Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: In and Out (04/30/09)
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TITLE: Just Breathe | Previous Challenge Entry
By Shara-Rae Mitchell
05/05/09 -
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The nausea passed, at least for the moment. I brushed my long unwashed blonde hair behind my ear and pushed myself up onto my knees and looked around in an exhausted stupor.
A large brick building with glass doors loomed at the other end of the parking lot. I hadn’t been choosy when my oil light had started flickering; I had pulled over at the first right-hand turn, and that’s when nausea hit. I blinked my eyes disbelievingly when I saw the symbol of the cross plastered above the glass doors. You have got to be kidding me, I thought. Was this some kind of cruel joke?
The last time I attended church was exactly three months ago after I discovered the news. Ironic that I was here again, even though I had sworn that I would never again enter a church. Well, I had no intention of going inside. I was just going to hop back into my Chevy and –
“Uuuuhhh,” I groaned as another wave of nausea rendered me helpless. I finally heaved out the remains of my lunch on the parking lot. Minutes later the sickness passed and I looked up through bleary eyes to see a lanky form jogging towards me.
“Are you ok?” The man, appearing in his early thirties, crouched down beside me, his green eyes probing mine. “Here let me help you.” He gently grabbed my arm and assisted me to a standing position.
“Thanks,” I muttered. I made a move towards my haphazardly-parked truck, but the man gently turned me towards the church.
“You’re as white as a sheet,” he said with concern. “Come in and sit down for a few minutes.”
I protested weakly but allowed myself to be led across the parking lot. I nearly collapsed in the doorway, but he propelled me towards a pew in the entry area and I promptly lied down. I hadn’t slept in days. My eyelids fell and I succumbed to weariness.
Half an hour later I jolted awake. I needed to get out – I had an appointment!
“You’re awake! And you even have your colour back,” the man suddenly appeared. “Here,” he said, offering a glass of orange juice which I gratefully accepted.
“Thanks,” I said, “but I have to go.” He was staring at me – did he know? He was probably judging me already. I self-consciously placed a hand on my stomach, guilt gnawing at my heart.
“Where are you going?”
I froze at his question. He would condemn me to hell for sure if he knew where I was going. What I was going to do.
When I didn’t say anything he thrust out his hand. “I’m Dave, the youth pastor. And you are?”
“Jade.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“I’m pregnant,” I blurted out.
“Oh, well congratulations,” he said, somewhat taken aback.
“I’m not married,” I added. “And I’m eighteen.”
“Oh,” he said. I just knew that he was plotting a way to gracefully expel me from the sanctity of the church. “What do you want me to say?”
“I dunno,” I mumbled, tears threatening to usurp my tough defence.
“Do you want me to judge you and kick you out?” he voiced what I had been thinking. “Because if you are, that’s not what I’m going to do.”
“I can’t have this baby,” I choked. “I have no choice.”
A heavy silenced hovered between us as the implication of my words played upon Dave’s face. “Would you like to talk about it?”
I held my breath, unwilling to cry. “My boyfriend left me,” I finally said. “And my mom gave me the choice – get rid of my baby, or never come home again.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked solemnly. A whimper escaped my lips. Tears coursed down my face like a torrential rainfall as sobs shook me violently. All the weight and agony of the last few months poured into my hands. Just breathe, a voice whispered in the tumultuous war of my mind. In and out. I will always be with you...
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I love the open ending--you've trusted in your readers and in your own writing enough that we can supply the right ending.