Beneath my feet appeared to be a long road that led someplace but I couldn't see an end in sight. I began walking along the chalky colored dirt path, spinning and twirling as I went. I passed by a small clearing and notice two blurry images coming out of the woods shouting "Mommy." As they drew closer I realized that it was Caleb and Lilian, both older now and not the way I recalled them from what seemed like moments ago. Lilian held a mirror too my face, it was me but much older than I recall. How much time exactly had past? The questions began spinning in my head so fast that I felt ill and fell to the ground once again. My children helped me up and I stumbled to a tree stump where they gave me a drink of water. After the drink I felt better so we walked a little further up the path, chatting as we went along. Lillian was now finished her schooling and quite a young lady with children of her own. However, it seemed as though my son was not quite the boy he was before and this worried me. He was much quieter now and withdrawn. We arrived at Lilian's house and went inside. It seemed as though my girl had made a life for herself and I was excited to hear all about what had happened over the past eight years that I had missed.
It was a beautiful day outside, so after seeing the inside of the house, the three of us went into the back garden where my grandchildren were playing. Three girls ran up to me as if they had met me before but I had no memory of them. "Grandma" they all shouted at once and ran into my arms wrapping there tiny arms around me. Caleb left us to go into the garden shed and pull the barbecue out so we could fix some food. We had a delicious picnic and talked while watching the sun set. I couldn't recall the last time I had eaten so, especially for me, it was a wonderful meal and great family time. Night drew in on us as we finished eating, returned to the house and put the children to bed. They had already fallen asleep listening to the stories shared around the campfire so myself, Lilian and Caleb carried them in and set them in bed.
Now that I was back in the sitting room, I sat on the sofa and looked at the clock on the wall, which read 2 A.M. Myself and Lilian were not one bit sleepy so we sat up for several more hours, until the sun rose, talking about all the years we had missed. She talked about how our dear Caleb had come close to drowning leaving him ill for months with permanent crippling damage to his speech as well as his movement and hearing. It saddened me to hear about the awful ordeal he must have gone through. Lilian never did tell me how the near drowning happened but continued on to tell me of the many years I lay in the city hospital in a coma after my fall. So I hadn't died but was still unaware of what was happening to me. With so many thoughts and emotions running through our heads, we went bed and decided to continue talking in the morning.
I woke up the following day before everyone, so decided to wander around outside and see if I could recall if this was a place I had been before. Nothing seemed too look familiar to me except for the old wooden house down the stone path behind my daughters house. I ran to the house and the faster I ran the further it seemed to be getting away from me. Suddenly in the distance I hear a voice calling, "Mom, time to eat." I ran back too Lillian's where I found all the people I love sitting around the kitchen table feasting on a hardy breakfast. After breakfast and getting the grand babies off to school, my daughter and I returned to the topic of conversation from the previous night. I learned a lot that day from Lilian. My children were brave and both stuck together threw everything just as I had taught them. Knowing that I had taught both my children so many great values made my heart leap with joy and gave me a deep sense of comfort, despite my being gone from their lives for so many years.
Many days past and spending time with my family was a wonderful experience, but I felt it drawing too an end. Something was calling me and it was as if whatever it was started dragging me outside. It was much more powerful than me and I was unable to stop it. I shouted too Lilian a final goodbye with a promise to return as was wisped out the door. It was pulling me toward the mysterious house. As it drew me closer to the house, it swiftly twirled me around and pushed me through the front door. I stumbled over a bump in the doorway, fell to the floor with a thud and everything went dark.
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