Dodging Death

In the small town of Perkasie, there lived a little girl named Courtney whose life was pretty ordinary.  She was very creative and loved to draw, color, and play with her Barbies.  Courtney lived with her mom, and she had many friends that she played with in the neighborhood.  They were always putting on dramatic plays, singing to movie soundtracks like ‘Annie’ or swimming in her pool in the backyard.  One time, there was a cat that snuck into their backyard.  Of course, Courtney saw an adorable fluffy cat.  As she went to pet it, it attacked her and clawed at her chest.  Her mother ran towards them, and ripped the cat from her chest and threw it in the pool.  While that has nothing to do with the premise of the story, Courtney’s mother did everything in her power to protect her only daughter.  

As a teenager, Courtney found herself at a crossroads when she was invited to experiment with drugs by her adventurous friends. She was at a friend’s house.  She begged her mother for weeks to go to the house and her mother finally agreed, even though she was highly against it.  She had strict rules; her mother would drop her off at 7 and pick her up at exactly 10:30pm.  While she didn’t like the rules, Courtney agreed and went.  It was around 10pm, when her friend passed her a joint.  With one puff, she was coughing and realized this was a bad idea.  Out of nowhere, she heard a voice say, “Leave now.  Call mom.”  But she thought it was the pot kicking in and dismissed the voice in her head.  However, minutes later, her girlfriend’s mom called down to inform them that Courtney’s mom had in fact, just got there to pick her up.

A couple years later, Courtney went to a carnival where she met a boy who was a few years older than her.  He drove.  He was so cool because he had a car.  Falling head over heels, Courtney and Todd started dating.  He would tell her things that she wanted to hear, but then treated her poorly.  He would take her out to a nice restaurant but then accuse her of flirting with the waiter.  That evening, she went to bed crying, and as she started to fade into sleep with her eyes swollen with tears, she heard a voice in her head saying, “shh… it’s okay. He can’t hurt you.”  A couple months later, with the help of her mom, she broke off the relationship.  

Over the years, she had many heartbreaks.  The guys she dated never made her feel safe or complete.  After finishing high school and trade school, Courtney finally had her chosen profession of becoming a hairdresser and eventually owning her own shop.  She felt like something was missing from her life but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. 

As a twist of fate, she was going to pick up something she needed for work at the hair supply store and ran into an old friend of hers.  They met up at her mom’s house where she was still living, and they picked up where they left off as childhood friends.  They spent hours catching up, talking about movies and life, and how different things were.  He made her laugh.  Despite that her mother didn’t really know how he could support her daughter; her mom saw how happy he made her.  Two years later they were married.  It was a beautiful, quaint ceremony.  Only about 50 people or so in attendance.  She was dressed in a typical white princess gown, and that is exactly how her husband viewed her, as his princess.  That afternoon, shortly before she was to walk down the aisle, there was a voice in her head that whispered, “you’re beautiful, I love you.”   She of course brushed it off as if it was the words of what her husband was about to tell her.  The wedding and reception went as smoothly as it could.  

Over the years, despite facing heartbreaking setbacks, including a miscarriage that shook her to the core, Courtney’s indomitable spirit persevered. When she was in the doctor’s office, she heard a whisper that said, “it wasn’t the right time.”  She found solace in the love of her husband and the promise of new beginnings, embracing the joy of motherhood once more.  They welcomed a son a year later.  Three years after her first son was born, Courtney and her husband welcomed another little boy.  For the next several years, life seemed great with her little family.

That was until a near-fatal car accident on July 4^th left Courtney in a coma, teetering on the edge of life and death. Undeterred, she summoned every ounce of her willpower, communicating with death through telepathic whispers, determined to reclaim her place in the world.  She was not ready to leave her sons and her life behind.  She came out of the coma after 20 days and began the process of healing with her husband by her side.  He never left her, day after day.

As the years passed and her sons grew into fine young men, death continued to weave it’s whimsical tapestry of intervention. When her eldest son narrowly escaped the clutches of a drunk driver, but when he forgot his cell phone at home, the driver took off and spared him from a potentially disastrous fate.  He called Courtney to come pick him up because his ride left him.  The next morning, they read in the newspaper that young teens were injured in a drunk driving car accident, and one was hanging on for life at the nearby hospital.  Courtney realized it was her son’s friends and went into a panic but then realized, there was something that kept him from that car accident.  

Later that year, he joined the US Marine Corps just like Courtney’s father, and after he served his time in the military, he decided to become an electrician.  He had moved to South Carolina to be closer to his grandmother, but then after she passed away, remained there with his wife and children.  

A few years had passed, and Courtney’s youngest son was living in California.  Always a dream he had since he was a little boy was to live on the golden coast of California.  He became a physical therapist out there and had many celebrity clients including sports figures as well as action stars.  

As the holidays approached, Courtney had reached out to her sons to invite them back to the East Coast for Christmas with the whole family.  It had been years since the whole family was together, and now that she was an old woman at the age of 75, her wish was to have her sons, and their families stay for Christmas for a few days.  Her oldest son had planned to drive up from South Carolina, and her youngest son was planning on flying home a couple days before Christmas.  As he boarded the plane, he texted his mom to let her know he made the flight on time, and a voice whispered in Courtney’s mind, “get off the plane”.  That made her have chills down to the core.  A few hours later, she would get a text from her son, saying he had to catch the next flight out, because that flight was overbooked.  He’d be there the next day, and her husband went to pick them up at the airport.

As Courtney and her husband celebrated the joys of family and togetherness during a cozy Christmas dinner, death lingered in the shadows, a silent observer of their cherished moments. Yet, as the night wore on and the stars twinkled overhead, death's presence faded into the background, a mere specter of what could have been.  The next morning, as the family awoke to see what magic, Santa had left the grandkids, Courtney and her husband’s faces filled with joy as they watched their grandchildren open all their gifts.  Their sons had planned a huge surprise for their parents by gifting them a trip to Hawaii.  

The following morning, Courtney and her husband embarked on a whimsical adventure to Hawaii.  As they lounged by the serene ocean, Death reclined beside them, a silent companion amidst the gentle rustle of palm trees and the soothing lull of waves.

As Courtney and her husband basked in the tranquil beauty of Hawaii, Death remained a silent companion, his enigmatic presence casting a surreal aura over their idyllic getaway. Yet, as they savored the warmth of the sun and the gentle caress of the ocean breeze, a subtle shift began to unfold—a whisper of destiny beckoning Courtney towards a revelation she never could have imagined.

As the day turned to evening and twilight painted the sky in hues of orange and gold, Courtney felt a gentle tug at the edges of her consciousness. With each step, the veil between worlds grew thin, and as they reached the blur of eternity, Death stood before her, his form wrapped in mystery.

Courtney gazed into the depths of Death's eyes, only to find herself enveloped in a familiar warmth—a flicker of recognition igniting within her soul. As Death removed his sunglasses, a radiant smile graced his lips, revealing a face she thought lost to the sands of time.

Death transformed before her eyes, his spectral form dissolving into the gentle contours of her father's face—the same father she had lost as a little girl, now reunited in the embrace of eternal love.

Tears of joy streamed down Courtney's cheeks as she held her father close, the echoes of laughter and whispered secrets filling the hallowed halls of heaven. In that transcendent moment, time stood still, and the bonds of love transcended the boundaries of mortality, weaving a tapestry of reunion and redemption that stretched across the expanse of eternity. Courtney drifted into a realm where time ceased to exist, where memories danced like specters in the shadows of her consciousness.  In the recesses of her mind, Courtney stumbled upon fragments of her past, delicate shards of innocence scattered across the tapestry of time. She found herself transported to a sunlit living room, where laughter echoed like music and love flowed like a gentle stream.

A two-year-old Courtney, her cherubic face aglow with wonder, toddled across the room with unsteady steps. Her father, John, sat in his favorite armchair, his weary eyes softened by the radiance of paternal affection.  John's voice, once vibrant with vitality, now trembled like leaves in the autumn breeze. His body, ravaged by the relentless onslaught of terminal cancer, bore the weight of mortality with stoic resignation.  "Daddy!" Courtney's voice rang out like a bell in the stillness of the room. She reached out to him, her tiny fingers reaching for solace amidst the impending storm.  As Courtney tried to hug her dad, a shadow of anguish clouded John's face, his features contorted in silent agony. 

Courtney realized even at two that she wouldn’t have much time with her dad.  But as the years passed, there were only photos and stories of him through her mother.  In the final moments, John's voice, though weakened by the passage of time, resonated with a depth that transcended mortal boundaries. "I love you, Courtney. Always..."  His words, whispered like a prayer, lingered in the air, an echo of love that transcended the confines of mortality. 

“You were there weren’t you?  You were there when I was in a coma.”  She said breathless.

“I was there for everything.  I didn’t let that young punk hurt my baby.  I was there to keep Lennon out of the car the night his friends got into the accident.  I was there to take Remy off the flight he was about to get on.”  He showed her a new clip of the plane crash that killed 359 passengers which happened to be the flight that her son was taken off due to overbooking.  

“And you’re here now which means…”. 

He shook his head yes.