The Meeting
The following original story by Ashley Kuchenski is protected by copyright.
The cool crisp winter air nipped at her cold nose. The air was still. There wasn’t a sound for miles. She was completely relaxed and almost forgot that she was jogging. Her mind was filled with many thoughts. Thoughts of what had happened the night before and what she should do raced through her mind. Many other thoughts were coming and leaving. The reality that she was still on the road jogging just hit her. The leaves on the trees around her began crackling in the wind. The soft sound of her breath entered her ears. She could faintly see her warm breath in the thin air. It was beginning to get dark all around and she was still far away from her house. At least a mile or so. Practicing for cross-country was torture!
The night hit like a plague. Once it was upon you it took over immediately. It was now so dark that she knew she would be hard to see by car drivers. She was a little scared running in the dark. What if a car came and didn’t see her and the car hit her? The sound of a car came almost instantly. The hairs on the back of her neck began to rise. She began chanting in her head ‘Don’t hit me please Don’t hit me’. The car zoomed past her. Goose bumps raced over her body. The leaves on the road rustled from the cars tires.
She began thinking about how mad her mom would be if she found out that she was running in the dark. Her mother had just left for Pennsylvania on a business trip and her father was living in Georgia. Her parents had split up when she was 7. She only saw her father on rare occasions. He was heavily into his job; which was not really that big of a deal anyway. She didn’t understand him. The sound of another car broke her thoughts. It was coming up fast, but she couldn’t tell how far away the car was. It was as if there was more than one car. Wait, there was. Three sets of car lights turned the corner behind her.
“I’m almost home,” she thought, “There’s the house right there.” The first car past by her fast. She could feel the cold rush of air that came off the car. A guy popped out of the sunroof and whistled at her. She could tell that he was drunk. Just then the next car whizzed past. “Ok two down one to go. I should be fine.” Her breath was still highly audible, only now it had quickened because of her fear of the cars.
The sound of squealing tires entered the quiet atmosphere. The head lights behind her were coming toward her. Only a quick prayer was said when all of a sudden….
Darkness
Complete darkness. And sound, she couldn’t here anything. Her body was painstakingly numb. Where am I? Why can’t I see? What’s going on? A dim light was visible in the corner of her eye. The light grew, only it was very bright now and it was…white. Not the usual yellowish color of normal lights, but white. A very bright and beautiful light. She was curious what this light was. She found herself longing for it. No noise of any sort was present. She was in an empty room….no not a room, a place, an area. It was as if she were in a dream. She was completely surrounded by white light. Then, before her stood a figure. Also white, like the surrounding light. The only way that the figure was able to be seen was because of the outline, a brownish tan outline. As she was staring at it, it began to change form. No longer was it a figure, but a person. A man. A tall, slender man, in a robe the color of the surroundings. He had a very kind face. Very gentle. But he looked sad. His eyes looked tired and pain stricken. He looked at her with his weary eyes, a small tear trickled down his face.
His soft voice whispered, “It wasn’t your time.” His head fell limp to his chest, “It wasn’t your time.”
Her mind was storming with questions. What was this? Why has this man said this? Wasn’t my time? What does he mean?
His head lifted and he said, “I’m sorry. My dear child, I’m sorry.”
Just then she noticed he was grasping something very tightly in his right hand. A golden word began to inscribe itself. She tried to read it, but it was still illegible. Slowly, very slowly it became brighter.
Bible
The book said Bible. The words were now so bright that they became illegible once more. The golden light now filled the beautifully white room. It couldn’t be! Was this?
“Jesus,” her voice said with a whimper.
He turned to her and she saw that His eyes were filled with warm tears; which slowly dripped out of His sparkling, blue eyes and ran down His soft cheeks and to His chin.
“Please, tell me. Where am I? Why are you here with me? Is this a dream?” She was crying now. Scared of what He may say.
“My child, don’t cry. I am here for you as I have always been.”
A short pause of silence filled the air.
“You wish to know why you are here? You were hit by a car. I have taken you with me. I will protect you. You will be fine. But I do not wish to keep you here.”
“Jesus. I’m confused. I’m sorry I don’t understand.” More tears seeped out of her eyes. She felt empty all of a sudden. Her stomach hurt and her heart was pounding.
"Do not be sad, my child. I have taken you, but not for long I hope. Your body is currently lying in a hospital bed. You have been in a coma. Your family is there by your side. All of them. Even your father and mother. They are crying. They do not wish to lose you. They have realized what you mean to them. Do you understand now?”
She looked at Him. She was still unsure of what He meant. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes.
“My child, I see you still do not understand. I will take you back now...”
“April"
"April come back to me, please”
She still could not feel anything, nor see anything.
“I love you honey! Please!”
A small kind voice told her, “ Go ahead, my child. It's ok now”
April tried to open her eyes, but they only fluttered and remained closed. She felt something on her stomach now. Once again she tried to open her eyes. The white light began to shine in the corner of her eye again. “No,” she thought, “I have to stay here for my parents.” She tried very hard to open her eyes. They were heavy and it was hard to open them, but finally after great difficulty, they opened.
“Oh, My Baby!”
Her mother was sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed with her hands crossed on April’s stomach. She grasped her tightly with tears pouring from her bloodshot eyes.
“I thought I’d lost you!”
April lifted her small delicate hand and placed it on her mother’s head.
In a soft, gentle voice April said, “Its ok mom, I’ll be fine. He told me so.”
Copyright 2002 by Ashley Kuchenski. All Rights Reserved. ALL broadcast, publication, retransmission to the WWW, e-mail lists, or newspaper, or copying or storage, in any medium, online or not, is prohibited without prior written permission. However, permission is granted to circulate this story via manual forwarding by e-mail to friends providing that the story is forwarded in it's entirety, from the "The Meeting" title line on top through the end of this paragraph, and no fee is charged.