Free The Savior Rises by Christopher C. Payne Page B

many answers. All she wanted to do was rest. She needed to somehow find peace. Why was her mother there? Her mother. What was happening to her?
     

 
     
     
Insanity
     
     
    Stefani’s entire body felt stiff. She wondered if someone had dropped her in a dryer and kept the spin cycle going for a few hours. She loved the way the sun always shone through her bedroom windows in the morning. To her, the best part of any day was waking up, snuggling her Raggedy Ann doll. The doll had been with her for her entire life.
    She rolled over on her back, blinking. Then, her torso bolted tightly as she sat stiffly erect, straight as a board. She was in her bed. Her bed. She was in her bed, in her bedroom, in her apartment, and water was running. She jumped up. She somehow had on her sweat pants and a T-shirt. They were her sweat pants – she double-checked to make sure.
    She ran down the hall and flung the bathroom door open, screaming.
    “Oh, my God, what is wrong with you?!” Staci yelled. Staci had lived in the apartment longer than any of them. Her name was on the lease. She was the designated communicator with their landlord. “Can you, please, just wait until I am finished? I will only be another minute.”
    “Staci, Staci, what is going on?” Stefani stammered. “Why are you here? What happened in the hospital? Are you ok?”
    “I have no idea what you are talking about, but can you please let me finish my shower?” said Staci, sounding a little annoyed. “I’ll find you when I’m done.”
    Stefani closed the door and walked back to her room. The rest of the apartment was quiet as it was the middle of the workday. But , she thought, how could they be at work?  What about the living room?
    As she walked back through the hallway, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Everything looked just the same as it always had. It was all fine. The window wasn’t broken. The coffee table was in place. There was nothing-- nothing -- that had been disturbed. Nothing was different from any other day. What was happening?
    She flipped on the TV to check the date and heard Drew Carey’s annoying voice on The Price is Right. She flipped the channels looking for a local morning show or some form of news. What was the date? She finally noticed it on the cable box. This did give her a little comfort.
     At least she wasn’t traveling back and forth in time. She was just losing her sanity. She had seven more days until her birthday. What happened to the last few days? What was going on? Her Raggedy Ann doll was fine – just as perfectly dirty as always. Her closet, her bed, her body, her hair, everything – nothing had changed.
    She sat down on the bed and thought of her mother and started to cry.
    “What is going on?” she said out loud to nobody. Nobody was around. Nobody was here.
    There was a light tap on the door, and Staci entered wearing her bathrobe. “Are you ok?” she asked softly. “You’re worrying me.”
    “I don’t know,” Stefani sobbed. “I honestly don’t know what’s happening. Didn’t we go to the hospital yesterday? Didn’t a bunch of men break into our apartment? What’s happening?”
    She couldn’t catch her breath. She felt nauseous again. Staci sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped her arms around Stefani.
    “Why don’t you just stay home today? Maybe call in sick. It sounds like you could use some rest, sweetie.”
    Stefani just cried and finally said, “Ok, I think that’s a good idea.”
    She laid her head down and curled up in a little ball as Staci closed the drapes.
    “I’ll be here for about 30 more minutes if you need anything. You can also call me at work if you want to,” she said. “I could come home early, as well. It’s a pretty light load for me today, so if you need something, just let me know.”
    “Sure,” Stefani replied.
    She’d seen her mom. Her mom was alive. How could her mom be alive, and how could she, Stefani, be lying here in her bed? What happened