Tag: Short Story

If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out A Grave Mistake: Chapter 1

When something of value is lost, we stop what we’re doing to look for it. It makes sense then, that if magic is taken, the caretakers would stop at nothing to find it again.

CHAPTER 7 – EVAN WAGNER
Day 3, 10:36 am

After he’d left Stacey’s house, Evan realized he couldn’t go home. The only place he could think to go was his brother, Daniel’s. He showed up on his doorstep after 1 am after wandering aimlessly for hours. He hadn’t told Daniel why he was there. He just came in and asked if he could crash on the couch.

That had been last night. Now, Evan and Daniel were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

“Are you going to tell me yet, why you’re here?” Daniel asked, taking a sip from his coffee cup.

Evan slowly crunched his cereal, debating how much he should tell his brother. Finally, he opted to just show him and slowly reached across the kitchen, stretching his arm out to 5 times it’s normal length. He picked up the coffee pot, retracted his arm, and refilled his cup.

“Would you like some more?” he asked, looking at Daniel and holding up the coffee pot.

Daniel just stared back at him his eyes opened wide in shock.

Evan smiled and shook his head. “No? Okay.” He the repeated the motion and set the coffee pot back on the burner of the machine. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “something weird is happening to me.”

“Clearly,” Daniel said.

“And now some guys are after me,” he said. “They came to my house and tried to throw me a van. I need a place I could lay low for a while so I can figure out what’s going on.”

“What if you lead them straight to us?” Daniel asked, frowning.

“I don’t think I did. I ditched my car before I got here and came the rest of the way on foot. I cut across yards and parks and backtracked a lot. Besides, if they knew I was here, they’d have come in already.”

Daniel looked at him skeptically, but didn’t comment. They continued eating breakfast in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

An hour later, Evan was down in the basement using the guest shower when he heard a loud bang upstairs. Footsteps thudded across the ceiling above him and he heard Daniel shouting. Then something muffled his voice. Evan sprang out of the shower, grabbing the pile of clothes he tossed on the floor before his shower. By the time he raced up the stairs it was silent save for the drips of water dripping of him onto the floor.

One of the bookshelves was tipped over, it’s contents strewn across the floor along with a lamp lying broken in pieces. The front door was wide open and through it, Evan saw the same two men from last night throw Daniel into the back of the van bound and gagged. One of the men slammed the back doors. As the men hurried on either side of the van to climb into the front seats, Evan scrambled into his clothes as he hobbled outside and just managed to step up onto the back bumper as it started pulling out of the driveway. He stretched out his hands to pull himself up onto the roof of the van and then lay as flat as he could, which was flatter than most humans could lie, and wrapped his fingers around the rails of the roof rack on either side of him.

The whole time they were driving he kept wondering who these people were and where they were taking Daniel. Finally, they pulled into the parking lot of his doctor’s office and stopped. The garage door into the underground parking opened and as the van started to descend the ramp, he silently slid down the back and jumped off the bumper just as it entered the underground garage. He slipped behind a concrete barrier and hid as the garage door closed. That’s when he remembered, he’d had a doctor’s appointment the day all of this started. What had they done to him?

Chapter 8 coming soon 🙂

If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out A Grave Mistake: Chapter 1

Naturally, there are gatekeepers and walls of protection around any secret because it isn’t meant to get out. It isn’t meant to be stolen or shared. But, what would happen if there was a breach in that wall? Those responsible would inevitably fight to regain control and lock the secret back in it’s cage. No one wants the reputation of being the one who let the secret out. Especially if that secret is magic.

CHAPTER 6 – NATASHA Gill
Day 3, 9:40 am

After her second memory lapse, Natasha had made an appointment to see the doctor again and was surprised how quickly she was able to get in.

She pulled into the parking lot 5 minutes early and noticed that the normally busy lot was empty. There were two doctors at this clinic: her doctor and his wife. They not only schedule appointments, but they also ran a walk-in clinic, usually trading off days with each other.

She was only a few steps away from the front door when she noticed a closed sign hanging in the window and that most of the lights were off. Confused, she pulled out her phone to check her calendar as she walked slowly back to her car.

Behind her, the door opened. “Mrs. Gill!” her doctor called after her. His normally well-groomed appearance was disheveled and he looked like he hadn’t slept or showered in a few days. Dark circles ringed his eyes and his dark hair stood up on end in greasy waves.

“I’m sorry Doctor Thomas, I thought my appointment was for 9:40,” she said, taking a step back as a faint smell of BO wafted towards her.

“Yes, yes, you do. Sorry, we’re having a minor crisis. I have the closed sign up because we aren’t accepting walk-ins at the moment,” he said, straining to smile. “Nothing to worry about though,” he hastily added.

“I can come back another time,” she said, edging towards her car.

“No, no, come in, come in,” he said, waving her forward.

She hesitated another moment, then grudgingly followed him into the office. They walked past the welcome desk which was unmanned and sitting in shadows, and down the hall to one of the waiting rooms. He turned the light on and sat down on the office chair while she sat on the paper-cover examination table. It crinkled as she sat down.

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked.

She told him about how she had been having gaps in her memory, but she carefully skirted around the fact that she had accomplished a week’s worth of work in a few short hours.

“Do you know what you were doing during this time?” he asked.

She clutched her purse on her lap feeling apprehensive. “Just the usual day-to-day things,” she said. “I would find out later that the kids had been picked up when they were supposed to, and that I’d bought groceries because I’d have the receipt in my wallet and the fridge, which had been nearly empty in the morning, would be full.”

She’d been about to tell him she had been recording everything in her journal, but realized just in time that he would probably ask to see it. There was no way he’d believe she got all that done in one day.

“And how long has this been happening?”

“A couple of days.”

He nodded. “Have you noticed anything else unusual?”

“No,” she said, her voice slightly higher than normal.

He didn’t seem to notice. “Alright, I’ll get you to change into one of the hospital gowns and I’ll do an examination.”

“Is that really necessarily?” she asked. “I mean if it’s my head that’s the problem. I don’t really need to change for that, do I?”

“I’d like to see if anything else is wrong. Blacking out may just be a symptom of something more serious.”

She nodded, not liking the sound of that. She changed quickly and was already back sitting down on the examination table when he came back in two minutes later. Behind him, was his wife, the other doctor at the clinic. She looked less disheveled than he did, but apparently whatever was causing Dr. Thomas stress, was also affecting her. Her hair, which was normally sleek and styled, was knotted at the top of her head in a messy bun. Her normally perfectly made-up face appeared to be completely free of make-up, and her lab coat was wrinkled and stained in a couple of places.

“Lay down on your side facing the wall, please,” he said. “Since we are low on staff today, my wife will assist me today.

Natasha did as she was told, but was confused as to why he needed assistance. She had just settled onto her side when she felt a hand on her hip and her gown being pulled up. She started to sit up, but two other hands grabbed her shoulders and held her down.

“Wait, what’s hap—”

There was a sharp pain near her hip. She tried to fight against the hands holding her down, but sleep was quickly crowding in from the sides, threatening to wash over her. Something wasn’t right. But she was starting to not care. She tried to sit up one more time, before giving in to the comfortable embrace of sleep that was enveloping her.

A Grave Mistake: Chapter 7

If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out A Grave Mistake: Part 1

Magic isn’t always something you feel. You can have it flowing through your veins and never know it’s there. Then, one day, BAM! But in a good way. Magic will always try to protect its host.

CHAPTER 5 – EVAN WAGNER
Day 2, 6:55 pm

Evan was late for his date with his girlfriend, Stacey. Again. He checked his reflection in the mirror and ran his hands through his hair trying to get it to sit right. He was almost out the door when he realized he’d forgotten his keys. Grabbing them, he booked it to the door and hit the garage door opener. He was just grabbing the door handle to his car when everything went black as cloth slipped over his head. Arms wrapped around him and lifted him into the air. Instinctively, he relaxed his body making it dead weight and managed to slither out of his captor’s arms. He ripped the hood off his head, grateful to be able to see again. There were two men in the garage with him that he could see. One was on the ground trying to get up. The other was coming straight for him.

He tried to get back into his car again, but he didn’t have enough time. One of them grabbed his wrist. He tried to yank his hand out of the man’s grasp, but when he did, his wrist stretched out and slid through the fist of his attacker. Evan stared stunned as his wrist as it snapped back into to normal.

By this time, the other guy managed to get back on his feet and grabbed Evan around the chest. Again, Evan slid out of other man’s grasp. He understood now that he wasn’t just sliding through, he was stretching out, making his body long, thin, and impossible to hold onto. As his body snapped back to it’s original shape, he turned, and punched the first guy who was advancing towards him, dove into his car, and slammed the door. The guy he punched was still lying on the floor, but Evan had no idea where the second one had gone.

He started the engine and just as he was backing out of the garage, a baseball bat slammed against the back window shattering it.

“Are you insane?” he shouted as he floored car down the driveway. The two men chased after him until they got to a black van parked along the side of the road and jumped in. But Evan had already turned the corner and was out of sight. He took every turn, going back and forth between left and right, weaving his way out.

By the time, had doubled back a few times to make sure he wasn’t being followed, he was a half hour late, his shirt was torn, and he had dried blood on his face. He wasn’t even sure if it was his.

He sat in the car for a moment trying to calm down. He held his hand out in front of him, examining the front and back, but he didn’t notice anything different. Then, he tried pulling on one of his fingers and watched as it stretched out to twice it’s length. He let go and his finger retracted back into form. Then he tried bending his wrist. Normally, he couldn’t bend it much past a 90-degree angle. Now it bent until his hand was flush against his arm.

Well that’s new.

When he went inside he must have been quite the sight to see because Stacey didn’t even comment on him being late.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re bleeding!” She took a step closer, examining his face for cuts. He slid past her and into the bathroom.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “I just got my shirt caught on something which made me trip and fall.”

After he cleaned the blood off his face, they agreed to order in and watch a movie which he was thoroughly grateful for. He wasn’t eager to go out with two men trying to attack him.

Throughout the night he continued to stare out the window checking to see if anyone was sneaking up the front lawn. At every noise he jumped in the air.

“What is wrong with you tonight?” she asked, after he jumped again.

“Nothing,” he said, adjusting the blanket they were snuggled in.

She arched her eyebrow at him. He was about to deny again, but then he heard another thump.

“What was that?” he asked, jumping to his feet and looking around. The blanket lay pooled on the ground.

“It was just Panther,” she said, rolling her eyes. Sure enough, Stacey’s black cat rounded the couch and jumped into her lap purring.

“I guess I’m a bit on edge tonight.” He said. “I think I should go.”

He started driving home, but knew he couldn’t go home. He needed somewhere to lie low. He pulled a U-turn and started driving to his brother’s house. Behind him, he missed the black van he’d just passed that was driving in the opposite direction pull a U-turn down the road and followed a little ways behind him.

A Grave Mistake: Chapter 6

If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out A Grave Mistake: Part 1

Magic should not be held tight. If you want it to grow, if you want it multiply, you need to use it. Many don’t realize that magic has personality and is quite insecure. You need to nurture and coddle it, praise and encourage it. Then you’ll find it getting stronger. 

CHAPTER 4 – HAROLD WATSON
Day 2, 1 pm

Harold woke up after a sound sleep convinced that his trip to his grandson birthday party yesterday had been a dream. Even at 76 years of age, he was proud to say, he still had a vivid imagination.

He took his afternoon coffee into the living room and sat down in front of the window. Rather than doing his crossword puzzle, which was his normal afternoon routine, he found himself staring out the window at the hill in the distance. In the summers, when Brad was a kid, they used to hike to the top. They both loved cresting the hill and looking down over the valley at the rolling waves of pine trees. It was beautiful, but it actually wasn’t ranked high on the list of hiking trails in the area. There were better trails with more spectacular views, so their hill was often quiet. On a clear, sunny day like this, it made him wish he was there again, even in the chilly air.

Unfortunately, even if it had been summer, his old hips felt rusted and he knew he could never hike to the top in the shape his body was in now. But what if he didn’t need to?

Memories of yesterday flooded his brain and he couldn’t help but wonder, what if it hadn’t been a dream. What if he actually had been able to transport himself to his son’s house? He tried to remember how it happened and felt a bit silly for even entertaining the idea. But he was bored. And lonely.

Yesterday, it seemed he had imagined himself there in the details, so he stared at the mountain and tried to remember the sound of the wind through the trees. He thought of the occasional bird, the smell of fresh pine, dirt, and sweat from hiking. He could see a dusting of snow on the trees starting about halfway up the hill and imagined the sound of snow crunching under his feet.

The icy air tingled the skin on his cheeks and ears. He could feel the breeze cutting through the weave of his sweater and immediately wished he was wearing a coat.

That’s when he realized he was no longer in his living room. He looked around and found himself past the treeline at the top of the hill looking out over the city on one side and a blanket of pine trees dusted with snow dipping into hills and valleys on the other.

“Ha-haha!” he whooped. He’d done it! He’d actually teleported. That meant Cole had actually seen him. But this time, he was solid. He was actually here. Last time, everything had been transparent and he’d been able to immediately pull back into his house, but this time he was all here.

He rubbed his hands along his arms trying to warm them up. He’d just decided to go back to get his jacket when he saw something bright orange hovering over the tops of trees.

He squinted to get a better look, but couldn’t quite make out what it was. Then it dipped below the treeline and disappeared. A few seconds later it rose above the trees, a bit closer this time and bobbed above them. It kept doing this. It would leap out of the trees into the sky, twist in the wind for a bit, then dive back down out of sight. Each time it happened, it came a bit closer to Harold.

“Wait for me! You’re going too fast!” a voice called out.

The orange thing turned, then hovered still too far for Harold to see. Cursing is aging eyes, Harold squinted, trying to figure out what it was. It wasn’t a kite. It was too bulky. And it didn’t move like a balloon.

He stood there for awhile, held by curiosity when he remembered he had the ability to get a closer look. Harold imagined himself in the trees where the object had just disappeared. It went quicker this time now that he was getting the hang of it. His imagination burred with reality and he found the trees coming closer and closer into focus until he was standing under a particularly tall pine tree. He looked down and saw that his body was transparent, but was quickly becoming more solid.

“Whoa! How’d you do that mister?” a boy in an orange jacket said as he dropped down from the sky and hovered in front of him. Then another boy ran up from behind the floating boy.

“You have a super power too? Cool! Maybe I’ll get one then! I want to turn invisible.” He grinned at Harold. Meanwhile the boy in the orange jacket continued to hover in the air.

“Mister, why are you out here in your slippers?” he asked.

Harold just stared back in shock.

Chapter 5 coming soon 🙂

If you would like to start at the beginning, check out A Grave Mistake: Part 1

It would seem that humans may not be built to withstand magic. You might be able to harness it for a moment, yes, but at times, there seem to be side effects.

STORY 3 – NATASHA GILL
Day 2, 6:14 am

Natasha sat at the kitchen table with her morning cup of coffee and her list for the day. No one else was up yet and she was embracing the silence. She didn’t sleep well the night before, plagued with questions regarding her 5 ½ hour black-out. How had she managed to accomplish all of those things yesterday? And why couldn’t she remember it? She stared at her mostly empty list for today. Most of the things she planned to do today, she’d already checked off yesterday.

There was, however, one glaring item. Pick up car from Jason’s school. What was wrong with it that she’d left it there? If it had broken down, why didn’t she have it towed?

But the question plaguing her the most was, what if I forget today too?

Suddenly she had an idea and went down to her office and grabbed a journal from the bottom of the bookshelf. She’d only written in the first few pages a couple of years ago. She flipped to a blank page and started writing bullet points:

• Woke up at 4:47 am
• Drank 1^st cup of coffee
• Showered and got dressed
• Drank 2^nd cup of coffee
• Went through list for the day
• Started writing in journal just in case I black out again.

So that was plan. Write down everything she did as soon as she did it. If she still remembered it all at the end of the day, then it must have been some weird fluke. If she didn’t, well, she’d worry about that then.

She could hear footsteps upstairs as the rest of her family was slowly getting up for the day.

* * *

She’d just finished dropping off the last of her 3 kids off at school: one at the elementary school, one at the middle school, and the last one at the high school where she needed to pick up her car. After finding a spot to park the rental, she managed to find her car in the packed parking lot. Surprisingly, it started just fine so she drove it home and left the rental.

It would have been so much easier to have phoned a friend or asked her husband for a ride, but she was afraid she was going crazy. She wasn’t ready to share with anyone until she had a better idea of what was going on. Besides, she kept telling herself, it was probably just an off-day. No need to worry people over nothing. It was probably stress. She so badly wanted her business to do well. They didn’t depend on her paycheque so the hit they took when she quit wasn’t the problem. It was her pride. She didn’t want to fail. Not at work. Not as a mother. Not as a wife. Not as a person.

She just needed a day off. It was beautiful out, especially for February so she decided that, rather than taking a cab back to the school, she’d walk the 5km. Some fresh air and sunlight was exactly what she needed. Then, she’d return the rental, everything would go back to normal, and no one would be the wiser.

She recorded this in her journal, grabbed her new pair of running shoes, and stepped out into the cool winter sun. Not being in a hurry, she started walking a leisurely pace. After a couple of minutes she noticed that there was a man walking behind her on the other side of the street. The soles of his shoes kept scrapping the pavement as he walked, scuffing random rocks and pebbles along the ground. More the anything it was annoying and ruining her calming walk so she started to pick up her pace, hoping that he would turn down one of the side streets.

But he didn’t. He kept pace, staying the same distance behind her. She tried to slow down, hoping he’d pass. Instead, he slowed down too. When she stopped to pretend to tie her shoe, he stopped and pulled out his phone and looked like he was texting someone. When she stood up to start walking again, he put his phone away and started walking too.

Finally, she turned right at the next corner, and walked down one of the side streets. He crossed the street and followed. Now, she was getting nervous. She quickened her pace and cut down one of the walkways, between a couple of houses. He followed.

She picked up the pace again. By now, he was outright running to keep up. The walkway led down a pace and into a forested area. She was walking faster now and the trees were flashing past her, the wind blowing in her face. She veered off the path and went deeper into the trees until she came to another path that led out into a different neighbourhood. She raced down the street and turned at the first corner.

And that’s when it happened. She approached a red car that looked like it was parked in the middle of the street and passed it. Then another. Then another. Why were all of these cars parked in the middle of the road? She’d been walking for a while now and had reached the end of the neighbourhood and found herself at an intersection. The intersection as usual was crowded with cars, but just like earlier, all of the cars were stationary, even the ones in the middle of the intersection. She veered around them, surprised to see people in them. Curious, she wanted to stop, but she was afraid the man would catch up so she kept going. She was walking quickly now, not quite running: she didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

Finally, she saw Justin’s school and her car. Now, she’d be able to put some distance between the man and herself. She grabbed her keys from her purse as she walked. Looking around, she didn’t see him. What she did see were teens all over the yard and parking lot. It was about lunch time so that wasn’t the weird part. What was odd was that they were frozen, mid-motion. Every single one. Stunned, she stopped walking. As soon as she stopped, everyone started moving again. Had she just imagined that? She grabbed her phone to see what time it was, thinking she must have made great time. That walk should have taken about an hour. Expecting to learn it had only taken 50 minutes, she was stunned to see it took 3.

Then, something clicked into place in her mind. She grabbed her journal out of her purse and quickly logged what happened. So that was how she’d gotten so much done yesterday.

It wasn’t until she was driving back to the airport and got stuck at a red light, that she understood why she’d left her car behind yesterday. She quickly wrote that down too just before the light turned green.

She’d been driving for about 20 minutes and was almost to the airport when she couldn’t remember why she was going there. Then she couldn’t remember where she was driving. The half hour was quickly evaporating from her mind as though she was waking from a dream. A dream that had been crystal clear one moment, and the next, it was vapour lost in the atmosphere. She pulled over to the side of the road. The last thing she remembered was pulling the front door shut behind her as stepped outside to walk back to Justin’s school.

A Grave Mistake: Chapter 4

If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out A Grave Mistake: Part 1

Magic has always existed. And, like radio waves, you can’t hear unless you have the right device tuned to the right frequency. What if someone gave you tools to tune into that frequency?

HAROLD WATSON
Day 1, 4:30 pm

Harold hated going to the doctor. In his opinion, they were a bunch of quacks who insisted on telling him he was getting old. He already knew that and didn’t need a bunch of pills each morning to remind him.

He hitched up his pants as he walked back into his house with his sandwich, his reward for going to the doctor’s office this morning. He’d been living alone for the last 3 years, ever since Elise, his wife, died. He missed her. He missed his family. He missed having people around. Today was Cole, his grandson’s, fifth birthday party and he was missing it because his son, Brad, and his family had moved across the country last year.

He sat down at the kitchen table and unwrapped his sandwich. He could imagine the party now. He’d have dressed up as the clown for the kids. He had a bunch of amateur magic tricks that Brad had loved when he was little. Cole would open his gift and as soon as he saw it he would give Harold a giant hug. Brad would smile at him because he’d be impressed that Harold knew his grandson so well. But that wasn’t right. He didn’t know his grandson at all. He’d tried going to the toy store to shop for a gift and he didn’t have a clue. All of the things he’d been interested in last year either wasn’t there anymore or it somehow seemed to young for him. Most of it, he’d never even heard of. How could one year make such a difference? After an hour of wandering through the aisles and listening to other kids screaming and crying, he’d finally given up and bought a gift card.

But if they still lived here, he’d be at the party and Cole would be blowing out his candles. He could see it as though it was happening in front of him. Cole’s friends would be gathered around him as he took a deep breath, the flames on the melting wax candles wavering.

He closed his eyes and blew as the flames flickered, then wisped out. Cole’s friends cheered, probably more because they could finally have cake than because Cole had blown all of them out. Cole opened his eyes and grinned. Then his smile faded into confusion.

“Grandpa?” Cole asked, cocking his head to the side.

The image wisped out before Harold and he was back alone in his living room. What had just happened? He sat for a moment in confused silence.

A few moments passed when his phone rang. He jumped in surprise.

“Hello?”

“Hey Dad,”

“I was just thinking about you guys today. How’s Cole’s birthday going?”

There was a pause.

“It was going really well until Cole thought he saw you.”

“What?” Harold said unevenly.

“Do you mind telling him that you are not, in fact, here?”

“Sure, sure,” Harold said, his mind spinning.

“Hi Grandpa!” Cole said, sounding excited! “That was your best magic trick ever!”

“Thanks bud,” Harold said.

“Are you coming back?”

“No, no it only worked the one time.” Could he make it happen again?

“Oh,” Cole said, sounding disappointed.

“But I saved it just for your birthday.”

“Oh yeah?”

“You bet! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! Happy Birthday Cole.”

“Thanks Grandpa!”

There was silence as Mike came back on the line.

“Not quite what I meant Dad,” Mike said, sounding exasperated. “But thanks. I have to go, but catch up soon.”

“Sure thing. Good hear from you.”

“You too. Bye!”

He slowly set his phone back down on the table. What had just happened?

A Grave Mistake: Part 3

Tales of magic have existed for centuries. Elves, witches, fairies, warlocks, spells, wands, cauldrons, potions. How much is of your stories are real? How much is folklore? What happens when the magic world seeps from the seams and leaches into your world?

NATASHA GILL
Day 1, 4:03 pm

Natasha Gill couldn’t remember arriving at the airport. She found herself sitting on a bench by the Arrivals gate holding a coffee in her hand that she didn’t remember purchasing and wearing different clothes than she remembered putting on that morning. She’d been planning on showing the Stevens’ house to the Marshalls that morning so she’d dressed in heels and a blazer. Now, her long brown hair was pulled back in a braid and she was in yoga pants and sneakers. New sneakers. When had she bought those?

She checked the clock on the wall and saw it was five hours fast. Her cell phone gave the same time. That meant her husband, Jason’s, flight was about to arrive and she hadn’t even dented her to-do list for the day. The last thing she remembered doing was walking out of her doctor’s office. That had been around 10:30 am that morning. She flipped her phone to the screen with her list.

Not only was “doctor’s appointment” checked off, but it looked like everything else too. Even things she didn’t think she’d get to until tomorrow. Doctor’s appointment. The laundry. Update her website. Take photos of the Hassan’s house. Grocery shopping. Clean the house. Pick up Amelia from school. Drop off Justin’s trumpet. Drop Amelia off at ballet. Check. Check. Check.

Halfway down the list: Show the Stevens’ house. Check. That one scared her. She had just started her real estate business and things were slow. She was counting on that sale. She didn’t know what was worse: not showing up at all or trying to show their home in whatever state she’d been in today. Had she been wearing these sweats?

She continued to scroll down the list and noticed that there were a number of items added that weren’t there this morning, including “rent car.” Why would she need to rent a car? She rifled through her purse to see if she had keys or a receipt. Sure enough, there was a rental agreement signed for today at the airport for a blue Acura SUV. After looking further she couldn’t find the keys and realized she must not have gone outside to pick it up yet.

She scrolled to the very bottom of her list and saw that the very last item hadn’t been checked off. Pick up car from Justin’s school.

The arrival doors opened as the first passengers from Jason’s plane began to file through, some greeting people who were waiting, others heading straight for the door or the luggage carousel. She quickly jammed the paperwork into her purse, checked her make-up, practiced a smile, then stood up on her tip toes see over the heads of those waiting in front of her. A few moments later, Jason came through the crowd. He grinned when he saw her.

“Hey beautiful!” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and rolled his carry-on behind him.  as they began to walk out to the car, rolling his carry-on behind him. As they walked outside, he started to walk towards the parking lot, but she steered him towards the rental pick-up.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I had some car trouble, so I rented a car.” She smiled like it was no big deal.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.” She pulled the rental agreement out of her purse again as they arrived at the booth and handed it to the woman on duty.

A few minutes later they were on the road. “Wait a minute,” Jason said. “How did you get here if you didn’t have a car until you got here?”

That was a great question. How did she get out here? She cocked her head thinking fast. “Taxi.”

“Oh,” he said, pausing for a moment. Then he launched into the details of his conference.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Normally, she shared everything with Jason, but she was so rattled she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. At least, not until she understood it better. She knew he’d be concerned and would start asking questions. Good questions that scared her. Like how did she get out to the airport without a car and no sign of a receipt for a taxi. Why didn’t she rent a car in town? Had she been with someone? The black gaping hole of time in her mind scared her. What had happened to her today?

A Grave Mistake: Part 2