Chapter 2. Once-in-a-Life Opportunity

Anna’s soul bled with grief. It cried out deeply, yearning for a drink that it would never be given.

She wanted her back, she wanted her mom back. This couldn’t be happening; she refused to believe that it was true, and no one could force her to believe otherwise.

And even if it was, why was this happening to her?

She didn’t treat anyone crappy, she volunteered at hospitals in her spare time, and she gave a percentage of her allowance to homeless people.

She treated her parents with respect and love and always did what they told her to. She was a straight-A student, and everyone knew that she had not fought with a single soul since she was six years old.

She didn’t deserve this kind of pain. She had put way too much good into this shitty world just for her to be given crap in return!

“Anna, your dad is on his way, and he is going to take you home,” her gym teacher informed her, as he tried not to come close to her per her request.

“No, fuck that. He’s not the one that was supposed to pick me up,” Anna replied to him in a stern tone as she wiped the evidence that she was crying from her face.

She walked back to the chair she was sitting in and sat down slowly.

“I know, your mom was supposed to pick you up,” Mr. Litt replied to her as he sat in the chair pressed against the door.

“You mean she is,” Anna corrected the man, earning a sad sigh from him.

Mr. Litt’s phone suddenly began to ring, and he pulled it from his pocket. He answered on the fourth ring and stared at her as he placed the phone to his ear. “Yeah, we’re in Class 206,” he said to the person on the phone.

“Alright,” he continued after a few seconds, and then he ended the call and put the phone back from whence it came. “Your dad is here already,” he told her as he sat back down in the chair.

Anna’s vision blurred for a few seconds due to the tears building up in her eyes, and she blinked, causing the hot tears to roll down her cheeks.

She had to stop crying. She had no reason to because she believed that her mom was still on her way to pick her up right this second. She was not dead.

“Look, Anna, I know you are in shock right now, and it seems like your world is crashing down, but I want you to know that you will survive this. You are not alone,” Mr. Litt tried to comfort her with his words.

But she scoffed in response.

A small bang sounded at the door, and Mr. Litt stood up from the chair and pulled it from behind it. He then opened the door, allowing Anna’s father to walk in.

The man’s eyes were red and puffy, and he looked emotionally drained.

The last time Anna had seen him this way was her last birthday when he had lost the job that he had been working for 11 years.

“Honey…” Anna’s father’s voice broke when he spoke.

And man, she could not help but sob loudly. “Dad, tell Mr. Litt that it isn’t true!” she cried, and she heard her dad breathe out a shaky sigh. She could tell that he was trying his hardest not to cry and to be strong for her, but it was not exactly working.

She could hear the pain in his voice. She could see the grief and shock in his eyes.

He walked close to her, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s going to be okay, I promise,” he whispered to her.

Anna nodded as she tried to stop crying, but it felt impossible.

“We have to leave,” he told his daughter when he broke the hug. “Thank you, Litt, for being here with her. I do appreciate it,” he turned to the gym teacher and extended his gratitude.

Mr. Litt nodded and flashed a sad smile.

Anna’s dad led the way and walked out of the classroom.

She tentatively followed him, and Mr. Litt walked behind her closely.

As they walked down the hall toward the exit of the school building, almost everyone stared at Anna. She was an emotional mess at the moment but did not give a shit if she was being stared at by everybody.

She used the back of her hand to wipe the new tears that just rolled down her cheeks as she walked past Josh and his team.

The basketball player seemed surprised and moved by Anna’s state when his eyes landed on her. But he did not really know what to say or do, so he just watched.

“I will talk to the principal. She does not have to come to school for the time being,” Mr. Litt told her dad and received a nod in response.

As soon as they exited the building, the rays of the sun attacked Anna’s eyes, and she used her hand to shade them. When her eyes finally adjusted to the brighter lighting outside, she saw that everything looked exactly the same.

There were no changes.

There were still clouds in the sky, the trees were still standing, and the wind was still blowing. Today was the darkest day of her life, yet everything was going about as if nothing had happened!

Something should have been different! She had just lost a piece of her soul. Why was the world still spinning?!

“I will stop by at the house later,” Mr. Litt explained. He stopped following them and watched as they approached their humble car.

Anna’s dad unlocked the car once they reached it, opened the door, and sat behind the steering wheel. He started the engine but then noticed that his daughter was not in the car.

She stared at the car and wagged her head slowly. If she got in that car, then it would be agreeing to believe that her mom was dead. And she was not going to do that.

“Anna…” her dad called for her attention softly.

She continued to wag her head.

“I’m not getting in,” Anna said to him as she turned around and folded her arms on her chest as she began to walk away from the car.

“Oh, come on,” her dad groaned in frustration as he got down from the car and chased her. “I have to be at the morgue in half an hour,” he informed her.

Anna’s breath hitched, but she continued to walk away from him. She then felt his gentle grip on her arm as he turned her around.

“Anna, please… Don’t make this harder than it already is,” he begged her, and she stared at him.

“Why are you so quick to believe that she’s gone?!” Anna asked her dad.

He let go of her arm. He seemed offended by the question, and he paced around slowly before standing still again to answer the question.

“Quick to believe?” he raised his voice slightly. “I saw her corpse just two hours ago!” he shouted, and tears fell from his eyes freely. “I fucking saw her,” he said lowly as he wiped the stain of the tears from his face.

A few people were watching them and seemed concerned, but none of them attempted to approach them, and she was grateful.

Anna did not need anybody standing to her face and telling her that they were sorry when they had no fucking clue how she felt.

“Let me take you home…please,” her dad pled with her after a few seconds of silence.

She sniffled and then nodded stiffly, finally giving in.

Her dad then led the way to the car, and they entered it. They closed the doors, and he drove them out of the school parking lot.

They sat in silence as he drove them toward their home.

‘Would it even be home again if Mom was truly gone?’ Anna thought to herself.

As they approached the house, she was reminded of her older brother, Kevin. He was supposed to be going to college this fall. He was her only sibling, and he had a full athletic scholarship.

“Shit, does Kevin know?” she asked her dad.

He glanced at her as he nodded once. “He’s home, and yeah, he does,” he replied in a monotone.

“Oh,” Anna said softly.

Kevin was not good at expressing his emotions, and he was very quiet at times. Their mom always used to say that his personality was like the calm before the storm. He could also be very loud and annoying at times.

Her dad drove into the driveway when they reached the house, and he gestured for her to get out.

“I have to go and take care of things at the morgue. You and your brother should stay here until I get back. You two will get to see her tomorrow,” he explained to her.

She opened the door of the car and stepped out. “Drive safe,” she replied to him.

He flashed her a warm smile before driving off.

She watched him walk away and then headed toward the door of the house, knocking on it once she reached there.

“It’s open!” Kevin’s voice echoed.

She turned the doorknob, causing the door to open. She walked in and closed it once she was in. Everything looked completely normal, and Kevin was in the living room playing video games.

She walked toward him and sat next to him on the couch. “Hi,” she said to him softly.

He only nodded in response as he kept his focus on the game.

Anna caught a glimpse of his eyes and knuckles. His eyes were red, and his knuckles looked bruised. An answer to why his knuckles were bruised came to her mind in seconds: when he got the news about their mom, he must have gone berserk.

“Do you believe that she’s gone?” she asked him, her chest hurting due to the heavy sadness that sat there.

“I’m going to my room, don’t touch my shit.” He ignored her question as he paused his game and stood to his feet. He then left the living room and walked up the stairs.

In a few seconds, Anna heard his door close loudly, and then loud rock music began to play. She knew he was hurt and just wanted to be alone. Everyone dealt with grief differently.

She exhaled deeply and stood to her feet. She did not know what to do with herself; she felt so confused.

As she headed toward the kitchen to grab a glass of water to drink, she heard the doorbell ring twice. She knew that it couldn’t be her dad. He had just left.

Maybe it was Mr. Litt; he did say that he would stop by later.

Anna ran her hand through her hair as she walked toward the door so she could answer it and see who it was. She opened it when she reached it and saw a stranger standing outside.

“I’m sorry, we’re not buying anything,” she said to the man as she tried to close the door, but he stopped her from doing that by pushing the door back open gently with his hand.

He could be a salesperson trying to sell something. She didn’t know him and had not seen him around here before.

“I’m here to help you,” he began.

Anna sighed. She was definitely not in the mood.

“Well…um, I’m the devil, and I’m here to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An opportunity to get your mom back,” the mysterious guy explained and then smirked.