Give Warning

Turning on the radio, you were trying to listen to something to pass the time as you drove home. Trying to not fall asleep as you did so. It had been around eighteen or so hours since you’d last slept. Or at least you think it’s been that long since you’ve had a proper eight or seven hours of sleep. Time was really starting to slip away from you on this dark stretch of highway.

It all melted into one singular time frame that wasn’t staying with you. All you knew is that you needed to get home. And then you could sleep until it was Friday, today was Tuesday. Or maybe it was Wednesday? You weren’t sure. All you were sure of is that you wished you had more coffee.

“Today we lay to rest, Daisy Winslow. Who passed away on Monday, October 12, 2026. After she had driven herself into a tree.”

You froze for a good long second when you heard your own name on the radio. Looking down at it as you tried to understand what exactly you were hearing. Or if your brain was making it up. That seemed to be plausible as you were so tired that you could barely tell anything about anything at the moment. Your mind was clearly playing tricks on you and that wasn’t you it was talking about. After all, it wasn’t October 12, 2026. It was…it was…you didn’t remember. You wish your phone wasn’t dead in the seat next to you. It would help you know what day it was.

“She is survived by her mother, brother Oak and her cat ‘Eros’. Whom has been adopted by her brother, Oak. Daisy will be sorely missed. As she was a beautiful part of our town and had been a light in everyone’s life. Taking great care to care for those in her community as well as her workplace at Wal-Mart. There was no one as attentive or giving as Daisy Winslow. There will never be anyone like her again. Gone much too soon at the age of twenty-three years old. If only she hadn’t driven from Searsmont, Maine to Aberdeen, South Dakota in one night.”

That’s what you’re doing right now. Driving in one long night to your home back in Aberdeen. Back to stupid old South Dakota where your mother, brother, and cat were all waiting for you to come home in one piece. Your eyes drifted to the radio. What in the world was any of this? How could they be speaking about you as if you were dead already? You weren’t dead. You knew you weren’t dead. The fact your heart was pounding so hard in your chest that you thought it would burst proved as such. This…what in the world was this? Your eyes stayed glued on the road as it went on.

“Her brother wishes to say a few words for his sister. Please, Oak go on.”

“Thank you, Father Kessler. My sister, Daisy. Was a bright young woman with a wonderful future ahead of her. She was stubborn as a mule and never did what was expected of her. It just wasn’t in her not to drive home as quickly as she could to see me, mom, and Eros. As she said she didn’t want to waste gas or money having to look for a hotel. Now I wish I had encouraged her to do so. That wasn’t a waste of gas or money. Or time either. But I never did when she did these things. Now I have no sister. Eros has no human and doesn’t understand why she isn’t coming home. Ever again. All he knows is that his human mother is gone forever.”

Your brother would say that if given the chance. Guilt tripping you from beyond the grave if he could. Your grave as it seems. Taking deep breaths, you tried to pretend that it wasn’t true. That this was something that your mind was making up to get you to go to a hotel and sleep there. Then…then you heard something that broke your heart into little pieces. You heard your mother’s voice.

“My mother, Heather, has a few words she’d like to say about Daisy. Mother, please come forward.”

“Thank you, Oak. My Daisy was a beautiful young lady. So good and giving to her community. I wish I had one last chance to hold my baby and talk to her. Tell her to get a damn hotel room and sleep. Then maybe she’d be alive for all of us to talk to. Alive and making us laugh with her stories about work. But I can’t. She’s gone and I’m a horrible mother for not stopping her when I had the chance.”

You hear your mother start to wail on the air, and your heart stops for a second. Blood running cold as you look around for a sign. Any sign for a motel nearby. It didn’t matter if it were cheap or not. What mattered was the fact that you needed to sleep as soon as humanly possible. When you spotted the ‘Eden Inn’ you took the exit. Deciding that you could go back on the road tomorrow morning at the earliest. That your mother, brother, and cat were waiting for you to come back in one piece.

Not in pieces.

Turning off the radio, you shuddered at the thought of wrapping your car around a tree. Or pole. Or whatever they said you did in your sleeplessness. It didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. What mattered was finally getting yourself to sleep. And soon you were pulling into the parking lot. Pulling right up to the front doors and parking there. Soon as your car was off, you practically threw yourself out of your car with your belongings. Barley remembering to lock it before you ran up to the front desk. Paying for a room. The attendant asked,”Long drive huh? My folks are always worried that I’ll drive myself into a tree if I didn’t stop at places like this.”

“Yeah…well. I was going to not stop but…but I felt tired and figured better safe than sorry.”,You state. Not wanting to mention the awful broadcast that you heard. All you needed was to get to bed. Soon as you got the key to your room, you went to it. Setting your bags down near the door and throwing yourself onto the bed. Not even bothering to remove your shoes as you doze off. Giving thanks to whomever has been out there watching your back. You think,’Thank you…whoever you are…you’re a life saver.’

‘Literally.’