The person whose character this was originally based on had broken her arm at the time I was writing this chapter, and I'd gone to visit her in the hospital. My subconscious mind neatly pulled her up for the character when the time came.
Since then, she's taken on the characteristics of about three other people, plus someone I saw in a TED talk once.
Enjoy!
The Song of Judge Sabin
A Sanctuary Short Story from the Gilesian Trilogy, Part One
By Dianna Zaragoza
“All my life I’ve been waiting…doing what I’m told. What’s
it gotten me?”
April Sabin could feel the cold plastic molding under her
aching fingers, and see out of a small hole ahead the warm sunlight just ahead
of her fingernails. She stretched her fingers forward to reach for the sun. Such a
welcome sensation. If any part of her could get warm…
This curled-up fetal position with one leg stretched out grew
more uncomfortable. She tried to stretch, but found she just couldn’t. She hid
for a purpose, she reminded herself, even though, as much as she tried, she
couldn’t remember the reason now.
No…wait. She did remember.
A car accident outside her house in the woods cut a tree in
pieces. She feared to approach the car; a gnarled wreck of metal and electronics
sparking in random showers.
“No doubt those poor people dead. No doubt. What help could
I be?
And then, she saw a pair of white Keds in the pool of sunlight
on the floor in front of her; the one she warmed her fingertips in. Immediately
she retracted her fingers. Go away.
“Mrs. Sabin?”
She kept silent. The young girl voice repeated itself.
“April? I know you’re in there. Are you ready to come out?”
Still she said nothing. The girl didn’t sound dangerous –
how dangerous can a little girl be? What was she afraid of?
“Mrs. Sabin, I know it’s hard to believe this, but I should
tell you – you’re in a coma at the moment. You’ve been in an accident that
damaged your brain…”
She couldn’t resist the sunlight any longer. Her fingers
poked forward – the only part of her that could still move. She moved her
mouth, and sound came out, her voice reaching forward with her fingertips
towards life.
“I’m cold…”
The sneakers moved closer to her, and April felt the touch
of other fingers on her own, and a flood of noise and visions entered her mind.
“Come out now, April. It’s safe.”
A terrible sound of twisting metal greeted her ears, and
light poured down on the left side of her face. She covered her face with her
hands, and realized she could move again. Looking up to the left, April saw the
side of a long metal door – the entire inside of her car - rising up into the
sky and away from her body.
She struggled out of the small, confining space and felt the
aches in her back and joints. The sunlight sprayed her body with warmth, and
she basked in it. The contrast from the cold felt particularly welcome. Her
skin soaked in the radiance, even though her eyes were still closed.
She stood in the midst of her flattened car. As her eyes
adjusted to the light and opened, she found herself in the middle of a long
desert freeway she didn’t recognize. The road went forward into a shimmering
horizon, with rolling hills beyond that.
“You’re dreaming right now. A lucid dream. That’s why it
feels really real, but it isn’t. Not totally.”
“It doesn’t feel like a dream. And I don’t know this place.”
The young girl reached out a hand to assist her in stepping
away from the car wreck, smiling a thin, toothless smile. April stood in front
of the girl, taking in the incongruous sight on the side of the desert road.
She wore jeans and sneakers, with a jean jacket zipped-up to the neck over the
top of that.
“Who are you? Were the police here?”
The girl looked around. “There’s no one else here. My name
is Crystal Hanson. You can call me Crys if you want. We’re going to be together
for awhile, until I can pull everything back together.”
April’s breathing increased. “But I feel fine.”
“You almost died on the operating table three times. No one
expects you to recover at this point, but you will.”
April’s hands went to her neck, and she stretched out her
sore muscles. “Now, that’s just plain ridiculous. I feel fine. I need a phone
or something. Is there a rest station somewhere around here?”
She started walking down the empty road, looking back for
other cars. No cars came into sight.
The young girl walked beside her, looking at her blankly as
she walked. She watched with growing annoyance out of her left eye’s peripheral
vision.
“You don’t have to follow me, you know…”
But as she turned around to tell her off, she couldn’t see
anyone. The girl vanished.
“Crystal? Was that your name? Or Chris?” She looked all
around. Nothing and no one could be seen but desert and patchy grass and rocks
and distant mountains.
“Talking to myself…” April’s anxiety grew as she walked.
Only then did she notice the smoke...
***
If you'd like to read more, head on over to Part Two.
Looking forward to Part Two
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