...What once was and what could be
The cycle turns and washes free...
A Far Distant Spring
Chapter One: Derelict Dreams
Written by C.L. Bishop
Heavy rainfall clattered onto the bottom of the upturned car as the dirt-covered headlights reflected dimly over the dashboard. It wasn’t much light, but it gave Angela just enough to make out the larger details of her surroundings. Her aching head swam through the confusion of the last few moments. Her seatbelt dug into her shoulders and stomach as she hung suspended in the passenger seat, blood was rushing into her head and her right leg throbbed deeply with pain. Panic began to mix with the building pressure as she struggled not only to free herself but to catch her breath until finally with an audible *click* the seatbelt clasp gave sending her tumbling to the car roof below.
Her scream mixed with the rattle of the damaged engine as she collapsed landing onto her injured leg and small shards of glass from the windshield sliced into the palms of her hands. It was all too much for the girl and her stomach lurched as she tried to right herself, a split lip had begun to fill her mouth with the coppery taste of blood. How long had it been since they went off the road? Seconds? Minutes? With tear-filled eyes, she tried to focus over to the driver’s side where her mother was still suspended. Calling out to her hadn't done any good, the crash seemed to have knocked her out cold but now free from her seat and able to inch herself closer Angela saw the truth. Her mother wasn't going to wake up; when the vehicle flipped the airbags hadn’t deployed and the car had tumbled, the broken steering wheel and deep river of red pooling underneath Diann's body cemented in Angela’s young mind how alone she was now.
Trying to avoid putting too much of her weight on her leg or either of her now bleeding hands she began to crawl out of the wreckage, most of the windows had broken and rain was beginning to gather beneath her. Exhaust from the tailpipe choked the air around the car, Angela considered if someone had been there when the car lost traction and went over the side surely they would be rushing down the embankment to help. But as she strained to pull herself into the night the only sound for miles came from the storm that raged overhead. Unable to hold back any more despair washed over the young girl as her tears joined the weeping sky.
"Little...Angie..."
The voice had familiar tones but carried weakly across the damp air. With a renewed hope Angela listened closely, squinting to fight back the falling water she scanned the hillside but there was only the storm and the sound hadn’t seemed to come from near the road.
"Please, anyone?! Is there somebody there?!" Her throat was raw and her words carried the desperation of a child.
Before she could react, something had grabbed Angela by the ankle of her broken leg and pulled her back toward the darkness of the car. Pain seared its way through every nerve and with what little energy she could muster she thrashed with her free leg and dug her fingers into the mud looking for anything to stop herself from re-entering the metal tomb. Inch by inch the thing in the car pulled her from any hope of rescue and as a swath of lightning streaked its way above she could make out the distorted and broken features of her mother looking back at her.
"Mine..." the thing that once had been her mother began to repeat, spittle and blood ran down the thing’s face with each possessive threat. "MINE!..."
Angela screamed as she was pulled underneath the body still hanging suspended from the driver's seat. Black sunken pits that had once held beautiful emerald-colored eyes bored into her soul and through the gore that poured through Diann's auburn hair Angela could see the flutter of wings. Hundreds of small flying insects crawled their way out of Diann's broken body and began covering every inch of the young girl. She couldn't break free of the thing her mother had become, she couldn't swat away the army of stinging insects, as the last of her resolve melted away the only thing she could do was watch the twisted smile of her dead mother tighten as everything went black.
-
A thunderstorm thrashed against her bedroom window as Angela flung herself upright. Sweat dripped from her hair and her leg ached with the raging weather outside. The warped reality of sleep gave way to the familiar contents of her room. She was safe, as safe as she had been any of the other nights since the accident four years ago that haunted her. She jolted slightly as her bedroom door creaked open to a crack.
“Angie, are you okay?” Sarah asked softly, the concern for her sister weaving itself into every word. “Was it another nightmare?”
“I’m fine.” She lied. “But you need to get back to bed, you have school in the morning.”
Sarah tiptoed into the room and sat her favorite stuffed animal on the foot of Angela’s bed. A small stuffed alligator Angela had named ‘Derpy Davis’ on account of the toy’s miss-sewn eye that set off-center to the rest of its head. It was one of the last gifts given to her by their mother and on stormy nights Sarah aways kept him close.
“Just in-case...” Sarah said before hugging her sister and heading back across the hall to her room.
Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead Angela lay back into bed holding the stuffed toy tightly and tried to hold back the tears of frustration. How many more times was she going to go through this? Why did it have to hurt so much, and why did she feel so guilty for being alive? There were never answers to these questions, only more and more half slept nights. Thunder rolled across the sky as she tried to clear her thoughts, five o’clock was just a couple of hours away. She was going to have to get what rest she could before getting Sarah to class.
Quietly crying she closed her eyes until finally, sleep would take her once more.
