When Lights Flash

Gasping for air
Code blue
doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists
rushing in
my hospital room

I panic
struggling
to get my breath
passing out

Flash....

I wonder if I am dreaming.
Floating
slowly down
a river
in a circular shaped
tunnel surrounded by
pink, yellow,
and blue sparkles.

"Am I dreaming", I wonder.
Three silhouettes appear in the distance
becoming clearer as distance narrows
I am face to face with them
two of them familiar

Becoming visible
an angel
with a warm glow
around him
speaking in a soft,
calming voice
"It isn’t your time.
Your purpose on Earth hasn’t been met.
Here are two people who need to tell you something

He fades away
A light
revealing
the other two
give me a
clear view
of them.

Am I dreaming? I think to myself
Standing before me
my cousin Tim
and my grandmother
speaking with her soothing voice
and hugging me
in her comforting embrace
"I will watch over you to make sure you are doing well"

Flash....

I woke in the Intensive Care Unit
unable to speak
scared and confused
in a unfamiliar place
with the sound of machines
chirping like angry birds
and nurses running around
in all directions.

A strange sensation
ventilator inflating
air into my lungs
with a calming sound like
swishing of waves
hitting a beach.

I returned home
with a new life friend
and enemy
still wondering if
it was a dream.

by Kevin M. Rudolph November 17, 2002