was fuzzy, she could hear her coach running towards her—yelling her name anxiously, “Sadie! Sadie!”

She tried to lift her head, but a searing pain ripped through her mind and body at the attempt. From there, everything went dark.

    #

When Sadie woke up, she was in a cold, stiff bed. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a hospital room, and she felt as if she was freezing. He head was throbbing, and when she tried to look down slowly, she noticed that she was connected to so many tubes. They looked like snakes—Ughh!

She started removing them, slowly because of the pain in her head. She counted off—One, Two, Three before she pulled one tube out of her nose. Snot followed immediately after. While it was very gross, she wasn’t very fazed by it. There were too many other things to focus on.

Besides the pain that seemed to pulse through her head—she really couldn’t feel anything. Weird.

She was almost done pulling the last of the tubes and wires connected to her body when the pain in her head intensified. She cried out as she tensed up. Panic blasted through her body, and the shock of pain caused her to start trembling.

Then, as soon as it started, the pain stopped. Her body relaxed into the sheets again, and she stared into the fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

Just as soon as she began to refocus, the pain started again. This time, tears started pouring from her eyes as she gripped the thin bed sheets, bracing herself to endure the pain. Her cries quickly became wails. Within seconds, the pain subsided and she flopped back onto the bed sheets. The trembling through her body did not stop as she waited in fear for the next round of pain.

And it came, worse than before. She was going to die; she was sure of it. But just as she began to scream, she felt a hand touch her shoulder.

“Hey, chill out,” a voice blared through her head. Immediately, the pain subsided, leaving only a light throb just behind her eyes.

Speaking of eyes, Sadie opened hers—aiming to find the person behind the voice. Her eyes scanned the room until she locked on the boy standing beside her bed—his hand still on her shoulder.

He was so tall! The boy towered over the bed and looked down at her, a look of boredom—not concern—seasoned his face. She stared back at him and squinted, trying to get a good look at him. He was probably her age—13. He had dark skin, like hers, and was pretty skinny. His short hair was light purple, and he was wearing a dark purple shirt with small, white hippo cartoons scattered all over it. Very weird.

Once the boy realized that she was completely still, he grabbed a chair from the corner of the room, placed it right beside her bed, and sat. He made the chair look tiny as he attempted to stretch out and get comfortable. Now closer, the boy began to stare at her intensely. It made her uncomfortable! She stared back, but it was impossible to keep up with the light-yet-constant pain in her head.

Suddenly, the boy’s face broke into a big smile and he began to laugh with surprising delight. She then noticed the braces that laced his teeth.

“Relax,” he said, “My dad gave you something for the pain. You should feel better now—the pain should be gone.”

“How’d you know that?” She retorted softly, because she wasn’t feeling very tough.

“Because my dad told me so that’s how.”

She rolled her eyes, not sure if she should believe him. How was she supposed to know if he was actually supposed to be here?

“Is your dad a doctor?” She asked.

“Uh yeah—he’s THE Doctor,” the boy responded with an air of grandeur.

She scoffed, “how am I supposed to believe you?”

“You don’t have to believe me, but there’s no one else here. I’m the best source of information you’ve got,” he said with a ‘matter-of-fact’ attitude.

She suddenly became aware of the room’s emptiness. “Where’s everyone else?”

With a dramatic huff, the boy said, “Well, your parents talked to my dad, and they all decided that I needed to meet you before they came back…”

Those words gave her little confidence. “Huh? That’s not usually how it works…by the way, what’s your name?”

“It’s Zack. My name’s Zack,” he responded and then pressed on before she could get another word in, “According to my dad, you’re really sick. Something in your brain is broken—I don’t know what, exactly, he didn’t tell me everything—now my dad wants me to hang out with you while he fixes it.”

“Well, how long will that take?” She sat up attentively now that her head wasn’t throbbing in pain.

“I don’t really know. Dad said it’ll be a while. I’m supposed to stick around with you so you don’t get lonely.”

“Oh…okay. As long as my parents are okay with you being my friend. They’re a little picky about that. They say that I’m ‘naïve and easily taken advantage of,’ whatever that means.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what that means either—but today is your last day in this hospital,” he responded, “I’m here to get you out.”

She sat up straighter and laughed before responding, “Oh really, are you going to carry me out?”

“No Sadie, there’s no door in this room.”

“Then how am I supposed to leave this hospital?” she snapped in frustration. This conversation was wearing her down.

He noticed that she was tiring, and his look of humor and sarcasm changed quickly to concern.

“Look, Sadie, things aren’t really as they seem. I need to get you out of here. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, but how are we going—there’s no door!” Her voice was quivering as she began to panic…she was so confused.

He smiled, then leaned down towards her and whispered, “Wake up, Sadie!”

Suddenly, the room shifted. Colors and loud noise engulfed her senses. She shot up in the hospital bed, gasping. The once-empty room was filled with people, and a constant beeping noise ran through her thoughts. She looked down and noticed that the tubes connected to her nose and puncturing her veins were back and much more permanent-looking. She began to shiver, not out of fear, but because the room was freezing!

“Sadie!” Someone sitting near her cried.

Sadie looked over in that direction and saw a woman. It took her a few seconds to recognize that this woman was her mother.

“Mom,” she said hoarsely, “What happened?”

 

 

End of Chapter One

 
~ TWO ~

Sadie looked down at her arms and chest. The wires that she had snapped away just minutes ago were once again connected to her body. This time, she knew they were embedded much deeper than before. Removing them would be a bit harder this time, but it had to be done. She didn’t like knowing that they were inside her.

She moved to take them off again, but before she could even touch them, large hands reached out and grabbed hers. She jerked back and looked up into the face of a large man. Her dad.

“Sadie, stop touching those—you need them!” His voice echoed through the room, making her ears ring.

“David, calm down.” Her mom gently touched his arm, silently pulling him away. He relaxed at her touch.

She reached down and gently hugged Sadie. “Thank God, you came back to us!” She cried, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

“But Mom, I’ve been here the whole time,” Sadie said hoarsely, confused.

Apparently, Sadie’s parents knew more than she did. A mixture of concern and relief seemed to fill the room. For a moment, no one spoke. David looked at his wife, Andrea, seemingly speaking without speaking. She gave him a hesitant nod, silently giving him permission to speak.

“Sadie, you’ve been in a coma for days,” David answered, “Coach Ted said that you passed out at practice, collapsed to the ground, and slammed your head on a rock. We think that you were having a seizure before that happened.”

This startled Sadie. Seizures had been a thing of the past. They were experiences that her family had stopped talking about years before.

“A seizure?” She said, still very hoarse, “I thought those were gone for good.” It had been five years since the last one. She was on a medication that was supposed to keep them away.

“We did too, honey, but the doctor said that this kind of thing can happen during puberty. Everything can flare up again,” Andrea explained, tears continued to roll down her cheeks, “but I thought this was over.” As she cried, she gently laid her head on Sadie’s chest.

Sadie would have cried also, but she was exhausted. She couldn’t find it in her to feel worried or afraid.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her left eye, she saw a figure moving hear the window. She turned her head slowly and saw that it was the boy from earlier—Zack! She was surprised but also relieved to see him. She had begun to think that he had just been part of some weird dream. Zack made eye contact with her, gave her a big goofy smile , and quickly returned to his wavering stance of boredom. She smiled back.

Looking back to her parents, she asked, “Mom, Dad, when can I go home?”

Her parents looked at each other, appearing to have a silent conversation with only their eyes.

“We can leave whenever you’re ready, Sadie. The doctor thinks you’re okay…he said that this is just another phase….” Andrea responded, sadness in her voice.

“Wait Mom, why are you afraid?” Sadie asked, the gravity of the situation she had yet to consider. She had forgotten the pain and fear from years past that had come with her inability to stay present.

“I remember the last ‘phase’ of this—you were so sick—I don’t know it you—if we—can handle that again,” she began, “I still think you can get more help before—”

“Andrea, please don’t scare Sadie,” David interrupted, “Let’s try and trust the doctor’s report.”

Sadie would’ve shared the same fear if she could only remember this “phase” that Mom and Dad were talking about. All she could do now was shrug.

Three hours later, she was walking out of the hospital alongside her parents. She was confidently approaching the passenger door of their SUV with intent to open it, when she abruptly stopped. She locked her gaze on the vehicle. Something besides the SUV was there that shouldn’t be.

The door handle began to move, bending and shifting within its socket. She continued to watch as the door handle began to take the shape of—a snake! She stepped back quickly and began to tremble.

“No, no, no, no, no,” she whispered under her breath. In the back of her mind, she was remembering this feeling—a feeling that she had not felt in a few years—abject fear.

She tried to look away from the vehicle, but she couldn’t. The snake spawned into two heads, then three! Them, it began to hiss.

Sadie could no longer hold it in, she gave a sharp scream of fear, preparing to run back to the hospital building.

Before she could take a step, something grabbed her arm tightly.

She screamed again as she whipped around to beat whoever was holding her hostage away. She came up short as she stared up into Zack’s face. Zack!

He looked down at her, with concern instead of snarkiness or boredom, “Hey, calm down. It’s not real, I promise.” He then pointed back towards the SUV. She looked over at the vehicle and gasped—the snake was gone and in its place was a very stationary door handle.

Wiping away tears of fear, she stepped slowly towards the car. Her parent were already inside and the car was already started. She blushed with embarrassment as she found the seatbelt strap and buckled in. She then slouched into her car, wanting to disappear.

While she didn’t completely remember what happed years ago, the feeling of slouching into her seat felt all too familiar.

A few minutes later, as her dad pulled the car into the driveway in front of their small bungalow, Sadie assumed that she could easily get out of the car and go inside. But, as she unbuckled her seatbelt, she began to smell smoke. She looked up at the house to see it engulfed in fire and smoke!

It was then that her mind seemed split into two equally conscious parts. The first part was watching this disaster, realizing that it probably was not real. There was no way that the house could be completely fine one second and burst into instantaneous flames the next.

The second part did not simply watch the disaster; it responded in abject terror. Her mind seemed to scream in panic, she was smelling burned wood and acrid smoke.

The fact that she was thinking two things at once was not comforting. She once again, began to tremble. One part of her seemed to scream “run” and the other part realized that none of this was real and she was making a fool of herself.

“What in the world?” She thought as she watched the disaster in front of her, and processed the circus in her mind.

When her daughter did not immediately get out of the car, Andrea looked back from the porch, and walked back over to the passenger door. She gently opened the door, reached in, and gave Sadie a small hug.

“Sadie, it’s going to be okay—whatever you’re seeing right now—it isn’t real.” She whispered.

Sadie heard her mom. While part of her didn’t believe Andrea at all, she didn’t want her mom to worry or be concerned anymore. She had to get out of the car.

Sadie slowly stepped out and took another glimpse of the house. It was still burning, smoke pouring from the now-broken windows. This time, however, she didn’t smell the smoke.

Because her mom told her that the fire wasn’t real, she began to take slow, deliberate steps towards the house while trying not to look at it. Her mom was right behind her—gently pushing her. “It’s okay, Sadie. I love you, and this is not real.” She said, now louder.

Sadie was trying to believe her, so she kept moving forward. Tears of frustration began to roll down her cheeks.

“What a mess.” She thought. She was walking towards a fire-not-fire, moving as slow as Christmas, weeping. She was thirteen years old and couldn’t even walk through her own doorway.

“Hey friend! What’s new?”

That voice. Zack! She looked over right into his grinning face. He was bending down to look at her. “Some disaster, huh?”

Sadie sighed loudly in exasperation. “My house is on fire!” She yelled.

“You know, if you yelled loud enough, your parents might hear you,” he said very calmy, looking like he wanted to laugh.

“Of course they can hear us—I’m yelling at you!” She snapped, completely disenchanted. She hadn’t noticed that she had stopped trembling.

“No, they can’t hear us, and they also don’t see me,” he responded, “Anyways, I’m just here to confirm that the fire is indeed not real. My dad wanted me to let you know that.”

“Your dad? He’s not here, he’s at the hospital.” She said, confused.

But her words fell on thin air. As abruptly as Zack had shown up, he disappeared.

Sadie huffed in exasperation, then looked up to check the house. The fire was gone, and her dad was standing in the doorway waiting patiently for her to come inside.

“Sadie, you’re okay.” He said calmly.

And she believed him. She took a deep breath and walked towards him.

 

End of Chapter Two