In the Middle

Things always happen. Coincidences happen to, but this time it was no coincidence everything went wrong on one day. I nearly got fired, my guy ran off with my BFF, and a car nearly ran me over. So I went into work, and my boss was in a really bad mood. I got one complaint saying “My Frappuccino was too cold.” My boss would have fired me if my work friend hadn’t stepped in. I got home, and I found my best friend being all kissy face with my guy. They ran out, and I wept for an hour straight. When I went for a walk to clear my head. As I crossed the street I heard brakes screech. A Ford F150 was careening toward me, and I would have died if the driver hadn’t swerved last second. I was seriously freaked out. Everyone has bad days, but this was just plain awful! When I was going to bed a question and a thought drifted to my mind. Who was doing this, since this was no average bad day. What if it was a ghost? No matter what this day has brought, tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow was not better. My ex came back and tried to sweet talk his way back into my life, but I said heck to the no. The boss demoted me to a basic barista, but I did my best. There was a freak accident involving a blender. I nearly lost my head, but I was saved by my work friend. Her name is Calla Fellini, and that's twice she’s saved my butt. Later my ex came back with a big friend and tried to threaten me back into a relationship. Since I had my phone, I called 911 and let it record them threatening me. They came before I got shot, and arrested the pair of thugs. I was like 99% sure something magical was messing with me. That night I went out into the yard and yelled “Who are you! What do you want with me! Why do you want me dead!” Nothing happened. Why did I do it in the first place? To vent my feelings. When I got inside, my hot chocolate mug exploded,; but I was saved by a couch. Wow, it’s starting to feel normal describing my near death experiences. Is that bad? This kept going for a week, with insane accidents happening, and something saved me. Or just something plain bad, but that may be normal. Finally, I had enough. In the light of a setting sun, I went to the river and sat down. Once the sky faded to a dusky purple, and no one was around, I called out “Would whoever is messing with my life please show yourself? I need to know who it is.” For a few minutes, I sat in silence. Maybe it was just someone pranking me, no paranormal beings trying to get me. But then a dark streak flew past me, chilling me to the core. Just then, a gust of wind breezed in, bringing a smell of clover and cinnamon. I sat here, freezing and enjoying the smell at the same time when each thing turned into a man. The black streak transformed into a tall guy my age with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes that nearly liquefied my soul. He was wearing a charcoal grey vest and a black tee. The only thing weird was the black wings. The green breeze turned into another guy my age, but he was the other’s polar opposite. He had eyes that were as green as meadows, and hair that matched. He wore a sky blue hoodie, and seemed to have a cheerful aura, while the other radiated gloom. They seemed my age, but their eyes looked ancient. Mr. Dark Streak started this whole conversation off with a  “Nice to meet you.” His voice was rich and smooth, with a hint of rasping. Why did I not run away? I was frozen by the intimidation and sheer star power. My description did them no justice, and they were the hottest boys I had ever seen. Breeze jumped in in a melodious tone “Now now, we must introduce ourselves. Only fair.” He turned to me. “My name is Lucky.” Streak purred “I am Death. But please call my Shade. You have caught our attention, my dearest Melody.” Wait. Caught their attention? I’m not pretty. My hair is just stiff strands of brown, my eyes are just green, and I’m just me. If they want hot, check out my BFF. Lucky chided Shade “Don’t lay it all on at once. You could scare her away.” He turned and smiled at me. “Forgive my friend, Melody. For someone who can come out of nowhere, he has no subtlety.” I smiled and each boy smiled, a real “wow she’s cute” smile, not a fake one like my ex always gave me. Shade pushed in. “Excuse my friend. He has very little brain, and the rest is fluff.” I giggled, and they grinned at each other. Lucky sat gently next to me and started to explain what was happening. “Melody, we are not human. I am Luck, and Shade is Death. This is our human form. We were gazing at the mortal  world, and spotted you. Your beauty captured our interest, and we wanted you, each of us. Shade wanted to keep you with him wherever dead people go, and I wanted to make you my queen. Like I said, your beauty caught our eye. Your hair is the most gorgeous beautiful chocolate brown, your eyes shimmer with a fascinating emerald light, and I think you deserve to be like us. You would be...Grace. The body of Gracefulness. Or Love. We could find that later.” Shade interrupted. “This whole time, we were fighting over who could have you. I need you down in my realm, and Lucky Boy wants to keep you up here. We decided to let you pick. Come with me, Melody. You would be my queen, and we would rule the Land of the Dead together. I could make you happy.” Lucky said “You could stay in the sunlight and in this world. You would be my wife, and we could be happy, blessing others with our magic.” Two sets of gorgeous eyes ,one green one brown, pleaded for me to pick them in turn. I was stuck in the middle, and really hated to pick. They both sounded so lonely, so desperate to love me that I wanted to make them both happy. A blinding flash of light sparked behind me, and another wave of power rushed over me. I turned to see a woman in a white dress and a blindfold. She held a set of scales. If I had to guess, she would be Justice. Her voice resonated as she spoke. “Two choices. If you pick one, the other will grow bitter. I can offer you a solution.” I pleaded “Yes. Let me pick both. I want them both to be happy, and I can’t pick.” She looked me in the eyes and said “We use Persephone’s solution. You will split your time. Winter and spring with Lucky, summer and fall with Shade. It appeases everyone, and you won’t have to pick one. Unless you want to pick one.” I quickly said “I pick your idea. I will share, divide my time, and make you both happy.” Lucky grinned and grabbed my arm. “Hold still.” I shut my eyes, and a searing light flashed around me as I collapsed. When I came to, Justice was watching over me while Lucky and Shade argued about guy stuff. “Men, am I right?” Justice looked at me and said “You’ve got no idea how many times I have been harassed about my offers. This was one of the few where both sides liked it. But you are totally right.” We smiled and the pair walked over. It was the start of winter so I walked over to Shade. He wrapped me in his arms and whisked me off to my new home for winter and spring. Since then, everything has been wonderful. I was made into the embodiment of Love, turns out. I still look the same. But Lucky and Shade assure me I look like a goddess. Winter and Spring I spend in the Underworld, living with Shade. He’s really sweet, but gloomy. He loves me deeply. Lucky loves every second he has with me, and just wants to make me laugh. Turns out, he had convinced Bad Luck to organize a few issues, but Shade had been the one with the car and the blender. No biggie. I felt right at home, and I don’t feel stuck in the middle any more.