Chapter 1: Who? What? Why?

The first thing that John realized as he started to wake up was that the pain was gone. The second, as he shook off his grogginess, was that he was still slumped over the steering wheel of his pick-up.

Before he sat up many things went going through his mind: - Why am I not dead? — Where did my pain go? - It should be worse. — This is definitely not heaven.

Sitting up and looking around, things got even weirder.

The truck was now sitting in a grassy field with no roads or buildings in sight.

The truck he was sitting in sort of looked like his, but it was in brand new condition, with no dirt or dust on or in it.

To make matters even stranger, the blue Suburban and U-Haul that had been crushed and had slid into his pickup was parked next to him in the grassy field.

John's first thought on seeing the SUV was to see if anyone was in it.

He thought to himself 'I hope I find someone. I don't want to be alone'.

John saw a young lady slumped in the front seat, just as he had been. The young lady looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed in a new forest green work shirt and jeans. There did not appear to be a mark on her. Gently leaning her back, he tried to wake her.

Her eyes fluttered open and in a melodious alto voice asked, "What happened? Where am I?"

John replied, "I don't know, Miss. I'm not sure where we are, or even why we are alive. The last thing I remember was being hurt badly in an accident. I should have died. Then I woke up here. By the way, my name is John."

The young lady slowly got out of her SUV, and stretched. John got a good look at her and guessed she was about 5'4", she had shoulder length brown hair, was slender without being scrawny and well put together.

She replied, saying, "Well, I guess it's good to meet you, John. My name is Sarah. But you were being too polite. Most people call me ma'am. For heaven's sake, I am a grandmother!"

John, stunned by her comment, said, "No way!"

Then he added, "Excuse me that was rude, but you don't look a day over twenty-five ... and really, not even that." He gently grasped her hand. "Here look at your hand. Does that look like the hand of a grandma? I ought to know, I have grandchildren myself."

Sarah responded, "No, it doesn't, but there's no way you're a grandpa either, look at yourself. Have you got a decent mirror in that rig of yours?"

With that they both went into the camper and looked at themselves in the mirror in the little bathroom. After some self-examination, they sat at the kitchen table, deep in thought.

Suddenly Sarah started crying, mumbling to herself, "They're gone, they're gone".

John moved to hold her as she cried. Slowly her sobbing slowed.

"We are not where we were. Something happened to us and we will not see our families again," she said.

She huddled in the corner and started crying again. John again tried to comfort her and she pushed him away.

John walked into the field and sat down, musing to himself. His hair was no longer gray, half missing, and very thin. It was now brown verging on auburn, and full as it had been in his 20's. His body no longer had any excess fat, and his posture was more erect than it had been in decades.

He felt good. That, alone, was a miracle. He was saddened about the certainty of not seeing his boys again, but was not feeling torn up. The distance and years had separated them already. As his musing came to an end he started looking around. The grassy field he was in did not look as though it was tended. The grasses were tall and in clumps instead of evenly planted. There were other small plants living amongst the grass clumps some hardy wild plants that he did not recognize. He did notice that everything looked brownish, as though it had not been getting enough water.

He turned around and examined his truck closely. It had been eight years old and beat up. Now, even though it was still green, it looked brand new with a glossy metallic paint job.

There wasn't even any dust in it. No mud, no dirt, no gravel pits ... nothing. The trailer, which he had gotten second hand with lots of dings and gouges and almost bald tires, looked to be in the same brand new shape as his pickup.

The camper, which was just a normal beat-up gray and white cab-over camper, was now the largest pickup camper he had ever seen. It looked new and was painted in a beautiful white and green combination that complimented the green in his pickup.

He looked at Sarah's Suburban, which he had seen get smashed. It looked perfect without a scratch. Even the U-Haul trailer looked brand new.

Something definitely strange was going on.

Suddenly he heard Sarah scream from inside the camper. John ran into the camper to see what was wrong.

"John, I was afraid you had left me. I don't want to be alone, right now. Will you talk with me?"

Sarah and John sat at the dinette after John removed the table to make it more comfortable. They spent time talking about their families and friends in the past.

John found out that Sarah had grown up on a ranch in Texas. She loved to go hunting with her father.

She had become a veterinarian. Sarah had worked at that job for years, until she had to retire, because her hands were too shaky to do the surgeries that were necessary. Sarah was moving from Texas to Minnesota where her daughter lived.

John noticed that the sun had started to go down, and the clocks said it was after seven. He suggested they check the food supply and make a quick meal.