| Jovian APAworks | Volume 1, Number 7 | July, 2001 |
Falling into the darkness, Carolyn could just make out the sound of papa's voice. "Carolyn? ...My God, she isn’t breathing. ...Call the medics...Carolyn...?"
"They’re all gone," a young voice intruded from the behind. Carolyn, gasping for breath, turned toward the voice in the blackness. Near her was a little girl. The girl looked to be at least seven year old and had blonde hair with white eyes. She was wearing a simple summer dress, and her image glimmered beneath a glowing aura. Carolyn reached out to her, Carolyn’s hand flexed and barred in panicked fear.
"Hello," the little girl responded smiling. "Are you having trouble breathing?"
Carolyn nodded, her burning lungs giving one last wheeze, "Y…es."
"Carolyn?" the voice of papa beckoned from high above. "The medics are on their way."
Mama’s voice intruded. "Oh God, please...Carolyn, hold on."
"Take my hand," the girl instructed, holding out her hand. "There isn’t much time." Carolyn reached out and clasped the little girl’s hand. She felt a comforting warmth bolt through her body, and then everything went calm.
Carolyn slowly gained consciousness to the sound of the girl singing. Opening her eyes, she still saw darkness all around. She could sense her own breathing now. It was steady and regular. Carolyn sighed as she tried to push herself up, but she could find no ground to push off of.
"Oh good, you’re awake," the girl’s voice stated simply. Carolyn looked toward the sound of the girl’s voice. The girl was sitting close by, floating in the blackness. She then jumped up and walked over toward Carolyn. Puzzled, Carolyn tried again to right herself but couldn’t. "Silly Auntie Carolyn," the girl taunted playfully. "You still aren't here, are you? You’ve done it so easily before; what is holding you back now?"
"Excuse me?" Carolyn asked. "What are you talking about? Auntie Carolyn...Where am I?"
"Well, that is a tough question to answer, exactly. The only way to answer that is to ask you where you want to be?"
"I don’t know," Carolyn replied, still confused and getting exasperated. "Somewhere other than here?"
The girl looked down on Carolyn for a long time before answering, then she reached down. "It’s much easier than you think. Give me your hand." Carolyn obliged. Suddenly, the blackness began to dissolve. Like paints washing off a wall in the rain, the blackness began to give way to values and hue. The scene slowly evolved into an impressionist vision of mottled images, large blocks of color that seemed to form more detail as the colors faded into the distance. Soon, everything clarified even more. Carolyn could make out the fleeting images of birds and the touch of a gentle breeze across her face.
"There you go," the girl affirmed happily. "You’re seeing it now."
Carolyn could now feel the cool grass with her palms. She ran her hands over the grass top as if inscribing angels wings. "Seeing what?"
"Where you are. Where you want to be."
"Huh?"
"You’re so stubborn Auntie Carolyn."
"Now, hold on a minute," Carolyn burst out. Pushing her upright, Carolyn looked at the girl squarely and was then a little stunned. The aura was gone, and the girl in front of her was now dark haired with green eyes. On top of it, Carolyn could clearly see where she was now, Hiesenberg Park on Elysée. At least that is where it appeared that she was. Gaining her composure, Carolyn asked plainly, "Who are you, and why are you calling me Auntie Carolyn?"
"My name is Isabella, silly," the girl exclaims joyfully. "I’m your niece."
Carolyn didn’t respond for over a minute, doing a personal sanity check in her puzzled mind. Finally, she asked, "My niece? I don’t have a niece."
"What are you saying auntie?" The young Isabella rebutted. "Yes you do."
Carolyn didn’t answer right away. After a short while of silence, Carolyn could then hear her father’s voice again. "She’s in here. Hurry."
Looking up, young Isabella intruded the distraction. "Auntie, there isn’t much time before you go away. "Remember this place. You mustn’t forget. Also, please tell Mommy Catherine that everything will be OK."
"What?" Carolyn responds, baffled.
"Also, don’t worry; Grandmommy and Grandpapa will be OK too."
"I don’t understand," Carolyn exclaimed, exasperated and confused. "What is going to happen?"
Young Isabella was starting to fade as the sounds of her father, mother and other strangers continued to come closer. "Remember," Carolyn’s niece called out.
Carolyn shouted out as the scenery blurred into shadow.
"No, wait!" Carolyn cried out, reaching upward with her hand. She felt someone grab her hand and hold it firmly.
"She’s breathing again." The voice of papa sounded relieved.
"Thank God," mama’s voice reaffirmed.
Carolyn groaned. She slowly opened her eyes. She could just make out the blurred profile of her father's face above her. Two other stranger’s faces were also looking down over her.
"Carolyn, you're awake," her father stated, sounding relived. "She’s awake," he continued.
"What happened," Carolyn asked, her voice groggy.
"You fainted and stopped breathing for a long while," her father replied. "It was as if you were holding your breath."
"I feel like crap," Carolyn asked.
"You screamed, and then you stopped breathing Carolyn," her mother interjected. "We were worried that you had left us."
"Hey, sis," Christine concerned face popped into view overhead. "You had us worried."
Carolyn started to push herself up, but soon grabbed her head in pain. "Ahhhhh."
One of the medics urged Carolyn. "Ma’am, it would be better if you just relaxed. Everyone else, please back off, give her some space. We need to run some checks on her vitals.
"She going to be OK isn’t she," Isabella exclaimed, sounding worried.
"Let’s give the medics their space dear," papa comforted.
Carolyn let go of her father’s hand and relaxed into the carpet, running her hands across the fibers. "Ma’am," the medic interrupted Carolyn’s train of thought. " Could you hold your arm still while we take your blood pressure reading?" Carolyn obliged.
Authors Note: This multi-part piece on Carolyn is intended as a prequel to her stationing on Stevenson Station described in Carolyn's bio, published in the V1R1 issue. You can also read the previous part, Part 4, or the next part, Part 6, of Carolyn's prequel story .
| Jovian APAworks | Volume 1, Number 7 | July, 2001 |
Jovian Chronicles is © 2001, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. Jovian APAworks is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.