Death XIII

 

Death XIII

The Veil or mask of life is perpetuated in change, transformation and passage from lower to higher, and this is more fitly represented in the rectified Tarot by one of the apocalyptic visions than by one of notion of the reaping skeleton.

Zero days. Twelve hours. Zero minutes. Zero Seconds.  (00:12:00:00)

 

Michael Thomas woke to the alarm buzzing beside his bedside. He turned in bed and stared at the vibrating clock. It read 6:00. He didn’t know why he read it each morning. It seemed that he needed to be satisfied with knowing that he was on time in life. That he was doing things right so far. Yes, Michael was certain that he was doing things right so far.

 

He sat up in bed before giving a hard smack to the alarm clock and it silence. He covered his face with his hands and rough fingers kneaded the skin of his cheeks as his wife, Sara, slowly sat up in bed and yawned.

 

“Good morning.” She said sleepily, and was able to give a weary smile. Michael got up out of bed with no answer to her. He went to the bathroom and closed the door to do what he did every morning. Sara laid back down in bed and stared at the bathroom door that held her husband away from her eyes. She never got a response from him, but she had never minded.

 

Zero Days. Eleven Hours. Fifty-five  minutes. Fourteen seconds. (00:11:55:14)

 

Michael’s children, Jake and Eliza, were still fast asleep since it was Saturday, and children don’t have school on Saturday. And since Jake and Eliza were both teenagers at sixteen and fourteen, they especially liked to sleep in late.

 

Sara brought out things to make breakfast, but Michael told her he was running a tad late. Since the clock read 7:05 and he usually left at 7:15, he knew he wouldn’t have time for breakfast. He went outside and started the car to allow it to warm so he would be able to drive comfortably in the winter cold. He hated the winter and he usually hated to drive in it. After scraping the hard crust of ice off of his windows, he went back inside and stomped on the front door carpet to knock the snow off of his boots.

 

“Sara, would you mind going out to buy some things for me? I promise to pay you back.” He smiled at her and she smiled back wearily. She had heard that before.

 

“Sure. What do you-“

 

“The list is on the fridge. Thanks.” He looked at the clock. 7:14. “I’m going honey. See you tonight.”

 

“Did you say goodbye to the kids?” She asked and looked towards him again.

 

“No, I don’t have the time, Sar’.” He went to the door and gave an absent wave to her.

 

“Bye, Love you!” She called to him just as the door closed. There was no response.

 

Zero days. Four Hours. Thirty Minutes. Fifty Four Seconds. (00:04:30:54)

 

Michael had finished his report at work and just turned it in. He took a break and scolded some of the new co-workers for doing some things wrong. He was tired of this job as he had to deal with many stupid people. He watched the clock from his desk. 2:30.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Five Minutes. Twenty-four Seconds. (00:00:05:24)

 

Michael was on his way home. Of course, it just had to start snowing as he left work. It was dark out and he seemed to be the only one on the road. He drove carefully although the road winded around the thick trees of the forest. He reached down, fumbling with the buttons on the radio. He pressed a few and a song came on after a small buzz from the C.D inside the machine. His eyes caught the small digital clock. It read 5:55. He looked back up on the road and continued to drive as he hummed to the song on the radio absently.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Fifty Seconds. (00:00:00:50)

 

Michael looked down at the clock. He swore under his breath and pressed slightly on the gas petal. He was going to be late home. He knew his day tomorrow would be off track. He suddenly felt the car jerk as he hit a patch of black ice.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Thirty Seconds. (00:00:00:30)

 

He gritted his teeth and gave a sharp turn on the wheel, but it was too much! The car swerved in the other direction and he saw a tree directly in the path of the car.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Twenty-three seconds. (00:00:00:23)

 

Michael automatically brought his arms up to protect himself as he expected the impact of the tree. A huge crash sounded, and he was jerked forward. He felt his head smash through something, although he knew it wasn’t the windshield.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Ten Seconds. (00:00:00:10)

 

The pain stuck him all at once. He felt something thick and warm run down the side of his face. He grunted and his vision began to grow blurry.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Five Seconds. (00:00:00:05)

 

He couldn’t see. What was happening? He couldn’t move. He tried to grasp what was happening in the situation. He couldn’t think. Everything was coming to him at once; but the clear thing was the pain that kept coming through him.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Three Seconds. (00:00:00:03)

 

As Michael sat here in his car, he didn’t see his life passing by. He didn’t see his family. He couldn’t think. He sat there, literally helpless for what was happening to him. Michael didn’t try to fight it since the pain overtook him.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. One Second. (00:00:00:01)

 

Even though the blinking clock radio read 12:00 in his car, it was really 5:56 to his wife, Sara, at home, as she waited for him. She had returned about an hour ago from shopping for the things he had wanted. Michael, of course, was certainly unaware of the time and of his wife Sara.

 

Zero days. Zero Hours. Zero Minutes. Zero Seconds. (00:00:00:00)

 

The pain for Michael Thomas finally stopped.

 

Reviews

[Orlando Murcia]

Wow, that was so deeply sad, and it sucks because some wifes are actually at home not realizing that there is anything wrong with their husband unntil they recieve a phone call or an officer has shown up at the front door with bad news. I loved it you are very very talented. Orlando Murcia

[Jacquelene Vanessa More..]

your countdown was brilliance...my heart immediately started to race