Janey's date with fate

This short story speaks about how dear our life is to us, sometimes even more than we may realize.

Janey wanted to die sometimes. It was all too overwhelming for her. For the first time in her life, she actually thought how easy it would be to give it all up, it would take just one instant and everything would end. One painful instant! She wondered, what would happen to the people who loved her. Her parents would be devastated, her brother would cry for days. Her niece was too young to know anything. Janey would probably be remembered only as a photograph by her niece - her only aunt who died at the age of 26. Would she ever be able to relate with Janey, would she feel pity for her when she grew up? Would she ever know that her only aunt would have loved her like her own daughter? She thought about her husband, would he miss her very much? Would his claims of everlasting love be true? Would she end up as a lost memory in his head, only to remembered in some dusty moments.

She stood contemplating these thoughts on the edge of the cliff. Did she really want to die that day, at that moment, no one would ever know. For her feet slipped on the loose soil and she fell. She fell before she knew what she wanted to do. She fell before it was late to do anything more. It must have been a deep cliff, for during the fall there were enough seconds for Janey to think. As her body plummeted down and her insides lurched, Janey was very scared. She tried to position her body such that she would land safe, maybe like a cat.

 

In those final moments she thought about her parents and her childhood home and how happy she was as a child. She saw her father coming home from work, bringing with him a small paper bag of biscuits for her and her brother. How they would eagerly open up those little treats their papa bought home. She could smell her mommy's cooking in the kitchen and the sound of the stirring spoon. Her mommy was feeding her little morsels of food. Her elder brother was holding her.  Her papa was telling them stories about work. Her mommy was then cuddling her as she sang,

 

"Close your eyes, my baby, shed not a tear

  In the morning when you wake, I will be right here"

 

She was safe, she was protected and nothing could harm her there. It was with this warm nostalgic feeling that Janey landed on the ground below. 

Call it a miracle, call it luck, call it whatever, but Janey managed to survive the fall. She rose up on her feet. It was difficult, painful, but she did. How she thanked the heavens, the earth, the air! Everything that existed, she was thankful to. For in those few seconds, in those few pulses of time, she knew she did not want her life to end. There was still a lot to live for. She could live for those wonderful people in her life. She wanted to live for all those wonderful moments that were yet to come. She wanted to rush home and fling herself into her husband's arms and tell him that she loved him very much. She walked as quickly as she could, away from that horrendous place. What had come over her, she wondered. She repeatedly kept thanking her luck with every painful step she took. It was a very difficult task to walk over the rocks. She was limping and crying. She wanted help with her broken leg. Her whole body ached heavily. There would be more broken bones that just her leg, she thought. But however, she was alive and could start anew. Her mind jumped up with the ecstasy that her body couldn't manage.

She saw a couple of people who were headed that way. and she waved out to them. They spotted her and started hurrying towards her to help. She was so tired that she rested her leg, until they reached her and managed to lean against a rock, still very grateful for life. She waved to them as they got nearer. She must have been in a bad shape after the fall, for they looked very worried to see her that way. She called out and assured them that she was okay and held out her hand, for assistance. But they didn't look at her, they hurried ahead. She was confused and looked behind and saw her smiling face on her tangled body, lying on a rock in a pool of messy blood.

 

 

Author's Note

Do spare a moment to tell me what you felt while reading. I am looking to improve with your help :)