"I'm gonna skin each and every one of ya!" Dodge yelled and he lunged at the rogue apes; tazer in hand. The ape called 'Ceaser' turned the water hose on and the water hit Dodge in a freezing cold wave. But the water warm compared to the icy electric current running through his veins. Dodge could feel it moving through his veins; shutting his organs down and killing every single last one of his brain cells. Then he felt nothing.
There was a blinding light behind his eyelids, and Dodge was afraid to open his eyes. When he finally did, he was lying on a cloud, looking up at pure white. There was a white surrounding him and his dingy plaid attire was replaced by a robe of white silk. He stood cautiously, unsure of where he was. Once Dodge had straightened up, he realized he was standing in front of a large blank screen.
"Hello?" Dodge called out. The screen flickered to life and a woman with spiraling dirty blond hair was looking out at him. She smiled and picked up a small baby boy that giggled in delight, "Mom?" Dodge walked forward to touch the screen, but no matter how many steps he took, he remained the same distance from the screen. So he gave up and just watched.
The blond haired woman swung baby Dodge around the room in a flourish of curls and green dress. She laughed and sang softly to the infant and the Dodge outside of the screen smiled and sang along to the familiar melody. Mrs. Landon was gorgeous, with spilling blond curls, high cheeks bones, and a radiance that glowed through the screen and warmed Dodge. The infant giggled again and the scene dissolved to a new one.
A three year old Dodge was being rushed to the hospital, kicking and screaming for his mother. The paramedics were yelling about internal bleeding and two emergency nurses strapped Dodge to an operating table and started putting him under. The last thing the boy uttered was, 'mommy', before he went under and the scene quickly dissolved to the same little kid pretending to be asleep in the hospital bed in the middle of the night, while his father talked to the doctor.
"Dodge will be just fine. The car crash was fatal, however, for your wife. I'm sorry, John, but Carol's gone." The doctor said gently.
The three year started to cry, and its 24 year-old counter-part in the white robe started to cry too. The scene quickly dissolved to one outdoors. Dodge was 6 and Rodney was 5. Both the brothers were running through their front yard, playing pirates. Dodge was the Pirate King and Rodney was the pirate who had to scrub the poop-deck, "But why do I have to be the one to do it?" Rodney whined, "I'm always the poop-deck pirate!"
"Because I'm older Rodney, therefore the best suited for the role of king!" Dodge scrambled up a small tree and looked out across the street. Mary-Rose was outside playing tea party, so Dodge took the opportunity to get a damsel in distress, "Follow me, Rodney!" He hollered and jumped from the tree. Dodge ran across the street and flipped over Mary-Rose's tea table, sending her dolls flying.
"Hey! Leave me alone, Dodge!" Mary-Rose pushed him.
"Mary-Rose, don't you want to play pirates with us?" Dodge smiled haughtily, "I'm the Pirate King."
"You're a lame king." Mary-Rose stuck her tongue out and Dodge pushed her into the grass.
Mary-Rose started to cry and her mother came running out of the house, "Dodge Landon, what do you think you're doing?" The woman placed her hands on her hips expectantly.
"We just wanted a damsel in distress to save." Dodge said, innocently.
"Well all you're doing is distressing a damsel, so get off my lawn." Mary-Rose's mother was intimidating when she wanted to be, so Dodge and Rodney scrambled back across the street and continued their adventure upon the high-seas of their suburban porch.
The scene changed again. This time Dodge was seven and fighting off the ape that was attacking him with a surgical knife. The real Dodge looked away. He already relived this event enough, he didn't need to again.
But the screen jumped forward twelve years in time, to Dodge's first summer out of high school. A beautiful olive-skinned woman with long black hair spilling down her back was smiling and holding onto a 19 year-old Dodge as they slowly swayed to the music on his porch. The sun was setting in the distance and the song was coming to a close. When the final chord hit, Dodge pulled the girl closer and held her tight, "Rebecca, I love you." He whispered.
"I love you, too, Dodge." Rebecca whispered back. Her dark eyes were shining with truth and she buried her face in Dodge's chest. The real Dodge sat down and buried his face in his hands; his mother he could handle, but why did the screen have to bring up Rebecca?
The scene jumped forward a year to a 20 year-old Dodge down on one knee, a giant diamond ring glinting in the light of the candles in his living room, "Rebecca, will you marry me? I love you so much. I'll go to business school, and I'll buy you the beach house you've always wanted. And we can have the two kids you want." Rebecca let the joyous tears roll down her cheeks and she nodded and sunk down to her knees to hug him. Dodge was so happy; he picked his fiancé up and spun her around, then kissed her passionately.
The real Dodge broke down into violent sobs, and he pleaded the screen to stop there, but the screen did not head his call. The screen jumped forward ten months to a street, empty except for a young couple. Dodge was walking his fiancé down the street after a late movie. He was taking her back to their place, to hold her and be there for her always. But three men had different plans. The tinted windowed car drove past and the sound of the gun shots fell on Dodge's ears like a heavy book.
Dodge turned just in time to catch Rebecca as she went down; blood pouring out of the three bullet holes on her stomach. Tears streaked down Dodge's face as he called out to the local homeowners to call 911. The sirens were blazing closer and closer, but Rebecca was slipping farther and farther. She breathed her last two minutes before the ambulance arrived.
The real Dodge was sobbing into his arms, "No more! Please no more!" He cried out to whoever would listen. The screen died down and went back to the blank state it had been in when Dodge had gotten there. He would've cried some more, but a soft hand touched him on the shoulder. Dodge turned to see Rebecca standing next to him, "Rebecca!" Dodge leapt up and enclosed her in a hug.
"I missed you too." Rebecca whispered softly and hugged him back.
Dodge looked past her and saw Carol Landon standing, arms open. Dodge melted into the arms of his mother and cried again. He hugged the only two women who'd ever meant anything to him before and cried, and he didn't care who saw. The realization hit him that he was dead, but at that point he didn't even care. He got to hold Rebecca again. And it was all he'd ever need.