Escaping Life

The Caller

'Wanna play on the swings with me?' little Dani asks.

'Sure!' they walk hand-in-hand to the swings and Dani gets on.

She finds a swing next to Dani and sits, kicking her feet, struggling to start swinging.

Finally, the two kick off and start swinging, higher and higher.

They look at each other, laughing and having fun.

'Go as high as you can!' Dani says, flashing a toothless smile at her friend.

'I'm trying!' she yells, going higher and higher. 'Hey Dani, look how high I'm going!'

Dani doesn't reply.

She sits there, on the swing, but she's not smiling anymore. She stops the swing and sits, starting to cry.

'Dani? Dani what's wrong?' she asks, going over to her cousin. 'Dani?'

No reply.

'Dani? Dani?'

She looks around. They are no longer at the park with their moms and other kids running around.

They are at the bridge.

Dani is no longer a toothless 8 year old.

They both are standing there, Dani still crying.

'Dani?'

Blood starts to pour from Dani's wrists and legs, her still in the same position as before, her hands covering her face, crying.

Slowly, Dani vanishes.

'Dani?'

But Dani is gone.

She wakes up in the hospital bed, her pillow wet with tears.

She was crying in her sleep at the horrible dream.

She sees Sarah, her nurse from her last time in the hospital, standing right by the bed, a worried expression capturing her face.

'Are you ok?' she asks, concerned.

'Yeah. Just had a bad dream. Wh- why am I here? How did I get here?' she asks.

'You were at the bridge, and you cut really deep, opening up a vein in your arm, causing you to pass out. Luckily, someone found you and called 911. Just in time too, one more minute and you would've been dead.'

'Who found me?'

'I don't know. It was an anonymous caller.'