Roam Around The Earth: Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventure #2 (Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventures)

by Jason Paul Rice

  More tears glided down Mary’s trembling cheeks and fell to the hospital room floor. She shut her eyes to get rid of the image of her comatose son connected to all the noisy machines. The past two weeks of worry had taken their toll on her.

  A mother can only handle so much.

  Her husband, George, paced back and forth by the huge window. He sat down and placed his hand on his son’s forearm. Mary’s eyes remained closed as she thought back to the genesis of the problem. Mary would never forget the blank look on Robbie’s face when she found him lying below the biggest tree in their yard.

  She assumed he had fallen from the oak tree as she screamed for her husband to help. George had called for an ambulance that came and rushed Robbie into surgery. The trauma had caused his brain to swell and push down on his brain stem, shutting down his centers for arousal and awareness.

  Mary had prayed constantly since the accident for God to take down the swelling and return her baby boy. The fifteen-year-old was just beginning his life.

  Mary opened her eyes and screamed. Her husband had a distant, lifeless look on his face and the flesh on his arms had turned bluish gray. George’s hand was wrapped firmly around Robbie’s right forearm. George’s face started to take on the same disturbing shade as his arms and Mary screamed for help.

  She ran over to the door and yelled again before rushing into the hallway. A blond nurse with an upside down name tag rushed up to her.

  The nurse asked, “What’s the matter, ma’am?”

  “It’s my husband. Something’s happened.” Mary couldn’t get any more words out and dragged the young lady into the room by her tiny wrist.

  Mary entered and saw her husband standing up with a huge smile on his face. His skin had returned to its normal tanned tone. The blond nurse gave her a weird look and backed out of the room. Mary was dumbfounded as her husband approached her.

  He had a twinkle in his blue eyes as he said, “I saw him. I just saw him.”

  “Saw who?” Mary asked.

  George pulled his wife in and looked down at her. “Our son. I saw Robbie. He was walking, running actually, and smiling. It was amazing. I just put my hand on his forearm and off I went.”

  Mary said, “Slow down, you look like you’re on drugs or something. I don’t know what’s going on here, but you looked dead about a minute ago and now you’re jumping around.”

  Her husband rambled, “I couldn’t be more alive. Sit down here and let me explain. When I put my hand on Robbie, I was transported to some type of crazy dreamland. And he was there. He came and greeted me. He explained that I could do this again to see him, but there could be possible consequences.”

  “Wait, wait. What consequences?” Mary asked.

  George answered, “Robbie said that if I came to see him, I had to remember where I entered or I could die.”

  Mary scoffed, “Die? Slow down for the love of God. What do you mean, where you entered?”

  George paused for a moment and appeared to be trying to control his breathing. “I mean our son is in some type of dystopian city environment. It looks like a video game, but I know that was Robbie. I asked him why he didn’t come out of this and he said that they wouldn’t let him come back until they were ready.”

  Mary asked, “Who is they?”

  Her husband kissed her on the forehead and she could feel his mustache as he held the embrace. Those kisses used to bring her comfort.

  “Who is they?” Mary repeated impatiently.

  George said, “He wouldn’t tell me that. A short while after I put my hand on his arm, I found myself looking at a ravaged city with a dull orange sky that looked like it had been bombed. Robbie came out of nowhere and greeted me. I got to hug our son. He squeezed me back. He told me that if I wandered too far from this return pad and got lost, my body would join his in a coma.”

  Mary softly uttered, “Oh my goodness.”

  Her husband barely let her finish before continuing, “He also said that if I was inside his body in the dreamland and someone pulled my body away in this hospital room, that I would die.”

  Mary couldn’t believe it. “I almost pulled you off of him before I ran out to get help. I could have killed you. I don’t understand all of this.”

  George said, “I’m not going to lie, I still don’t understand it either. It was like a lucid dream or video game graphics, good ones, but it felt so real. I can’t wait to go see him again. You should too.”

  Mary disagreed, “You know how I feel about that weird paranormal stuff and those dark magic practices.”

  Her husband laughed. “It’s not dark magic, or magic of any kind, I don’t think.”

  Mary shook her head. “Well, it’s not exactly science either. What’s your explanation?”

  George shrugged his shoulders. “I just said I don’t understand how it works, but it did indeed work. I witnessed it.”

  A short, dark-skinned nurse entered the room to check everything.

  She said, “Hello, I’m just popping in to make sure nothing is wrong.”

  Mary tried to calm down. “Everything is fine right now, thanks.”

  The nurse left the room and Mary asked her husband, “Did he look happy, Robbie that is?”

  George grinned and said, “He looked happy as can be and he asked about you. He said he hoped that you aren’t crying because of all this. He said he never wanted to make you sad.” George was getting emotional and stopped for a moment. “He said that he would be back to see us just as soon as they told him he could return.”

  A glimmer of hope flashed through Mary’s weary body. “Did he say how long it would be?”

  Her husband shook his head, “No. He didn’t give a timetable or anything, but he hoped that it would be soon.”

  Mary wondered, “What do you think is the significance of the destroyed city? Why that?”

  Her husband scratched his ear and responded, “It looked like a futuristic city so maybe he somehow went forward in time travel. I think we should focus on what’s important and that’s Robbie is happy. I might go back in before we leave.”

  Mary warned, “You’d better be careful and take precautions next time, here and in that dream world. I can’t have you drifting too far from where you came in and have you disappear for good. I can’t lose you and Robbie. Don’t you dare do that to me. Please. That’s all I ask.”

  Her husband pulled her in for a soft hug. He whispered in her ear, “Hey, hey, hey, you know that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Ever.”

  George didn’t end up going back to the dreamland and visiting hours were officially over. The old Ford rumbled into the driveway and Mary emptied the mailbox before going inside. She spilled the handful of envelopes onto the red oval table and pulled the chain cord on the lamp.

  George went to sleep and Mary sat down with a glass of whiskey on the rocks. She started to open the correspondence. They were all sympathetic cards full of well wishes. The heartfelt messages helped to keep Mary’s eyes dry for a few minutes.

  She picked up the last letter, read the return address and quickly set it back down. She had been dreading this letter from the hospital.

  George had lost his job a little over a year ago, which included his health insurance that covered the family. Mary had attempted to secure government assistance for low-income families without any luck. She had tried to get some help with children’s insurance before the accident and been rejected.

  Unpaid bills had piled up, adding extra stress to the situation involving her son. She summoned the courage to rip open the long envelope. Her hands shook as she slipped the papers out and unfolded them. She stared at a myriad of different numbers and medical mumbo jumbo until she zeroed in on the total.

  $132,000

  Her heart threatened to leap from her chest as she fell back in her chair. The pages of the bill dropped to the ground as she sat, paralyzed in fear. Even if Robbie recovered fully tomorrow, they would never be able to pay this back.

  The
soft hum of her husband’s snoring sounded like nails on a chalkboard to her. She couldn’t understand how her husband could sleep with all of this going on. She mixed up her whiskey with her finger so she wouldn’t drink the melted ice. She held her nose, leaned back and guzzled the nasty nectar.

  She set the half-empty cup on the table. This wasn’t the life she had always dreamed about.

  Mary Edgings had a few more full glasses of cheap whiskey and slid into her nightgown. She kneeled at the foot of her bed and prayed. She prayed mostly for her son and to find a way out from all the monetary stress. Mary prayed for almost an hour before lying down next to her husband.

  Mary suffered another sleepless night, but this episode of insomnia contained some more hopeful thoughts about her son.

  Two weeks later, Mary waited impatiently by the family car. Visiting hours at the hospital were about to start and she didn’t want to be a second late to see Robbie. George Edgings stood on the front lawn giving another interview, this time to a reporter from a newspaper.

  She thought her husband was turning her son into a carnival side show. People had been flooding the hospital for a chance to glance at the Dream Kid. That was the moniker the public had settled on for her son.

  Mary hated the extra attention and the hospital even had to put two guards outside the room so strangers didn’t try to take a ride to the dreamland. George finished the questioning and the couple got into the car.

  They barely got out of the driveway when Mary said, “I really wish you would stop doing those interviews and making a spectacle out of our son.”

  He said, “What do you mean? It’s extra money and right now that’s something that we desperately need.”

  Mary argued, “Is it? Is it really worth a couple hundred dollars here and there? Robbie’s care at the hospital just went over one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. How are we ever going to pay that off?”

  George said, “I know it’s a tough road to hoe, but we’ll eventually get through it. We can’t worry about it or it’s going to kill us.”

  Mary added, “I also didn’t like the way these interviewers are making our son sound like some sort of freak show.”

  He objected, “Freak show? Come on, honey, people are looking at him as a hero. He’s been motionless for how long now and people are celebrating him for this. Embrace it. Embrace Dream Kid. You should go see him. We never know if he will actually snap out of this. This is your chance to see our son.”

  Mary shook her head. “I know what will happen if I do.”

  “What’s that?”

  Mary continued, “I know I’ll be the one to get lost in that city and never return or someone will rip me away from my son in real life and kill me in the process. It’s too dangerous for an unlucky person like me. You keep saying that he told you that he might snap out of this at any time. Should I stop hoping for that?”

  George answered, “No. Not at all. But who’s to say what can ever happen. What if we go in together? I’ll make sure you don’t get lost.”

  This idea actually made some sense to Mary. She said, “I wish you would have suggested this idea already. I think I might feel safe enough with you there. So what, you just have to hold his forearm?”

  George nodded. “That’s it. Then you’ll get a weird feeling like you are being pulled in all different directions. And suddenly, the dystopian dream world just appears right in front of you. Robbie usually shows up shortly after I get there and we just talk near the landing pads at the entrance point.”

  Mary began to get excited about the prospect of seeing her son walking and talking again. They arrived at the hospital and got on an elevator. Mary heard some strange sounds as the elevator went up.

  They got off on their son’s floor and the choppy sounds of a large propeller filled her ears. She turned the corner and noticed the two guards weren’t stationed outside Robbie’s room. As the rotor sounds of a helicopter intensified, Mary ran down the hall and frantically opened the door.

  The two guards appeared to have been shot several times and lay motionless on the ground. A fierce breeze came from a huge hole in the wall leading outside. Her son, his bed and all the machines were gone. She looked out of the hole in the wall and saw a huge helicopter rising and flying away.

  Mary looked around the room again and saw a man in a suit on the floor near the guards. The still man had the same skin color as her husband’s when he had gone inside Robbie’s dreamland.

  She screamed for help as her husband touched her shoulder and tried to console her. She tore herself away and faced her husband.

  She seethed with anger and spoke with words soaked in venom. “You. You did this. You turned our son into some sort of video game. It was only a matter of time before some sick, sadistic person took Robbie for their own entertainment. You had to do those interviews, didn’t you? You didn’t do them for Robbie, no, so you can stop lying about that. You loved the attention and this is something I will never forgive you for.”

  She stormed out of the room before her husband could reply.

  Mary Edgings shut down emotionally for the next two years. She silently prayed every day for Robbie to return. She and George drifted apart and she barely ate or even spoke to anyone. Her favorite activity was taking long walks in the woods with at least two bottles of whiskey for company. She preferred to stay away from everybody.

  A mother can only handle so much.

  If you want to continue the journey with Book 3, please visit the Official Whitney Powers Page: http://jasonpaulricebooks.com/official-whitney-powers-page/

  About the Author

  Jason Paul Rice was born and raised in the steel city of Pittsburgh. A strong work ethic was instilled in Jason from a very young age. Dedication and sacrifice were constantly exemplified by his mother, Judy, and that taught Jason that nothing comes easy. He uses the accumulated lessons from a crazy life, and puts heart and soul into his writing.

  Jason’s true passion is helping people that are victims of circumstance. He would like to gain enough influence through writing to provide books and ereaders to the homeless and underprivileged children of the world. His mother always made sure that he got to the library or bookmobile to feed his appetite for books but Jason realizes that some people don’t have this option and would love to make literature readily available for everyone.

  Website: http://jasonpaulricebooks.com

  BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jason-paul-rice

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