Transcendence

Caitlyn wiped a tear from her eye. She couldn’t believe her parents sold Nana and Granddaddy’s old house to a business. It was hard to believe that the dining room where they shared so many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners would soon be a waiting room.

She walked to the living room window and stared at the street where she and her cousin, Libby, had bicycle parades while their brothers set off fireworks for 4th of July. So much had changed since their childhood. A grocery store sat in the woods where they used to build forts. A photography studio moved in the house across the street. And in a manner of hours, Nana and Granddaddy’s house would be a tax preparation office.

Life as I know it is falling apart, she thought. Of course, the holiday dinners stopped eight years ago, after Granddaddy died. Nana wasn’t up to hosting the holidays on her own, so Mom and Dad took over. Her brother married and moved out of town the previous summer, three months before Nana died. Everybody was shocked that her aunt and uncle didn’t attend her brother’s wedding or Nana’s funeral, but they hadn’t heard from them since the tragedy with Libby two years ago. It was sad. Their family was once so strong but it seemed to be falling apart.

Caitlyn pulled a tissue from her pocket and blew her nose. Coming here was a mistake. It was generous of her parents to offer her one last look at the place before they closed on the house but she did have other things to do. She needed to pack to go back to her last semester of college and she needed to decide what to do about the job offer she received before the holidays. A church offered her an office assistant position, and they were willing to let her work part time until she graduated in May, then put her on full time staff upon graduation. It wasn’t exactly what she planned to do with her business degree, but it was a regular paycheck and would solve the problem of finding a job. Life certainly wasn’t winding out the way she planned.

Caitlyn walked through the kitchen toward the back door when something over the cabinet caught her eye. She almost ignored it, but decided that it would be better to get it down now than to have the new owners calling her parents to pick it up later. She had to climb on the counter to reach it. As she reached up her hand bumped the cabinet, knocking her off balance …




“You fell! You lose!” Libby clapped with joy, jumping from the mat.

“No fair!” Caitlyn said. “How was I supposed to get my hand from green to red without falling?”

Caitlyn’s brother, Caleb, laughed. “That’s how Twister works, silly. Somebody’s going to fall. Do you want to play again?”

“No, dinner is almost ready,” Nana said, poking her head in the living room. “Go wash up. And be careful! You’re too close to the tree!”

Granddaddy laughed. “Lorrine, it’s Christmas! Let the kids have fun!”

“I’ll have fun eating Nana’s bread dressing!” Lance said. Lance was Libby’s older brother. “First one to the table gets the biggest piece!”

Caitlyn got up. “I hate being the youngest. I always lose.”

Libby patted her on the back. “Enjoy being seven. Second grade is easy. Next year, you’ll start doing fractions.” She made a disgusted face.

“Do the schools in South Carolina and Florida do things the same way for third grade?” Caitlyn asked.

“Pretty much,” Mom said as she put the last plate on the table. “Now go wash up. Once the rolls are ready, we’re saying the blessing and eating whether you girls are ready or not!”

“We’re going,” Libby said as they ran past Aunt Elaine and Uncle Bart. Libby stopped at the sliding glass door in the den and pressed her hands against it. “Caitlyn, do you think we’ll ever see a white Christmas?”

Caitlyn stood beside her, glancing at the huge oak tree in the back yard. Several birds pecked at Granddaddy’s feeder. “I don’t know. I’ve never had one. We live so far south, I doubt it.”

Libby smiled and opened the door. “Never say never.”

“Where are you going?” Caitlyn said. “Dinner is almost ready!”

“I’m going to do a snow dance. Come on! Maybe if we both do it, it will snow!” Libby dashed across the porch and jumped in the yard, dancing around and shouting “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!”

Caitlyn walked out on the front porch. The door slid shut behind her, despite the fact that nobody was in the den to close it. Looking back, she paused at her reflection in the glass.

She wasn’t seven anymore. Now she looked like she did when she was twelve.

“Come on, close the door,” Granddaddy said. “Let’s get these tomatoes and cucumbers planted.”

Caitlyn turned to the yard. It wasn’t winter anymore. The oak tree seemed to be alive with birds singing.

“What’s going on?” Caitlyn asked.

Granddaddy patted her on the back. “You’re helping me plant my garden. Come on, we’ll have a great crop this year. The best tomato sandwiches in town! Wait, what is Libby doing here?”

Caitlyn looked in the center of the yard, where Libby was still dancing in the yard singing “Let it snow!”

“This can’t be real,” Caitlyn said, sinking in Granddaddy’s rocking chair. “What’s going on?” She went to put her head in her hands when she noticed that she was wearing a ring – her college ring. She turned back toward the glass.

She was twenty one again and the inside of the house was empty. The strangest thing was that even though she heard Libby singing in the yard behind her, she didn’t see Libby’s reflection in the glass.

Caitlyn turned toward the yard. “Who are you?” she shouted.

Libby stopped and walked to the porch steps. “I am your cousin, Libby. Who do you think I am?”

Caitlyn jumped down the steps. “No you aren’t. That’s impossible. Now tell me the truth. What are you and what have you done to me?”




Libby stared at Caitlyn for a long moment, and sighed. “This person did not grow with you. That must mean they are no longer with you.”

Caitlyn snorted. “You could say that. What just happened? First I’m twenty one, crying in my grandparents’ house. Then I’m seven, celebrating Christmas. Then I’m twelve and it’s the spring before Granddaddy died. Then I’m me again. What is this? There’s no way this is possible in the real world.”

Libby sat on the bottom step. “Not possible in your world.”

“What do you mean my world?”

Libby looked around. “Caitlyn, you are right. I am not Libby. I am from a place where we do not live in linear time. We have been studying humanity, trying to understand how you are able to live in a manner where you are bound to this concept of time.”

“Time? Are you saying you’re an alien?”

Libby shrugged. “I suppose you would think of us that way. We are not human if that is what you are asking. We live in your world, but we are in a dimension that transcends time. The concept of a linear existence fascinates us, so we decided to come into your world and study it.”

“How wonderful,” Caitlyn said. “Things never change. The good times never end and you don’t lose the ones you love.”

“I sense you are in pain,” Libby said. “Tell me, what happened to cause these memories? I tried to bring you to happy memories, but you are still sad.”

Caitlyn sat on the step. “They are happy memories; some of my best. But time brings change and you have to deal with it, whether you like it or not. Human beings can’t transcend time.” She picked a dandelion and studied it. “Granddaddy died of a massive heart attack right before I turned thirteen. My brother got married last summer and moved away. Nana died a few months after he got married, and now my parents have sold their house to a business. Everything I knew seems to be floating away.” She blew the dandelion, sending the seeds over the yard.

“What of the one whose form I have taken?”

Caitlyn stood and paced. “Two years ago, Libby met somebody. He was bad news, but she loved him. She hoped a relationship would settle him, but it didn’t work. He got involved in drugs.” She sighed. “Some guys broke in their apartment one night. She was shot and killed.”

“I am sorry,” Libby stood. “I do see hope in your future. You are on the verge of meeting a goal and you have been offered an opportunity with great promise.”

“I’m fixing to graduate college and I have a job offer. It’s not what I hoped for, but then again nothing has turned out the way I thought it would. I never knew growing up meant everything would change.” Caitlyn leaned on the stair railing. “It’s hard to let go of the past. I suppose you could call it the peril of a happy childhood. But you’re right, I have to move on. The questions is, how did I get here and how do I get back?”

Libby took her hand. “I have given you a gift. You can stay here if you wish. You can live in the wonderful memories forever. Space and time will mean nothing to you. You can live in that wonderful Christmas when you were seven forever. Wasn’t that one of your happiest memories?”

Caitlyn nodded. “It was, but that’s not me any more. It’s tempting to stay, but I can’t be like you. Human beings weren’t meant to transcend time. Life is a journey. It would be wrong to change that. Even if I’m not sure about where it goes, I have to move on.” She sighed and stood up straight. “I’ve grown up and there’s no changing that. I can live in the past, but in my heart I will always know it’s not real. I must continue my journey.”

Libby let go of her hand. “If that is your decision, all you have to do it go back in the house. You will be brought back to your present.”

Caitlyn hugged Libby. “I know you aren’t really Libby, but thanks. You have brought me the comfort of my memories and I’ll never forget them.”

Libby smiled. “That is what we do. We welcome you to stay, but you have made a brave decision. For that, I see that you have a bright future. I do not know what lies ahead, but I sense that it is good.”

“You talk like most people don’t make this decision.” Caitlyn said. “Am I so rare?”

“Most stay for a while and go back. Some stay until their earthly bodies wear away and their soul is taken from here. But a few, like you, make the hardest choice and leave before they get too attached. From our perspective there is no right choice. It depends on the individual. We offer the opportunity to those that are distraught. We will not force you to stay. We want you to do what makes you happy.”

Caitlyn looked at the house. “For all the pain we suffer, life is beautiful. We shouldn’t take it for granted.”

Libby guided Caitlyn to the door. “Then you have a wisdom that has escaped some of your people an entire lifetime. Please share that with others on your journey.”

“Thanks so much,” Caitlyn said, but Libby had disappeared. She opened the door and stepped inside.




“Caitlyn, are you alright?”

Caitlyn looked up at her parents. “What happened?”

“It looks like you climbed on the cabinet and fell,” Dad said, helping her up. “Come on. What were you doing?”

“I thought I saw something on top of the cabinet …” Caitlyn trailed off as she looked at the cabinet and realized it was empty.

“Let’s get you to the hospital.” Mom said.

“No, I’m fine,” Caitlyn said, getting to her feet. “See, good as new.”

Dad led her out the back door. “I agree with your mother. I’d feel better getting you checked out. Come on, we’re done here.”

Caitlyn looked at the house. For a moment, she thought she saw Libby waving from the living room window. She waved back, but Libby was gone. It must have been a reflection.

“What are you waving at?” Mom said.

“Just saying goodbye,” Caitlyn said, pulling out her cell phone. “I need to do something before we leave.”

“What?” Dad asked.

Caitlyn smiled as she hit “Send” on her phone. “I have a job offer to accept.”

Word Count: 2,143