Chapter 18: Close Call

35 0 0
                                    

On the way to school that morning, Audrey, still worried about her mother, asked her about the dream.  “Mommy?” she called from the back seat.  “What bad dream did you have?  I waited, like you said.  Will you tell me?”

Stacy nodded, as she made a right turn.  Timothy was already dropped off, so she was now on her way to drop Audrey off.  “Audrey,” she told her.  “I had a real bad dream.  I had breast cancer.  This is a bad thing, honey.  It is just like getting a cold, only worse.  Now mommy had these bumps growing inside that kept growing and growing.  They suffocated my heart and I died…..”

Audrey gasped.  “Mommy’s not going to die….?” she whimpered.

“Of course not, honey.” Stacy said, giving her a reassuring smile.  “It was just a bad dream, and that wasn’t the worst part.  After I died, I stood before this great king.  I found out that this was God.  Now God is—”

“Someone we should always listen to,” Audrey interrupted.  “I know who God is, mommy.  Emma tells me about him.”

Stacy beamed.  “She does?  That’s good.  Now please let me finish. I was standing before God, and he asked me why I should be let into heaven.  Now you know what heaven is, honey.”

Audrey nodded.  “A place where good people go.”

“That’s right.  Now, I told God that I was a good person, but that didn’t get past him.  He knew that I was a bad person, and pointed out every single bad thing that I ever did in my life.”

“Mommy, were you really that bad?”

“All of us have done bad things, honey.  And….Mommy was punished, and thrown into hell.  That is where all the bad people go….”

“Don’t cry, mommy,” Audrey pleaded.  “I want you to be happy.”

Stacy nodded, and wiped the tears off her eyes, being careful to focus on the road.  “I was just scared.  It was such a scary place, and I don’t want any of us to go there.”

As much as Stacy wanted to continue talking, they reached Nimbleburg Elementary.  She then said good-bye to Audrey.  “We’ll talk about this later, honey.”

Audrey nodded and left the car with her backpack and lunch.  “Okay.  Bye mommy!”

Stacy drove home and entered the driveway.  David, seeing that Stacy was home, left the house.

The time was 8:16 a.m.  Before waking Zachary up, she glanced at the phone.  Mary deserves more than an apology after what she said to her yesterday.  She picked up the phone and called her.

“Back to ridicule me some more?” Mary said in a jovial tone.  “Have at it!  I’m built like a rock, and I’ll take anything that you dish at me!  Just know that I’ll retaliate with love….”

Stacy was in tears.  “No,” she sobbed.  “I’m not calling about that.  Not at all.  I’m calling to say that I’m sorry….”

“You’re sorry?” Mary said with a laugh.  “Is that all?  That’s okay, sis.  I forgive ya.”

“That’s not all,” Stacy weeped.  “I….I did it, Mary.  I believe now.  I’m….A Jesus freak!”

“Enough, sis.  I’m not going to stand for your joking around….”

“Mary, I’m serious.  Last night, I had a terrible nightmare….”  Stacy burst into tears again.

“A nightmare?  Calm down, Stace.  I can barely understand what you’re saying.”

Stacy grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t think that I have ever cried this much before in my life!  It’s just that the dream was really horrible.”

The Tale of Zachary Willowbrook: A Leap Day ParadoxWhere stories live. Discover now