Carter believed his ejection from the car came prior to impact because of his distance from the vehicle, and then it occurred to him how he had gotten into the situation he found himself in. His thoughts moved away from the chaos momentarily, zooming out of that scene and into another.
CHAPTER TWO
Sydney and Patricia Spence planned a family function religiously every Sunday after church with Carter, their only child. Even if it was just a sit-down dinner, they were happy, but Carter’s independence made this a difficult thing to schedule, at times. It wasn’t that Carter did not enjoy spending time with his family. In fact, they were a tight-knit family that may even be considered normal as far as dysfunctionalists are concerned.
Carter always said his life story was unremarkable, but he had the personality that made him okay with that. He was not a guy who liked attention, preferring to live under the radar. Routine was what he craved. He resided in the same house, same street, same town his whole life, and he wanted to know what was wrong with that?
Carter believed his parents deserved a tip-of-the-hat for his upbringing. He had no regrets, no war stories, yet no younger brother he could refer to as the Beaver. Carter still lived at home as a 25 year old, and he and his parents did enjoy each other’s company with only minor tiffs. The outrageous housing expense in Boston had skyrocketed beyond impossible, so if Carter tossed a few bucks at his parents on a weekly basis, then everybody won.
On this particular Sunday, Carter had a previous engagement with his best friend. He and Charlie Ritz had planned on purchasing last-minute tickets to the Boston Bruins game against the Colorado Avalanche. They waited until game time, even beyond, in order to get drastically reduced tickets from scalpers, who either accepted a few dollars or went home with unused tickets they would refer to as “evil souvenirs.”
Charlie Ritz had graduated high school with Carter and they played varsity baseball together. He went to trade school to be an electrician. He kept himself physically fit and was Carter’s workout partner. Charles had a quick wit, which sometimes got him in hot water. If he drove, it would be in his company truck. He wanted to learn all that he could from his employer of seven years, “Beantown Electric,” so he could eventually open his own business. He was always trying to convince Carter to leave his job and join him in business as an electrician. Charlie was willing to mentor him, and Carter could also help with the books. They had met in high school and formed a pretty close bond during this critical time in a person’s life. They continued their friendship post-high school as they both commuted to college while living with their parents. They even had that in common.
Carter and Charlie usually paid next to nothing for hockey tickets, but if the Bruins met their rivals, the two would have to revise their plans without a hockey game under their belts. The Avalanche battled for a playoff spot while Boston had already sewn up second place with few games remaining in the season. Carter and Charlie still had trouble, even though the game meant nothing for the home team.
They couldn’t find tickets to this Avalanche match-up to save their lives. The game sold out a couple of hours before the showdown, and everyone walked circles around Boston Gardens yelling out for anyone to hear, “Who’s got tickets? Need tickets!”
This meaningless match surprised these two ticket-seekers. They gave up early, and decided to go their separate ways. This usually only happened when the Red Sox played, even though Fenway Park had far more seats to offer. So after Carter dropped Charlie off at home, he returned home, where his parents had the car packed for a day trip.
Carter’s parents had planned a jaunt to see Al Gorman and his wife. Sydney Spence and Al Gorman had teamed up for over 10 years at their accounting firm, and Carter had been working at their firm since graduating college from Northwestern University three years prior. This season proved especially taxing, so they decided to take a day off and get together for food and drink.
Sydney and Al were far from rich, but just as far from poor. They were comfortable. Both possessed accounting degrees from different schools, but they worked together at this small company, buying it from their boss/owner when he retired. The boss was going to pass the business on to his son, but his son had died in a motorcycle accident two years before he was to take the helm.
Although Sydney and Al had no intensions of taking over the business, the boss offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse. This would ensure a more comfortable lifestyle for them even during the economic downturns such as the one they had been going through of late. They were all like family, and Sydney and Al had helped their boss through the most difficult period of his life when he lost his son. They began as coworkers and formed a bond, which strengthened when they had become equal partners. Every summer they would shut the business down and the two families would vacation together in a different state each year.
Since Carter’s plans never materialized, he decided to go along with his parents to the Gorman’s. He very much enjoyed being with this second family. Sports fans never swap boring stories. There’s always an incredible comeback or the save of a lifetime or a promising new season, especially if there is an addition to the roster, and that was always the case. Boston is just the place to live for any sports fanatic. Of course Carter would go for the ride. Besides, he had missed the last month of Sundays with his parents, which was the longest stretch of time since he could remember.
The Spence’s took the Mass Pike, which was the best route to the Gorman’s house, and they couldn’t have picked a better day. Mr. Spence sped down the pike, and Mrs. Spence copiloted. Carter viewed both of his parents from the back seat. His father fought the tax-season fatigue, which burdened him every year. Some weeks he would put in 75 hours, barely returning his own taxes before the deadline. One year he actually missed the deadline, which he still got ribbed about to this day.
Mr. Spence’s eyes began fluttering at 65 miles per hour, having just passed a car whose driver thought 55 miles per hour required the fast lane. The sudden switch forced Mr. Spence’s car to veer off the right side in seconds. Miraculously, no other cars were involved on this busy highway.
Carter witnessed this scene in a flash and in slow motion simultaneously. He watched it unfold before his eyes, yet he was rendered utterly helpless. He could hear layers of rubber thickening the pavement. However, the sound of car on tree was deafening, sickening, and fatal. That sound was what created the immediate separation for Carter.
This scene turned gruesome to those who witnessed. Everything happened so quickly, and Carter and his mother had no time to scream. Nor did they have time to process what was happening. Mr. Spence never awoke prior to meeting up with the stately oak tree. The car soared off the highway and became airborne due to the embankment, crushing the vehicle at the 20-foot mark. There was no question as to the height calculation. An ungodly rip in the oak turned it white from the missing bark, removing all doubt.
Carter’s body had actually ejected following the folding of the vehicle upon impact, pushing him out the window. Luckily, he and the car bounced in different directions. He landed in a clearing, but clearly did not look as if he would be on the list of survivors. The blood on his head may have come during his detachment from the car. It may have been the blood of his parents. He had no way to check. He landed on soft springtime ground, and there was nothing to interrupt his descent. He could only view the picture from above.
Carter felt that he must have landed very hard on the ground as his body looked rag-doll limp. It looked like he’d been through a meat grinder. There appeared to be battery acid holes in his jeans, and his shirt was tattered at each opening. He was lying on the ground and not moving. He became part of the highway side mixed in with twisted guardrails. Just beyond these guardrails stood a small forest, which included old and young trees, and a few bushes. Carter was lying
atop a thick layer of twigs on the forest ground. This spot in the usually tranquil forest had been violently violated, and this was only the beginning.
Every time Carter looked up from the scene of the accident, he could spot the car responsible. His vantage point was like no other. He knew it was a dark blue sedan, and he even had the plate number, but the car was getting further away and he had no pen. A car that was not at fault would’ve stopped, he thought, and faced the music once the wheels stopped spinning. Their speed increased following the accident. That does not bode well for an “innocent” plea. However, at this point the finger pointing was pointless. Carter had a situation under him. He truly felt in-between, and he had assured himself that he wasn’t dreaming.
On this busy highway on this tragic day, only the occupants of one car could claim to be eyewitnesses, and that was the car that in a way caused the accident. It also turned out to be the car that continued on with wherever their destination may have been.
CHAPTER THREE
Darkness swirled around Carter. He snuck another glimpse at his body below. Instead of sympathy, he felt a dose of blissfulness injected into him. Even though a commotion muddied the scene, Carter focused on how wonderful he felt, how carefree, and he hadn’t remembered feeling this way in all of his time below.
He felt the zero gravity that had detracted him from his body, but contentment resisted his fight to stay. He concentrated intensely on staying put for the time being, at least until he could better make heads or tails of reality.
A vacuum-like suction whisked Carter away, and although darkness enveloped his scene, he did see the light at the end of the tunnel. Carter thought about that expression for a moment, thus connecting it to its origin. This happened in a flash. He felt like a big smile. The tunnel seemed like it should be frightening, but Carter was not frightened. He just wanted closer to the light, which brightened, and brightened some more, and then some. He wondered how such brightness did not even make him squint. Carter certainly felt at home with this light. He wanted to be part of it.
Although he could still catch glimpses of his lifeless body at the beginning of the tunnel, his desire to move forward at the speed of thought overpowered anything else. His buoyancy, as odd an occurrence to the average person, did not particularly knock him for a loop. He just went with the flow.
Carter found himself with a permanent smile plastered onto his face. The harmony was intense. The air was thin. Carter noticed he could breathe easier. His overall feeling could not improve. He lost his sense of smell, but that was irrelevant. Everything that was relevant he had, and this was the reason for his eternal bliss.
He took it all in, soaked it all up, bathing in these gifts, and wishing to go nowhere else. He did a 360-degree swirl, which felt magical. He did not know how he did it, nor did he know why he could do it, but he did know that he didn’t care about the logistics. In this results-based world, the only thing that mattered was that he could do it, and he questioned it no further.
Carter took in the horizons, the lack of architecture, and the people going about their business. He saw a landscape which was way above the clouds and dropped off as it did with earth and sky. However, there were no buildings to blemish his view. Only trees and people dotted this Eden-like landscape. He did notice his stress level plummeted. His body just drifted about, sometimes using legs and sometimes not. He didn’t really need limbs anymore and felt like they had become obsolete. Carter realized that this is probably why humans go there when they retire.
As he floated toward the end of the tunnel, Carter saw gardens with vibrant greens, yellows and reds. Birds chirped away in colorful harmony, the most beautiful songs, soaring, arms outspread, and he craved to shadow them. Voices filled the heavens with music, but the sources remained out of sight.
A woman he didn’t recognize greeted him as he completed his journey. The communication that followed did not take place in the ordinary verbal, earthly way, although Carter thought he could hear words. The mysteriousness with which this communication transpired had no immediate effect on Carter. It seemed normal, and he did not question it. Rather, he just moved along as if this was a prescribed plan.
Telepathy is how Carter would describe it, and the two transposed each other’s thoughts. He felt some love in his lifetime, but the love he presently felt far exceeded any prior love he had experienced. Love here existed in the air. There was no fishing for it. He was loved during his lifetime, and he knew it, but he could not explain how different this love felt. He was different because of it, and that’s all he knew.
Love plastered itself all around, unconditionally, and contagious enough that Carter chuckled at the very thought of returning to life as he knew it. He felt as if he had reached Nirvana. He’d had this loving feeling once before, but the situation had escaped him. Particular feelings can be familiar, and in this case the feeling had once before occurred, but it was tucked deeply away as a vague memory.
Carter scrutinized his beautiful surroundings. Singing continued with the birds as well as the human-like voices in heavenly harmony. He wished he could see the singers just to see if they really played the harp up here in the attic. The sound was that special. He always wished he could play an instrument, but suffered from feelings of musical idiocy. But up here he felt would be his best chance to pull it off, and there’d be no critics. Precision attracted no such folks.
He saw no shadows, and the landscape spread forever. So this is what it’s like to die, he thought. The funny part about this thought was that he had been petrified of death in life. Now death became his preference. But maybe he was an optimist, he thought, and this brought new meaning to the saying, “the grass is always greener on the other side.”
He took in a panorama, noticing the brightness of the colors. It would be unjustifiable to even think about comparing them with what he was used to. The glossiness could not be surpassed by the earthly colors, and they enveloped his surroundings. He slowly rotated his head to observe them in the trees, the bushes, and the gardens, just to name a few. Everything sparkled. He wished he could have experienced this for his 26 years on earth. Instantly, Carter fell in love with this place.
Then he began to wonder if this was real life, and what he had experienced prior to this moment was just a dry run. Maybe life on earth was nothing more than an SAT score was to college. He felt that if he communicated that idea to those below, then they could be reunited with him sooner than later.
Carter suddenly began decoding the messages that the woman had been instilling into him. When she greeted him, she had put her arms out in front of her and said, “Welcome, son.” The heavens seemed to pause for Carter. Not only did it perplex him in the way she said it, but with the message itself. He thought that maybe he misread it. Clearly, this was not Carter’s mother. His mother had not yet arrived, and even though he believed she soon would, this woman hardly resembled her.
This woman was much taller than his mother, and had long, dirty blonde hair. His mother wore her black hair short and curly. This lady looked frail for her young age, but Carter’s mother had about 25 more pounds on her. Also, the rough skin on his mother could not have turned so soft. Not a chance, thought Carter. He could not detect one similar feature.
Then Carter lightened up when he thought of his mind even processing such silly thoughts. After all, “son” can be used generically. There doesn’t have to be a bloodline. Maybe she simply did not know his name. He let his mind release what it had just accumulated, and returned the greeting as he followed the woman at her side.
Carter wondered why death on earth was so tragic. This idyllic setting is where everyone ends up. Sure they celebrate people’s lives at funerals, but he thought they should celebrate it as a Going Away party. Many people believe in the afterlife and many believe that the end is the e
nd. You never really know until you pass over. Carter now knew. He also knew that the people who possess the truth cannot relay it back to earth. Those who try to relay the information back to earth, Carter knew as “Quacks,” and that’s probably why the truth has yet to successfully navigate its way to earth.
The irony of it is found in all the worry about people who pass on. Death is worse for the family then it is for the deceased, but isn’t that statement loaded? With tears flowing for the next several years by those left behind, it’d be nice if they knew that one day they would be reunited. If they only knew it was a temporary setback. If they only knew ahead of time that it’s only like a child going off to college. The entire family will eventually reunite.
Carter found this to be comforting and soothing, and healing for those who have lost loved ones. The thought that you only say goodbye “for now” would bring great comfort to those left behind. They would be together again in the future. What a joyful thought that would make funerals and wakes bearable. The theme would be to say goodbye for now.
Carter was able to look down and get a bird’s eye view of the people in his life. All he had to do was think of someone and the channel would change to a picture of their life at that moment. It was live television. Carter was like a kid with a new toy. He was amazed that he had so much control over who he contacted, yet he had no control over sending messages. The only control of message sending came in the form of incoming prayers from people alive on earth to those who had passed on. Carter wondered why on earth there was no way to transmit messages from north to south.
Carter continued changing channels and was surprised to learn that he was part of the conversation in every home. Everybody was crying for his family, but he couldn’t understand why. He felt like time was flashing ahead into the future, then zooming back to real time. The bounces occurred sporadically. Carter felt that he should be crying for those he left behind. He felt sad for them, and felt that it should be him crying. However, he took solace in knowing that they would again be reunited, and never again separate.
Desert Son Trilogy: Desert Son, Wayward Soul, Spiritual Intervention (Books 1-3) Page 2