Author: Michael Edward Sabat

It must have been the sound like wind chimes. Everything is so dark but the ethereal music plays in my head so clearly.

“Thom…”

I hear her voice. I know that voice.

“Thom, can you hear me?” the voice clearer this time.

Light slowly seep through as I open my eyes. I see nothing but the faint light and the soft melody still plays in the background. Suddenly, as though a rock shatters the glass in front of me, my memories come back.
It had been a cold and dark, snowy night in northern New Jersey. Late, almost midnight actually, and the icy rain started to pour.

“Don’t rush, Thom, I don’t care if they go in front of us but let’s just get home safely,” Skylar remarked. Her voice denoted exhaustion from the day’s long drive but we’re almost home as we drove on the New Jersey Turnpike towards Fort Lee.

I snorted and let out a wicked smile. Just then, as though daylight suddenly forced its way to slap my face, everything became so bright. Bright enough that I cannot tell if we were still driving on the road.

“Thom!” I hear her yell, but further away.

I look down and I’m no longer in my car. No, I’m mid-air floating. Am I dead? Did we crash?

“Thom!” Skylar’s voice was so clear, so I forced myself to turn and look.

I can see everything down where she’s standing beside our car, track marks visible from where the car had been led off the road stopping only at a snowy patch. The roof on the driver’s side was torn open like a sardine can. Skylar was outside the passenger door, the look of fear and shock has washed her face as she looks at me, our eyes leveling at each other’s.

What is it she’s looking at? I’m supposed to be dead, I thought.

Turning back around to face the light, I realized it wasn’t just one big bright light facing me. Several colors lit up as I get closer to the bright tunnel and then darkness.

Now I woke up to the sound of music and the voice of my wife but they are nowhere near me. Everything is dark like a prison cell with no light except the large window to look outside. I can see the earth far away and moving further away still. Strange beings are looking at me from my peripheries. I cannot see them, but they are there. Watching, studying, leaving me to my thoughts.

No, I am not dead. I hope she knows that.