06/18/2015
Okay..I have been writing crazy stuff again........the prompt was.......Drum Roll please.......It was a dark and stormy night........lol.......classic......can't you just see Snoopy sitting on top of his doghouse with his typewriter? well...........here's what I did with it......
It was a dark and stormy night, just like every other night lately. The ebony sky was streaked with electric energy flying in every direction. I went to bed early. The cat curled up beside me with one paw resting on my leg for protection. I wasn’t sure if she needed the contact or thought that I did. Thunder boomed again, shaking the windows and sending poor Fluffy deeper under the covers. It made me wonder if it was just another storm or if something worse was headed our way. There hadn’t been any warnings of a hurricane, but I turned on the television weather station to find out what was happening out there.
The young female with obviously dyed hair, a big grin and augmented assets pointed to our city on the map and cheerfully informed me that we were in for a series of thunderstorms that would probably last all night. With the click of a button, I made her disappear, wishing that trick would work on a few other folks I know. Then I covered my eyes with a pink satin eye mask and stuck squishy earplugs into my ears to give me peace and quiet.
At some point, I realized that I was flying around the neighborhood. The rain had stopped. I looked down to see several damaged houses and the fire and rescue cars and trucks were scattered all over the area. My friend, Tootie and her dog, Shep were walking up and down my sidewalk. Shep barked at me and I told him to settle down, that everything was all right. He looked straight at me and said as clear as a bell,“That’s easy enough for you to say, but what about Tootie? She is pretty upset by all this.”
Several paramedics pushed a gurney containing a body covered in a sheet out my front door and down the sidewalk to a white van in my driveway. They loaded the unfortunate someone and left the scene. I tried to figure out who on earth it could have been since I live alone and don’t have overnight guests very often. Tootie and my other friend, Lilly were hugging and crying. I tried to eavesdrop.
All I heard was something about a tornado and a tree falling on my roof, so I followed them to the back of my house and was amazed to see the old oak that had kept my room so cool in the summer had fallen smack in the middle of my bedroom rooftop. They seemed to be very upset. I touched my feet to the ground in front of them and tried to reach out to touch Tootie to get her attention but my hand passed right through her ample body. I thought Hold on now that isn’t right. I tried to speak to them both but they ignored my efforts completely. Lilly said that she had the phone numbers for my children and would call them in the morning. Then they both noticed that the sun was coming up and hugged again before heading to their own homes for rest or breakfast or whatever needed doing.
Shep told me goodbye and I asked him, “Shep, am I dead?”
He said,” Yep…looks that way. We probably couldn’t have this conversation otherwise.”
I said, “What do I do?”
He said…..”I don’t know. I’ve never been dead before.”
I said,“Okay then ,I think I will wait right here for something to happen”.
He said, “yep. That’s what I would do, I reckon.”
I went inside my dilapidated house and looked at everything I was leaving. Before long I heard a series of bells, like wind chimes and my mother appeared. Mom looked great.
She said, “You about ready, Baby?”
I said, “Ready for what?”
She laughed and said,“ Come with me. I will show you what to do. It’s nice up there. You will like it. Your daddy and Harold are waiting for you on the other side.”
I said, “Why didn’t Harold come for me?”
She said,” I got the short straw.”
She laughed.
I didn’t know what to think. She said in that voice that mothers always use when kids don’t move fast enough, “Come on Hon, You have things to get done. Let’s get on with it.”
I felt myself rising above the ground and passing through a tunnel of soft light. I saw stars and felt the breeze on my skin. I smelled cookies baking and the scent of Jasmine and then, I saw my husband smiling and holding out his arms to me and remembered that I had always said my Heaven was in his arms. My father was there. He was holding Fluffy. They looked glad to see me.
