Crossroads (2 page)

“
Claudia, don’t go!”
Michael whispered, knowing his pleas would make no
difference.

Now he could see right through her as
the brilliant sun framed the outer lines of her body, blinding him.
He took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, knowing she would
disappear. At that very moment, she vanished completely, leaving
him utterly empty.

“
Michael!” a voice called
out from a distance. “What are you doing?”

Michael ignored the voice as he
continued to gaze into the empty space, trying to figure out what
he was feeling.

“
Michael,” the voice
called out again.

Michael broke away from his thoughts.
“I’m coming,” he responded, annoyed by the unexpected interruption.
He walked away from where he had stood, with tangled emotions he
had never felt before.

Chapter 1

A Year Later…

I was swallowed up by
darkness. I
could feel my body begin to
levitate off my bed. Slowly, I floated higher and higher. I had no
control. Was this a dream? Then suddenly, I was running. Running
toward something or someone; but why? As my feet made contact with
the naked road, the grinding of pebbles was all I could hear.
Clearly it was a hot and sunny day, yet not a drop of sweat
developed on my brows.
Nothing seemed
familiar, so I stopped.

I began to feel anxious. Where was I?
Why was I here? Then I noticed that to my right stood a vast field
of sweeping brown grass that stood at least twelve feet high. I had
to bend my head way back to see the tips of the blades. As I
lowered my head, I saw her. Her presence was like a magnet grabbing
me to the point where I could not resist her pull. I knew then that
she was the reason I was running, so I started to run again. Every
fiber of my being told me to follow her, but I didn’t know
why.

She was a vision of pure splendor. Her
flowing white dress reminded me of a Greek goddess. Her dark and
silky brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, not a single strand out
of place. Her body was slender, with all the right curves, and yet
something about her was different. I realized then that I hadn’t
seen her face. She began to pick up speed as if she sensed me
closing in. I ran faster, but no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t
catch up to her. My legs began to feel as if a ton of concrete had
cemented them to the ground. Every ounce of energy I had could not
help me catch this “divine beauty.”

Overwhelmed with frustration, all I
could do was watch as she floated far ahead, turned right, and
disappeared into the field. I kept my eyes rooted to the spot where
I thought she had entered the tall grass, and when I reached it, I
turned and stopped. With both hands, I reached out and parted the
thick brown grass to enter.

What I saw was
breathtaking.
A sea of clouds was beneath
me. These were not ordinary clouds, though…these were
the clouds
you only
dreamt about. White, fluffy, foamy whipped cream was how I had
imagined Heaven’s clouds would look…the kind of magical clouds you
could walk on without fear of falling through, like being in the
most realistic fairy tale. I began to wonder, slightly panicked, as
to where I was and why I was in this place. Was I dead? How
beautiful this place was, but was this “life” for me now? Had my
wonderment of Heaven finally been answered? Then I saw her
again.

She spoke politely yet
with a sense of urgency. “Claudia, you need to leave. It’s not your
turn.” I was in complete shock. How did she know my name?
In hearing the power of her words and the
trepidation in her voice, my heart leapt. I stood there, frozen,
and as the fear that pierced every bone in my body subsided, her
words became insignificant as I stared at this fascinating vision
standing before me.

As I continued to stare
intently, I slowly began to feel hypnotized. The intensity of the
light surrounding her was captivating. It was as if this brilliance
was the inner depths of her soul radiating toward me—something I
wasn’t supposed to see, pulling me closer.
The strangest part was that I still could not see her face. I
desperately wanted to know what she looked like, so I just stood
there ignoring her order, hoping that maybe the light would fade.
But instead, the intensity of the light became too much to endure.
I quickly covered my eyes with both of my hands.

“
Please stop,” I
pleaded.

She spoke again, but this time her
voice was unforgiving and commanding. “If you know what’s best for
you, you must leave now before it’s too late!”

Before I could say another word, from
a distance, I heard a male voice, “No, Margaret!”

Suddenly I was falling at the speed of
light. It was so fast. Darkness was all I could see. My stomach
felt like it did when I rode on roller coasters at amusement parks.
My body never seemed to catch up with the ride, and my heart felt
like it was going to be ripped out of my chest. When was this going
to stop? All of a sudden, my whole body jolted for a split second
and then became still. I was no longer falling, but rather, I had
landed on something soft and familiar…my own bed. Had this all been
a dream? There was dead silence. As I lay completely still, I
managed to slowly peel my eyes open, one at a time.

Confirming I was where I thought I
was, I closed my eyes again. I tried to remember the details of my
dream before they faded. This was one dream I wanted to remember. I
began pondering all that I had seen and analyzing every detail.
Suddenly, I was startled by the sound of my cell phone. My heart
began to thump, and my body felt like it had jumped twenty feet
into the air.

“
What the—” I placed my
hand on my chest, only to feel my heart beating uncontrollably. I
had to calm myself so I let the phone ring several more times.
Feeling annoyed that I had forgotten to put it on silent mode and
still lying on my bed with my eyes closed, I reached over to my
nightstand to answer the phone. I didn’t want to get up just yet; I
wasn’t ready to start the day.

“
He…he…ello,” I answered.
Irritation crept through me as I wondered who would be rude enough
to call so early in the morning. I could have looked at the caller
ID, but I didn’t want to bother to open my eyes just to close them
again. This better be important!

“
Claudia? Claudia Emerson?
Is that you?” she asked, practically yelling with
elation.

It was Patty, the sweetest social
butterfly among my friends. Instantly the irritation disappeared,
but I wondered why she was verifying who she was talking to. After
all, she was the one who had called me.

Before I could even say a word, she
shouted, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you’re alive! I
thought it was you! I’m so sorry I called so early, but I had to
know!”

Patty was so loud that I had to move
the phone away from my ear. “It’s me. I’m fine. Why are
you—”

“
Claudia Emerson, you
scared the life out of me!”

Even with the phone at a distance from
my ear, I could still hear her loud and clear. I scared her? How?
My eyes opened wide with curiosity. “It’s me, but what did I—” I
asked as I placed the phone closer to my ear.

Patty interrupted, shouting again, “It
is you! Thank God! Thank God! I thought it was you! I thought you
were dead! I don’t know what I would do without you!”

Dead? Had something happened to me?
Was she somehow connected to the bizarre dream I had? “What
happened?” I asked, worried what her answer might be.

“
What? Seriously, you
don’t know?”

“
Know what?” I asked and
sat up.

“
Ohhh,” she said softly.
“You didn’t hear? I can’t believe you don’t know. I thought you
would have been the first person to find out.”

“
Hear what?”

“
Well, that doesn’t
matter. I’m just glad it wasn’t you.”

“
Patty,” I said
calmly.

“
I mean, not that I’m glad
she’s gone, but as long as it’s not you.”

“
Patty…Patty!” This time I
said it with more intensity.

“
Gosh! What a relief. I
was about to faint. I—”

“
Patty!” I stopped her in
the middle of her sentence.

“
Oh…sorry. I got carried
away. You know how I get when I get too excited. What did you
say?”

“
What happened? I still
don’t know what you’re talking about!” My tone was intense and
urgent, needing an answer.

“
Ohhh,” I heard a big
sigh. “Claudia Emerson died last night. You know, your friend who
has the same name as you.”

“
What?” I asked in
disbelief as my body stiffened, but it was more of a rhetorical
question. I heard what she said, but I didn’t want to believe it.
“Are you sure? Are you sure you got the right Claudia? I mean, I
just saw her last week. How could…I mean…I just saw
her.”

“
I’m sooo sorry. I
wouldn’t have called if I wasn’t sure.”

“
What happened?” I asked,
still in disbelief.

Patty spoke slowly, providing me with
all the details of the incident. Claudia had just been voted
homecoming queen, and her date was the homecoming king. She was
having the time of her life. They were going home after the
homecoming dance and were driving through an intersection when a
drunk driver ran a red light and collided with their car. Claudia
was thrown head first through the front window. She died when her
body hit the street below.

I sat completely still, unable to move
or speak, as I tried to comprehend what Patty had just told me. It
just didn’t make any sense. It couldn’t have happened. Claudia was
not dead; surely it was a mistake. Patty’s words brought me back to
reality.

“
Claudia, are you there?”
Patty asked.

“
I…I…what?” I replied,
trying to come to terms with this gruesome truth.

Patty continued to tell me details of
that tragic night. “I heard she wasn’t wearing her seat belt
because she didn’t want to wrinkle her gorgeous dress. Oh my gosh!
I just had a thought. I wonder if she would still be alive had she
put on her seat belt.”

“
Uh…uh…,” I
replied.

“
Claudia? Are you
okay?”

“
Um…what? Did her date
survive?” I asked, ignoring her comment.

“
I guess. I didn’t bother
to find out. Why? Do you know him?”

“
No. I was just
wondering,” I said. I let out a heavy sigh as I played the images
of what Claudia’s accident would have looked like in my
head.

“
I won’t be at church
today. I’m scheduled to work all day. I can try to get out of work
earlier.”

“
What? No…no. Don’t worry,
Patty. I’ll be fine. Really, I’m fine,” I tried to convince her as
well as myself.

“
Okay, but I’ll come by
after work. You may think you’re fine, but I think you’re in shock.
I’ll text you to let you know when I’m on my way.”

“
Sure, see you then,” I
said wearily.

Patty had started attending our church
when we were both freshmen in high school. Her natural connection
with people drew them to her, and instantly she became friends with
everyone. She knew everybody and everything about them. I don’t
remember how it happened, but we immediately became best friends.
It was an inexplicable bond that happened to two people without
really having a reason.

Patty had delicate facial features,
and her sweet voice was very pleasant, when she was not
ear-piercing on the phone. Her tall slender body would make any
girl envious, but that didn’t bother me. She was my good friend;
someone who I knew would be there for me through thick and
thin.

After we hung up, all I could think of
were “what if’s.” I just sat there, as stiff as a board, trying to
make sense of what had just happened. Patty was right, I was in
shock. You hear about things like this happening to other people,
but situations like this never happen to someone you know. There
was a quiet knock at my bedroom door.

“
Are you all right,
Claudia?” my mom asked. “I got a lot of phone calls wondering if it
was you.”