The odd case of Mary Parker

The rain drip, drip, dripped on the window as Mary sipped her 4th cup of coffee. It was nearly 1 in the afternoon, but she was still in her slippers and ratty robe. She didn't care. She didn't care anymore. Since she moved here, her life has slowly been turning to shit. First month, her car broke down. Third month, I walked into my boyfriends apartment and found her best friend climbing out the window of his bedroom. Fifth, oh what's the point, a house can't be unlucky, she thought to herself as she decided to go out and look for a new job. That was the fifth month, losing her job. Let's see what next months brings...

Her new house was weird to her at first. It was just her and her best friend, Max. He has always been a loyal friend. Always watching out for Mary. She walked into her bedroom and Max ran over and licked her in the face. Oh yeah, Max is a dog. To her, her big Saint Bernard was better than most people.

Mary's journal:

I finally got a job! A good one too! Maybe all this bad luck was in my head.

........

Mary, eager for her first day, jogged out to her car and started up the engine. She was just gonna head out then, but she decided to let the car warm up. It's been a cold winter.

When she finished up at the bookstore (her dream job since she is a bookworm), she began to head home, not wanting to keep Max waiting for his dinner. The sky was darkening. The sun nearly invisible by now. It was around eight. She drove the usual way, as she always does. When she got on the bridge, a woman stood in the center of the road, facing the oncoming traffic. Mary swerved, hitting a car which hit another car which hit another. She hit her head on the steering wheel and was knocked out. She woke up in an ambulance, still a little hazy from the accident. She asked the paramedics if everyone was okay. 1 dead, 7 injured, this is what the doctor said. When she went to the police station to say what happened, all she could think was, I killed someone. It was my fault.

"What happened?" The officer asked, in a nice guy voice.

"There was a woman. Standing in the middle of the road. I swerved to keep from hitting her."

"Now we checked the security camera near the bridge. There was no woman. It was just you and the traffic coming from the other direction. You can come watch the video if you want."

She watched in disbelief as she watched herself swerve into the other lane for no apparent reason. She was sure there was someone there. There wasn't, that's crazy. You're crazy. You should be locked up. Somewhere where you can't kill anyone else. She shuddered at the cold voices inside her head. She asked what was going to happen to her. The officer said they would do an evaluation.

"You think I'm crazy?! I am not crazy, there was someone standing on that bridge. Why do you not believe me?!"

..........

There Mary lay, in a cold, dim, holding cell, waiting to be told whether she was going home, to jail, or the nut house. She told the officer she had a dog. He said he'll take care of him for her. The next morning she woke up and was told to come into the interrogation room. She sat across from Dr. Michael Kane. He asked questions. She answered. He excused himself from the room, and asked to see officer Blake in the other room.

"This girl is unstable. She needs help. Physically she is fine but mentally, I don't know. I believe she needs to go to the hospital for further tests."

Blake nodded and walked away, leaving Mary with the doctor. He called the hospital and said, "We got her. Everything's covered. I'll be there soon."