"Reassignment" (Flash Fiction)

[outerbanxmom]

 This is my first attempt at "Flash Fiction," a short story written in under 1,000 words. This one came in at 986. It's been submitted to a few places for publication. Hopefully someone picks it up.

 

                                                        Reassignment

      Just after my fifth birthday, I died during surgery. I know what you're thinking. Was there a white light? How long were you dead before they revived you? Yes, there was a light, brilliant and pure. And no, they couldn't revive me. I've been dead ever since.

     If you die under anesthesia, someone has to tell you you're dead. Your brain has no idea. I had no idea. I knew something was wrong. Like my body didn't fit anymore. It grew tight, impossible to breathe. I was being strangled, but all over. It felt like I imagined a straitjacket would feel, like some strange pressure crushing me. I had no idea it was Death. My soul being strangled by my dying body.

     Panic overwhelmed me. I started to struggle. I would be squeezed into nothing if I didn't escape. I could feel it. I had to fight my way out. Finally, I broke free and could breathe again. Except impossibly...I didn't need to. And then someone took my hand and led me away. A man, dressed in pajamas and a robe, with slippers on his feet. He looked terribly worried.

     "I'm so glad to see you, Rhys," he said, and I tried hard to remember him. I couldn't. I had never seen him before.

     My lip trembled. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

     He smiled gently. "I was told to wait for you. My little girl needs you."

     How confusing. But the man seemed so relieved to have me there, like an answer to his prayers. "Where's your little girl? Do I know her?" I asked, as he led me down a long white hallway. A bright light shone from beneath a door. Like a billion Christmas lights glowing. The man stopped outside the door and reached for the handle.

     "She's here. Her name is Addigan. She's five, like you, and she's very lonely. Very, very sad."

     "Why?"

     The man squatted down. Eyes level with mine; he laid his big hand on my shoulder. I couldn't feel its weight. "I'm like you. I'm here, instead of there with her, and she misses me."

     "What...what happened to you? Why are you here?" I asked.

     "I was sleeping," he said softly. "And I never woke up. My heart stopped in my sleep, sort of like yours. Except I had a heart attack."

     And then I knew. I didn't know exactly what I was, but I knew what I wasn't. Alive.

     Fear crept around me like fog. "But, how can I help? What do I do?"

     "Go through that door. She's there. She needs you."

     "But, why can't you go in and be with her? It's you she misses. She doesn't even know me."

     He shook his head. "I can't. I'm not allowed. But you're different. You have a special purpose now. You get to go back and be with her instead of being here, like me. You've been reassigned." He smiled, but I could tell by the sorrow in his eyes that he'd rather cry.

     I had no idea what my purpose was. Or what I was. A ghost? A spirit? Just dead? The man looked so sad. But hopeful. I realized I was that hope. "What do I do when I get there?"

     "You'll know. You'll know as soon as you step into the light."

     "But how?" I asked. It all seemed so impossible. That look of sadness. I just wanted it to go away.

     I watched the man's face as I nodded. He seemed to relax, as if peace washed over him at my agreement. Then he gently pushed me toward the door, and that incredible white light. I'd never seen anything so bright, but it didn't hurt my eyes. In fact, it felt good, soothing. The opposite of when you've been crying. It was calming, and I was no longer afraid. And then the light grew edged with the prettiest shimmering pink. I took a deep breath to calm myself -- out of habit I guess -- and stepped forward.

     The light surrounded me, warm and soft, like my mother's arms. Summer and Christmas and my birthday all wrapped into one. And then I knew everything. I knew that I'd died during surgery, from some unforeseen glitch with the anesthesia. But it was okay. I knew that my Grampa waited for me somewhere safe, that my aunt Edie wasn't sick with cancer anymore, and that she was waiting, too. I smiled at everything I knew.

     With my new knowledge, I expected to see a grown-up body to match my grown-up thoughts, but when I looked down, I was still a little boy, small and innocent. And then I stepped out of that incredible light, and a door opened. A closet door. And there she was. Addigan. Blonde and blue-eyed, dressed in pink. So incredibly, hopelessly sad.

     Her pale eyebrows rose in surprise. "Who are you?" she whispered.

     "I'm Rhys."

     "What are you doing in my closet?" she asked, eyes growing wide with...what? Hope? Relief?

     I smiled. "I'm here to take care of you. Your daddy sent me so you won't be lonely or sad anymore."

     "But who are you? Are you an angel?"

     "No, Addie," I said, and suddenly I knew exactly what I was meant to do, who I was meant to be. I took her hand. "I'm your imaginary friend."

    

    

[dottief13]

Mar. 11, 2011 at 9:59 AM

OMG.....i am just soooo overwhelmed by this...it's beautiful....u know i am not an avid reader but i didn't see this coming...the ending of this..........

ur amazing and that 51 ppl viewed it and didn't comment just floors me..it's beautiful.........i love all of it..............it is just amazing...

now i think i can read these flashes all the time....

soo sorry it took me soo long..u know i'm getting freaking old.............