Absolute Zero

"I don't know why you're dwelling on such things." Grace said. "None of that really matters."

"I had the strangest dream." Brodie said. "We were back at Darby College and I saw this nude woman standing behind you on the front steps at Kimzey Hall. She looked like the one from that necklace you're wearing."

Grace laughed. "Sounds like a streaker. You sure it was at Kimzey and not some football game?"

Brodie ignored Grace's teasing. "You had a book of poems with you—Christina Rosetti—and when we kissed, the days started coming and going. I saw the seasons change. I never saw anything like it before..."

"Are you asking whether or not the dream was supposed to mean something?"

"I thought..." Brodie's voice trailed off and she stopped for a second, trying to form her next thought. "Maybe some higher power put things in motion...I don't know."

"Sometimes dreams are dreams and nothing more." Grace replied.

"I suppose you're right."

"Teachers, by nature, are compelled to spend their entire lives looking for answers to questions. We wouldn't be effective in the classroom if we stopped doing that." Grace said. "But you have to realize that sometimes there are no answers. The things we see and discover end up being the only answer we find whether we understand it or not. I think you should accept that the lack of an answer is enough. Besides, you're home with me now, and that's all that matters."

A low sort of rumbling ached in Brodie's stomach, and she realized that something besides her eyesight had returned. "God, I'm starving!" She remembered that she felt the same way several hours before. But she was in such a state of shock from her fall and seeing Grace, she'd forgotten all about it.

"I knew you would be." Grace said. "Sit down by the fire and have something to eat."

Brodie wrapped the embroidered top cover from the bed around herself. She paused at the open door for a second or two and gazed at the beautiful scenery of the rolling countryside outside. "Mind if I take a quick peek outside?" Brodie asked. Grace said "Of course! It's another beautiful day." The slim butch woman stepped outside the door several paces.

She was astounded by the endless miles of grassy fields surrounded by an incredible dense forest. Brodie slowly turned around and saw that the door she'd emerged from belonged to a large house of wood, stone, and turf. The shaggy green roof made the structure look like it had pushed its way up from the ground. The house and surrounding countryside reminded Brodie of some faraway place in Iceland or Scandinavia. When she glanced up at the sky, her mouth fell open. Twin moons hovered faintly, one slightly larger than the other. Brodie began to wonder again whether she'd been transported to the afterlife or another planet, but she remembered what Grace told her minutes before. Sometimes the only answer is to just be and to stop demanding explanations.

Brodie went back inside and joined Grace at a small wood table in front of the fireplace. It seemed like an eternity had passed since the last time she'd eaten anything. She tore off a chunk of bread and pushed it into her mouth. As she savored the buttery saltiness, she decided that from this day forward, she would stop asking so many questions. She would give herself entirely to Grace and this new life she'd stumbled into and just...be.

Since the day Brodie Banks lost the only woman she trusted and loved, she stood on death's edge, refusing to move on. She teetered there on its precipice, unable to process and accept what had happened. She never considered that, until she was reunited with Grace, that death is a paradox. It is rarely understood that with death comes new life. When one door closes, another one opens. What awaits on the other side may be heaven or hell. But as she and Grace exchanged a heartfelt kiss, Brodie finally realized that it actually depended on her willingness to accept the findings of her discovery.

Thank You For Reading!