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Back The Lighthouse Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. PART ONE
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. PART TWO
  13. 12
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 18
  18. 19
  19. 21
  20. 22
  21. 23
  22. 24
  23. 25
  24. 26
  25. 27
  26. 28
  27. 30
  28. 31
  29. 32
  30. 33
  31. 34
  32. 35
  33. 36
  34. 37
  35. 38
  36. 39
  37. 40
  38. 41
  39. 42
  40. 43
  41. PART THREE
  42. 44
  43. 45
  44. 46
  45. 47
  46. 49
  47. 50
  48. 51
  49. 52
  50. EPILOGUE

“No, no, he’s not. He’s not all right.” Ryan began to simultaneously cry and hyperventilate into the receiver as he looked at his father lying on their kitchen floor, his body in a crumpled heap. “My father is having a stroke,” he cried in agony. “Please, please, someone help us!”

32

32

Amy clapped her hands over her mouth and drew a shuddering breath through the cracks in her fingers. The revelation that she was still lying in the bathtub had raised a frightening thought, one that shook her to her core, one too terrifying to even say aloud.

“M-Mom . . .”

Her mother placed her hand on Amy’s cheek, caught a tear with her thumb. “It’s okay. Stay calm.”

“But is that why I’m here? Because I overdosed on Dad’s pills? Am I here because . . . I died?” Just saying those words made Amy’s body go numb; she had to grab on to her mother for fear she was about to faint.

“No, no—not that, not at all, listen to me—”

“But if I’m talking to you, then—”

“You’re talking to me because your spirit was momentarily set free, not because you died.”

“But if I’m still lying in the water, and if it’s already been a whole day, then that means nobody has found me, which means I can’t be alive . . . it just isn’t possible.”

“No one’s found you yet because time is at a standstill. While you’ve been stuck in here, the world you left behind has been frozen at the precise moment you blacked out.”

“Wait . . .” Amy tried to calm herself, tried to focus on what her mother was saying. “Let me get this straight. . . . My body’s in the bathtub . . .”

“That’s right.”

“But you’re telling me that I’m still alive?”

“Most definitely.”

“Even though my spirit has been set free, or whatever it was you just said . . . I’m not dead?”

“Unequivocally, one hundred percent not dead.”

“But if I’m stuck in here and my body’s back there, what’s going to happen to me? How am I supposed to leave wherever this is and get back?”

“Don’t worry about that right now. When this is all over, I’m going to make sure you find your way home. The important thing is that you’re here with me, and that you’re safe.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Amy turned away from her mother and faced the window. Shock, confusion, relief—she was experiencing a collision of conflicting emotions. She didn’t know what to say or how to react. All she could do was stare at her reflection, breathe, exhale, and watch the mist fog and fade across the glass.

“This must all be very confusing,” her mother said. “Anything you want to know, please, ask.”

“I need a moment, Mom.”

“Of course.”