Strange Harvest

Chapter 1: 2002 - A Deer

The future has a way of arriving when you least expect it. My future came to me on an old dirt road when a strange animal stepped into the headlights.

It didn't help that I was going about 85mph on loose gravel. It didn't help that I couldn't recall the name for the animal at first. In my time, they'd been all but extinct. Time is a matter of moments. I know that now.

Before the graceful creature stepped in front of my fast approaching mustang, the wind swept my hair out the window, whipping it in tiny tornados and making it difficult to see with the longer sections pummeling my face. Blinded, I grabbed at it to swipe it away. When I could finally see the road again, there was something bright in the headlights. It was a deer.

My brain didn't advise me to slam on the breaks. Instead, I swerved. As my hands turned to the right, my foot hit the brakes, but it was too late. As the tires struck gravel, the car fishtailed. I struggled to control the wheel as it jerked to the right, sucking the Mustang into the ditch. They say there is weightlessness as you roll your car, but I felt like a brick in a pond. Suddenly, I sat at the bottom of an embankment, the roof of my car dented in so that it brushed the top of my head.

It took a few deep breaths for me to feel the pain in my shoulder. After deciding to move it and gasping for breath, I realized that it could be dislocated. I knew how to fix a dislocated shoulder. Most harvests didn't go smoothly and my dad had gotten in some situations that I had to help him get out of.

I paused speculating about my shoulder for long enough to notice that the night was calm but for the chirping of some distant critter. It wasn't what I expected following an accident. I struggled to move but choked with the pain. After taking another minute, I imagined the sound of animals rustling around the car. A bear, poking its head through the window. I tried to move but froze when I heard a car approaching. The crunch of gravel signaled that the driver pulled off to the side of the road. I tried to get my seatbelt off, but it was jammed, and my shoulder was too messed up to fuss with the seatbelt.

I craned out the window to see who was coming. I saw feet approaching as they made their way through the grass down to the ditch. Then a face materialized in the window. I flinched a little. It was the face of a boy. He wore a football jersey and a look of concern.

He leaned in closer, so that he could see me. When he saw my eyes were open, he spoke calmly and quietly. "Are you okay? Can you move?" He had a football jersey on.

"Do I look okay?" I answered. My panic made my vision blurry around the edges. "I was just in a car accident." Stupid football players. My head was all jumbled up, and I felt dizzy.

"It's okay." He crouched down and moved closer. "Let me help you out." He didn't wait for me to respond. He rattled the door handle a few times, knocking around outside the car and then opened the door. He reached down towards my lap, and I tried to pull away. I didn't want him touching me. "Sorry," he said, holding his hands up. "I'm just going to get the seatbelt if that's okay."

I felt sick to my stomach, cursing myself. I nodded without speaking a word. He extended his arm again, pushing my jacket out of the way and leaned in, positioning himself to support me if I fell. I heard a click as he slid his arms around me. He paused for a moment. "Is this okay?" he asked. I nodded, unsure of where to look. He gently and hoisted me out of the demolished car, and I let him.

He helped me to my feet and brushed some glass and dirt off my clothes. I tried to put weight on my leg, but I grimaced as pain exploded up my knee. I tested it a few times. It wasn't so bad that I would need to go to the hospital. I took a few steps away from the football boy, trying to gain some control of the situation when my knee buckled. He was there to catch me, and without so much as a grunt, he lifted me up and cradled me in his arms.