Chapter Two:

Saturday

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon. Neal smiled as he strolled through Central Park and watched the families and children enjoying their outing. Summer was in the air and the children were clearly ready for it; throwing frisbees, playing in the grass, and enjoying themselves as only children seemed to be able to do. So carefree. Unrestricted.

A wistful sigh escaped Neal's lips as he tried to steer his thoughts away from such depressing musings. True, at times he felt like a trained falcon, only as free as his master would allow him. At least it was better than being in jail. Here at least he could put his mind to work…

Breaking from his thoughts, Neal looked up from the ground to see where his feet had taken him. He had crossed over to a less occupied area on the edge of the park. There was a lovely pond nearby and Neal made his way over to it, admiring the beauty of the swans and few ducks paddling across the surface. Little ripples of water and pops of air signified the fish were awake and hungry.

Neal raised a hand to the rim of his fedora and looked up to the sky and warmed his face with the sun. It was nice to be able to take a day off to himself. No work, no FBI, just him and his mind. His eyes drifted to the side and saw a lovely scene of a young girl and a man in a suit picking up the remnants of a picnic under a willow tree. It was a lovely sight. It would make for a good painting.

He smiled and turned back to the lake.

A few minutes later he left the lake and turned to the road. Most of the bikers were off in the more populate areas, sticking in groups. The quiet of this section was welcomed to the hustle and bustle every urban area had. The low rumble of noises were muted among the sounds of nature.

It was strange. The quiet and the nature noises seemed out of place. An odd feeling crept through Neal's body. He wasn't quite sure what the feeling was, but it was not a happy feeling.

Something was wrong.

A car came careening around the corner at speeds that weren't safe for any type of city road no matter the time or day. Neal could almost see it happening like a movie. The little girl, with her hair in ribbons, wearing a beautiful summer dress, skipping ahead of her father who was still packing up the basket by the tree line.

Neal wondered if this was what an out of body experience felt like. Mozzie had often talked about them and his theories, but had never experienced one. He felt like something else controlled his body as he lunged forward towards the little girl.

He wondered if he would have enough time to make it. Enough time to stop the little girl from turning into a crumbled mess of broken bones. Enough time to save her.

Relief flooded through him for a brief moment. Then acceptance. He knew he made it in time when pain attacked his body from all angles. He willingly surrendered to the darkness calling to him.

The last thing he heard and saw was a male voice crying out in the distance over the higher pitch cries of a girl and a cherubic face over him, crying down on him.

Strange. He could have sworn he saved her from the car. Why was she crying?

TBC