Glitter

Alan awoke, entombed in a heap of twisted and crushed metal, shattered glass, and leaking fluids. He felt no pain and assumed nothing in his body was broken. The only movable things were his eyelids and his lips; everything else- legs, arms, hands, neck- was shackled securely in place. The moon and stars were his only sources of light, but they offered no warmth or solace. Bitter cold forced its way into Alan’s makeshift tomb, causing his fingers and toes to tingle and begin to go numb. All he could do was lie there and unreasonably hope that someone would come to his rescue.

Doing his best not to surrender to what was probably the inevitable, Alan kept his brain active by reconstructing all the highs and lows of his adult life. Some experiences were faint blurs, causing him to question if he had actually been part of the event or merely read about it. Other memories presented themselves in harsh truths, like his first marriage.

He had married his high school sweetheart when they were in their early twenties. It didn’t take long for both of them to realize it was the biggest mistake of their lives. The only thing that kept them together for the next twenty years was three kids. Eventually, as the children grew more and more independent, transitioning into lives of their own, both Alan and his wife found something they could both agree on. It was time to say goodbye for good.

His mind blinked in and out of multiple experiences, occasionally pausing to review scenes from his past. Work took Alan to many interesting places, and he was able to experience what life was like around the globe either by interacting with people from different countries or physically visiting them. It was during one chance interaction that he met, fell in love with, and married his current wife.

Throughout all his travels, he never lost contact with his children. It bothered him that he couldn’t spend more time with them, but because of his job and the always explosive relationship with his ex, he felt it was best for them if he kept things low-key. Two things happened that changed everything: Wife #1 died unexpectedly, and his oldest daughter and her husband gifted the world with his first granddaughter.

The little girl was everything a grandfather could ask for. She had an infectious smile, sparkling eyes, a laugh that melted hearts, and a curiosity that never seemed to be satisfied. There were two things in particular that bound granddaughter and grandfather together: the mischievous way she would climb up next to him and muss up his hair and then laugh uncontrollably; secondly, her fascination with glitter. She would stop whatever she was doing to watch the sparkly fragments float through the air.

Life is not always kind, and at five years old she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. As her physical strength waned, Alan would take her hand and rub it through his hair, causing her to laugh with as much energy as she could muster, and her love of glitter never faded. It took her nine months to be born, and it was nine months after her diagnosis that she passed away. We were all heartbroken, but we focused on all the joy she brought into our lives.

As he lay immobile in his coffin of mangled metal and shattered glass, freezing from below-zero temperatures, Alan remembered how a random piece of glitter would suddenly appear from nowhere during difficult and happy times. He thought of it as a supernatural connection with his granddaughter. Her way of telling him she was watching over him, and all was good. As he thought about this, as if on cue, pieces of glitter, illuminated by the moon, floated down from where he had no idea. A tear ran down his cheek and froze in place.

Moments later, Alan heard a voice call out, “Anyone in there?”

In a partially frozen voice, he responded, “I’m in here. I can’t move.”

Rescue crews arrived shortly after and, with great care, extracted him from the demolished car. He thanked them all profusely, but in his mind he knew the real hero was his little granddaughter.