(excerpt from the new action novel: “Defying
Death In Hagerstown”:
As I exited the news building, the
day’s activity and stress finally hit
me. I was exhausted, mentally more
than physically. My legs felt like
they had heavy weights attached, and
my back felt like I had just played
a full game of football against the
Dallas Cowboys.
The air was warm and breezy as I
crossed the street to where my
car was parked. My mind was working
overtime in calculations and
thoughts of the entire day, of murder
victims, of Lolita, and my
newfound acquaintances who had been so
helpful in my investigation.
As I crossed the empty and dead-quiet
street, a dark car suddenly
swerved toward me with a screech of
tires that shocked me to attention.
My eyes quickly focused on the
vehicle, tires smoking as it raced right at
me. The split second I had to think
convinced me that I was a dead man.
My first reaction was to run, but
tired feet cannot outrun a car gunned
full-out with a head of steam.
Before I could move a muscle, I heard
a loud slapping sound of
hands, arms, body; I saw bright lights
. . . and then total blackness.
It’s amazing how fast a calculation
the human brain can make
in a life-or-death situation,
convincing the person in that tenth of a
second that their chances of surviving
their current severe situation are
almost zero percent. My situation was
no different. My mind came up
with me hitting a half-billion-dollar
lottery faster than surviving that
oncoming car.
The darkness quickly turned bright,
and I saw my mother and
deceased father as they looked when
they had just been married. They
were smiling at me as they were
illuminated in very bright light, as if a
spotlight was shining on them. All I
could do was stare. No words were
spoken; there was just brightness,
happiness, calmness, and peace—
perfectly quiet peace. Heavenly, I
thought, and then, Me? Heaven? Now?
No way! But if this
isn’t heaven, what is it?
We all hear about tunnels of bright
light, of relatives greeting the
new arrivals, and some convincing the
person who’s near death that it
isn’t their time yet and they must go
back. I waited, but there was no
sign, no communication, no tunnel, and
no movement. Just peace and
quiet like I’d never experienced
before.
Then suddenly, the bright light grew
brighter, blinding, as my
parents disappeared and were replaced
with just pure light. I wasn’t
scared or worried about hell or
heaven. I didn’t want to wake up, or go
back home, or do anything but bask in
the glorious bright light and
perfect silence—a silence I had always
yearned for but had never found,
a silence that solved all the problems
of the world. Maybe this is it! I
thought, hoping that heaven was
waiting for me.
But suddenly I heard a noise that
shattered the silence, though I
couldn’t decipher the sounds or even
where they were coming from.
They grew louder, and the light grew
intensely bright in my eyes. Louder
still, a man’s voice spoke: “Okay . .
. it’s okay . . . .”
My eyes slowly opened and focused on a
man with a beard—a
doctor.
C-2014 John Paul Carinci
from Defying Death In Hagerstownhttp://www.amazon.com/Defying-Death-Hagerstown-Morgan-Fiction/dp/1630473510/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
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