Off the Carousel

Everything Went White

A/N: Well, here we go... hope this makes sense.

Cassie sipped her tea calmly as she watched her daughter gather her belongings for school. For you see, today was Grace's first time driving solo to school.

"Are you ready?" Cassie asked, putting her now empty cup into the sink.

"Yes! I'm so excited!"

"You are growing up so fast, love."

Grace smiled radiantly at her mother, her dark eyes flashing with love. "Abigail's here for you mom," she said.

Cassie raised her eyebrow at the knock on the door as Grace ran to open it. It seemed her daughter was picking up on her own talents.

Abigail stepped in, prim and proper as usual. "Cassie, ready?"

"Of course cousin," Cassie replied, slipping on her coat and picking up her purse. Looking at her daughter she blew a kiss, "I'll see you at the store after school?"

"Yes mom."

"Drive safe dear."

"I will."

xxx

Meredith squinted as the bright morning sun shone through her windshield. She felt around for her sunglasses, which she usually kept in the side console. But they weren't there. Suddenly she realized she must've left them at home, because... the last time she needed them was... after Derek's funeral, and she had dropped them in the glass bowl by the door. In her haste last night, she forgot them.

She sighed with exhaustion. Just a couple more miles. Already slowing down to town speed limits, it wouldn't be long before she could stop and breathe and find a hotel with a pool for the kids, and maybe spend a day or two just with them. From the back seat she heard Zola smack her lips as she started to rouse. She could hear Bailey's breathing change, becoming light and shallow.

She passed a sign that read, Middleton: 1 Mile, and a bevy of signs advertising their quaint townish shops.

Bailey murmured something, causing Meredith to glance in the rearview mirror. She smiled when she saw his sleepy blue eyes looking at her. "Morning sunshine," she said softly, before looking back at the road. The sunlight reflected sharply into her eyes as she crested over the top of a small rise in the road. She blinked and raised a hand to block the glare.

It was too late.

"Oh!" she cried as something appeared directly in front of her.

Everything went white.

xxx

At Bell, Book, and Candle, Cassie hummed as she dusted off a snow globe and placed it back on the shelf. She passed the door, unlocking it and turning the sign of her wondrous shop from closed to open. It was early yet, so she continued her business of dusting, picking up another object, a porcelain statue of a shepherd.

Grace!

Cassie stopped. She stared at the Shepherd. It stared back. Deja vu. Except... bigger. The world echoed and rippled all around her, but only in a way she felt and understood.

Cassie closed her eyes...

And then she knew what to do.

xxx

An eerie fog settled on the road as she sped along with Chief Sanders. They arrived less than a quarter mile from the Grey House in Derek's police car. As they pulled up to the two vehicles, Cassie jumped out. She expected crumpled metal and moans of pain, but the two vehicles remained inches from each other, and not a scratch on either.

But where was Grace? "Grace!" Cassie called.

"Over here!"

Relieved, Cassie pulled the confused Police Chief with her to the second vehicle. Her daughter was in the front passenger seat, leaning over the driver. "I knew you'd come," Grace said, "I don't know what's wrong. She won't wake up."

"I'm calling an ambulance," Derek said.

"No..." Cassie gazed at the woman, the two stunned kids in the back seat. She knew them. From some where... or some time... "They're all right. Let's just take them home."

xxx

"Waffles?" Grace asked, watching her mix the batter.

"I have a feeling," Cassie scrunched her nose. "How are the kids?"

"They're okay," Grace nodded to them, while they played on the floor. The oldest, Zola, was coloring, and little Bailey raced his cars. Resting on the couch, seemingly dead asleep, was their mother, Meredith. "Are you sure she's okay?" Grace asked. "It's... just a little strange she hasn't woken up yet."

Cassie regarded the woman on her couch again... but she felt nothing wrong at all. In fact, she felt a certain peace. "She's exactly where she needs to be."

xxx

Everything went white.

And then...

She wasn't in her car anymore. Or on the road. She was standing on a bridge. Her hand brushed against rough wood. Trees towered all around and water rushed below her. "What?" she gasped, wiping her eyes. What just happened? And where were her kids? The last thing she remembered, she was driving down this road, and the sun-

The sun.

She swallowed. The sun was in her eyes... and she hit someone. Didn't she? Or...

"Meredith."

The sound of her name pierced her. She whirled, elated and torn at once. Scared. At what she knew she would see. "Derek?"