The Black and White Car: Broken Isolation

 A Short Story by Adam Sill

Jennifer Hart- fifteen years old. Her friends called her Jenny. But he called her worthless. She stood in the bathroom staring into her light blue eyes that reflected off of the old, rusty mirror. She examined the many bruises that decorated her face and the endless scars that stained her arms and legs. Her eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears as she mumbled to herself softly. "I can't..." she said.
She rushed out of the bathroom and found her old Cinderella backpack. She quickly grabbed all the clothes and supplies that she could find and threw them into her backpack. She approached the front door of her house where she found him laying, passed out and smelling of booze and urine. She looked down on him and felt empty. As if all of her emotions had simply drained out of her. She knelt down and stuck her face just a few inches away from his. She ran her eyes up and down his unclean, unshaven, wrinkled face. She then stood up, flipped him over so he was laying on his stomach, took out his wallet from his back pocket and took all of the cash that was in it; Eighty-three dollars. She turned away from him and opened the front door and paused. She turned and gave him one last look. "Go to hell." she yelled and ran out of the house slamming the door behind her.
As she walked she felt a great deal of stress and anxiety which caused her to trip over herself several times. She tried to imagine her new life on her own but it was impossible. In every fantasy that she dreamed up he always intruded and she could visualize him standing over her preparing to strike. She had left her neighborhood and was walking on a main street when she felt it. It burned like a flaming sword being stabbed into her belly. It was a new feeling, yet she recognized it almost immediately as 'isolation'.
Jenny fell to her knees and began to cry when an old black and white car pulled up next to her and the passenger's door window rolled down. She was ashamed to be seen crying so she turned her head away from the car. She dried her tears and tried to act like she was not crying. "I'm fine!" she yelled to whoever was in the car yet she dared not look up to see who she was addressing. 'What if they didn't even stop for me?' she thought, 'what if they just stopped because they ran out of gas or needed to answer their phone?' she was humiliated so she stood up and, without facing the car, turned to walk away.
"Jenny," came a strong, masculine, tender voice from the car
Jenny turned to face the car and found a dark-haired man who looked to be in his mid-thirties sitting in the driver's seat. He was handsome and he had a warmth about his appearance that brought about a great calmness. Jenny approached the car and looked in through the window. "Who-" she began
"I Am." he interrupted
"Why?-" she began again
"Because we need to talk," he said, "now get in."
Jenny looked at him and then turned to look at the road. "Okay," she said as she opened the passenger door and climbed into the car.
The car immediately sped off. It drove straight for a few yards then miraculously lifted off the ground and began to fly into the sky. Jenny sat upright in her seat and lost her breath. She was terrified as she looked out the window to see that she was now flying thousands of feet in the air. "What's happening?" she yelled.
"I'm taking you somewhere." the man said
"Where?"
"Somewhere you have never been before."
They continued to soar higher and higher into the sky. Jenny noticed that they were now soaring high above the clouds... Then above Earth... Then above the Milky Way... And before she new it she was flying in what appeared to be nothing. She felt the car touch back on the ground and when she looked out the window all she saw was White. As if she was staring into a flashlight. She turned to face the man who was staring at her. He put the car in 'park' and turned his upper body so he was facing Jenny. "So, Jenny," he said, "I've been watching you."
"Are you-" Jenny said, "Are you- Him?"
"What do you think?"
"I- I don't know."
"I Am" the man said again
"What does that mean?" Jenny asked
"It means... Everything."
"What does that mean?"
The man laughed and said, "It means you will never understand."
"I'm confused." Jenny said as she lowered her head
"I'd be impressed if you weren't... Or disappointed."
"What are you doing to me?" Jenny asked
"I'm  introducing myself to you. Hello, I Am." he said as he held out his hand.
Jenny warily shook it and said, "What do you want with me?"
The man frowned, "What do you mean? Aren't you in awe of everything that is around you?"
"What?" Jenny asked, "There's nothing around us."
"Really? Is that what you think?"
"Well... Is this... Heaven?" Jenny asked
"Yes," the man answered, "and no."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, this is your soul. Empty and barren. It makes you feel uncomfortable, does it not?"
Jenny nodded her head.
"You have gone through you life living to remain pure and humble. You have striven to be a good human being and loving friend. Beaten by your father and abandoned by your mother you have tried to mask your emotions by being the 'funny girl' and now everyone loves you. You are a kind, and loving person. But you are naive. You know that there is nothing out there for you so what is the point in staying in the same dull situation that has brought you nothing but grief and despair?"
"I-" Jenny began but was cut off by the man
"You have tried so hard to make sense of the world around you and you can't find any answers. You have walked alone for many years and now I am calling you out. This... Whiteness that you see... It is all that you are. Pure, light, and yes, somewhat beautiful. But it is empty."
"What are you saying?" Jenny asked
"I'm saying you don't have to live your life on your own. I'm saying you don't have to run away from home."
"No," Jenny said, "You don't know what it's like."
"I don't?" the man asked, "Hold out your arm."
"What?"
"Hold out your arm and roll up your sleeve."
Jenny obeyed. She held out her left arm and rolled up her sleeve displaying the many cuts and bruises that have scarred her arm.
"You have your scars..." the man said as he held up his right arm and pulled up his sleeve, "I have mine."
She saw it. The very thing she had heard about since she was a girl. And suddenly she understood just how powerful this man was.
"Okay," she said, "But I thought you said my life was wrong. What is to change if I go back to the same routine?"
"I'll be with you." he answered
"Oh," she said, "I see."
"You have a friend very dear to you named Katherine, don't you?"
"Yes."
"And she has told you about me?"
"Yes."
"Maybe it's time you start following Katherine's example."
Jenny sat and thought. This all seemed so strange yet so normal. It felt right.
"I am going to give you a choice." the man said, "You can choose to stay here in this 'Whiteness' and forever be an empty soul, or you can return home... With me. What will it be?"
Jenny looked from the man to the whiteness outside her window. She grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open. She threw her Cinderella backpack out of the car and closed the door. "Okay," she said, "Let's go home."