“There’s nowhere to run!” yelled a voice behind me.
I ran in the darkness, cold, and all alone. I knew I was being chased, but I didn’t know by whom. It seemed like I had been running for a lifetime. But still, his footsteps were accompanied by his disgruntled voice.
“You must come with me now.”
Ignoring his pleas, I kept running through what seemed to be an endless abyss of shadows and nothingness. I had almost given up all hope until I saw something resonating in the distance. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it was some sort of light. The lights were pulsating in and out slowly. Again I pushed my legs to move me forward; I had to. The voice of my assailant seemed to be getting louder; he was drawing nearer.
Faster and faster I ran to the lights trying desperately to make out what they were. It seemed like those lights weren’t even getting closer, but my only other option was to stop and give in to my relentless attacker. He would surely kill me if he caught me. I have so much to live for; I can’t die right now…
Finally I made out the blurry source of the light. It was a cab, a yellow cab with its hazard lights on. I waved furiously at him, flailing my arms in the air as I continued to run through the thick blackness. Finally I got to his passenger side window and knocked on it. There was a man with a long brown beard in the sitting silently in the driver’s seat. He leaned over and rolled down the window.
“You need a lift?” he asked curiously.
“Yes! Yes, please we have to go now!” I responded as I opened the door and got in.
My assailant must have been terribly close by now.
“Please go! I don’t care where, just drive!” I yelled.
“Do you trust me?” he replied.
“Huh, what!? Yeah, whatever, just go!” I answered quickly.
He then put his hand on my shoulder and asked again in a serious tone, “Do you trust me?”
I turned to him and saw how serious his expression was. His eyes lay fixed on me awaiting a honest answer.
“Yes, I trust you.” I replied hesitantly.
The man paused for a moment and then turned back to the steering wheel.
“Then here we go, one more chance for you.” he said happily as he turned the key and pushed the accelerator.
I looked at him awkwardly, not knowing what he meant by, “one more chance”.
As he sped up I could see the shadowy silhouette if my assailant in the rear view window. Fortunately, he did not catch us.
We drove for hours. I didn’t question the man; he just kept a blank stare on the road. Without knowing it, I fell asleep after awhile.
“We’re almost there.” said them man in a grumbling tone, as he poke my gut.
I opened my eyes and saw light, a purple, pinkish hue on the horizon. It looked as if the road was leading into the sun which was rising in front of us. The light got brighter and brighter, changing into a fluorescent yellow shade that expanded from the horizon like a mother opening her arms to hold her child. I could even feel it slightly warming my skin as we continued down the newly illuminated road. During all this, the bearded cab driver said nothing and kept his stare only on the road. The light of the sun got stronger and stronger until I eventually could hardly see anymore. Everything turned white and for a moment, I was scared. I lost feeling in my hands at first, but then the numbness took over my entire body. I didn’t know where I was, where I was going to.
When I came around, I found myself in a hospital bed. I could hear the faint beeping of a heart monitor next to where I was laying. What had happened? Why was I here. A nurse was walked casually by my room window. She happened to glance up at me from her clipboard of papers to see me awake and curiously looking around my room. She abruptly stopped and gave me a long stare of amazement, then ran off briskly as if to find someone. Moments later the nurse returned with a doctor. They both came storming into the room.
“Stuart Michaels? Can you hear me?” he asked anxiously.
“Wha.. What? Where am I?” I replied in a mumbling tone; it hurt to speak.
“You’re at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.”
He continued, “Two and a half years ago you were involved in a serious accident. You went into a coma since then and now here you are awake and you seem to be healthy.” he said excitingly as he checked Stuart’s vitals and other health monitors.
I smiled a huge smile and began laughing. I lazily lay back in my bed and recalled my recent dream. “One more chance.” I said grinning. “One more chance at life.”