The Between Years

off any wall and light still shined. He swung the axe to his side and buried it deep into the hall. After several swings, he felt like a lumberjack trying to bring a tree down. Then he stepped back to wipe sweat from his forehead and take a deep breath.

    After he tore the first frame down, Randy was convinced that the house was still material, and could be destroyed. His arms felt like spaghetti but he wouldn't let himself quit. He knew he hadn't fallen out of shape, given that he worked out several time a week and performed a flurry of push-ups most mornings. But the work was much more than he'd expected it to be and he worried that he wouldn't be able to continue much less finish the job.

    “ Hello? Is anybody here?” a voice called from downstairs.

    Randy thought the voice he heard downstairs belonged to Carol, so he knew he needed to hurry up, but he didn't want her to get hurt. But he would take whatever risks necessary to finish this because he had a promise to keep.

    “ Randy? What's going on in here? I can't see a thing!”

    “ Don't you come up here!” He shouted. “You just stay where you are!”

    Randy continued to chip away at the next doorframe and he wondered how the house could manage to remain standing like this. Then finally, he heard a long, drawn-out creaking sound until the roof began to crumble. He dodged pieces of ceiling that nearly struck his head. Just a few more to go and the first phase of the job would be finished, he decided. First, he would need to shift over to the right where some light still shined so he could avoid the ceiling's total collapse.

    “ Randy, whatever you're doing up there, please stop it right now! You're going to hurt yourself!”

    Carol's voice made her sound like they were both underwater and he could barely make out the words. He hoped to God that she would be able to hear him when he shouted at her.

    “ Get the hell out of here, Carol!” he shouted. “Just go sit in your car and stay safe!”

    She didn't respond. A few minutes later, after he'd feared no further intervention from Carol, he presumed that he was safe to resume chipping away at the frame.

    Red and blue sirens appeared in the window, and became lost in the darkness. He knew that Carol must have called them, and after he stifled a flash of anger, he understood why. But he wasn't going to let any human being stop him in his quest either, so he turned back to his work.

    When he started on the bathroom frame, he felt his lungs catch fire, and felt his chest heave in and out until it reached its limits. He took a final swing, brought the frame down, but the thread that the ceiling had hung from finally collapsed.

    The door on the ceiling that contained the steps to the attic slammed open, and two sets of stairs slid down. Randy tried to leap towards the stairs, but the ceiling gave way, bearing loads of old furniture and tables that crashed down on him.

    For a time, Randy only saw darkness.

    Then his eyes opened. That he'd woken up here instead of a hospital-and that he'd woken up at all-bed amazed him. He'd expected to wake in a world of pain, to be bruised and bleeding, but he felt nothing. He felt like his entire body was filled with helium. No longer did he hear voices and see sirens, but instead he enjoyed a sweet, silent blankness. Though he wanted to wiggle out from under the antique furniture, he found himself floating through and above it.

    As he floated above the house, he reflected on how the scenario would have frightened him, but he suffered no earthly fear now. Where he was going, he didn't know, but he could continue on until he reached outer space for all he cared.

    In the distance, he saw someone. He squinted and realized it was a four-year-old boy, the same four-year-old boy that he had met his first night in the house. The boy smiled and winked at him and Randy smiled back. Where the boy was going, he shouldn't go alone, he thought.

    Randy paddled his hands, as if to swim to the boy, until he reached him. Then he took the boy's hand and they floated into the sky together. Heaven awaited them, just a father, and a son.

CHAPTER 31
    So I was a few minutes late, okay? It happens to all of us, even when we know we have somewhere to be. You wind up in a rush to push yourself out the door and then you realized you forgot something. Then you can't find it. Then before you know it, you're a good ten minutes behind and frustrated as all get out. But this time, I really