My Eternity 1

August 24, 2010
11:50 am
Pacifica, California

Nynnia was late for work.  Again.  As head librarian of the Pacifica-Sharp Park Library, it was inexcusable.  She really had no idea what was going on with her lately.  It began nearly a week ago, when she passed out at work suddenly.  When she awoke, she was in the hospital and the doctor couldn't give her a definitive reason for it.  Shrugging it off as just exhaustion, he suggested she take a bit of a break from work.  She told him that she would, but had to make sure everything was in order for Jamie to take over for her.

She threw a piece of bread in the toaster while getting dressed.  It was days like this that she was glad she only had a studio apartment.  The close proximity of her bedroom to the kitchen was a big help when she was running late.  Not that she was often, which was all the more reason for her to be upset with herself for being late.

Buttoning up her blouse, Nynnia walked to the kitchen and removed the toast from the toaster, burning her fingers in the process and dropping it onto the floor.  Sighing, she picked it up and contemplated throwing it out, even though she hated wasting food.  Unfortunately, she also wasn't interested in getting sicker and it had been a while since she had an opportunity to clean.  Throwing the offending piece of toast into the trash, she decided she'd have to skip breakfast if she didn't want to waste any more time getting to the library.

Nynnia closed and locked the door behind her as she headed downstairs to the street.  The library was close enough for her to walk to, something she was always grateful for, especially since she didn't drive.  Not that she couldn't, but rather that she cared not to.  Cars, to her, always felt like such a death trap, particularly after what happened to her brother, Jean.  They had been driving in the countryside of France on a summer's night when the car stalled.  He got out to see what the problem was and was attacked by wolves and killed.  Since then, she's only driven if she had to.

She brushed a lock of hair back from her eyes.  Red wasn't her natural color, but she loved how she looked with the bright red curling around her face.  It was the one area in which she allowed herself to be vain.  Nynnia wasn't one for the latest fashions or the hippest trends, but she did recognize that people needed to do at least one thing to pamper themselves, and her red hair was just that for her.

The library appeared on the horizon and Nynnia picked up her pace a little, stepping off the sidewalk and into the street.  That was when the car hit her.  Nynnia felt the impact and felt what must have been her bones shattering as the machine crashed right into her at full speed, even though everything around her felt as if it were going in slow motion.  She saw the look of abject horror on the driver's face as he slammed on his brakes, tires squealing.  She felt herself hit the concrete hard, her head slamming back against the ground.  Then everything went dark.