by Ken Dean

"I don't know, sweetie. Let's go try and find them."

He began to cross on the opposite corner where the bus rested, holding Katy close.
His cell phone began to ring in his pocket as soon as he crossed. The caller ID showed it was Jackie.

"Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sam. Just get over here to the parking garage where we parked. I need you."

She needs me; that was rich.

"I'll be right there."

He ran down the same direction that he saw the blur go, holding Katy as he ran. He arrived at the parking garage and went up to second level where the SUV was parked. He found Jackie up against the wall, holding Ruthy, who was still bawling.

"Jesus, are you two okay?"

He grabbed and hugged them both while still holding Katy.

"I'm fine, but I think Ruthy is terrified. She won't stop crying. But she's okay; I can tell by her medical implant."

"And good reason for crying. How did you do that? I didn't even see you."

"I'm fast, Sam, remember? Uberfast. But I couldn't hang around and try to answer questions from the authorities. It would be too hard to explain. Plus I can't be seen in public like this."

She turned and showed Sam her back. Her jeans, shirt and jacket were completely shredded. And her shoes had melted on the bottom from the friction.

He examined her back through the shredded clothing and couldn't see a scratch.

"This is incredible."

"I know. But right now I need you to go get me some clothing from a nearby store so that I can change in the SUV. Please hurry, before the girls start asking too many questions."

"On my way."

He traveled over to Bergdorf Goodman and purchased some casual jeans, a shirt and jacket in her size. Oh, and some shoes too. He arrived back at the SUV to find all three girls inside.

"Anyone else see you?"

"I don't think so."

She began putting on the purchased clothing.

"Nice fit, thanks. Pretty good for a man's shopping."

"No, Jackie. Thank you for being there for my, I mean, our daughter."

"Sam, you would do the same for them or me if you were able."

"Right," he laughed. "Let's go get something to eat and put some normalcy back into the day."

"Great idea. How about the steak house on the way home? The girls love to throw the peanut shells on the floor."

News reports that evening talked about a metro bus hitting something in Manhattan, but no one could be sure what. One woman in the front of the bus thought she had seen a woman in the street before she got tossed out of her seat. But in the hospital later that night she said most likely she was seeing things, since there was no one there after the bus came to rest. Authorities reported they had found some shredded clothing on the front of the bus, but had to surmise that it had been there before the crash since there was no one injured to connect it to. Luckily no one had been seriously hurt. Also no one had seen a strange blur flying up the street directly after the crash.

Life began to settle back down to normal again. The girls continued to grow up tall and beautiful. Sam was able to open his own brokerage house. His income naturally went up. He was able to put back quite a bit for their eventual retirement, the girl's college and their possible weddings.

***

It was Sam's sixtieth birthday and there was a big party thrown by Jackie. Even though she had aged the same as Sam, she was still beautiful. Hopefully she still found him handsome. The girls were there with their husbands and Katy's young boy, Sam junior. Sam was always so proud introducing his grandson. 'He's named after me, you know.'

Sam had just about forgotten their special situation. He had talked to Jackie the night before about retiring soon, and she was very encouraging.

"What would you like to do after retiring?"

"I don't know for sure. I know one dream I've always had, the one I've mentioned before. About traveling the world."

"Always a high goal, Sam."

"Yeah. But I'm not sure if we can pull that off. Yes, we have quite a bit saved up. With the grandchildren's trust fund, and the two girls' inheritance, there would still be enough to retire comfortably. As far as a lot of travel, well, that might be out of our reach."

"Sam, I wouldn't worry about the cost. I'm sure it will work out."

How could she say that? Had she stopped worrying about money with his good income over the years? He had run the numbers already; something he was good at. There just wouldn't be enough to do all the things he was talking about.

His back was bothering him again and he was sleeping fitfully. In his dream he was off in one corner of a boxing ring, being faced off by two women. They looked exactly the same, and they were both claiming to be his wife. Both were asking him defiantly which one he loved. He couldn't think of a good answer except for telling them he loved them both. He awoke in a sweat, screaming.

"I love you both!"

"Sam, I know you do."

"What, who's that?"