prelude

reality of life

Ahna, lunch is ready,” a woman’s voice bellowed through the halls. Still reeling from the death of her beloved husband, Ahna pulled the bed covers over her head and closed her eyes. Moments later a loud knock shook Ahna from her sleep. She could hear the door open as its hinges creaked, and the door scraped against the floor boards. Small soft footsteps were moving closer to the bed that she had curled up into a nest in. the blankets began to creep down from her face and on to the floor. Ahna looked up from her pillow to a short plump and grey-haired woman.

“Sweetheart, you need to get up, shower, eat... and change your clothes, something. You have been in this room for weeks now,” the woman said as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I have nothing left. The kids are all grown and living their best lives. The person I was supposed to grow old with is gone,” as Ahna said this she sat up and began to weep again. Her mother embraced her and held her chin in her hand, “you should go for a walk around the farm. The fresh air will do you good and help clear your head,” ahna’s mom replied as she caressed her cheek. Her mother looked sternly into her eyes, “I don’t want you to become a hermit. Get out of this bed, come downstairs and eat something.” Her mother said as she rose from the bed and left the room. Her voice carried through the halls, “your dad is downstairs... he has something for you also, I think it’ll help you get out of this rout.” Ahna’s face dropped down into her hands, she began to sob once more as she gazed down at her wedding ring. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe, “I can do this. Its just another day. Another day without Teddy. This is my life now and I need to pick myself up and put my broken pieces back together.” Ahna stood up and made her way down to the kitchen. She could smell all the different foods cooking.

“ok, I’m here… I smell bacon, where is it?” Ahna asked as she looked around the room.

“its in the oven. I was keeping it warm for you since your mom didn’t know if you were going to come down or no.” said a tall, balding older man.

“thanks Dad, Ill snag a couple of pieces and try to go on this walk Mom is trying to sell me on,” Ahna said as she chewed on a slice of bacon. “Dad, you always make the best bacon. What’s your secret?”

“Honey, its all in the preparation of the meat, and … what I feed the pigs,” he said as he winked with a smile.

"Ok, dad.. I’m gonna go for a walk. Ill be back in an hour or so.” Ahna said as she walked out of the house.

“Lunch is at noon, be back before then or ill send out the search party,” he said with a chuckle.

“ok, ill be back before then. Thank you for the food dad,” Ahna said as she closed the back door. “Now, where to go..” She closes her eyes and starts to turn around and around, all of a sudden she stops in her tracks. She opens her eyes to view the direction that fate has set her on. Straight in front of her was the barn and then beyond that was the cows’ pasture, all things that she has already explored when she was a small child. Ahna started walking towards the small stream that borders the property on the other side of the cows pasture. Her dad had recently purchased the wooded grove on the other side of that stream. Ahna’s curiosity of wonder overwhelmed her so, off she went to explore this new plot of land. As Ahna wandered towards the stream, she caught a glimpse of a metal object gleaming on the other side of the river near an old tree. She changed her course and headed over to the steppingstones that allowed people to cross the stream without getting their feet wet. As she got closer to the object the clouds grew darker and the wind picked up, pushing Ahna closer to the object faster than she had anticipated. The wind whipped her hair into her face as she reached out to the object. She shielded her face from the dirt and debris that the wind was twisting and showering at her face. Ahna tripped on what she only could guess was a rock. As she picked herself up she placed her hand on a cold, wet, metallic surface, at that exact moment a lightning bolt cracked out of the clouds and struck the metal surface and traveled throughout Ahna’s body. It was as if time stood still. She could feel the ground humming, the tectonic plates creeping away from their divergent boundaries and fault lines. Her eyes fixed on a small white butterfly; its wings fluttered with an almost hypnotic batter against the wind. The butterfly seemed to be decelerating the longer Ahna stared at it. All at once she was encased in darkness. The only sound was that of her own screams, echoing into the night. Just as quickly as the darkness appeared, she instantly began to fall through a tunnel flashing all the colors of the spectrum. She closed her eyes and thought of the first time she had met teddy. A warm sensation engulfed her from within and spread to all of her limbs. She opened her eyes. It was blurry at first. The images became clearer as the time passed. Ahna looked up and stared at the ceiling fan. “where am I.” she looked around for anything that could be familiar. The room wasn’t a room that she could remember being in her parents home. Ahna looked at the nightstand where a clock sat. it read four thirty-seven. It was still daylight, so it had to be late in the afternoon. She sat up from where she was laying and immediately held her head in her hand as a sharp pain wretched through her brain. She looked around the room and decided to take the middle of the three doors that lined the rooms walls. She fumbled towards the door handle and pushed it open. Another dark room, no lights and no exits. She ran her hands on the walls to see if there was a light switch of any kind. Her hand hit a panel of switches. She flipped them all on at the same time. Another person was staring back at her. She wasn’t alone.