Week 9 Story: The Call

At first, Karen thought the phone ringing was a part of her dream. But as the dream continued, the ringing didn't make sense anymore. She slowly came out from a deep sleep and realized her phone was actually ringing. But it was still dark outside.

"What time is it?" she wondered.

She picked up the phone and saw that it was three in the morning. She answered the call and put the phone to her ear, but as soon as the woman on the other end said that she worked at the hospital, her heart dropped. And then everything went black for a minute.

"You are the mother of Ben and Brett, correct?" the nurse sounded like she had asked the question more than once with no response.

"Yes, I am," stated Karen.

"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to come to the hospital immediately, there has been an accident. Both of your sons are in critical condition."

Karen jumped out of bed as fast as she could. She woke up her husband, Mike, threw on some sweats, and the two sped to the hospital as fast as they could.

When they got there, they were greeted by a doctor with grey hair and small round glasses. He looked as if he had been up all night and was exhausted, but forced a soft smile. He explained to Karen and Mike that their two sons had been in a car accident and that their injuries were so severe that they died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Karen sank to the floor, her head in her hands. This was absolutely her worst nightmare. It was as if her heart had shattered to a million pieces. Not only had she lost one of her children, she lost both, and so unexpectedly. She sat on the ground crying hysterically for five minutes, then stood up. She walked up to the police officer that was speaking to the doctor that had told them the news and asked how it happened.

The police officer told her that a drunk driver t-boned the boys' car after running a red light. Shocked, Karen took a few steps back. Her grief suddenly turned to fury. She asked if the man responsible had been arrested and he said yes, but all of a sudden that didn't seem as if it were enough. Karen wanted more answers, but she wanted revenge even more. She needed to make sure that the man responsible for her children's death would never see the light of day ever again.

Three months later, Karen sat in the courtroom awaiting the judge's decision. She had hardly slept these past three months and it showed. She had dark circles under each of her eyes and her hair was beginning to gray. The smile lines she once had turned to frowns, leaving a distinguishing look of grief. Three months without Ben and Brett had been the worst of her life, but she hoped that this day would give her the closure she needed to begin to heal.

The judge walked back into the room, sat down, and with a solemn look on her face, said that the man who killed her sons would be charged a felony for vehicular manslaughter. Karen smiled, a weight lifted off her chest.

"This is exactly what he deserves," she thought to herself.


Author's Note:
I based this story off of Ashwatthaman's Curse, in the Mahabharata. In the story, the Pandava brothers have just been killed by Ashwatthaman and Draupadi is devastated. She wants Bhima to go kill him, but after discussion decides she wants his jewel that protects him from outside forces to be taken from him instead. I wanted to tell the story from Draupadi's perspective, but turn it into a more modern situation. Because the Pandava brothers were killed in the middle of the night I kept that aspect the same but focused more on Draupadi/Karen's thought process as everything was happening. Instead of Karen wanting the man who killed Ben and Brett dead, I made it so she believed she would find closure in the man's sentencing to life in prison. (really dark story I know, but it was the first idea I had and decided to roll with it)

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata "Ashwatthaman Cursed." Donald A. Mackenzie
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