Never Let Go

Angela lost the love of her life..can she deal with the separation?

 

            The priest’s words were all jumbled inside Angela’s head, secondary to the sight ahead. Angela’s eyes were stricken with tears as she wished that this was all a dream, even though she knew it was impossible to hope. The shiny, black coffin that glittered merrily in the sun was the cruel reality that shattered any hopes.

            A drunk driver took away her fiancé, Paul. Once she heard the news she had rushed to the hospital to be by his side. Angela did not make it in time; he died before she could get there. She never got her chance to say good bye. The injustice of it was enough to make her scream.

            She went numb as the final words were said and everyone left. The only people that stayed were the workers who were going to bury Paul. Angela watched as one took a shovel full of dirt and tossed it into the hole. The dirt thudded against the coffin top and Angela took off running for her car.

            Three days later Angela woke up with a start. The blinking light from the answering machine caught her eye. On it were three days of messages from friend and family whose calls she ignored. Angela got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom and hit the delete button.

            Angela went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet in the tub. While the tub was filling up with bubbles and water, Angela walked over to the closet and choose the clothes that Paul loved the most and laid them carefully on the bed.

            Angela removed her robe and steeped into the tub, lying down to let the warm water embrace her body. Visions and memories of Paul were going through her mind at a rapid pace which brought on tears. She let all the tears, the pain, and the emptiness go in her cry. The bath not only cleansed her body, it cleansed her soul.

            Sitting quietly at her vanity table she fixed herself up wanting to be perfect for what was to come next. Her clothes were the completion. She reached in and pulled out three letters from her dresser. These letters were important her family needed to understand why she had to take this course. Life wasn’t worth living, suicide was her only option. She needed to be with Paul. Already by her bedside table where the bottle of prescription sleeping pills with glass of water, one by one she swallowed the pills.

            Her breath started to come out very labored as the ceiling above her became blurred. She felt her body go weak. This seems to go on forever when she became extremely drowsy. Her already cloudy vision started to go blacker. Right on the edge of consciousness Angela thought she saw her mom’s face. Everything went completely black.

            Next thing Angela felt was a floating sensation and than a glorious light appeared and she went towards it. Suddenly she was jerked back from the light which than disappeared. Letting out a cry of anger Angela struggled to the spot where the light disappeared moments ago.

            “Don’t worry the light will be back. I want you to hear me out first,” said a voice.

            Angela could not believe who she was hearing. With tears in her eyes she questioned, “Paul?’

            “It’s me. What in the hell are you doing,” responded Paul. His words had a backlash of anger that bit at her heart.

            “I want to be with you,” she cried out.

            “I want you to be with me more than anything but not like this. It is not your time,” Paul responded emphatically.

            “I don’t care if it is my time or not. I don’t think I could live without you. I feel so lost with you not there. I don’t understand why you don’t want to be with me,” sobbed Angela.

            “I need you to listen. I love you. I will always love you. This has nothing to do with whether or not I want to be with you because I do. We can’t change what happened to me. Taking your life won’t make us live happily ever after in the light. It’s bigger than you and I. We can’t spend eternity in happiness when you caused so much pain in those you say you love,” replied Paul. The anger was back in his voice.

            Angela just stood there quietly thinking about what he said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone I just want to make the pain go away,” she said sheepishly.

            “The pain will go away. It won’t be easy but you have to give it a chance. Don’t shut out your family and friends, they will be your anchor if you let them. Take your time to mourn but also let your heart begin to heal. You still need to leave your mark on the world before you come back to the light. Once you fulfilled your destiny than we can be together,” Paul said with tears in his eyes.

            In her heart she knew what Paul said made sense but her head was saying stay. Before she could respond Paul came over and held her in his arms. Angela put her head against his chest and he put his head against hers. They stood there for awhile, happy to be in each other’s arms. Without warning something wrenches her out of his arms and held her away from him. In a flash the light was back. Angela screamed for him not ready to make a decision. The presence kept her from going to him.

            “Good bye Angela. I love you,” called out Paul. He stepped into the light which than flashed once and Paul was gone.

            Angela felt herself being pulled through a vortex at an unbelievable speed. Than she felt like she crashed into a wall. Angela awoke startled staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Painfully Angela looked around and realized that she was in a hospital. How was she alive? There was movement beside her bed that surprised her. It was her mom. She took one look at her daughter’s open eyes and immediately started to cry softly. Stroking Angela’s hair she could do nothing but smile.

            She leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead and whispered, “My beautiful angel, I reached you just in time.” 

           

 

Reviews

[Chelsea]

I really like your ending. It puts on emphasis on the fact that things happen for reason and there is some plan or purpose for everything that happens. One suggestion, I like the fact that she can talk to Paul, but I feel like his speech is canned- it sounds fake and rehearsed, is there any way you could make it sound more original?