I had been riding along the misnomered Clearview Avenue, for way to long, and I knew it. Ignoring my conscience, I continued pedaling. My legs ached but it didn’t matter. After several more minutes of hysterical pedaling, I couldn’t take it any longer; the continuous yellow line was mocking me as if saying “Oh, you don’t know where you’re going. Looks like you’re just going to have to keep following me.” I could hear its maniacal, mocking laughter. As I rode along the edge of that road, I felt as if I was riding a stationary bike: my legs pumped, and the tires spun, yet still I made no progress. Blurred visions of green and brown raced by in my peripheral vision. I couldn’t take it anymore. I jerked my handlebars to the right just in time to enter a clearing between the trees.

In front of me, was a narrow path that looked to be a sort of hiking trail. That’s strange, I thought, I didn’t know there were hiking trails in west central Ohio. But, then again I had only lived here for a little over 6 months. I glanced down at my phone to see it was 3:42; the library closed in eighteen minutes, there was no way I could make it there before it closed at four, seeing as I was lost in a woods I didn’t even know existed. Debating whether I should turn around or not, I decided against it. I would keep riding until I found a way out; turning around was not an option.
The tall trees formed a canopy over my head allowing sunlight to peak through in only a few desultory patches. The only place where sunlight was consistent was the dusty hiking trail, so I followed it. My heartbeat calmed, and sweat evaporated from my forehead as I rode along the shaded path. I continued pedaling, for what seemed like ages. Finally, I reached a clearing in the woods. The trees were cleared out in a big circle, and sunlight poured down through the absence of leaves.
I rested my bike against a tree and headed for the middle of the clearing. There were squirrels skipping around everywhere, and birds fluttering throughout the trees. I laid down on the soft grass and closed my eyes as the sun began to set…
I woke with a start the next morning to see a light brown deer prancing along the edge of the clearing. The deer looked at me with a sad look in his eyes. In its mouth was a bouquet of lilies—my favorite flower. He set the flowers on top of a tree stump that I hadn’t seen there the day before. Slowly, I stood up and moved towards the deer, but his eyes stayed focused on the spot I had just vacated. He didn’t even flinch as I closed the gap between the two of us. His eyes glanced up at me and, instantly, went right back to the place where I had laid. I turned around to see a body identical to mine in the clearing. But how could that be, I thought, I’m standing here. My body is here. My. Mind was racing. What’s going on? How could this be? HOW am I here and there at the same time?
I couldn’t process what was happening, so I sat down on the ground. My mind raced in million different directions; I didn’t know which path to follow. Where am i? Why is my body over there? What really happened on the road? A movement to the left caught my eye. The deer was moving closer to my unmoving body. I crouched up behind it to see what was about to happen.
As the deer sat down, I heard a voice in the back of my head: it was my mom.
“Jess, I know you’re in there somewhere. Come back to us sweetie. We need you.”
“Mom! I screamed out loud “I’m here! I’m right here! Where are you? It’s me! I can hear you! It’s Jess! Mom! Mom!”
“The doctors said sometimes patients in your condition can hear voices, so if you can hear us just know that we love you, Jess. Your father, your brothers, and I are all here. Come back to us as soon as you can. We know you’ll be back soon. We love you” My mom’s voice sounded choked up like she was doing her best to hold back tears.
The deer that had been kneeling next to my still body lifted itself onto its feet and crept away from my body and from me. I sat down and tried to process what was happening. I didn’t know what to do. I started pacing around the clearing. I walked from my body to the flowers to my bike which was still leaned up against a tree. The bike was mangled into an ugly sculpture of metal and rubber. What happened to my bike? I wondered. It wasn’t like this when I rode it yesterday. I reached into the backpack that lay next to my crushed bike, expecting to find the books I was planning on returning to the library. A heavy book with a rough spine had taken the place of the three books I had been planning on returning.
I pulled out the book to see a blank cover with only three delicate looking flowers along the spine. The book was heavy beneath my fingers, so I rested it on top of my legs, which were crossed indian-style. As I was turning the page to investigate the book, I heard a soft noise behind me.
I turned around just in time to see three more deer coming from the corner of the woods. This one was bigger and had a pinched face as if trying not to show any emotion. It reminded me of my father. Two smaller deer followed right behind in its footsteps. The deer walked up to my body; I tossed the book down beside me and slowly began to creep up behind it. In the back of my head I heard my father’s voice:
“Jess, it’s Dad. Your mom told me what the doctors discovered. It’s only a matter of time until you come back to us. Of course, we want you back as soon as we can have you, but don’t rush yourself. Dr. Tinsley said sometimes patients of your circumstances need more time to deal with the trauma, so the coma lasts longer.”
WHAT? A COMA? What happened to me? Who is Dr. Tinsley? What kind of trauma did I go thorugh?
“Your brothers are trying to be strong, but they miss you, Jess. They need their big sister back. We love you.”
“I miss you, Jessie. I know we gang up on you sometimes, but we really do love you.” came Ryan’s voice.
Andrew’s followed shortly after, “Come back, Jess. It’s just not the same without our big sister. We need you.”
Wow, I thought. Something must be really wrong with me. Ryan and Andrew had never looked so scared. The deer returned to the wooded area as I sat down to process what was happening. My mind raced as I imagined what could have happened. Dad said something about a coma. But if I were in a coma how am I here? How am I thinking and seeing and hearing these things? How can I be here mentally, but physically my body is over there? The fury started building up inside of me. I just want to go home. I want to see my friends. And go to school. Why am I stuck here in these dumb woods?
As I was stressing over the possibilities, something strange happened. My body that had been laying on the ground, immobile, began to move! First, an arm twitched. Then, the entire body rolled over onto its back. Shocked, I ran towards the body, my heart was beating out of my chest! I bent down to get closer together to the body, and as I was just inches away, the eyes began to open. To ratify what I was seeing, I blinked several times, and when I blinked for the last time… I opened my eyes to see the flowered spine of a book lying on a table next to the hospital bed which supported my body.
***