faith {?}

The serenity of my sleep was abruptly interrupted by water slipping under the door and seeping through my window. My bed began to soak and the shock of my sudden awakening caused me to jump out of bed slipping on the water filling the room. I began hyperventilating which made it difficult to react to the catastrophe as the water began to pool and gather, pushing me out of the door. I grabbed my shoes and noticed the rest of the building vastly flooding, my roommates and neighbors rushing out of the front door. In horror, I waited behind them pushing through the crowd. At last I was outdoors, hovering under a tree for protection from the rain that was crashing so hard I could feel it claw into my skin. The burning sensation on my skin and confusion from the foggy daze of my fading sleep state left me terrified and shivering in the cold with little to no protection from nature. The flooding crashed through the windows and glass shattered at my feet. Immediately I fell to my knees hovering my arms over my head to protect from any shards passing over my body. I had nowhere to go and no one to call, alone in this storm waiting for an escape.

A car honked three times. I quickly looked up, noticing a young man sitting in the drivers seat of a red car. He hardly appeared old enough to drive but his curly hair, innocent glowing eyes, and freckled skin was too welcoming to turn down. He motioned for me to jump in the car screaming, “Get in! Trust me – Hurry!”

Another window flooded and shattered, as I escaped the damage running towards the passenger seat making it just in time to hide behind the door as the glass shattered on the pavement. The young man drove – certainly above speed limit – rushing through the storm. The droplets formed into hail and the top of the car caved in, I screamed in reaction to the shock.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s not going to break.” He looked into my eyes glancing back at the road, somehow comforting me despite the danger of being in a stranger’s car.

“Who are you?” I asked him, questioning his motives.

“I’ve seen you around the neighborhood. You’re… Gaille, right? You typically get an iced cold brew at the coffee shop on Knickerbocker light ice… classic from Pitanga by the way. Can’t go wrong.” He was somehow so calm despite driving through a storm that was crashing at the windows. He didn’t seem affected by my shaking limbs and hyperventilation. His presence was warm and friendly, but I couldn’t pull myself away from the fear. The storm continued to worsen and buildings began crashing into each other as he just sat next to me driving with confidence not a doubt in his actions dodging all of the destruction.

“How did you know that? Might I add it’s incredibly weird you know all of that about me, and why should I trust you?” I considered jumping out, but the storm outside was far more dangerous than whatever this teenager could do to me. I was big enough to take him out if he tried anything, however despite my doubts I didn’t suspect any malicious intents. He spoke with such kindness and so far had only saved me from insidious harm.

He began driving faster as I grasped onto the car begging for him to slow down. He told me he knew what he was doing and for me to trust him.

“Do you trust me?” He quietly muttered, almost under his breath.

“How should I trust you? I don’t know you!”

“Did I not just save you? Are you not safe inside this car, right now?”

I sat breathing heavily, tears streaming down my face as I heard the crashing hail above my head, only centimeters away from my skull.

In a soothing voice, he ordered me to close my eyes.

“I can’t! Please, don’t ask me to do that right now!”

“Please, close your eyes. Trust me.”

I looked into his eyes and he looked back. His gaze was so calm, I could almost see eternity looking into his dark brown eyes as he held my gaze. His fresh young face was magnetically attractive and his facial structure impeccable. I somehow almost felt I had met him before or maybe even passed by him a couple of times at that coffee shop on knickerbocker. He made me feel like his old friend, and somehow I trusted him enough to fulfill his bizarre request and I finally closed my eyes.

The crashing rain and hail began to sound melodic. I could hear him humming words in another language that complimented the sounds of the horror outside the car. In my eyelids, a vision of light and peaceful surroundings filled my mind and I felt as if I no longer had any fear or control of my own thoughts. The feeling of the car rushing down the streets and into the void I could no longer see somehow felt like a swing in the forest, cold wind blowing into my face and droplets dripping down my skin. I stopped shaking as I felt his hand on my shoulder for a moment, and even when he removed it I could still feel it lingering on my shoulder.

I must have drifted into a deep sleep, realizing my surroundings as I opened my eyes. I was sitting on a bed in an unrecognizable room. It was warm and there was an open window with sun bleeding through and birds singing outside. I rushed out of the room, catching a girl walking past my door.

“Where am I?” I grabbed her attention as she glanced back at me.

“The Resurrection Inn in New Jersey.”

“Have you seen a young man with freckles and curly hair? Maybe 17 or 18-years-old?”

“Oh him? He must’ve left hours ago. I saw him carrying you somewhere downstairs.”

I thanked her as she went back to her own business. I sat by the window wondering where he could’ve gone, until I saw a note on the bedside table.

“‘Gaille,

If you ever need another ride, text me. I’m free to talk anytime.

212-555–8964′”