“Ugghhh, why do I always manage to get lost?!” I cry exasperated as I throw my hands up in the air. I’m walking in a city somewhere in downtown Atlanta. The sun is out and shining on passing cars, lighting up the shadows with each reflecting window. I am making my way leisurely down the sidewalk staying in the shadows of the buildings. I am in a long white sleeve blouse with black leggings, but no shoes to speak of. The top comes down to my knees and moves like smoke in the wind. My hair is in a braid, but my bangs swipe my face with each gust. As I get to the end of the block I felt a rumble, deep in the ground. Shaking the very foundations of the buildings around me.

As I turn the corner I see part of a building has been reduced to ruins. I see paramedics and police, some are working, and others are talking in groups. The flashing red lights of the paramedics mixing with the blue of the police, light up the carnage. I do not know what has happened here and so I try to stop someone. A man walks towards me, I smile and hold up a hand “Excuse me can you...” I cut off with a choke as the man passes through me. I just stand there shocked as he keeps going about his business. I start patting myself down and whipping my head around seeing if anyone notices.

No one blinks an eye my way and I just stand there with my mind reeling. I finally notice I’m standing next to a big chunk of concrete and I begin to look at the once tall building. I feel compelled to walk amongst the rubble and before I know it my feet carry me to it. No one notices me, the only pedestrian climbing the slabs, and if they do they don’t seem to care.

I come across this man beneath a slab of concrete, only his head and left arm are visible. I cannot make out many features since blood covers most of his being. “Hey, can you hear me?” I ask as I shake him a little. He isn’t responding so I look around for a paramedic. I spy one about 20 ft away. “HEY!” I shout and jump up and down. I’m ignored once again and just huff defeated.

I glance back down at the man and notice he is bleeding heavily beneath the weight and so I pick him up. I carry him past everyone, moving like a whisper around people and vehicles to the hospital. Inside is a multitude of sounds and voices trying to be heard over everyone. I quickly look trying to stop someone to help the man. I see a window with no line and a woman sitting behind it. I scurry up to it not looking her in the eyes as I stumble to explain. “yes, uh, can you, uh help me, um I mean hi-“ I finally look at her fully and notice she is an older lady with wrinkles adorning her forehead and eyes that have seen far too much.

She shakes her head slowly “Sorry dearie you’ll have to take him to another part.” She rasped. “Uh…” I intelligently begin to say. She points to a door behind me that is plain wooden white and not like the metal that usually are in hospitals. I begin to walk towards the door, but I remembered to thank her. “Thank you…” She is gone, and the window blinds are rolled down.

As I am walking I notice there is someone walking next to me. “AHHH!” I scream and jump sideways because I honestly wasn’t expecting him that close. I can’t make out any feature’s, but I instinctively know it’s a man. Looking at him is like looking through a frosted mirror. I notice colors, such as he has short brown hair that looks shaved. He has a green jacket and a shirt with a pattern since I can make out two colors. Looking at him for too long makes the man in my arms heavier.

“Can I help you?” I ask as I squint to make out more features. He does not reply just stands there looking at me. I slowly make my way to my destination and come to a room with far fewer people and another window. The lady behind this one is far older with white hair and pale eyes. “Hello? Can you help him?” I quietly ask as I lift the man higher in my arms. She stares at him for a second before hopping down from her stool and disappearing.

The door next to the window creaks open and she walks on through. I am about 5’6 and she is shorter than me by a good two feet. Even so, she has no trouble taking the man from my arms and carrying him to the back. “Umm…oookk?” I questioned unsure what I was supposed to do now. My stomach rumbles reminding me it requires substance. I leave and go to the cafeteria and proceed to eat a ham sandwich. I am waiting for something and I am not sure what it is.

The obscured man is still following me and is currently sitting across from me. I glance his way and decide to find out more about him. “So, got a name?” this gets no response, so I decided to try a different tactic. “Want something to eat or is your mouth gone as well?” He looks towards me but doesn’t say anything and I have nothing else to say.

About twenty minutes later an aging man walks up to me and beckons me to follow. He has a small hunch in his back despite this he moves quickly. I do not look to see if the man has followed me. We get to a room where I had dropped off the man I had found. He is wrapped in a bed sheet and I know he did not make it. I felt no loss or sadness, only a sense of knowing I did what I could.

The mystery guy is still walking with me and he has not gotten any clearer since his first appearance. I pick up the sheeted bundle in a bridal carry. “Thank you both for trying.” I tip my head to the old lady and man. I turn and walk out of the room where the scenery slowly changes like a melted painting. It morphs into a clouded sky and lake with fog rolling over it and covering all of it except for the space around a boat. A hardwood forest surrounds the lake with mighty oaks reaching upwards to the sky. There is no wind, but the trees bow and sag as if they are sad for this man to be here.

I notice on the edge of the lake is an old Viking boat, with red and white striped sails and the metal discs on the sides. They have engravings on them but are too small to see except for the Celtic knot in the middle. I walk up the plank to get on and walk to the middle where a long table sits. I lay the sheeted man down in the center of this mighty boat. To the right of me is the mystery guy, he is glowing slightly now, but he is still foggy. I turn to him “Will you be staying as well?” he only nods and turns to the blankets again. I walk off the boat, sliding my hand across the rails as if I’m saying farewell.

As I step off the plank it dissipates from sight and I look upon the boat once more. I push the ship off the shore into the awaiting lake, the boat gets swallowed up by the expecting mist, eventually disappearing completely. “May the halls of Odin treat you well.” The words slip out unbidden from my tongue. I eventually turn from that calm lake and walk away into the dense forest with thunder rolling overhead.