by R. Twine
‘She was very lucky indeed. Physically, she’s almost in good health. She can even run about pretty soon,’ another female voice said jokingly.
‘The doctor said she would like to be personally engaged in everything that’s required for the recovery. Well, well… It’s just unbelievable…’ the first woman said, and I heard receding footsteps in the hallway.
Despite the fact that all the life support devices which had kept me alive were switched off, I suddenly felt a surge of strength and energy and tried to wrap my mind around what had happened to me. A doctor entered the room and I spoke emotionally.
‘How come I’ve ended up in a hospital? What’s happened to me? Tell me the truth, do!’
My doctor – her name was Beatrice Louvier – took a seat opposite me and said, smiling, friendly. ‘Your grandparents are going to visit you tomorrow.’
‘My grandparents?’ I asked, puzzled.
‘Miriam, I’ll try to give you a full explanation of what happened,’ the doctor said slowly, stroking my hand reassuringly. ‘I can see you’re tormenting yourself with various conjectures.’
‘I have to know the whole truth,’ I insisted.
‘You’ve been here for five years, ever since the day you got into a road accident along with your parents. Your parents died while you survived, miraculously,’ the doctor said, watching closely my reaction to her words.
‘Please, go on…’ I asked her.
‘You were brought to the hospital with several fractures and non-fatal injuries which healed rather quickly. But you’ve been in a coma without recovering consciousness for five years, since immediately after the car crash…’ She squeezed my hand slightly. ‘At first your condition really looked like a coma, but over time, after a prolonged examination, we’ve come to the conclusion that your case was exceptional. This was the first time that modern medicine’s faced such a phenomenon. You seemed to have been fast asleep but you, while sleeping, lived a kind of life of your own. You stirred, you whispered something; you smiled and even cried… The sensors registered the state of your brain: it’s been functioning just like the brain of a completely healthy and awake human being,’ she said and went silent.
‘All this doesn’t sound like the truth at all,’ I said. ‘It may seem strange, but…’ I stammered and looked straight into the doctor’s eyes. ‘Please, continue.’
‘You’ve been growing up and developing like any child of your age should; now you’ve grown up to be a very beautiful girl,’ Beatrice said, smiling. It was the way my mother smiled in the old days – tenderly, sincerely and joyfully. ‘But in recent months there have often been tears in your eyes, you seemed to have been constantly calling someone… Later on you’ve even tried to put your hands on your belly as if cradling a baby.’ She went silent.
‘Is this all you have to tell me? Or is there something you’ve kept back from me, by any chance?’ I asked her after a long and awkward pause.
‘Shortly before you recovered consciousness, you suddenly began gasping for air, your face turned blue… The doctor on duty was in panic: there were traces of fingers on your neck; it looked like someone was trying to strangulate you… But there was nobody in the ward but you!’
‘Maybe, I was trying to strangulate myself?’ I surmised.
‘No,’ Beatrice objected. ‘There’s a surveillance camera constantly on in your room. The monitor showed that it wasn’t you yourself who tried to strangulate you. These were somebody else’s hands. You may not believe it, but this clinic has been a haunted mystical place since the moment you were brought here. There were instances when nurses had visions of angels hovering around and ghosts lurking about. I myself once saw a bright light on entering your ward. I squinted involuntarily, but when I opened my eyes again the light had already disappeared. I thought back then that this vision was the result of fatigue, but it turned out that I wasn’t the only one who had such visions. Once my bed shook violently, and the entire ward rocked; it looked as though an earthquake had started. We all were at a complete loss. All our patients at once complained of weird voices and sounds. In closed spaces, a raging wind was howling that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere… In fact, no one has been suffering from boredom here! And several hours before you recovered consciousness, the clinic was suddenly filled with the fragrance of roses…’
I listened to the doctor with great interest, but the story she told me wasn’t in any way shocking to me.
‘After this sudden suffocation we began fearing for your life again. But, fortunately, everything’s fine now. Bad things have been left behind in the past.’ Beatrice spoke quietly, lulling me with her pleasant voice. ‘Congratulations on your return, Miriam! Your life is just beginning… You’re only seventeen!’
‘Thank you,’ I said gratefully, somewhat relieved.
Beatrice left the room, leaving me alone in the room. I reached out for the remote control device – a TV set turned on with a click and its screen came to life. I couldn’t remember the last time I had watched it…
I saw a man with a serious look on his face pontificate. ‘My dear compatriots, it’s difficult to keep panic at bay while in dire straits but still I beg you to be reasonable. Unfortunately, the situation in the world is very grave: the number of various problems snowballs with every passing day. In actual fact, we have lost our ability to keep these processes under control,’ the TV anchor said. He had dark circles under his eyes clearly caused by chronic fatigue and lack of sleep. ‘One of the world’s major banks declared bankruptcy recently, and this demise left colossal financial losses in its wake. There’s danger now looming over our entire economic system. Our world lives in fear for its future! We’re on the brink of total collapse: unemployment is spiraling out of control, the social welfare system is falling apart, there are strikes and violent riots breaking out here and there, criminal elements are on the rampage… Wars and acts of violence keep on shaking our planet. Who is to be blamed for the fact that we are on the verge of disaster?’ asked the man, looking straight into TV viewers’ eyes. ‘In this difficult situation we can rely only on our own resources. Even nature itself has declared war on us! Natural disasters have become more frequent, they’ve already taken millions of lives. Enormous are the losses caused by the wave of global catastrophes which has swept the world recently.’
Was it worth recovering my conscience? I thought. I’d better have stayed on in my sleepy realm! I remembered salamanders, dwarfs, elves and sylphs. Apparently, it was they who waged this war defending nature against human beings…
‘The crisis has undermined the entire global system irrevocably. Political, economical and military conflicts deal major blows to mankind with every passing day causing colossal loss of life and material resources. We are united in our common tragedy…’ The man went silent, fished out a handkerchief from his pocket and padded the beads of sweat that cropped up on his forehead.
‘The arms race has engulfed all developed nations. The danger of a WWIII has become very real. Some countries are ready to attack whoever they deem to be their adversaries. ..’
I looked back at my previous life and recollected all the warnings I had received back then from both Angels. Would I really have to live through it all over again?!
‘The borders between many countries will be closed due to an ethnic unrest that is sweeping across the world,’ the anchor went on. ‘Nobody’s offered a recipe for successfully dealing with the crisis as yet, we’re on the brink of disaster so I have no moral right any longer to hide from you all the truth about this grave situation which is leading us into an ever more desperate dead end with every passing day. Our entire world – like a proverbial Titanic – is sinking, slowly but inexorably…’
This is only the beginning, I thought. This is only the beginning which brings us steadfastly ever closer to destruction. The world crisis is just gaining momentum. It will snowball downhill, steadily increasing in speed and scale. Mankind is irrevocably headed for its tragic end
…
‘I beg you to be compassionate!’ the man on the screen called to the viewers. ‘Don’t panic, remain calm… And then, God willing, this bitter cup will pass from us…’
I lay in bed trying to think over what I had just heard. The man in the black suit kept on speaking and his words gave me the shivers. I became afraid of leaving the clinic, which had been protecting me against the outside world for so many long years. What awaited me behind the door? How should I live from now on? Oh, My God, why have you ever woken me up? I remembered the Archangel’s words: People have to blame only themselves for the problems that engulf the world.
‘Granny! Granddaddy!’ I rejoiced at seeing the faces of my loved ones.
‘My dear Miriam, this is the happiest day for us! We’ve been waiting for it for so long!’ my granny said.
Tears were trickling down her cheeks. My granddad, overjoyed, also shed some tears. I noticed that he was without his usual walking stick.
‘You’ve come round at last!’ Granny kept exclaiming. ‘Soon you’ll be able to get back home and start a new life. We’ve repaired your Paris mansion and your house in Cannes – you may live wherever you like. Incidentally, would you mind staying with us? You have no other relatives, my dear grandchild. We’re going to devote to you what life we have left…’
They talked and talked, stroking my hair and hands; I listened, learning what had happened while I was asleep. The most difficult thing about it was that I would have to learn to live again! I refused to believe that the years I had lived through in my dream turned out to be nothing more than an illusion. I wasn’t surprised at all when the doctor told me that my parents had died – I knew it all along and experienced the pain of this loss while in the state of fast sleep. This pain was just a little fraction of what I’d gone through during my sleep! Apparently, this was why I was now watching the world through totally different eyes. The memories of what had happened to me were vivid and clear but, strangely enough, I wasn’t happy at all to be facing this new turn in my fate. I felt like running away from this world to return to where I’d been before: to my sleep.
I recollected how I had lamented and suffered while living in Heaven. How I had wished to get back to Earth. Could it be that the Creator had had mercy on me and sent me here again? I wanted everything to remain the way it had been. I’d lived my life out while sleeping and I didn’t feel like starting a new one. I’d rather be dead. I was afraid of returning to the world which had already caused me so much pain…
‘I’m afraid of going outside. I’m afraid of starting to live again,’ I admitted. ‘Is it true that major changes have taken place in the world?’
‘Yes, it’s true, my dear grandchild; the situation in the world is quite grave,’ Granny replied. ‘But in spite of all the difficulties, we have to carry on, we have to fight and believe that the best is yet to come… Mankind is strong enough to change things for the better. The main thing is to become eager to do it.’
‘Have no fear, Miriam,’ my granddad said optimistically. ‘We have to live life the way it is. The human race had to endure innumerous ordeals during the time it existed on Earth. So what? Still, we have managed to survive against all odds! And we still go on living!’
‘Hello, Miriam. My name’s Veronica, I’m your psychologist,’ a pleasant-looking young woman said. ‘I’ll help you overcome the fear and pain that lurk in your heart.’
‘Glad to meet you,’ I said amicably.
‘Miriam!’ Natalie exclaimed joyfully, bursting into the hospital ward. ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long!’
‘You’ve changed so much, Nat,’ I said. ‘Thank you for coming to visit me, I’m so happy to see you!’
My heart sang: my best friend is alive! Natalie’s alive!
The time came to be discharged from the hospital, and it was with some trepidation that I stepped over the threshold of my grandparents’ old house. Nothing had changed in it since I lived there with my parents. A new life in an already familiar setting? Well, it’s worth trying…
Natalie stayed in Paris for several days and she took me to the premiere of a film called The Unforgiven Sin.
I cried all through the screening. How could I possibly explain that I had lived through a similar story in my sleep? The film told the viewers about the parallel life I had been living up until I recovered my consciousness. The script was written by Jack Nilsson…
I was so shaken and the expression of my face must have changed so much that Nat asked me with concern in her voice. ‘Miriam, what’s happened to you? You’ve being crying your eyes out without stopping throughout the film; now you’re sitting pale as death as if you’ve seen a ghost. I suggested we should watch this film because of its unusual plot. I thought you would like it…’
‘Never mind, Nat,’ I said reassuringly to my best friend. ‘I’ve become somewhat sentimental and my attitude towards some things has changed. I think that in time it will pass.’
A car crash, the state of a coma, a parallel world – this was almost exactly what I’d gone through, too…
‘Granny, do you still have Mommy’s paintings?’ I asked.
‘Sure, Miriam,’ she replied. ‘We moved them to the house you inherited after your mother died. The emerald ring is kept there, too.’
‘I’d like to have a look at them,’ I said.
We pulled up near a big old mansion. Granny turned the alarm system off and we entered the house.
‘All the works by your parents are kept here, in the basement. As for the emerald ring, I put it in a strong box, it’s downstairs, too,’ she said, handing me the key.
‘Thanks, Granny,’ I said gratefully. ‘All the things that remind me of my parents are dear to me. I’ll go downstairs and stay there alone for a while.’
‘Certainly, Miriam,’ my grandmother said. ‘I’ll be waiting for you here.’
I went downstairs, opened the door, entered the basement and turned on the light.
I removed the covering from the first painting: as before, the little angel was staring at me with his life-like eyes, extending his hand with a bunch of black roses in it. I touched the canvas carefully and whispered. ‘I don’t want to experience the second time around what I’ve already lived through in my sleep.’
I came up to the strong box, dialed the code which I still remembered after all these years, and turned the key. The small door opened up: inside, there were some securities, little boxes containing jewelry and a big chest with a key inserted in its keyhole.
Confused, I stood still for a while, but then I overcame my confusion and took the familial ring out of the old box and put it on my finger. I marveled at the magnificent jewel which emanated an intense magic light. The beautiful emerald seemed to have woken up, sending me its mystical power and enlightenment.
Suddenly the ring squeezed my finger with great force, and the jewel began changing its color as if it was being filled with blood from within. I tried to get the ring off but all my efforts were in vain; the emerald seemed to have become part of me.
I pulled the heavy chest out of the strong box and put it on the table. Then I turned the key twice and took out an old tome. I stood still, mesmerized. This was the Book of Shadows.
I stroked its dark golden cover – and big black diamonds started to glitter. The Secret Annals began coming to life; the All-Seeing Eye gave off a dim light and opened up slowly…
I opened the book. The flyleaf bore the following inscription: "This belongs to Eve, the first-ever woman and the foremother of mankind who – despite the Creator’s ban – dared to taste the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge in order to become like one of us, knowing Good and Evil. This Book belongs to the one who’ll be seeking answers that will eventually lead her to the Truth"
There came the rumbling sound of thunder, and the house started shaking. The underground shock was so powerful that I nearly fell. The floor shuddered, the ceiling and the walls rocked, the dim electric bulb was tur
ning on and off. Thunderbolts came in rapid succession, shaking the earth and the sky.
The Book of Shadows grew increasingly bigger… A hairy hand crawled out of it wrapped up in a mist; the mist got closer to me and started to engulf my body… The concrete flooring under my feet cracked giving off a scary sound…
The earth quaked…
Author’s note:
(1) Gospel of John 1:1.
(2) Collège – French concept of Education System système éducatif français.
(3) Lycée – French concept of Education System système éducatif français.
(4)‘bulletins’ – In French schools 'bulletins' are termly progress reports written for each individual pupil.
(5) Genesis 3:1-7
(6) Genesis 3:16-19
(7) Incunabula (Lat., means ‘cradle’, ‘origin’) – the books published in Europe from the beginning of book-printing until January 1, 1501. The editions dating back to this period are extremely rare because their print run never exceeded 100 to 300 copies.
(8) Palaeotypes – Conventional name of European books published after January 1, 1551.