August Storm: Part 3

As Ted and Mel carried Janice up a hill and away from the lightning streaked fire, Janice fell in and out of consciousness. One moment she felt each bump as Ted heaved her shoulders up over the rocky landscape, and the next she drifted, light as a cloud.

Janice's mind wandered. She saw golden white light and a field of daises. She flew above the blossoms, riding a buoyant breeze. It was no longer high summer, but spring, and a congregation of people gathered at the field's end before a large oak tree. Janice watched from afar, a spirit floating above a dream of a life. She scanned the crowd for faces she knew: her mom, her dad, her aunt Lucy and her nephew, Miles J. Was she dead? Were they all dead? But then, she saw herself.

There she was, standing by Ted in front of an arbor threaded with lace. A man all in black stood before them, holding a tiny book in his hands. Mel stood by Ted's side, his hands, now manly and thick, held two gold rings.

The man all in black spoke, "And now the rings..."

Mel stepped forward and placed the rings in the Pastor's hands. A rose slipped from the hair of the Janice-wearing-white and the spirit-Janice watched as Ted smoothed over her slightly frizzy hair and put the rose back in place. In his rough edged face she saw much more than she'd ever seen before.

I want to go back, the spirit Janice whispered. I want to live my life.

The breeze picked up force and she tumbled in it's twirling gale. The scene melted away behind her in a blur of yellow and white. She fell toward the present and opened her eyes.

Ted's tear stained face hovered over her. He been holding her hand the whole time. "She's waking up, Mel! She's going to be all right!"