A Chance to Make it Right
The two vehicles sped down the road at wild speeds of over a hundred. Country side occupied the area around them, yet they were completely oblivious to the greenery. Her slender hands gripped the stirring wheel before her, her intense blue eyes staring up ahead towards the red corvette merely feet in front.
“You are going to get us killed, Parker,” Sydney’s strained voice said, breaking through her deep concentration. She shot a look over at the older man briefly, his aged form slumped into the seat as he gripped, with white knuckles, the door handle and the arm rest. His pale face was creased with concern as he stared beyond the windshield at his former pet’s speeding car, his permanent smile suddenly turned upside down.
“Relax, Syd,” Miss Parker said, increasing the pressure on the gas pedal. “The only one that is going to get killed is Boy Wonder... if I catch him.” She watched him shake his head in the corner of her eye, before glancing in the rear view to see Broots cowering in the backseat. The side of her mouth curled up as she noticed he had both seatbelts from either sides stretched across him, buckling him in tightly. Idiot, she thought, before returning her eyes back to the road.
Jarod has seemed to have gained speed from the last time she looked, quickly regaining it back in a matter of seconds. But suddenly, to her utter horror and disgust, the greenery up ahead spat out a small fawn, its freckled body leaping into the road, too damn busy frolicking to actually know what major mistake it had just made.
The corvette up ahead slammed on its brakes, its tires screaming in protest as they were turned cruelly out of the way to avoid hitting the deer and the car behind. Miss Parker, cursing Bambi and cursing Jarod’s softness for not hitting the damn animal, slammed her brakes as well, the occupants of the car pitching forward as momentum took its toll.
In the back of her mind, she heard Broots and Sydney screaming as the sedan lost control and slammed into the side of the red car in front, sending both vehicles down a deep ditch and into a grassy field on the side, nose first. The sedan flipped and landed, with a loud shatter of glass, on its hood, while the corvette slammed into a dirt mound only five feet away.
And then, there was silence.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“If you had the chance to go back in time, to change something that could quite possibly change the whole course of your life, would you take it?”
“Yes.”
“Then go!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The room was small, yet homey and warm. The bed, cowboys printed upon it, was unmade and the covers were tossed about. Toys covered some areas of the floor, airplanes and toy trucks piled in a toy chest at the far side of the room. The nightstand held a small lamp, its absent light leaving the bedroom dim. Sitting next to it, was a lunch box, cowboys, again, printed on it, the top bright with color. The morning sun shown bright through the window, its rays shining upon the dim carpeted floor, yet not enough to light the room completely.
Their eyes took in the appearance of the room, unsure and confused as to where and why they were here. Raising her eyes, she looked at her companions, seeing them exchange her confused look, before something bounding into the room caught their attention.
A boy, brown hair, brown eyes, came skipping into the room, leaping onto the bed and climbing over it to the other side. He was completely oblivious to the three people standing in the corner, observing him as he grabbed at his lunch box and bounded out the room once more.
Hearing Sydney gasp, Miss Parker shot him a questioning look before she slowly crossed the room to where the boy exited.
“Parker,” Sydney whispered urgently, following close behind her with Broots by his side. He reached out and gripped her forearm, his hands tense and shaking a bit with anxiety. “Did you see him? Do you-?”
“I’m not blind,” she snapped, looking around the room. “Where the hell are we, Syd?”
“Did you notice him? It was Jarod!” Sydney said with wide eyes. Miss Parker looked at him in bewilderment, before looking off towards the door.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am!” Sydney answered, releasing her. He walked past her and into the hallway, the aroma of a cooking breakfast filling his nostrils. Miss Parker and Broots joined him in the hallway, and slowly, the three made their way quietly down the hall.
“Charles?” someone called, and all three tensed and froze in surprise as a man, no older than thirty, walked by their view from where they stood in the hallway. “Set the table, will you?” the same voice asked, and the clanging of dishes and silver wear soon followed.
Resuming their short walk down the hall, they took in the bedroom at their right, and a small bathroom across from it. Obviously it belonged to the parents, the room a lot adult looking, with blue walls and a king sized bed, neatly made and tucked in.
Soon, they found themselves in the kitchen, a woman, her hair golden red and curly, leaning over the stove as the sausage sizzled in the pan. Turning, they caught the sight of her face and her rounded belly as she approached the table with smile gracing her lips at her husband, he already finished with his task. He leaned in to steal a kiss from her, before the small boy entered the kitchen from the living room.
“Hey you!” Charles said, leaning down to scoop the boy in his arms and tickle him. “You ready for your first day of kindergarten?”
Recovering from the tickle, the boy nodded excitingly. “I can’t wait to meet the other children!”
“I bet they can’t wait to meet you, too, Jarod,” Charles replied, kissing him on the forehead before placing him back on his feet.
“Did you wash your hands, baby?” his mom asked, and Jarod glanced down at his small hands and nodded.
“Yes mommy,” Jarod replied, before climbing into one of the chairs.
“Why are we here?” Miss Parker whispered to Sydney, looking away from the scene that was playing before them. Sydney, unable to peel his eyes away, merely shook his head.
“I’m not sure. Maybe to change something?” Considering what he said, Miss Parker returned her eyes back to the small boy that had caught her heart such a long time ago. She watched the young Jarod happily munch on his eggs and sausage as he talked with his parents about the exciting day ahead, when she knew exactly why they were here.
“I know what we have to change,” Miss Parker suddenly stated, and Sydney and Broots looked over at her in surprise.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
His tiny hands clutched at the handle of his lunch box as he made his way towards the building. Feeling as if being watched, his brown eyes shot across the green school yard to the black sedan parked on the side of the road, the two men occupying the car looking away quickly when seeing he spotted them. Jarod’s pace quickened as he bounded up the stairs, oblivious to the three people walking on after him, they too, noticing the car.
“The Centre,” Sydney whispered unnecessarily, before they entered the school, the halls bustling already with youngsters, grades ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.
Jarod‘s large brown eyes roamed the faces of the passing kids, shoving and pushing their way around him. Sydney reached out for the small, lost boy, but another hand beat him to it. “Where you going, sweetie?” said a woman from above, and Jarod rose his eyes to the stranger who had her hand gently on his shoulder in comfort.
“I need Ms. Johnson’s kindergarten room, please,” Jarod replied softly, yet in a perfectly calm voice. The woman seemed a bit taken back at the obvious intelligence in the young man, before she smiled and took his hand. “I know exactly where that it. C’mon, sweetie.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Good job, Michael,” Ms. Johnson smiled, looking over his shoulder at the drawing of his family, before continuing down the row of kids at the table. She almost gasped out loud at the picture she saw next, completely taken back by how well it was done... especially by a kindergartener. “Jarod... that is wonderful!”
Looking up in surprise, Jarod’s brown eyes met the woman’s. “You think so?” he asked, lowering his eyes back to his drawing of his family.
“Yes!” she said, leaning down on her haunches beside the brown haired child. “Where did you learn to draw like that?”
Shrugging, Jarod fiddled with his pencil. “I never really drew before.”
“Wow,” the teacher sighed, staring down at the picture. “Well, we found our artist of the class.”
“That’s not all,” Miss Parker whispered from the corner at which the three stood, observing the class. Miss Parker caught the smirk from Sydney in the corner of her eye, before looking straight at him. “Did it happen tonight?”
Sydney blinked, surprised by the question that was asked out of no where, before he nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
“Then, we need to figure out how to prevent it,” Miss Parker said, crossing her arms before returning her eyes back to Jarod.
“Who is that?” the teacher asked, pointing to a small, brown animal on the far corner of the picture. Jarod blushed slightly, and began to fiddle with a blue crayon.
“I always wanted a puppy, but mommy and daddy said I’m too young. So... I made one up,” Jarod replied quietly, looking up shyly as the teacher smiled.
“What’s his name?” Ms. Johnson asked, crooking her head as she watched the chubby cheeks of the young boy color once again.
Jarod shrugged, running a tiny fingertip in circles over the dog. “I haven’t named him yet. I figured that when he became real, I would name him.”
“But, how do you call him if he runs away?”
“He never runs away,” Jarod answered, his eyes slightly wide as he looked up from his drawing to the green eyes of his new, kind teacher. “He is always there, waiting for me every night. He guards me from the bad people.”
“Who are the bad people?”
“These men in black suits. Mommy said they were only teachers that were interesting in my intelligence, but they didn’t look like you. You are nice.” Ms. Johnson studied the young child for a moment, her brow slightly tense as she went over what he had said. Unsure if the ‘men in black suits’ were just as made up as his dog, Ms. Johnson merely smiled and nodded at the compliment. “You are nice too, Jarod.”
“Thank you, Ms. Johnson,” Jarod smiled.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The big yellow buses were a sight for young Jarod, he stopping abruptly on the front stairs of the school to look on at the kids loaded onto the large vehicles. Slowly peeling his eyes away from them, though, Jarod searched the parked cars on the side of the street to find his daddy. But, another car caught his attention.
“Sydney,” Miss Parker whispered, getting his attention with a jab of her elbow. Gesturing towards the street, Miss Parker eyed the black car, Sydney seeing it as well and narrowing his eyes dangerously. “We have to do something.”
“No, they don’t get him now... Tonight, we will,” Sydney said, his eyes glued to car and cursing the men silently.
“How will we stop it, Syd?” Broots asked, watching Jarod slowly retreat to a bench by the school and sit down. Sydney took a step towards the seated child protectively, still watching the men who were staring at the child.
“I’m not sure,” Sydney sighed, tensing as Jarod quickly got up and ran for the road, before spotting Charles waiting in his old Buick and visibly relaxing. “But, its our one chance to make it right. For Jarod... and his parents.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“How was your first day, little man?” Charles asked, ruffling his hair. Laughing, Jarod pushed his father’s hand away, running a hand through his hair to tame it.
“I liked it a lot! Ms. Johnson is really nice!” Jarod grinned, and then smiled proudly. “She liked my picture.”
“She did, did she?” Charles asked, putting the car in gear, unaware of the three in the backseat. “What was the picture of?” he asked, pulling out into the street and driving through town.
“My family,” Jarod answered, waving at some kids he made friends with, before turning back to his dad.
“Uh oh,” Charles laughed, running a hand over his hair. “Hope you made me as handsome as I really am.” Rolling his eyes, Jarod grunted in laughter, before turning back to the window.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Smiling, he looked on as the young child, he had grown to love for so long, ran through the yard, holding the airplane high in the sky and smiling. Behind him, his father ran up and scooped him up into the air, the little boy shrieking and laughing in surprise.
“Charles!” Margaret laughed from the porch swing. “Sometimes, I think you are as much as a child as he is,” she mumbled under her breath, smiling and shaking her head, before returning back to her book, her hand rubbing her pregnant stomach softly.
Looking up, Sydney watched as Miss Parker and Broots appeared through the front door, soon joining him at his seat on the steps.
“Well, we checked the window. It’s shut and locked,” Parker said, sighing as she watched father and son. “Guess if that didn’t hold them back before, there’s nothing we can do about that now.”
Nodding, Sydney turned away from her to watch, with slight envy, the happy scene. To think the Centre took all this away from such a young child was unbearable to think of, and it sickened Sydney to think that he was a part of it. How naive he was back then... or now.
“Well, gentleman, I think its time to make dinner,” Margaret called, getting up from the porch swing. After a moment of watching the two still play with the airplane, she shook her head and sighed heavily, placing both hands on her hips. “Anyone want to help make cookies?”
At that, both heads perked up and shot at her direction, before both guys ran for the porch, all the while Margaret laughing. “I knew that would get your attention,” she laughed, leaning down to lift Jarod up and onto her hip. Hugging him tightly, she kissed his temple, before turning and entering the house, with her husband in tow.
Smiling, Sydney got up and followed, Miss Parker and Broots close behind.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I love you, baby,” she sighed, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. “I’m so very proud of you.” Smiling from under the thick comforter, Jarod replied softly. “Love you too, mommy.”
“There you go, little man,” Charles replied, turning around from opening the window, and crossing the room to ruffle his hair. “Nice night. You should get some fresh air.”
“Thank you, daddy,” Jarod smiled. “Good night.”
“Good night, baby,” Margaret smiled.
Both parents stood by the bed for a moment, watching their young son slowly drift into slumber, before turning and exiting the small bedroom. Wrapped in each others arms, the young couple quietly made their way to their own room, and climbed into bed.
Sydney, Broots and Miss Parker stood from the far corner, watching the parents settle in for the night, before quickly making it to Jarod’s room. The brown haired boy was sound asleep, sleeping comfortably in his warm bed.
“Damn,” Sydney swore, looking up and noticing the open window.
“Broots,” Miss Parker snapped suddenly, and the tech winced. “Go to Charles and Margaret’s room and stay there. We might need to wake them up.”
“But, ah... how would I do that?”
“Just think of something,” Miss Parker hissed, pushing him towards the door. Turning, she found Sydney seated on the side of the bed, his hand outstretched for the child’s face, but, sadly, she watched his hand go right through him. Sydney’s brow lowered slightly, before reaching down and trying to grip the comforter, but it was like trying to grip the image of a projector.
“It’s like we aren‘t there...” Sydney murmured, almost to himself, his eyes still watching the boy sleep.
“Sydney,” Miss Parker’s voice broke through his reverie, and he looked up, seeing her wide eyes stare right through the window on the far side of the room.
Looking over, he too, spotted the black sedan parked on the side of the room, and the emerging occupants.
“Oh no,” Sydney sighed, getting up and crossing the room to the window. Reaching a hand out for the window, he tried to shut it, but it was no use, before looking over at Miss Parker. “Tell Broots to wake them!”
Nodding, Miss Parker spun on her heel and ran down the hall. Poking her head into the room, she found Broots sitting at a chair by the window, staring out it. “Wake them, you moron!” she snapped impatiently,
Broots leaping to his feet to obey. Reaching for them, Broots swiped at Charles’ face, only to have his hand go right through him. Looking up at her in surprise, Broots’ face showed the lost feeling he had plainly. “H-how?”
“Damn it,” Miss Parker said, entering the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sydney watched helplessly as the crooks carefully eased themselves through the window, all the while, Sydney swiping and clawing at their images.
“Parker!” Sydney shouted over his shoulder, watching the boy shift under the covers at the sudden noise. Suddenly, brown eyes shot open, darting over at the window to see the emerging men. Panic filled his eyes, his chest heaving with frantic breaths. Frozen with fear, Jarod lied there, paralyzed. With a sudden boost of courage, Jarod shout out of his bed, screaming when a hand clamped over his mouth and pulled him back against a man’s chest. Struggling and clawing at the man’s hand, Jarod felt himself being pulled towards the window.
“No!” Sydney screamed, reaching out for the boy. “No! Parker!” At that, Parker bolted into the room, just in time to see the mask that was pulled over the boy’s face. Running towards him with full force, Parker felt the anger burn bright in her chest, unsure why it suddenly hurt so much. Suddenly, a flash of light almost blinded her, it disappearing as quickly as it came and she landed into something hard.
“What the hell?” one of the men shouted as Parker ran into him, much to her surprise, before recovering quickly and grabbing the boy out of their arms without thinking. Parker, with Jarod in her arms, collapsed onto the floor as the two men made their get away. But her attention weren’t on them, it was on the weeping child that clung to her, shaking uncontrollably with the hood still pulled over his head. Carefully, she pulled the hood off, the boy whimpering and blinking up at her.
“Mommy...” he whispered, before seeing her for the first time, his eyes growing wide.
“Jarod?!” Margaret screamed, entering the room and seeing her son and a woman on the floor, Charles close behind. “Oh, my baby!” she said, running to him and wrapping him in her arms. At that, the shocked child dissolved into full force tears, his father crossing the room to hold him as well. Soon all three were crying, rocking back and forth as they took in the situation and how close they were to being ripped apart.
“Thank you so much-” Margaret began, turning to the woman for the first time, but stopped in mid sentence, blinking and looking around the room in surprise. She was gone.
Parker stared in shock as Margaret looked right through her, confusion flashing in her eyes as she searched the room for her child’s savior. Slowly, Parker rose to shaky legs, looking over at Broots and Sydney, who stood by the door. Sydney had a pleased smile on his face as he watched the young family on the floor, dissolved into tears of joy and relief. Finally, he met her eyes, and although she was still confused of what happened, she returned his smile.
And then suddenly, the room was filled, once again, with a blinding light. And then, there was silence.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The first thing she was aware of was the pain. Deep, gut wrenching pain. It burned at her legs and arms, but was not enough to keep her from climbing out of the demolished vehicle. The soft soil of the field around them prevented the car hood from smashing down on them, lucky for the three too.
Looking around, Parker took in the surrounding area, hearing the groan of pain from behind her and spinning to see Broots and Sydney following suit from under the car.
Looking around briefly, Sydney sighed and then met her eyes. “We made it.”
“Wow, but the car didn’t,” Broots said, looking back at the sedan. After a moment, Parker couldn‘t take it anymore, and carefully chose her words. “Am... I the only one that had a weird dream?” Parker asked, and all three exchanged knowing looks.
“Jarod,” Sydney whispered, he spotting the red corvette, whose front end was now completely buried in sand from the dirt mound. Climbing to his feet, he ran over to the car and looked inside. Parker and Broots saw Sydney visibly gasp out loud, staring in shock at what he saw. Quickly, the other two climbed to their feet painfully, and joined him by the window of the crashed car. All three peered into the window...
And then, there was silence...
Oooh... I’m evil! BAHAHAHAH! What do they see? What do they NOT see? Hmm... Find out in its sequel, ‘A Chance to Change’
°AngelWings°