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Authors: Julianne MacLean
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shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, it never happened. All I know is this life, right here.” He reached for Sylvie’s hand and squeezed it.
“ I still remember it,” she said under her breath, regarding me with hooded, mistrustful eyes.
I shifted uneasily in my chair and tried to speak lightly. “I’m happy for you guys, honestly, and I’m glad I’m not a cheater—in this life, at least. But still….” I paused. “I can’t seem to let go of the memory of the son we had.”
We all reached for our drinks and sipped at the same time.
“I’m curious,” Sylvie said, “about your vision, Katelyn. Was it a dream? Were you asleep or unconscious when you had it? Chris said it happened during your cycling accident.”
I nodded. “That’s right. But I wasn’t asleep. You know how they say your life flashes before your eyes at the moment of your death? I thought I was going over the guardrail and I panicked—obviously. But the life that flashed before my eyes wasn’t my own. It was like this alternate reality you’re describing. And then I saw myself falling into the ravine and waking up in a wheelchair. It was as if everything happened in slow motion.”
“That must have been very frightening,” Chris said.
“It was. But somehow, at the last second, I managed to contort my body so that I hit the rail instead and didn’t go over the edge. I think I had an inkling of it and prevented it.”
Sylvie swallowed uneasily. “I’m glad to hear that, because in that other life, you did fall into the ravine and you became paralyzed from the waist down. You’re very lucky, Katelyn. I’m so glad that didn’t happen to you.”
I reached for my wine glass and finished it off. “Me, too.”
The waitress arrived with our meals and set them down in front of us. As soon as she was gone, I picked up my fork and asked Sylvie another question. “If that truly was an alternate reality that I saw, why did I have that same accident in this reality?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. It’s still a huge mystery to me and I’m trying to move on, to live life in the present. But I also experienced the same thing, because there were events that happened in those other lives that repeated themselves in this one.”
“Like what?”
She waved her fork around and chewed delicately while she spoke. “Like the hurricane that ravaged Maine last year. Three times, I went back, spent a few weeks in another reality. In one of them, we were hit by a hurricane. When I finally woke up, here in my current life, that same storm hit a few weeks later, on the exact same date. I was able to predict it and I knew exactly how bad it would be. Other things were the same as well.”
“Like your grandmother needing surgery,” Chris added helpfully.
Obviously Sylvie had shared everything with him.
“Yes,” she agreed. “In that other life, my grandmother had to have some polyps removed, and when I woke up in this one, I asked her to get checked out, and sure enough, she was diagnosed with the same thing. She had to have them removed.” Sylvie moved her food around on her plate and frowned slightly. “Still, other things were different. Like the sailboat. I don’t know why.”
“What sailboat?” I asked when she offered no further information.
Her eyes lifted and she seemed hesitant. “When the hurricane hit in that other reality, a sailboat was washed up onto the lawn of the house where I was living. We didn’t know who it belonged to and had to track down the owners by the boat’s name. But in this reality, when the storm hit, that didn’t happen. No boats were washed ashore in that area.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “This is really confusing.” I shut my eyes for a moment, labored to comprehend everything, then I opened them again. “So when I had a near-death experience, I remembered one of these alternate lives that you sort of created for me when you had your visions?”
Sylvie glanced at Chris. “I
“ I still remember it,” she said under her breath, regarding me with hooded, mistrustful eyes.
I shifted uneasily in my chair and tried to speak lightly. “I’m happy for you guys, honestly, and I’m glad I’m not a cheater—in this life, at least. But still….” I paused. “I can’t seem to let go of the memory of the son we had.”
We all reached for our drinks and sipped at the same time.
“I’m curious,” Sylvie said, “about your vision, Katelyn. Was it a dream? Were you asleep or unconscious when you had it? Chris said it happened during your cycling accident.”
I nodded. “That’s right. But I wasn’t asleep. You know how they say your life flashes before your eyes at the moment of your death? I thought I was going over the guardrail and I panicked—obviously. But the life that flashed before my eyes wasn’t my own. It was like this alternate reality you’re describing. And then I saw myself falling into the ravine and waking up in a wheelchair. It was as if everything happened in slow motion.”
“That must have been very frightening,” Chris said.
“It was. But somehow, at the last second, I managed to contort my body so that I hit the rail instead and didn’t go over the edge. I think I had an inkling of it and prevented it.”
Sylvie swallowed uneasily. “I’m glad to hear that, because in that other life, you did fall into the ravine and you became paralyzed from the waist down. You’re very lucky, Katelyn. I’m so glad that didn’t happen to you.”
I reached for my wine glass and finished it off. “Me, too.”
The waitress arrived with our meals and set them down in front of us. As soon as she was gone, I picked up my fork and asked Sylvie another question. “If that truly was an alternate reality that I saw, why did I have that same accident in this reality?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. It’s still a huge mystery to me and I’m trying to move on, to live life in the present. But I also experienced the same thing, because there were events that happened in those other lives that repeated themselves in this one.”
“Like what?”
She waved her fork around and chewed delicately while she spoke. “Like the hurricane that ravaged Maine last year. Three times, I went back, spent a few weeks in another reality. In one of them, we were hit by a hurricane. When I finally woke up, here in my current life, that same storm hit a few weeks later, on the exact same date. I was able to predict it and I knew exactly how bad it would be. Other things were the same as well.”
“Like your grandmother needing surgery,” Chris added helpfully.
Obviously Sylvie had shared everything with him.
“Yes,” she agreed. “In that other life, my grandmother had to have some polyps removed, and when I woke up in this one, I asked her to get checked out, and sure enough, she was diagnosed with the same thing. She had to have them removed.” Sylvie moved her food around on her plate and frowned slightly. “Still, other things were different. Like the sailboat. I don’t know why.”
“What sailboat?” I asked when she offered no further information.
Her eyes lifted and she seemed hesitant. “When the hurricane hit in that other reality, a sailboat was washed up onto the lawn of the house where I was living. We didn’t know who it belonged to and had to track down the owners by the boat’s name. But in this reality, when the storm hit, that didn’t happen. No boats were washed ashore in that area.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “This is really confusing.” I shut my eyes for a moment, labored to comprehend everything, then I opened them again. “So when I had a near-death experience, I remembered one of these alternate lives that you sort of created for me when you had your visions?”
Sylvie glanced at Chris. “I
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