Read Online Over the Rainbow - Book One - 'The Gathering Place' by Robert Vaughan - Free Book Online
Authors: Robert Vaughan
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then he
suddenly wobbled, his eyes becoming unfocused and rolling up into
his head as he unexpectedly pitched forward and toppled out of the
plane, falling like a tree felled by the lumberjacks
axe.
Alani called out with a tilt of her head in concern,
“Hey! Are you all-?” as Chris tumbled out of the cockpit and
plunged into her sodden lap, his impetus driving them both backward
into the muddy ditch.
As she recoiled from the sudden
and unexpected burden of Chris in her lap, Alani reached to his
head and touched his face. And as she did, the world suddenly
flashed brightly around her, white light and a rush of sound like
the echoing reverberation of a distant
explosion …
The light and sound faded and the world slowly
sharpened back into a sort of smeary black-and-white focus. Alani
looked into her lap, where Chris’ head lolled like a broken doll.
She stiffened with fright as her vision cleared, for where
previously had been a baseball cap-clad, golden-haired vision of
silliness was now something else entirely. The Chris she saw now
was the same, but very- different.
He was dressed in a torn and smoke-stained Navy
flight suit, his hair military short, the cloth flight helmet and
shattered goggles blood-stained and dangling from his neck. He was
barely breathing, his gasps short and ragged, and the deathly pale
skin of his bloodstained face meant only one thing- he was
dying…
Alani gasped sharply and the world flashed again.
She stared with open mouth into her lap, where she saw the
now-Chris lying unconscious in the muddy mess of her jeans. In
panic and confusion at the bizarre occurrence, she blindly
scrambled to extricate herself from beneath Chris, who sloshed
wetly into the muddy road as she leaped to her feet, his face
falling sideways into a rust-colored puddle. She shook her head to
clear the remains of the disturbing vision and then dashed to her
Jeep and frantically dug through the pile of stuff on her passenger
seat, finally digging out her phone. She jabbed at the keys in a
barely restrained frenzy, hit a final note, and was rewarded with a
message on the screen that stated blandly- ‘No Service.’
“ Fuck!” she swore softly in
frustration, and angrily flung the phone back into the pile of
debris on the seat. She rushed back over to Chris, who was now
blowing unconscious mud-bubbles into the puddle that cradled his
face. “Ohhh, shit!” she cried, and knelt in the muck and pried
Chris’ head off the road, cradling it into her lap as she pondered
her next move. It was then that she saw the distinctive Boston logo
on the baseball cap and said with scorching disdain, “Red Sox! Red
Sox? Ooooh, I should just let you drown!” Alani sighed and then
grabbed Chris’ face and shook it lightly, an obviously half-hearted
attempt to revive him, and called to him gently, “Hey! You
okay?”
Chris stirred and muttered incoherently, “I’m fine,
Mommy, I just fall down…” and tried to raise himself up onto one
shaky arm.
Alani tucked a hand under his shoulder and clumsily
struggled to get him upright, saying somewhat less than
encouragingly as she sighed, “C’mon, let me help you…” Chris’ eyes
fluttered open and he grinned at her with a goofy smile, his
rubbery legs slipping on the slick surface of the road as he tried-
quite unsuccessfully- to stand. He slipped and sagged in her arms,
nearly dragging both of them back down into the muck and Alani
cried with annoyance, “Stop trying to help, it’s not working!” She
growled and groaned with the effort as she hauled the rag-doll form
of Chris over to her Jeep and unceremoniously dumped him into the
passenger seat, wincing slightly and then smirking with silent
amusement as she heard his rear end crunch noisily onto her pile of
assorted junk.
After an exhausted outpouring of breath, Alani tried
vainly to secure him with one arm thrust stiffly into his chest as
she yanked the saggy seat belt around him, again swearing under
suddenly wobbled, his eyes becoming unfocused and rolling up into
his head as he unexpectedly pitched forward and toppled out of the
plane, falling like a tree felled by the lumberjacks
axe.
Alani called out with a tilt of her head in concern,
“Hey! Are you all-?” as Chris tumbled out of the cockpit and
plunged into her sodden lap, his impetus driving them both backward
into the muddy ditch.
As she recoiled from the sudden
and unexpected burden of Chris in her lap, Alani reached to his
head and touched his face. And as she did, the world suddenly
flashed brightly around her, white light and a rush of sound like
the echoing reverberation of a distant
explosion …
The light and sound faded and the world slowly
sharpened back into a sort of smeary black-and-white focus. Alani
looked into her lap, where Chris’ head lolled like a broken doll.
She stiffened with fright as her vision cleared, for where
previously had been a baseball cap-clad, golden-haired vision of
silliness was now something else entirely. The Chris she saw now
was the same, but very- different.
He was dressed in a torn and smoke-stained Navy
flight suit, his hair military short, the cloth flight helmet and
shattered goggles blood-stained and dangling from his neck. He was
barely breathing, his gasps short and ragged, and the deathly pale
skin of his bloodstained face meant only one thing- he was
dying…
Alani gasped sharply and the world flashed again.
She stared with open mouth into her lap, where she saw the
now-Chris lying unconscious in the muddy mess of her jeans. In
panic and confusion at the bizarre occurrence, she blindly
scrambled to extricate herself from beneath Chris, who sloshed
wetly into the muddy road as she leaped to her feet, his face
falling sideways into a rust-colored puddle. She shook her head to
clear the remains of the disturbing vision and then dashed to her
Jeep and frantically dug through the pile of stuff on her passenger
seat, finally digging out her phone. She jabbed at the keys in a
barely restrained frenzy, hit a final note, and was rewarded with a
message on the screen that stated blandly- ‘No Service.’
“ Fuck!” she swore softly in
frustration, and angrily flung the phone back into the pile of
debris on the seat. She rushed back over to Chris, who was now
blowing unconscious mud-bubbles into the puddle that cradled his
face. “Ohhh, shit!” she cried, and knelt in the muck and pried
Chris’ head off the road, cradling it into her lap as she pondered
her next move. It was then that she saw the distinctive Boston logo
on the baseball cap and said with scorching disdain, “Red Sox! Red
Sox? Ooooh, I should just let you drown!” Alani sighed and then
grabbed Chris’ face and shook it lightly, an obviously half-hearted
attempt to revive him, and called to him gently, “Hey! You
okay?”
Chris stirred and muttered incoherently, “I’m fine,
Mommy, I just fall down…” and tried to raise himself up onto one
shaky arm.
Alani tucked a hand under his shoulder and clumsily
struggled to get him upright, saying somewhat less than
encouragingly as she sighed, “C’mon, let me help you…” Chris’ eyes
fluttered open and he grinned at her with a goofy smile, his
rubbery legs slipping on the slick surface of the road as he tried-
quite unsuccessfully- to stand. He slipped and sagged in her arms,
nearly dragging both of them back down into the muck and Alani
cried with annoyance, “Stop trying to help, it’s not working!” She
growled and groaned with the effort as she hauled the rag-doll form
of Chris over to her Jeep and unceremoniously dumped him into the
passenger seat, wincing slightly and then smirking with silent
amusement as she heard his rear end crunch noisily onto her pile of
assorted junk.
After an exhausted outpouring of breath, Alani tried
vainly to secure him with one arm thrust stiffly into his chest as
she yanked the saggy seat belt around him, again swearing under
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