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A former Navy SEAL is about to end it all, when an angel gives him a new perspective. |
| [Introduction]
As I write this, it's about a week until Christmas. So, me and some friends agreed to do a holiday campfire, each of us adding our own touches to the story. I was going to do a spoof of the Grinch, but then decided to do It's a Wonderful Life instead, since we're not the best with rhyming. Anyway, hope you enjoy the story, and have a great holiday!
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| Marcus Sheppard, a 42 year old German Shepherd man, sat alone in his hotel room on Christmas Eve, having finished the last of the bottle of whiskey he bought on the way here. The reason he was in a hotel in the first place was because he had gotten into another heated argument with his wife, and stormed out of their home in a rage before drinking himself stupid. This was basically how it had been nearly every week for the last six months, since he had been discharged from the SEALs. For years he served his country with pride, doing whatever it took to complete the mission. But shortly after he was discharged, it began. He barely spoke with his children, let alone played with them like he did before he enlisted. His wife was always nagging how they never talked anymore, that he was distant, cold. Nothing like when they got married. But she didn't understand. How the hell could she? She hadn't seen the things he had seen, done the things he did. Thinking back, if he had never listened to that Navy recruiter, if he had stayed in his peaceful civilian life, things might have stayed the same. But here he was, stone drunk, in a cheap, rundown hotel and unable to even feel normal again, to have a relationship with his family. He picked up the glock sitting on the table beside him. It was his old sidearm in the service. He always carried it with him outside the home, more out of habit than anything. He let out an exhausted with, before placing the barrel in his mouth and closing his eyes, his finger on the trigger. But just before he fired, he heard a voice say "Oh, quit being such a drama queen." He opened his eyes to see a beautiful fox woman in a red dress standing in front of him, her hands on her hips. Taking the gun out of his mouth, he could only say "Who are you? How did you get in here?" The vixen smiled. "That's not important. What is important, is why you were about to turn your brains into wallpaper. My boss would really hate to see someone that's done so much good in their life end it like this." "And who is your boss?" "Oh, only the creator of the universe." Marcus scoffed "So you mean to tell me, your boss is..." The fix nodded. "That's right. Now, tell me, why would you off yourself, especially on a night like tonight?" "Because I ruined my family by joining the Navy. For years they rarely ever saw me, then when I'm finally done, I feel like I don't even know them. They think I don't love them anymore." The vixen crossed her arms "And this is how you show them you do?" Marcus stood up and stumbled, still kind of intoxicated. "Look, what do you want? Why are you even here?" He said. "I'm here to show you that you're the one who's wrong here. Your family loves you, and they need you to keep it together. Not just for their sake, but your own as well. You think joining the Navy was the worst decision you ever made?" Marcus nodded "Well then, take a look at this." The fox snapped her fingers, and instantly, the hotel room faded away and they both stood outside Marcus's home. "What the...? How did you...?" Asked Marcus "This is a glimpse of what could have been." Said the fox "In this reality, you never joined the Navy. You want to see what your life would be like then? Just turn around." |
| Marcus turned around to look at what he recognized as his own suburban home, but was shocked by what he found. Much of the house looked as though it had been burned, through the structure seemed to be fairly intact. There were also a pair flags, which he recognized as the flag of North Korea, draped over the front upstairs windows. Marcus turned around to confront the vixen, but found she was gone. He turned back and walked into the house through the front door, and found that it had been mostly looted. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a rife being chambered. He turned around to find a North Korean paratrooper standing in the front door. He raised his rife, ready to fill Marcus full of lead, but before he could shoot, a black hooded figure cracked him over the head with his own rifle, knocking the soldier unconscious. The hooded figure looked back up at Marcus and said "Come with me if you want to live.". Seeing that he probably didn't have much of a choice, Marcus followed the hooded figure.... |
| The hooded man lead Marcus outside and across the street into the back of a black unmarked van, full of other hooded figures. "Who are you?" Marcus asked the one who saved him. The hooded one revealed themselves to be a cat with a missing eye covered by a patch. "I could ask you the same thing." They said. Before Marcus could answer, he noticed the van had stopped moving, but nobody was getting out. In fact, it looked like they were all standing perfectly still. "Sorry about ditching you like that." Said a voice beside him. Marcus turned to see the fox again "What the hell is going on here!?" He exclaimed "I had to pop back to the office, so to speak. I didn't mean to leave you longer than a few seconds. You see, I've been assigned to show you why you would be making a huge mistake by killing yourself. Also, what the world would be like if you hadn't spent so many years in the service. As long as I'm with you, you can't be harmed because none of what you will see ever really happened. It's only what would have been, if you hadn't done what you did." "Just who are you? Really?" Asked Marcus and the fox chuckled "If you wish, you may call me Chloe, and let's just say I'm a guardian angel of sorts, here to show you that you're more important than you realize. Not just to your family, but to others as well." Marcus turned to the frozen hooded figures "What did you do to them?" "Don't worry, they don't even know we're speaking right now. Think of it as this as a movie and I just paused it. Anyway, they can't see or hear me, so I'll be right here with you through this." Chloe snapped her fingers again and the scene resumed. "I won't ask again." The cat said "Who are you, and what were you doing in that house?" |
| "Let's just say I hit my head and have a lot of trouble remembering a lot of things," said Marcus. |
| The cat seemed to understand and said "Well don't make a habit out of hit." as the van continued through what Marcus figured was downtown. However, it looked drastically different from what he remembered. Most of the shops and surrounding buildings were heavily damaged. Burnt out cars lined the streets. Some buildings that were still standing were plastered with the North Korean flag. "What happened here?" Marcus asked. |
| "Everything went to hell, that's what happened." Said the cat "I mean, where have you been the last ten years?" |
| Things paused again. Marcus looked, and saw the vixen. "What happened?" "Something along the lines of a Butterfly Effect," the vixen said. "You joined the Navy twenty years ago, right?" Marcus nodded. "Remember during training there was that fella, who, when the Staff Petty Officer accidently lost their grip on the climbing rope, almost fell?" the vixen asked. "I remember," said Marcus. "I was climbing with him, and when he started to slip, I managed to help steady him, until the Staff Petty Officer got things sorted out." "In this world, you weren't there to steady that young sailor, and he fell," said the vixen. "How did that affect things?" Marcus asked. "Twelve years back, in your world, he decoded certain intel, intel that was used to sabotage a certain North Korean project to launch missiles that could hit the middle of the continental United States," the vixen said. "In this world, he wasn't there to locate that intel, and North Korea managed to complete that project. Ever hear of that Homefront videogame or that Red Dawn remake?" "Yeah," said Marcus. "They basically became realities here," the vixen said. "Because you weren't there to save him, he wasn't there to see the intel." "You mean, this is all my fault?" Marcus asked. "Don't be too harsh on yourself," said the vixen. "The guy still could have missed the intel, or had been in a different post at the time. The sabotage operation could have failed, or the intel ignored, and this could have still happened. But, in so far as your world is concerned, you were in the right place at the right time, and in a sense, prevented WW3." "So, what now?" Marcus asked. At this, another figure showed up. "Excuse me. These guys have an appointment with me. Mind moving along." "Oh, yes, of course," the vixen said. "My apologies." Marcus and the vixen were soon on the roof of a building in another city, one not damaged by war. "What happened?" Marcus asked. "Who was that guy? Where are we?" "First up, we're in another world," the vixen said. "As for that guy, that was Death." Marcus sat down. "Death? Does that mean that those guys are dead?" "As far as that world is concerned, yes," the vixen said. "They hit a landmine at the moment I paused things. Don't worry about them too much. They are in that world's version of Heaven, and you can run into them, hopefully at a later date." "So, where are we?" Marcus asked. "This is a world where your daughter decided to follow in your footsteps to join the Navy, and became a doctor as a result," the vixen said. "A bit happier one than the one we left behind. By the way, in this world, the version of you is still around, and to prevent confusion, an alteration is needed." The vixen snapped her fingers. "That will do." Marcus looked at himself. "I don't look different." "Look in the window's reflection." Marcus turned, and saw a window on a door, presumably leading downstairs. In the reflection, he saw himself looking at a white-haired cat, specifically, a female one. He looked at the vixen. "Seriously?" The vixen grinned. "Meet Tina. A member of the janitorial staff at the hospital. Specifically, the hospital your daughter is a Head Surgeon at. She likes coming up here to look at the clouds. A perfect host to observe your daughter through, and no one will notice anything too odd, as she's kind of new, having joined last week, and still kind of learning her duties. Of course, she'll be compensated for this, with an extra day. Who knows, maybe your daughter will inspire her to become a doctor, and she'll be the one that comes up with a cure for a deadly disease." "Is that possible?" Marcus asked. The vixen's eyes clouded over for a moment, before clearing up. "Funny enough, that one does happen on one world. Saves the lives of over four billion people." Marcus tapped himself. "The person who owns this body, saves the world, because of my daughter?" The vixen chuckled. "It's a possibility. Let's see the other lives your daughter has an impact on, because of you had the impact on her. Just remember to work on Tina's chores though. Thankfully there's a note on her cart on what to do." |
| Marcus walked downstairs and began roaming the hospital. After a few minutes, he found the cart. He rummaged through the cart until he finally managed to find the note that the vixen had mentioned. |
| The first thing on the list was to mop the third floor hallway. Taking the elevator down, only for it to stop on the way, and who should get on but Marcus's daughter. She was older of course, but being her father, Marcus instantly recognized her. He almost blurted out how sorry he was for being so distant right then and there, but quickly bit his tongue as he remembered he was in another body and she wouldn't recognize him. |
| That was when his daughter let out a tired sigh. "Long day," he said. She looked at him, or rather the body he was in. "That's one way of putting it. Spent the last hour putting together a patient with multiple gunshot injuries. On the plus side, they should make it. The miracle will be it they walk again." "Well, at least they're alive, thanks to you," Marcus said. "Well, there's one thing I'm glad for, and that's the fact that my father and I get to spend a nice weekend out on the lake after Friday," the female German Shepherd said. "Really?" Marcus asked. "Been a tradition," the female German Shepherd said. "Every July, he takes me to the lake, and we fish. Didn't always do that. But, after a certain incident twenty years ago, wherein he had a close call with death, he decided that time was too short to not spend time with family. Granted, the fish don't always bite, but I enjoy spending time with him." "I guess that's good to hear," said Marcus. The elevator stopped at the third floor. "Um, my stop," said Marcus. "Mine as well," said the female German Shepherd. "See you around, Tina." Marcus watched, as his daughter walked off, and went into a room that said "Rest Beds". "She's just pulled a double-shift because one of the other surgeons was sick," the vixen said, appearing next to him. "So far, she's helped save the lives of over a dozen people. That last one, the gunshot victim, goes on to successfully prosecute a child murderer, who killed over a dozen children, among other things." "If you can do this sort of stuff, can't you stop murderers from killing?" Marcus asked. "Some people you can hit in the face with a shovel, and they still won't stop," the vixen said. "Trust me on that one." "Did you try that?" Marcus asked. The vixen nodded. "Once. Tried to stop a suicide bomber. Tried to explain that he wouldn't get 72 Virgins, because the big guy doesn't like those who kill in his name. I did everything I could, including hitting him in the face with a shovel. Thirty innocent people lost their lives that day, including me." |
| Marcus nodded solemnly, then followed his daughter out of the elevator to the "Rest Beds" room. He found that the place was quite similar to military barracks. There were sets of bunk beds all over the room, many of them occupied by various doctors or nurses. Marcus figured this was where most of the hospital staff would get some shut eye whenever they were short staffed. He eventually spotted what he figured was his daughter's bunk and walked up to her... |
| Beside the bed was a small nightstand. On top of which was a framed picture Marcus immediately recognized as a family portrait of him, his wife, son and daughter. He couldn't help but shed a tear when he saw it. Then his daughter turned around and saw him. "Tina? What's the matter? Why are you crying?" |
| "Tina's father died when a drunk driver hit him, while she was still a child," said the Vixen's voice in Marcus's head. "I'll help you fill in any of the other details that she'd know. As it is, she'll think that she had talked to your daughter about it." Marcus looked at his daughter. "I was thinking about my own father for a moment. He died when a drunk driver hit him." "Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that," the female German shepherd said. "Do you want to talk about it?" "To be honest, I don't like talking about it," said Marcus, as he received more information about what had happened. "I was there, when he died." "That's rough," the female German shepherd. "Well, if you want to talk about it, let me know. Name's Rachel." "You mentioned your father had a close call," said Marcus. "What happened?" "He and my mother had an argument, and he left the house, about twenty years back," said Rachel. "He spent a week at a motel. That last day though, some drug addict broke into his room. He had a gun, and so did my father." Marcus gulped. "What happened?" "My father never quite explained what happened after that," said Rachel. "All I know is that when the police got there, my father had subdued the guy, and the addict was arrested, and served time." "I see," said Marcus. "Well, I got work, and you need your rest. I'll try to be quiet." As Marcus walked away, he saw his daughter lay down on the bed. "What's about to happen to me?" "You're not the only one we're trying to do some intervention on," said the Vixen's voice. "On the plus side, this little conversation you had as Tina with your daughter will help Tina out in the long run, possibly getting her interested in becoming a doctor herself, and will possibly even lead to one of those futures I mentioned. Come!" Marcus found himself at what looked to be a street corner. "What now?" "If Tina's situation was Quantum Leap, this is A Christmas Carol," the vixen said. "As far as the world is concerned, you're in that motel room right now. Specifically, an hour before you decide to blow your brains out. It's also an hour before this guy tries to rob you." Marcus looked, and saw a wolf walking towards him, almost as if he didn't even see him. Marcus put his hand out to stop the wolf, but the wolf walked through him, as if he wasn't there. "What part of A Christmas Carol did you not get?" asked the vixen. "We're not there as far as he's concerned. Same with anyone else." "He's coming to kill me, isn't he?" Marcus asked. "Possible," said the vixen. "Meet James Lobo. A Marine who was discharged two years ago. His arm and leg were messed up in an operation gone wrong, and couldn't serve any more. Got addicted to painkillers and other such things. He's searching for his next fix. Only he has to scape up the money somehow, and has turned to petty theft to sustain the habit." "You've mentioned another Intervention," said Marcus. "Is another of you trying to get through to him?" "Trying to are the key words," said the Vixen. "He's in a similar situation as you. Maybe you can help him. You're military, like him, and maybe, one Veteran to another, you can help him to heal, and recover." |
| Marcus soon began to realize what the vixen was telling him before she snapped her fingers again, causing everything around them to dissolve before Marcus's world went black. When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in his motel room, laying on the bed, his service pistol laying next to him. At first, he started to think he had just had a weird dream due to all the liquor he had consumed earlier. Then a voice echoed in his head "He's coming. Us this chance wisely.". Suddenly, everything came flooding back to Marcus as he heard someone at the door to his motel room. Marcus's military instincts kicked in and he heaved himself into the connected bathroom, just as a well-build wolf came in, carrying a .45 caliber handgun. Just by looking at him, Marcus could tell the poor guy was seriously strung out and in desperate need of a fix,. He knew that would make the wolf a bit unpredictable, but it could also give him the upper hand. Marcus waited patiently until the wolf came into the bathroom, then slammed the door shut on his arms, causing him to loose his grip on his handgun, which you sent flying into the toilet. You then opened the door gave him a knee to the gut before knocking him out cold with a sucker punch to the face. You then laid his unconscious body on the bed before closing the door to your hotel room, then tying his hands behind his back using a towel from the bathroom. |
| Marcus moved a chair next to the bed and sat beside the wolf, waiting for him to wake up. When he finally did, Marcus looked him straight in the eyes and said "Don't ask me how I know, but I know you're a desperate man, and deep down you really don't want to hurt me. You're at the end of your rope, am I right?" The wolf nodded. "Well, I can tell you right now, the path you're on now, keep going down it and it will only get worse and worse. You need help, that much is clear. You broke in here to rob me, and I could have killed you in self defense. But like I said, I know you're just desperate. I'm going to untie you now. But before I do, I want you to promise that you'll get help and sort out your life when you leave this building. In return, I don't tell the police about this. Understand?" |
| "What do you know about being despite?" the wolf asked. "Before you came in here I was thinking about blowing my brains out," said Marcus. "Obviously, I didn't. You could say that I had an Intervention at the last minute." The wolf's eyes widened. "A black cat by any chance?" "Mine was a vixen," said Marcus. |
| Both Marcus and the wolf nodded before Marcus proceeded to untie the wolf. After giving him back his pistol, he walked out. Marcus didn't know exactly what the future held for the guy, but he felt certain that his actions had somehow changed the wolf. After taking a few moments, Marcus decided it was time for him to patch things up with his own family. After clearing out his room, he then checked out of the motel and grabbed the next bus home.... |
| Mrs. Sheppard hadn't expected her husband to return for quite a while yet, and was rather shocked when she opened the door to find him standing there. The instant she did, he grabbed her in a hug like he hadn't done since they had married, and said he was sorry for the things he'd said before. They missed for a good long while before he went upstairs to see his children. He told them that they weren't the reason their parents fought so often, and that things would be different now, because he had a new perspective on his life and the choices that lead him to now. When asked how he came to this conclusion, he just smiled and said "Let's just say I finally had some sense knocked into me." At those words, he could bhear a faint, distant voice giggle in his head. The Sheppard family went on to have one of the best Christmases of their lives, especially Marcus, who had been given the best gift anyone could hope for, another chance at making things better for himself and his loved ones. (I wanted to make this story longer, but it will soon be past Christmas so I decided to wrap it up early. I hope you've enjoyed the story regardless, and have a wonderful holiday and new year!) The End! |
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