"The Blank Book" (Part 7 - End)

by Joseph Linhardt, ©2003  

(From Part 6 ...)

Jake and Aaron felt the car hit them, they felt their bodies propelled forward by the force of the car. They flipped over the railing of bridge and plummet down to the cold, fast-flowing water! They closed their eyes, not wanting to see the end.

They felt the sensation of falling, waiting for the impact of the water on their broken bodies. But they felt nothing, not even pain. They felt like they were falling, moving backwards and spinning all at once. Noise came from all around them: yelling, talking, the sound of cars as they drove by. Everything seemed rolled together into one, unintelligible roar. It filled their ears and seemed to be everywhere at once!

Then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity… silence.

Jake and Aaron heard nothing but the sound of their own heavy breathing. They felt nothing, but the sensation of ground beneath their feet. But that was impossible! They had been hit by the car, and knocked over a bridge and for all they knew, they were dead!

Slowly, the sounds of a busy street filled their ears; the sound of cars going by, and people walking to and fro on their errands. Car breaks squeaked, and the low rumble of buses filled the air. Slowly, Jake opened his eyes to a slit, and looked through them. He saw people walking around him, completely unconcerned, oblivious that there had just been a terrible car wreck! How could people be unaware that he and Aaron had been hit?

And why don’t I feel any pain, wondered Jake. 

He slowly looked down at himself and opened his eyes completely. What he saw amazed him!

He was not bruised or bleeding or hurt at all! His body was perfectly fine! Jake turned and saw Aaron standing beside him. He too was in perfect condition!

“Aaron! Open your eyes!” he said excitedly. “We’re OK!”

“Wha…what?” said Aaron, opening his eyes. He looked around, amazed, and then he looked down at himself. There was not a scrape on him.

“We’re not dead?” he asked, unbelievingly. “Ha-ha! Jake we’re not…ump!” He was cut off abruptly.

“Quiet,” said Jake, softly, clamping a hand over Aaron’s mouth. “Something’s weird here. I don’t want people staring at us because we’re standing here saying we’re not dead.” Jake took his hand off Aaron’s mouth.

“Sorry,” whispered Aaron, but he was still excited. “But, I mean, this is weird! A car ran into us, I know it! I saw it coming! I felt it hit me! So did you, right?” he asked, looking at Jake for reassurance that he wasn’t dreaming. “And now we’re here? At least half a mile from that bridge! What’s more, I feel fine!” He stretched his arms, reaching as high as he could. “It’s like it never happened!” Aaron exclaimed, smiling. A feeling of immense relief swept over him.

“Yeah,” said Jake, grinning back. “And you’re right, it’s like it never…wait…” his voice trailed off thoughtfully, thinking. “Wait a minute!” Jake exclaimed, looking at his watch for the date.

“What’s up?” asked Aaron, smiling as if his face would split.

“Look!” said Jake, intensely. “My watch says that today is the thirteenth!”

“That’s not right,” said Aaron, frowning. “Today’s the fifteenth.”

“I know,” replied Jake, thinking. Suddenly, the answer dawned on him. “But remember? You said, ‘It’s like it never happened.’ And…well, maybe it never did!” Jake was ecstatic. “We must have somehow gone back in time!”

Aaron was skeptical, but he looked at Jake’s watch and had to agree. He was not hurt. It was now the thirteenth instead of the fifteenth. Somehow, they had gone back in time. Did that mean they had another chance?

“But what caused us to go back?” wondered Aaron aloud.

“I think,” said Jake slowly, “God Himself gave us another chance.”

Aaron thought solemnly for a moment.

“Yeah…I think you’re right,” he said. “But if all that never happened, where’s the book?”

Jake looked in his backpack, but all he found were his schoolbooks, notebooks, pencils and other odds and ends he had stuffed into the pouches.

“It’s not here,” he said, happily. “It’s not here! We don’t have it anymore!”

They would have started dancing and yelling with relief, happy to be rid of that book, but then, Jake saw a familiar sight.

“Look!” exclaimed Jake, pointing up the street.

“What?” asked Aaron, glancing around. “Where?”

“Up the street.”

Aaron looked.

And there, twenty feet from the two boys, stood a large, blue mailbox, with the US postal service symbol on it. They both recognized it. Aaron gasped. Jake took a deep breath. He began taking slow, deliberate steps toward the blue postal box, moving around the people that were passing him busily on the large sidewalk. Aaron followed, protesting.

“No, Jake!” he said. “Don’t look! Don’t even go near it!”

Jake paid no attention to Aaron; he just kept walking and quickly reached the mailbox. Aaron reluctantly followed and with a gulp, both boys looked down to the exact spot where they had found the book three days ago. And there, on the ground lay…a single scrap of paper with writing scrawled across it. No book was there! They sighed with relief and knew without a doubt what had happened to them in the two days they had possessed the book was completely wiped out…except in Jake and Aaron’s memories.

“I wonder what this is,” said Jake. He picked up the paper and read it. His eyes widened!

“What? What is it?” asked Aaron anxiously.

Shaking his head in amazement, Jake handed the paper to Aaron. Aaron snatched it from Jake’s hand and read it quickly. When he had finished, he looked at Jake, his eyes wide in disbelief rather than fear. Shaking their heads in wonder, both boys began walking home, saying nothing.

The silence between them continued, but it was not an uncomfortable silence; they were reflecting on the strange events that had been caused by the book…the events that would never happen. Finally they reached Aaron’s house, and paused at the driveway.

“I think,” said Jake seriously, “this is good advice.” He held the slip of paper up.

“Oh yeah,” said Aaron in complete agreement.

They said nothing more. Aaron turned and walked up the driveway. Jake began the short walk back to his house.

This time, no one attacked him. When he arrived home, he saw that his house was still standing. Jake was relieved; he still remembered the fire and the horror he had felt when the house collapsed, killing the fireman who had rescued Sam. Jake opened the front door and walked up to his room without a word. He sat on his bed and thought for a long time.

                                     *                      *                      * 

No one had mugged Jake, and no thieves had robbed Aaron’s father or shot his mother. Jake’s home was still standing, and no fireman was killed trying to rescue Jake’s brother. No car went out of control on the sixteenth. None of the horrible things Jake and Aaron experience ever happened to them. But best of all, in Jake and Aaron’s minds, was that no unnamed, menacing book was ever found. No book was recording everything they did or causing terrible things to happen to them and their families. Their lives went on, just as they always had. But they would always remember the single sentence that was scrawled on the scrap of paper they had found in place of the book. On it was written a single verse from the Bible:

Those who despise the Word will be in debt to it.

“It’s like we’re in a story,” Jake had said. And we are. Everyone on this earth is in a story, written by the Author of authors. He has already written one book, the Bible, and He wants you to read it, not forget about it. He is writing many more stories. He wants to write the perfect story for you. Will you let Him?

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