Time Tantrums by Ginger Simpson Page B

teeth, worrying   about what was yet to come.
     
    * * * *
 
    David wheeled her outside into the brightness. Despite the sun peeking through the tall buildings, the air felt crisp and cool. David's narration got lost in the loud din of the city—a city of which she’d never seen the likes.
      He pushed the wheelchair toward a shiny, black car , and after pushing the brake lever on her chair forward, helped her stand. “Here we are. Let me get the door.”
    Mariah held her hospital gown closed, bent, and peered inside.
      Her eyes widened at a big round wheel, levers on the floor—more strange gadgets. "God, please help me," she whispered.
    A shiver of apprehension quivered through her as she sat on the seat's edge, turned and put her feet inside. David leaned in, stretched a belt across her body and locked it into a coupling of some sort. “I’ll be right back,” he said, and closed the door, sealing her inside. She prepared for the same feeling she’d experienced in the new-fangled elevator, but the surrounding windows provided a much more open feel.
    Afraid to move, she scanned the interior further. She touched the soft material overhead with one hand, while her other one caressed the seat cushion. She splayed her fingers against the cold glass window, then eyed the meters and knobs before her. How could someone forget such things?
    David interrupted her inspection when he slid in beside her. “Are you ready?”
    “I suppose.” Her heart pounded, partly in anticipation and partly from fear. He pulled his own belt across his lap and locked it, then inserted a key into a slot and turned it. The conveyance came alive. The hair on the back of her neck bristled and she jumped. “What’s that noise?”
    “Don’t be scared, it’s just the engine.” His laughter began to annoy her. She saw nothing funny in her logical questions.
    “Is it supposed to sound like that?”
    “Yes, dear, all cars sound this way. I just had ours tuned. Remember?”
    Remember, remember. Is that all you can say? If I remembered, would I ask? I’m going crazy. I don’t remember, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t.
    Using both hands, she pushed her hair behind her ears and forced herself to be calm.“No, but it’s not important.”    She blew a silent blast of air through pursed lips. Cars, Lexus, tuned:   too much to consider.
    David’s foot applied pressure to a lever on the floor. He looked over his shoulder and pushed harder, and they surged forward into the line of other cars. Mariah held her breath and grasped the side of the seat. She forced herself to keep her eyes focused straight ahead as they approached the car in front of them.
    The ride wasn’t as scary as she’d expected, in fact, a lot smoother than a wagon, and David appeared to know what he was doing. Despite wondering how they moved so fast, she sagged into the seatback, loosened her grip and relaxed.
    From the corner of her eye, the scenery outside seemed to move instead of the car. Her stomach rolled, and she felt ill. The feeling lessened if she looked directly through the front window.   She focused on the road ahead.
    The landscape changed the farther they traveled. Houses rather than tall buildings now lined the streets. Beautiful homes decorated with shrubs and grass. She always thought her home beautiful, but these were very different. She looked from one side to the other, not wanting to miss a thing.
    The car slowed before houses situated so close together, they reminded her of the buildings around the mercantile. David turned into an opening in front of a brick building and stopped. “We’re home,” he announced with a grin.
    She stiffened at his announcement.  
    His was a two-story, just like her home on the Rocking C but larger. David got out ,   came around ad opened her door. She stood, clutching her hospital gown, and stared wide-eyed at the sea of green, evenly cut and separated by a brick walkway that matched the house.
    David looked at