Free Broken Road by Elizabeth Yu-Gesualdi Page B

supposed to do without you? You were the only person who understood me and I could be myself with. You and I…we had no secrets. You knew everything about me. You knew about my dreams, my hopes…my fears. You just knew everything.” Wiping away at a fresh onset of tears, he said, “I feel so lost. I don’t know what to do. Everything I ever cared about is gone. You’re gone, my future is gone…I just don’t know anything anymore.” Another warm breeze washed over him, and he suddenly began to remember something his mother had told him and Alec when they were just small children growing up. She had explained that there were three paths that could be taken in life: the good, the bad, and the “need to make a change” paths.
    The good path would lead you to all the right things. If one were to follow this road without perpetual deviation, good choices, good future, and ultimately a good life were all for one’s taking.
    The bad road, well, that one just always seemed to lead to a life in prison. She was effective in using terms such as “life sentence without parole,” “death penalty,” and her personal favorite, “never drop the bar of soap.” As youngsters, Jarrod and Alec had no idea what she was referring to, but intuitively knew that body wash was the way to go.
    Then there was the last road she talked about: the “need to make a change” path. This was the road most frequently travelled, simply because no one is perfect, and mistakes and bad choices are invariably made in one’s lifetime. Attempting to never make it onto this path was like asking Helen Keller to play a round of Marco Polo. It simply was impossible. The good thing was that if you did find yourself on this trail, all you had to do to be led directly back onto the highly revered good path was to simply correct your ways and move forward.
    Jarrod suddenly realized there was a fourth road that she had failed to tell them about: the road that led a person to nowhere. There was no beginning, and it felt as if there was no end in sight to this trajectory. Realizing he was now irrevocably on this path and having no idea how to get off, he felt suffused with panic and dread. Breathing became labored again as he broke out in a cold sweat and his skin became pale as ashes. What was he to do? He had no internal GPS tracking device; there were no exit signs, no directions. Nothing.
    He felt as though he were walking through total darkness and couldn’t depend on anyone or anything to help him by shedding a ray of light toward an escape. Life felt aimless, without importance or purpose. He didn’t know if he was coming or going, but the worst part was, he simply didn’t care anymore. All his dreams that had once been within his grasp were now nonexistent through loss and destruction. In his current state of mind, life as he once knew it was completely and irretrievably lost.
    He sat there for a few minutes on his own and waited for the tears to dry up. When they finally did, he spoke again.
    “I love you, man. I’ll miss you forever, and I’ll never…ever forget you.” He placed his hand over his aching heart and said, “You’ll always be right here.” He wiped away one last stray tear that had escaped and said, “Goodbye for now. I’ll see you someday.”
    He motioned for his battalion to assist him, and they all rushed out, although rushing for them was akin to a turtle trying to get out of the way of a speeding car. When they finally reached him and helped him up, he turned around one last time as they were walking away and said so quietly that no one other than Dante could have heard, “One more thing. When you come across the pretty angels…save one for me.” Then he gave a lopsided half smirk. It was the closest thing to a smile he’d revealed in over three weeks.
    As time continued on, normalcy was slowly beginning to slink its way back into the lives of the Wentworths. Jarrod and Alec had begun physical therapy and were both