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Letters Across Time

By Anna Zogg

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Breath ragged, Lindsey Hayden clutched her side. As her feet sank into soft sand, she felt as though she jogged through wet concrete. Each lift of her legs took enormous energy. A steep embankment rose before her like Mount Everest.
You can do it.
The ocean growled, reaching out with foamy fingers as though to pull her back. It seemed to roar in disappointment as she escaped its grasp. A million bubbles shattered along the shore. Hissing filled the air.
She shuddered at the sound. All day she expected melancholy over her husband’s death to hound her, not this relentless anxiety. Today would have been their tenth anniversary. Before dawn, Alex would have awakened her with his lavish gift. How had she survived nearly four, long years alone?
The reminder should have made her weepy, however sorrow didn’t dog her. Never before had such unease gripped her soul.
Sunlight erupted between the clouds and horizon, splashing crimson across the landscape. She stopped and turned. Normally, the beautiful panorama would cause her heart to swell in worship. Not today. Why did it look like the ground bled?
“Enough.” The word burst from her mouth. For a few moments, irritation overrode all other emotion.
What was wrong with her? Earlier, a brooding tension had caused her to pace at home, driving her to ignore the threatening weather. After slipping on running shoes, she skipped her usual dynamic stretching. Before she’d jogged a half-mile, she sensed she wasn’t escaping the source of her apprehension, but running headlong into it.
Whatever it was.
Panting, she reached the road and paused to bend with hands on knees. Spatters of chilling spring rain struck her exposed neck. Lindsey straightened. The red landscape morphed into purple, appearing bruised as the sun slowly sank below the watery horizon. In moments, light would skitter away. She would be shrouded in a night as dark as the blacktop of the Oregon highway. How foolish to have left the house without reflective clothing or a flashlight. Isolation clung to her like a bad dream.
Her heart slammed against her sternum.
I have to get out of here.
Irresolute, Lindsey gazed back to the barely visible shoreline. The wheezing tide made her shiver. Not that way. The road will be faster. She started walking, and then sped up when raindrops pelted her. Ignoring her burning side, she pushed on and crested one hill.
In the distance, the lone light of her cottage glimmered. Soon she would reach home. Soon she would be safe.
Rain began to fall with determination. The soles of her shoes squeaked on the wet pavement while droplets pattered in hypnotic repetition. Several times she stopped, gasping for breath as the ache in her side grew. The recent injury to her right knee flared, reminding her she pushed too hard.
Again she stopped. As she peered through the darkness, she measured the distance. Not much further. The bright bulb on her front porch…
When the light suddenly blinked out of sight, Lindsey gaped. That wasn’t a welcome beacon shining in the distance, but an oncoming car. The single beam split into two blurry headlights. In a flash, she realized the danger.
On one side of the coastal highway a deadly chasm of tangled brush awaited, while on the other a sheer wall where it cut into the mountain. Not only that, but the road had narrowed. No room for both her and a fast-moving car. The thin strips of reflective tape on her socks provided pitiful help against the rain and dark.
She estimated how far to where the lane widened. Ignoring pain, Lindsey broke into a dead run. Now she could hear the car’s engine, whining and fading as the driver alternately accelerated and braked around the curve of the mountain. Too fast for this road. Much too fast for the slick darkness.
Nearly there. Rock Pointe lay ahead. Just beyond, a scenic turnout. If she could arrive before the car…
Gulping wet air, she reached the near-hairpin turn. Her calves protested. A ghostly cross glowed at the fringe of the road, a reminder of the last fatality before the county erected a metal barrier. Countless motorists, misjudging the sharpness of the curve, had already mangled the guardrail.
She gasped. The white cross didn’t glow on its own, but reflected the light from the car. The engine howled as the driver flew up the steep incline.
Too soon!
She lurched forward. Hurry. On the other side of the hill, headlights slashed the glittering rain. What should she do? The vehicle roared like an angry dragon.
I’m not going to make it.
The realization slammed into her mind. Her heart froze and her legs locked.
As she hesitated, dazzling brightness suddenly burst before her. Lindsey shielded her eyes. A giant rectangle of light appeared, two feet off the ground. The illumination didn’t saturate the area, but focused a spotlight like she was a performer on stage.
A door? In the middle of the road?
Impossible.
When a dark form inside the doorway loomed into view, a squeak of terror escaped her. The figure, clearly a man, paused on the non-existent threshold. She staggered back.
A moment later, the car swung around the curve. Headed right for her.
Lindsey screamed.
Time slowed. Tires squealed. Burnt rubber and the smell of ozone scorched her nostrils. The vehicle fishtailed. She tensed, anticipating the crush of cold metal.
A firm shoulder slammed into her. Arms about her, the man rolled. Together, they escaped death. In the near distance, a crash sounded. Tortured metal shrieked. Glass shattered.
A black object flew toward Lindsey and struck her head. In a flash of pain, darkness closed over her.

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