Part 1
By
Melanie Brown
Copyright © 2011
Michael Martin thought he was just going to work...
It all happened so fast, I could barely react. I hit the brakes, and tried to turn out of the skid, but the trailer of the jack-knifed truck just continued to slide towards me. I heard a dull thunk and the sickening sound of twisted metal as my car slid under the trailer.
The scream caught in my throat. I stumbled a step or two forward as the anticipated collision never happened. I felt disoriented as every where I looked was white and foggy looking. Where the hell was I?
I walked a short distance and I started to make out what appeared to be an aircraft of some kind. As I got closer, I could see it was an old Constellation, only it didn’t have any propellers. I could see several people climbing stairs to enter the plane. A few people seemed happy and ran up the gangway. Others, looking elderly, their shoulders were hunched and they seemed sad, even though it was hard to see.
“Ah, Mr. Martin. You’re right on time.” A voice coming from my right scared the crap out of me. I turned to the direction of the sound and saw a distinguished looking gentleman in a dark suit. “I’m Mr. Jordan. I’m here to help you to your final destination.”
“What is this place? Who are those people? Last thing I remember was…” The last thing I remembered was the truck trailer, the windshield of my car and some twisted metal rushing towards my nose. Oh my God!
Mr. Jordan continued to smile and gestured towards the plane. I looked at Mr. Jordan, the plane, at the fog and down at me. Finally, with my mouth hanging open I asked, “Am I dead? Is this heaven?”
Mr. Jordan looked like he’d heard these questions a billion times. He calmly said, “Yes, and no. Yes Mr. Martin. I’m afraid you died in a very terrible car accident.” He pointed to the plane. “Several of those people were in neighboring cars. But as you can see, you all have arrived here, right on time.”
My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, ‘right on time’? This accident was supposed to happen? Couldn’t you have stopped it?”
With a sigh of resignation, Mr. Jordan held up an electronic notepad with a list of names and dates. “See this line? Right here, Michael Martin with the exact date and time of your scheduled death. Your last moment was scheduled before you were born. Some times we can nudge someone if they’re about to do something that will get them killed before the schedule, because it causes a major clean-up operation. Some times, a complete unexpected random act, like a murder can throw a spanner in the works, but most endings, like yours, happen right on schedule.”
I stood there dumbfounded staring at the notepad. There indeed was my name, the scheduled time of my death, the actual time and the means of death. I said, “This can’t be happening! I have an important meeting to go to. I have a wife and kid! This is wrong!”
Mr. Jordan let a look of frustration cross his face as he said, “I can sympathize with you Mr. Martin. What’s done is done and it’s all part of the Grand Plan. Now, please Mr. Martin, get on the plane.”
Suddenly, hidden from the fog came a voice saying, “Mr. Jordan! Mr. Jordan! You need to wait!”
Mr. Jordan let out a deep sigh and under his breath said, “Not Mr. Henry again!”
A short, nervous looking man stepped out through the fog. “Mr. Joran! You must wait. I hope I caught you in time. There’s been a huge error. We just now caught it.” He looked over at me and said, “Who’s he?”
Looking irritated, Mr. Jordan said, “This is Michael Martin. He needs to be getting on that plane.”
“You say Michael Martin? Oh dear me! This is terrible! We have to correct this immediately!”
“Get a hold of yourself, man. What are you talking about?” asked Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Henry pointed at me and said, “Him! He’s the problem we need to correct. Is it too late? Can we return him?”
Mr. Jordan shook his head and said, “No, the body was mangled almost beyond recognition. My apologies Mr. Martin. He can not be returned.”
“We have to correct this and soon or else we’ll be facing a cataclysmic cascade of monumental proportions!” Mr. Henry looked like he was about to explode.
Mr. Jordan calmly said, “Come now Mr. Henry, Mr. Martin’s death has been on the schedule since before his birth. How can there be a mistake?”
Mr. Henry shrugged and said, “Someone got sloppy. There was a calculation error. Mr. Martin is actually supposed to live until he’s ninety-two, not thirty-two. The Adjustment Bureau was supposed to have nudged him to a different route to work, but they missed their cue.” He began fidgeting before he said, “This is huge. We won’t be able to stop the cascade if it starts.”
Mr. Jordan said, “This is serious. What’s the trigger? Any suggestions on how to prevent it?”
Mr. Henry nodded. “It’s his daughter. Without him to guide her these next crucial weeks, she does something terrible, losing her soul as well as a few others in the process. But that’s just the start. Her granddaughter, who she will now never have, is supposed to become a brilliant surgeon who saves thousands of lives directly and millions more indirectly with other surgeons using her technique. Those saved or their offspring go on to become great doctors, scientists, and artists who greatly enhance the human experience bringing the human race a step closer to fulfilling its destiny. None of this will happen because of Mr. Martin’s death.”
Mr. Jordan said, “Come, come, Mr. Henry. There’s been accidents before that also triggered a cascade. We were able to nudge and make corrections that limited the scope of the cascade.”
Mr. Henry said, “The scale is just too big. This could even lead humanity into several major wars. Free will can really be a bitch…oh, sorry…sometimes.”
“So, Mr. Henry, what do we do?” asked Mr. Jordan sounding frustrated.
Pointing at me yet again, Mr. Henry said, “He has to go back and stop his daughter. We owe him a life anyway, and he’s the most likely person to be able to stop his daughter from making a tragic mistake.”
I watched in silence as Mr. Jordan and Mr. Henry studied their notepads, ran calculations and mumbled to each other. People on the plane were looking through the windows at us, some with curiosity and others with irritation.
I still couldn’t come to grips with the fact that I was dead. But I couldn’t explain what I was seeing. Either I’m experiencing a strange hallucination in the last few nano-seconds of my life, or I’m actually standing in a fog talking to two guys who claim I’m erroneously dead.
Still looking at his notepad as he walked towards me, Mr. Jordan finally said, “We have a golden opportunity coming up in just a few minutes, Mr. Martin. However, the decision is yours. We can’t force you to do this, but remember, one of the people at stake is your own daughter. If you agree, you will assume the life of a person who is scheduled to die in about 3 minutes. This person is a cheerleader at the same school your daughter attends and is even in a few of her classes. “
“Wait wait wait.” I stammered. “You’re killing a teenage girl for me to take over? That’s insane! I’m not doing it.”
Looking frustrated again, Mr. Jordan said, “We’re not killing her. It’s her time. It’s not up to us to question the Grand Plan. Your daughter knows her. It’ll be easier to gain her confidence. On Earth, it’s been two weeks since your death.”
“What does my daughter do that’s so bad anyway?”
“We can’t tell you.”
“Well, when does she do it?”
“We can’t tell you that either.”
I shake my head. “Man, bureaucracies suck in Heaven too it seems.”
“The clock is ticking, Mr. Martin. What is your decision?” Mr. Jordan just stood there stoned faced.
“What happens if I fail?” I asked.
“Nothing, Mr. Martin. You’ll be absorbed into the girl’s life and you will be unaware of anything that has happened. Your daughter will be arrested and her soul lost forever. Millions of lives yet to be will be extinguished or imperiled. But no pressure.”
“If I succeed?”
“If you succeed Mr. Martin, your daughter’s life will be brought back into the plan with only minor meddling from the Adjustment Bureau and everyone’s schedule remains intact.”
“And that’s when you put me in the life of a NFL football player?” I asked.
“You watch too many movies, Mr. Martin. No, you will remain as the girl. As a reward, you will retain part of the memory of your past so you can keep a connection with your daughter. You can resist, but the girl’s life will soon consume yours.”
“Thirty seconds,” said Mr. Henry.
“Or you can turn your back on your fellow man and get on board the airplane. Your choice, Mr. Martin. But please, make it a quick one,” Mr. Jordan said very seriously.
“I’ll do anything for my daughter. Yes, I’ll do it.” I said breathing hard.
“Make it so, Mr. Henry.”
End of Part 1
Comments
Mr. Jordan Can Wait - Part 1
Like the start.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
What relationship? An incestuous one?
RAMI
I see one possible scenario where this may be going. In the state he is in Mr. Martin is unable to think clearly, if at all. But, if he is to return as a girl, of the same age as his daughter, could the relationship, that the newly minted Ms Martina have with Ms Daughter Martin, be of an intimate lesbian nature? Knowing that relationship with his daughter would be incestuous in nature, would Mr. Martin, have decided to get on the plane?
RAMI
RAMI
Interesting twist, but I
Interesting twist, but I will never write an incest story.
Melanie
Amazing!
Great story idea, Melanie. I always enjoy your talent you share with us readers. This is a rather unique story idea and I really look forward to its development.
I liked this start
could be very fun.
Dorothycolleen
Actually, I had the basis of
Actually, I had the basis of this idea and the title several years ago just when my muse dried up. I'll say the movie inspired this story, but not really a tribute. More of a wink and nod. The other story posted here with the title of the movie is very good and I almost didn't write this one because of it. But after this chapter, this story should bear little resemblance to other story or the movie.
Melanie
A very enjoyable start to a
A very enjoyable start to a promising story. I like the fact that you are focusing on the consequences of the central character not being in his life on others rather than just the consequences for himself. :-)
"Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life."
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Interesting beginning
I'll be looking forward to more of this one.
Talk about mistakes
Seriously, they had thirty three years to catch the mistake and update their databases. And none of it happened.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Sure they did...
They caught their mistake. Bureaucratically, they caught it just to late to prevent having to take corrective action. I worked for civil service for about 30 years and so I have mucho experience with bureaucracies. That is the standard modus operandi.
Chris
Good Start
Melani,
This is a great start, don't care how many others do the same theme, you are bound to do a different and unique take on it. I look forward to reading more. I was wondering why part 2 isn't next to it inline on the web site here???
Thanks for posting it.
Chris
How long?
More than four years waiting for the second chapter isn't it too long?
4 years
I agree. It's on my list.
I do hope this isn't the only
I do hope this isn't the only story on your list waiting for your attention.
List
It's not. I have written quite a bit for a sequel to the Model and also for Drag Queens. I also have a sequel started for Princess of Q'fahr. There's just one of me though.
OK, this just sucks !!!!
You start us on a sweet story and then what ???
Story
My inspiration just dried up for some reason. I'm working on Part 2 now.
Re: Mr. Jordan Can Wait
Melanie,
I'm glad to see you are finally gping to be moving with this story! I saw earlier in the Part 1 comments where you call this mor a wink and a nod than a true tribute or sequel to Warren Beatty's 1978Heaven Can Wait! From what I read in Part 1, I would have to agree. You have Mr. Jordan as the overeager Escort who pulls the soul of our hero out of his body prematurely and a Mr. Henry as his supervisor who must find an alternative solution which will somehow preserve the space-time continuum. You also have our hero asking about taking over the life of a pro football player, an obvious reference to Beatty's character in the movie. Where you have split from the film orthodoxy (aside from the obvious transgender spin) is in the portrayals of the two Waystaation workers. In the film, the Escort was never named (and was played by veteran character actor Buck Henry); and James Mason played the part of the Supervisor, Mr. Jordan. I don't know; perhaps Mr. Jordan was demoted for any mistakes he might have made in the case of Joe Pendleton. Even if that were true, I cannot see the original Escort being promoted over Mr. Jordan, since he was the one who had pulled Joe out prematurely in the first place.
So much for my rambling: I do look forward to the remainder of your story (I just hope it won't take four years to get Part 3)!
Jenny
Much more reminiscent of the
Much more reminiscent of the Powell and Pressberger 1946 British film called "A matter of life and death" which was released in the U.S. under the title "Stairway to Heaven" and starred David Niven.