For the month of November, my Short Story Sundays will be excerpts from my NaNoWriMo novel, Second Chances. Please keep in mind that while this has been proofread for my blog, it is still first draft material.
This is the first part of chapter one. Enjoy.
I heard a man’s voice repeatedly tell me to open my eyes. I didn’t listen. I was too afraid of what I might see.
Everything around me was black. I didn’t know where I was, who I was with, or what had happened. My only clues were a man’s deep voice ordering me to wake up and that I must have been someplace cold.
My legs felt paralyzed. My arms were stiff and my face felt numb. Even if I wanted to open my eyes, it was hard to peel my eyelids apart. My chest rose and fell gently with each small breath I released from my swollen lips.
“Lesley…”
My name was being called again. I couldn’t react quickly enough to whoever was calling me. I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t look at the man.
“Lesley, it’s time to wake up.”
Was it morning already? How long had I been asleep?
“Now, Lesley.”
The man’s voice—whoever he was—became increasingly annoyed with me. His tone was firm as he ordered me to open my eyes. I wanted to tell him I couldn’t. I wanted to let him know that I could hear him, but I couldn’t speak.
“Come on, Lesley…” his tone was gentler now. He spoke softer almost as though he was my father trying to soothe my tears from falling off my bike.
I felt something press down on my chest. I let out a small groan at the pressure, but I still couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what was lying on top of me. I had no idea what was going on. I wanted to call out. I wanted to tell the man to stop, to leave me alone.
But all too soon, my body began to warm up. My legs twitched out of their paralysis, my fingers curling into a tight fist. My face tingled as it began to feel again. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter not believing that I was gaining control back over my body.
“There. That’s better, isn’t it?”
My eyes sprung open at the man’s relieved voice. My mouth gaped open as I drew in deep breaths. I had been breathing the whole time, yet I felt like this was the first breath I had taken in ages.
“Finally, you’re up.”
I turned my head to the right and gazed upon the man kneeling beside me. He grinned, baring his white teeth. He stood up, my eyes following him as he grew taller. From the ground, he looked as though he were about ten feet tall.
“You were a lot harder to wake up than you were supposed to be. I thought I had lost you.” He stretched out his hand to me like he was an old friend.
My bones aching, I bent my elbows and sat myself up. I grunted at the pain shooting through my body and winced.
“The pain will pass momentarily.”
I looked up at the man. His hand was still reaching for me. Not knowing what else to do, I took the kind gesture. He pulled me to my feet. I braced myself for more pain, but it seemed to disappear the moment he wrapped his hand around mine.
“There. I’m sure that feels much better.” He continued to smile and I stared back with a straight face, dazed and confused.
The man wore a white robe with a silver rope tied around his waist with a small bulge from his stomach. His feet were bare and his arms showed small muscles. His hair was brown and shoulder-length, tied into a ponytail. He had big, brown eyes that stared at me with hope.
I looked away from him, pulling my hand back to my side. I gazed at the surrounding area. I saw nothing. Everywhere I looked was white as bright as light. I looked down at my feet realizing that the man and I were standing on a long red carpet. I looked past the man to see where it led, but the carpet looked as though it went on for miles and miles. Maybe it never ended.
“I can see you have a lot of questions.” The man folded his hands together in front of him.
I drew in a deep breath and nodded my head. I looked at him again. “Where are we?”
The man looked down at the ground before responding. He then looked back up at me and frowned. “Do you remember anything, Lesley?”
“How do you know my name?” I narrowed my eyes. He knew who I was, but I had no idea who he was.
He chuckled nodding his head. “That’s a fair question. Allow me to introduce myself.” He placed a hand on his chest. “My name is Ezekiel. I am the one who saved your life.”
“Saved my life?” I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“I’ve been watching you for a very long time, Lesley. So naturally I know who you are and everything one needs to know about you.” Ezekiel explained nonchalantly.
“That’s really weird.” I took a step backwards. I didn’t know where I was supposed to go if I were to try to run anyway, though.
“It’s weird at first, but that’s only because you don’t understand. Lesley, I am your Guardian Angel.”
