This story is by Kevin Richards and was part of our 2024 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
It was a late fall afternoon as Allan drove back from his doctor’s office. He fixed his gaze on the winding road, his hands gripping the steering wheel. All his friends were gone. He had no family. His wife passed away several years ago. He had no children. Allan had no parents growing up, he was an orphan.
The news was dire; he had stage four pancreatic cancer. Allan knew his time on the earth would be coming to an end. He accepted his fate. As he neared his home, Allan closed his eyes and crashed through the guardrail, tumbling down the steep hill. He decided to end his life. Seconds away from the impact, he opened his eyes, “Please, please oh lord forgive me!” He screamed! His car exploded on impact.
The room was dingy and dark. He opened his eyes; he felt himself hovering in the air. His lips quivered; he could not speak. Fear ran through his body. Was he dead? Was he dreaming? He screamed! No one was answering. His body shook, and a deep chill came across him. He started to drift away, as he heard a faint voice. “Allan…. Allan … awake, speak to us. You are not alone.” The voice was deep and eerie. Allan’s eyes opened as he gazed up at the dark ceiling. “Speak Allan, talk. You can talk now. Do not be afraid.” The strange voice sounded closer. Allan opened his mouth; he started to speak.
“Who … Who…are you?” Allan asked, his voice shaking. “Where am I?” His body lowered to the floor. His body was now upward. Allan was standing flat on the cold floor. He was barefoot. His eyes surveyed the cold, dark room. He noticed his shirt and pants were clean. He did not have any burns on his skin. It had seemed that the accident never happened. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what was going on. The strange voice returned. “We have been watching you. Your species are weak. The planet that you inhabit is dying.” The mysterious voice became louder.
“Who are you?” Allan shouted! “Show yourself. I need to know who you are! What … What is happening? “Alan began to cry.
“That is not important.”
The voice responded.
“What is important is the choice that you make. We, my species, have given you a second chance. You will have to decide on which direction you will take.”
Allan looked around the dark room, not knowing where to focus his eyes. He looked at the ceiling.
“What? What are you saying? Choose? You are asking me to decide? God damned you! I made my choice. I wanted to die! Why didn’t you just let me die!” He shouted! As he raised his hands towards the ceiling. The room went silent for several seconds. Allan lowered his hands and dropped his head towards the floor.
“Allan … Allan,” the voice returned; the tone was somber.
“We are giving you a second chance. My species picked you, for a reason.”
“Why me? There are billions of people on my planet.” Allan asked, curiously.
“You are not the first, you will not be the last.” The voice responded.
“Your choice will be this: return to earth, where you can redeem yourself, or continue to the last resting place. Death! Those are your options.”
Allan stared straight ahead. He grasped for words.
“What do you mean, redeem?” He asked as he gazed straight ahead. “How do I do this?” He asked.
“You will have to figure that out by yourself. Decide now.” The voice spoke.
Allan closed his eyes. He seemed to be praying. There was no time to ponder his fate. He opened his eyes.
“I will go back and try to redeem myself. I only hope that my decision will be correct.”
“We only ask one thing, that you, Allan, along with the others of your fate, try to change the world.”
“This will not be easy. You will have many failures, but you must try.”
“The current path your people are on, you will not survive as a species.”
Allan sighed and nodded his head. “Yes, I am ready to return. I will try.”
“The last question I have for you is my cancer. I was dying. That’s why I took my life.”
“What will become of that?” he asked, waiting for the voice to respond.
“There will be an answer to that. You will find out when you return.”
“Trust yourself, Allan. Let the voice inside you guide you.”
“We have given you some extra gifts. Use them wisely.”
“Why won’t you reveal yourselves to me? I must know who you are,” Allan asked, his voice raised.
“In time, you will know. Eventually, the world will too. If it is not too late.
Allan’s body ascended towards the ceiling as he turned sideways.
His eyes closed as he reached the top. He fell unconscious.
Allan’s eyes opened. He found himself driving down a long, winding road. His mind was confused. He steered his car towards a pull-off and slammed his brakes as he entered. His car skidded as it came to a stop. He grabbed the car door handle and jumped out. He stood looking over a guardrail. Something had happened to him. His thoughts of suicide had faded. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. He started to weep. Allan couldn’t quite grasp what was happening. He felt different. Allan had a brief moment of déjà vu. He felt calm. He released his hands from his face. “What did I experience?” He said to himself. Allan sat back in his car. He gazed through the car window for several minutes. “What happened to me?” He shouted! “God, what the hell is going on?!” He closed the car door and continued to his home.
Arriving home, Allan plopped onto his couch. He was exhausted. His phone rang. He answered it.
“Is this Allan?” the voice asked.
“Yes, this is him.”
“This is Dr. Rutherford, from the hospital. I have some urgent news.”
“I must inform you that the results you received about your cancer were incorrect.”
Allan arched his body forward, anticipating the next word.
“We gave you the test results from another patient.”
“We are truly sorry, Allan. I want to make it clear that you do not have cancer. “
“Your doctor will explain to you your correct results when you see him.”
Allan’s phone fell from his hand onto the couch. He looked straight ahead; a feeling of shock ran through his body. It started to make sense. The confusion he experienced earlier was beginning to wane. Though he had no recollection of the alien encounter, Allan believed something had happened to him. He would always wrestle with the events in his life and the feelings that he could not explain. The phone call was only to be the first of things that would transpire in his life.
Allan was on this earth for a reason. He sensed an imminent event of magnitude was coming. He lived in the moment of anticipation. Waiting … waiting, and wondering when, or if, it would happen. The daily news was depressing. The world was on fire. Nations were on the brink of war. People were searching for answers. Governments were dissolving. Word had been spreading on social media about a gathering of people on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific. A message came across from Allan’s phone.
“It is time, my friend. Please come to join us. Your purpose of being here has arrived. We must unite and save the world. Our experiences will now emerge.”
The message came with the location of where Allan was to meet. He made arrangements for his travel and boarded a plane to the destination. During the long flight, it became clearer to him what had happened in his past. It started to make sense. The current events occurring. That was why he was here. Allan’s past premonition was happening. This was the event. He, along with the other people that he had not yet encountered, would be a part of something big. What would he experience? The answers to those questions remained. One thing was for sure, Allan … the others had to try. Humanity was at stake. The future of the earth was on the edge of destruction.
Allan shut his eyes as he continued on the long flight. He dreamed of a new world, of peace and a better place for him, and the whole human race.
Shirley says
Some punctuation and paragraph issues but I like the story idea mainly because it references modern day problems and the hope of Divine intervention. I would like to read the next chapter!
Kevin Richards says
Thank you, Shirley. I appreciated your comments.
Maybe there will be a part 2.
Carol Fahn says
I enjoyed your short story. A combination of despair and hope. Nice Kevin!
Scott Aisoff says
Hi Kevin,
I really enjoyed your story, I wanted it to continue to see what happens next. I hope there will be a part two.
Great Job
Scott