Sex and Candy
Heather walked up to the new door and was suddenly struck with paralysis. She didn’t want to go in; she had had enough already. She wondered what would happen if she ran across to the other side and shuddered at the image of falling into a never-ending hole along the way.
Heather diverted herself with other thoughts as she took one step into the room. She thought about her death in the real world and wondered how the medical examiner’s office would write it up. She knew it wouldn’t be a massive coronary as suggested by the dream team. She had intentionally swallowed a lethal amount of medication and would be written up as an overdose. She didn’t want to leave the world like that.
She imagined what was happening to Jade as she gave birth beside her dying sister. Squeezing tears back into the ducts from which they escaped, Heather told herself she could cry later and then a cold realization made her nerves jump and her body shake. There probably wouldn’t be a later – not for her anyway.
Heather took another step inside and realized she had actually walked back into the hallway with the long red carpet. She had met each of the four doors on one side and now had to brave the last three on the other side. Heather walked up to the first of the three remaining doors and opened it without hesitation. She just wanted to get it over with and then crawl into her own comfy grave for a very long nap.
As she walked through, Heather realized she was outdoors. The weather was perfect. She was refreshed by a cool wind and tiny sprinkles of rain that gently pelted off of her skin. Ever since her father sat her on the front porch as a child to watch a bad storm, she’d loved the feeling of the wild breeze and the sound of angry thunder.
Heather was inexplicably drawn further outside. She feared the lesson that awaited her but allowed an unseen, seductive force to pull her in. The temptation that grew inside her was stronger than her sense of control and she couldn’t resist venturing in deeper. She started to whistle and then thought it sounded funny when it seemed to get entangled and then lost in the wind.
A huge fig tree towered over everything in this new room outside. Heather walked slowly around the massive trunk in a steady circle. She pulled a loose piece of bark off the tree and delighted in the fresh, moist lump of dirt left in its wake in the middle of her palm. It was nature at its finest and its scent and sight reminded of Heather of a time when she cared about the environment. She drew strength from its mere existence.
“I guess you found me,” she heard.
Billy voice drifted to her from the other side of the tree but she didn’t jump when she heard him. She felt his presence the moment she walked through the door. He was the only one who could be responsible for the suddenly quivering libido.
Heather wanted for him to believe she was unaffected by his presence and took her time walking in his direction. She walked a slow walk and whistled like a young girl, stopping only when she stood an inch from his face. They grinned at one another.
“Hi,” she said seductively and cocked her head to the side. “You’re here.”
“Always,” Billy answered.
His eyes smiled more than his mouth as he leaned his back against the tree and crossed his arms. He still wore the