Lotusland

Catching her friend's eye, she grinned and waved. "Just a minute!" she called out, but no sound traveled through the hotel window, and certainly not across the bustling busy street. She slipped her heel on, fussing one last time with the strap, and then grabbed her bags and headed out.

The city on a day like this was more of a madhouse. Everyone walked around as if chased by demons, and no one cared if you were in their way. She jumped back immediately upon exiting the grand revolving doors, almost knocked over by a man and his hissing metal hot dog cart. Frowning at him as he continued without so much as an apology, she gathered herself and stepped up to the curb.

Cars flew by, honking, braking, jerking, buzzing. She felt like each time she blinked a whole new set was on the block. They were traveling in such a crunched hurry.

Across the street, her friend motioned insistently, impatiently. "I'm coming!" she reponded. She was taking too long.

She rushed forward, determined to cross. She thought she heard the ripping of her heel, and for a split second, she thought she felt her ankle turn. Then maybe a rush of air as she fell forward, and a great shock. The sound of a horn. The taste of blood in her mouth. The sizzling smell of those hot dogs.

Then nothing at all.

When she woke, everything was soft and light, the way skin care commercials looked on television. Her body seemed to float, though her feet were firmly on the ground. Her heel wasn't broken, but her bags were gone. There was no sound here, no sound at all. Just the air, quietly shimmering in her ear as she walked around.

"Hello?" she asked timidly. "Is anyone there?"

A low female voice, like a mother cat, replied, "Hello."

She stopped walking. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You are in-between," the voice said. "Have a seat and wait. We are still making our decision."

She looked confused. "Who?" There was no answer. "Well, where, then? Where should I sit?"

"By the pond," the voice said.

And suddenly there was a pond. Small and green, freckled with lotus plants. So she sat. And she waited. And she felt calm.