Parting Ways (Part 1)

Panic grips me as tightly as my fingers grasp the steering wheel in front of me. The car, once full of life and on its way to a certain absolution, now made the noises of a dying soul. I've never heard these noises before. As the car slows to its final stop, I survey the landscape to make myself aware that I am nowhere. I step out of the lifeless vessel and look harder at the place that could colorfully be described as a desolate desert. The sun beats down on my shoulders and I already feel fatigue begin to start its evil work. I look under the hood. I don't know what for, I know nothing about cars. Nothing but a confusing mess of wires and metal. I sigh and slam the hood down. I turn around to look for any sign of salvation and I see it! A small sign one hundred feet in front of me. In point of fact, it is the only thing that breaks the monotony of this abysmal hell. I walk over to read it better. "Millies Diner 5 Miles" is written in bright blue letters across the otherwise plain looking sign. Hope slowly begins to fight off exhaustion. I look back at my car then turn the direction of my salvation. Five miles in this heat does not sound like an enjoyable stroll. I take off my shirt, which was now stained with sweat, and begin to walk.

Two years ago
7:45 AM

A shrill scream woke me from my uneasy sleep. At first, I sensed a terrible feeling of evil inside my head. But as I got my bearings I realized it was only a dream. I leaned over to silence the wailing clock and fell back on to the bed. The most heartbreaking and adorable sigh came from the sleeping beauty next to me. My heart melted every time she made a single sound. I leaned over and as I kissed her precious forehead I said a silent prayer of gratitude to God for giving her to me. She sighed again and breathed an "I love you" to me. "I love you too darling, more than anything in the world." I got up to get ready but I couldn't shake the feeling of unease from a dream I no longer remembered, a sense that lasted the whole car ride up to the church. I pulled in to the parking lot and allowed myself to temporarily get lost in my thoughts. Why was today unlike any other? Why can i not shake this feeling of unease and dread? A loud slap on my window broke my reverie and made me jump six feet out of my skin. I turned to see Jordan, one of my favorite students stumbling back in laughter knowing his mission had been accomplished. I smiled and grabbed my "camp councilor" badge from my glove box, shoved the negative/counterproductive feelings to the back of my mind, and got out of the car. I was met, by the only people in the world who contested my wife's place in my heart, with laughter, sarcasm, and hugs. This was going to be one great trip to youth camp! After the administrative papers and release forms had been taken care of everyone exchanged goodbyes with their smiling but reluctant parents, and we climbed aboard the bus. Walking in, the bus looked as if it had warped out of the 50's and it smelled heavily of shag carpet and cigarette smoke. Groovy. We pulled out of the parking lot and didn't look back.

11:14 AM

About an hour in to the trip everyone had grown tired of conversing around the bus so they secluded to their own little cliques and fell more silent. I leaned my head against the window and felt myself drift away from the world. I couldn't make out what I was seeing in my dream. A swirl of black smoke against a white template, but with more purpose and direction than random smokescreen. Then, from the midst of the swirl of confusion, erupted the face of an old man. His eyes were wide with fear and his face was ghostly pale, he screamed a scream that I could not hear as if he was behind soundproof glass. His eyes grew wider with alarm he opened his mouth to scream again when a shudder and a scream woke me out of my dream world. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but felt the seat around me shake violently. From somewhere a girl shrieked in terror. White faded to red and red faded to black.

11:31 AM

From somewhere, another dimension maybe, someone was screaming. Other people were shouting orders. Others were crying. I heard glass cracking and the awful grinding of metal and concrete. Something terrible had happened. Reality faded once again.

11:35 AM

11:36 AM

11:37 AM

11:38 AM

11:39 AM

11:40 AM

11:50 AM

12:04 PM

I woke up again to find that my eyes were finally working for me. I saw the serenity of the sky contrasted to the horrifying scene that was outstretched underneath it. The bus, our vessel of safety, had turned in to a weapon of destruction. It had careened off the road tearing its way through over a hundred feet of guardrail as it were an angry beast tearing its way to a sleeping victim and finally smashed into a concrete freeway pillar tearing the metal tube in half. The scene in front of hit was even more devastating: bodies, some alive, some not, were strewn out in front of the bus like an American holocaust. My lungs would not allow me to breathe, my vocal chords would not allow me to speak. It was as if the parts of my brain that allowed me to move was shut down. All I could do was sit and cry. I looked over to the edge of the road and thats when I saw him. An old man stood tall at about 6' 7" and if his hieght wasn't intimdating, his appearance would make the color drain from your face. He was dressed from head to toe in solid black. Black boots, black pants, black shirt, black trenchcoat, and a black hat. All the black contrasted his pale white face and his nearly traslucent white beard. He wore also a look of sorrow that would have appeared to anyone else as sincere but I detected a sence of urgency and directiveness behind the look. As if he knew exactly what had happened and that was the way it was supposed to happen. There was definitely something supernatural about this man surveying our tragedy. I was perplexed and terrified by his appearance, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen him before. But where? I blinked, literally, and he was gone. I tried to stand and help with the rescue effort but I immediately collapsed to the ground as pain shot up the side of my leg like the psychotic fury of a raging hurricane. I screamed in pain then began to black out. Oh god... I could've done more...

Prelude to Parting Ways

People die - they grow old or grow apart. Sometimes it seems like the other parts of our lives, the happy ones, are just filler moments until the person you shared them with leaves. But then there are days where those in-between parts are the reason to wake up in the morning - filler or not. How can we be certain? There is only one certainty: people will always leave you. Whether by the decay of old age, a sudden tragedy, or with the words, "It's not you, it's me." And we call these farewells a parting of ways - the place where our paths, that were so close and parallel, separate.