Drowning Yet Not Broken

She's a Stranger

The longer I was around her, the more sober I became. Which wasn’t a bad thing, since she was a stranger.

At my door, in the dim florescent light, she seemed entirely foreign next to my short brown self.

She was very pale and blonde. Like she came from some working show on TV. Or she was a model. What did she want to do with me?

I opened my door wearily, and she followed me inside.

Hitting the switch on the light, I closed the door behind us, sealing my fate.

Thora, as she called herself, looked around curiously.

“This is a lovely home, Drea.”

I stepped back. “How do you know my name?”

Her expression softened. “I knew your name before you did. It whispered through the trees and through my hair, into my ear, the night you were conceived. Then I found you again years later. You were never far.”

Yeah. I had messed up big time. This woman was a stalker and crazy.

“I don’t know who you lady are, but you’re being creepy. So I think I’ll just give you some pants, a shirt and send you on your way.”

She laughed, her voice making that odd echo as if we were in a large auditorium. “Even though you think I’m crazy, you are being hospitable towards me. Why?”

I sighed, too tired and now sober for whatever this was. “I’m going to get you a shirt and sweats. You just stay here. Don’t do anything creepier.”

She smiled, showing white, even teeth; raising up her hands innocently. It opened the jacket, revealing her fully again, and I looked away quickly.

Groaning, I headed towards my bedroom, cursing at myself.

Only would I have let a crazy naked woman into my apartment. Only me.

“You’re just nice. Don’t beat yourself up. But you should be safer, Drea.”

I turned around and there she was in my doorway. My small bedroom seemed too small for her presence.

“How do you know my name?” I questioned again, this time I was shaking. I had fear of planting my feet, even though I sensed no danger.

“February 14, 2017. You drove drunk off the waterloo bridge after a night out. You were 17. You ever wondered how you were rescued from the car, before it hit the icy cold water?”

My gut churned at the mention of that accident. I still hadn’t got through the trauma of it and had pretty much let it ruin my life.

I didn’t go to college. I didn’t amount to anything. I paid my bills. I worked my office job and I drank my sorrows down every few days.

Every day I tell myself I don’t have a problem. That I was just having fun. The truth was I was still in that car from that night. And I was drowning in that icy lake.

Tears entered my gaze. “You couldn’t have been there. No one knows I wasn’t in the car. How do you know that?” I cried.

Right before my eyes her skin started to go translucent, and then she was gone, replaced by a soft warm breeze. It blew through my room, up across my nape, over my arms, then my face. I gasped at how good it felt. How familiar?

Shock vibrated its way up my spine as she reappeared. This time holding my hand. Her touch sent that airy, tingling, warm feeling into my palm.

I stood frozen as she let her hand fade once more into nothing, then it reappeared. This time I saw it up close.

I wasn’t hallucinating. Or drunk. She was real.

“I was there with you that night, Drea. I’ve been there with you most nights since. I’m not supposed to interfere or reveal myself. You are just doing well, and I need to help you. Just like that night.”

Her sincerity stole my breath even more than her beauty.

“You saved me?”

Her clear eyes zeroed in on mine. “Yes. I took the door off the hinges in midair and got you out. Float you down to the bank.”

Hints of memory pushed their way into my mind. I never let them stay, but now I had to acknowledge the truth.