It's a Wonderful Death - Sarah J. Schmitt Page 0,6
away and sighs. “Everything has been taken care of, but from now on, until you go through processing, talk to no one.” She turns to Sandy and repeats, “No one.”
We both nod and watch as she strides away, fading into the crowd. Once she’s out of sight, I feel the tension on my lips ease. “What was that all about?” I gasp, grateful for the sound of my own voice. “Or should I ask, who was that?”
Sandy looks shaken. Another round of names echoes over the loudspeaker and this time I hear Sandy’s name. “Hey, I think they’re calling you,” I say, expecting her to show some sign of relief about getting out of here.
“They always call my name,” she replies with a sigh. “I just never go.”
“Are you kidding me? What in the world would make you want to wait around here when you could go to the light or whatever it is?”
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a huge ring. “Because I can’t let go of this.”
Chapter 4
I stare at the ring, not sure what to say next. It’s a piece of art. Two leaping dolphins encircle the diamond solitaire and the eyes are set with the most brilliant sapphires I have ever seen. I would kill for a ring like that.
“He had it made,” Sandy says, holding her hand up to admire it. “My favorite book when I was a kid was Island of the Blue Dolphins. A friend of his, an art student, created the sketch based off the book as a project for an art class and a jeweler turned the drawing into a one-of-a-kind original.”
“Who had it made for you?” I ask, studying the ring closer. It really is amazing.
“My boyfriend, well, I guess it’s fiancé.” She pauses and her expression becomes soft and almost vacant. “Fiancé. Even after all this time, it still feels makes me want to giggle.”
“So when you say you’ve been around a while …”
“Nine months, sixteen days, and ten hours Earth time, give or take.” There are tears in her eyes and I wonder again why souls can cry. “For this place, that’s an eternity.”
“Why don’t you go through processing and be done with it?”
She motions for me to follow her and I do, mostly because I’m curious but also because the thought of being alone in this crowd of emotionally comatose people freaks me out. We find two chairs not far from the geriatrics and I wait for her to begin.
“He came up to see me a few days after spring term started. I was a senior at Notre Dame, studying business. James and I wanted to open a bookstore when we graduated. You know, one of those cool, independent places that eventually becomes a must-stop on book tours?”
I shake my head. I don’t exactly spend a lot of time in bookstores. Or I didn’t, I should say. My head starts going fuzzy just trying to think about my life.
She gives a sad laugh and I force myself to pay attention. “Well, I thought it was a dream life. We were going to raise our kids on great literature and live happily ever after. Sure, we probably wouldn’t make much money, but we couldn’t imagine a better job than being surrounded by books and people who love them.” Another deep breath. “Anyway, that night, he was supposed to be at Northwestern, not in the lobby of my dorm. I’ll never forget the look on his face.” Her sad look slips away as happiness takes its place. “He was so excited. And when I say excited, I mean he was almost giggling. It was so cute. He had dinner reservations for seven o’clock but it was snowing like crazy and there was no way we were going to make it, so we stopped at a little sandwich shop and then headed for St. Joseph Lake.” She laughs and her face lights up, almost erasing the scar on her face.
I’m not sure if Sandy is still in this conversation with me or lost in a memory, but I’m enchanted by her real-life fairy-tale love. “Did you know he was going to give you that rock when you saw him?” I ask.
“No,” she answers in a dreamy voice. “I thought he was going to ask me while we were home for Christmas, but he didn’t. Then I figured it would be over spring break. We were supposed to go to Hawaii as one last hurrah before graduation.”