The memories are filling my head. They’re too heavy. I’m down on my knees in the field. My breathing is ragged and heavy. I clutch my chest and look at the car. I can feel scars etching themselves into my skin. I can feel the past coming back to me.

Instant replay.

The day is in the middle of summer and it’s scorching hot outside. I’m sitting in the front seat, smiling at the miracle of air conditioning as we drive along the country rode, on the way to a cook out. I am just so happy. I turn to my mother and even though I don’t say it very much, it just feels right.

“I love you.”

She smiles back warmly, “I love—”

That’s when the breaks of the other car start squealing and the driver realizes too late that he’s on the wrong side of the road. I can see the sky out my window, then the ground, the sky, the ground again. Upside down. Out.

....

Hannah’s eyes opened suddenly, as crystal blue as the day they ceased to open. The circle of family burst into tears as Hannah spoke.

“I came home.”