As if by a miracle, the soil began to shift. Crunch-slk, crunch-slk.....blackness lifted to gray.

"I found one!" A young female voice exclaimed.

"Look at that thing wriggle." A boy announced with a hint of disgust to his tone.

"RENEE, come here!" The girl called.

Footsteps, heavy, burdened...a high pitched screech melded into a frightened scream.

"Renee, it’s only a worm, for Pete’s sake!"

The heavy footsteps trailed away in a quick stride.

"She’s so retarded." The boy remarked.

"Stop it! That’s my sister!"

"Well, she is. Last Sunday when my soccer team was eating at McDonald’s, Renee came in with your dad. While he was standing in line, she ran from table to table stealing French fries."

"She was probably just hungry is all." The girl said in defense of her sister.

"I’m glad she’s not my sister." The boy said.

"No? Your sister eats her boogers in class."

The boy and girl chuckled in unison.

"You think there’s any more in here?" The boy asked.

Suddenly, crunch-slk, crunch-slk.... The tip of a shovel appeared, then a full scoop catapulted me airborne. I slammed to the ground just inches from that awful pit of doom.

Light, diffused, yet blinding. An overcast sky was the first sight of the world that I had seen in ten years. A red headed boy with fine hair askew was hunkered over me. He lifted the vodka bottle, shaking its contents.

"What is it?" The preteen girl asked. She was wearing blue jeans and a mud covered sweat shirt. The custom of young ladies wearing dresses must have been abandoned through the years, not to mention the offensive soil apparent from under her fingernails.

"Booze." The boy replied.

"Yuck!" She said wrinkling her nose.

The surrounding yard came into focus. It was the same home that belonged to Tim Bell, except a swing set now rested in the far corner of the yard. A girl not too much younger than the one in the denims was attempting to swing a brown stuffed animal, but the toy thudded to the ground.

A youthful hand unscrewed the top of the vodka bottle. Liquid splashed to the earth in a single stream. Air, fresh and alive filtered in, as the closed up stench lost its potency. The boy cast the bottle to the side, not replacing the cap. I twirled, then slammed to a sudden halt just inches from the hole. The open pit resembled an earthy jaw and I was certain to be dinner.

"Should we bury it again?" The boy asked.

"NO!" I screamed.

The boy kicked the bottle and it slid down the embankment contorting back into it’s original position.

"NO!" I screamed.

Heavy footsteps approached as a certain hand plucked me from the garden.

"Renee no!" The girl protested.

Renee took a step forward not releasing her determined grip.

"That’s nasty, now put it back!" The girl demanded.

"Mine." Renee screamed tucking me into an embrace.

"Mom!" The sister shouted running towards the house.

Renee slid to a stop, then lifted me towards the sky. She gazed at the bottle and there was a hint of delight in her expression.

"Barbie Bottle." She announced as the boy quietly approached.

"Can you see me?" I asked.

Renee grinned and creased her eyebrows in a contemplative way.

She began to sing pulling me back into her embrace. "Rock a bye baby, on the treetop, when the wind blows the cradle will rock...."

"Give me that!" The boy demanded, not quick enough to snatch it from Renee.

Renee sprinted off moving faster than I believed possible for a child her size.

After several minutes, a young woman appeared. Renee, never loosing her hold, climbed up a tree. The woman was wringing her hands in a dish cloth and her eyes appeared weather worn. Upon closer scrutiny, I sensed that although the mother was young, her life experiences were of heavy weight.

"Renee, now come down here and give me that bottle!"

"No mommy, Barbie Bottle."

"That thing has been Lord knows where........besides you could fall and cut yourself."

Just in that moment the sister swung through the storm door and hurried next to the mother, sliding to a stop.

"You want me to climb up and tug it away from her?"

"No." The mother said placing her arm around the sister.

"Renee, it’s an old bottle, it probably has worms on it. You don’t like worms, do you?" The mother tried to reason.

"Barbie Bottle." Renee said again. Her eyes never quite made contact with her family.

"There is no Barbie there honey. It’s an old bottle, toss it down now, okay?’

"No. My bottle mommy."

"I’ll climb up there." The sister said grabbing a low tree limb.

"MAKE HER STOP!" Renee said in hysteria.

"Tabitha, no. Just leave her alone." The mother said abandoning the idea and turning to head into the house. "It must be important to her for some reason." The mother paused as she reached the doorway hesitating to study Renee.

"Dinner will be ready in a little while, I expect both of you girls to come in without any hassles tonight." A moment later the mother was inside peering through the kitchen window. She shook her head with disapproval.

The boy approached Tabitha as they both stared up into the tree. Renee was eyeing the bottle with a grin of defeat.

"She refused to come inside yesterday for dinner. Dad chased her around the yard and finally gave up." Tabitha said.

"She’s a fast runner." The boy said.

"Tom, she could win a marathon if she put her mind to it."

"That’s for sure." Tom said, shaking his head.

As soon as they returned to the garden to dig, Renee swung down from the tree. She gently brushed her lips to the side of the bottle in a tender kiss.

"Hi Barbie. How’d ya get into that bottle there?"

"You can call me Jeanne."

"Oh, okay."

"Does it hurt to be stuck in there?" Renee asked.

"No, not really."

"I’ll let you out." Renee took the bottle and began to smack it on the tree limb with brute force.

"No, please don’t do that!" I yelled as the girl immediately stopped.

Renee ran into the house, past her mother in the kitchen and into the bathroom. She plopped the bottle in the sink and turned on the faucet. "Drink?" She asked proud of herself.

"No thank you, I’m not thirsty."

My response didn’t matter. The girl kept filling then dumping the bottle over and over again. The water temperature varied and I could feel the sensation of it. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant and was much more enjoyable than experiencing the lingering seasons buried in the garden.

It wasn’t long after when Tabitha appeared in the doorway.

"Mom, she’s dirtying up your sink!" The girl announced in a tattletale tone.

"Ah, let her be, she’s not hurting anything that a bit of soap won’t cure." The mother replied as she dropped a skillet making an abrupt racket in the kitchen.

Just before dinner, Renee stuffed me into her knapsack. I was eye to eye with an unusual brown stuffed character. The label read ET and I wasn’t exactly sure what an ET was other than ugly. A full figured doll with skimpy clothing was rammed in upside down. Her blonde hair reminded me of a soft cornstalk broom. Not that I knew a broom personally, but on occasion I observed the tool within the clutches of the help.

There was some sort of cube with solid colors matching. It was a type of puzzle, but it didn’t appear to be too challenging since everything matched. Just from what I was exposed to, I wasn’t too certain about the year I had been rescued into.

As the evening bled into night, Renee appeared wearing a pink nightgown. She pulled me from the bag and attempted to brush my facial image with her fingertips. She positioned herself upright in bed, Tabitha was across the room dressing into her nightclothes.

"Jeanne." She said. "I like you very much, but you need to live in my bag, okay? Mommy throws away everything else, so stay put."

"Okay Renee. I’m not going anywhere."

Renee carefully replaced me into her pack and closed the zipper. I heard a mixture of voices, the mother and then a deeper voice which I imagined was the children’s father.

After a brief story about Billie goats and a troll, the surrounding lights dissolved.

"Sissy?" Renee asked.

"Yes." Tabitha replied, her voice exhausted.

"How do you suppose the lady got into the bottle?"

"Go to sleep Renee."

"She’s stuck in there somehow."

"Good night Renee."

"Goodnight sissy. Goodnight Jeanne."

Hours must have passed. My new surroundings had now become monotonous. I remembered a train ride through wheat country when I was a child. The passing fields were long and drawn out. I couldn’t help but wonder how long I would be stuck in a knapsack, stuck in the company of a curvaceous doll and an ET toy that resembled my grandfather.

A small beam of light approached. At first I thought it might be God himself sending me on for good behavior. To my disappointment, it wasn’t. The zipper of the bag opened and Tabitha pulled me out.

"I’m sorry Renee. I can’t let you go around talking to a Vodka bottle. I don’t want to see you teased any more than you all ready are. I hope you’ll forgive me for throwing it away."

I looked to Renee for rescue, but she was sound asleep.

Tabitha hurried down the hallway and into the kitchen clicking the lights overhead as we entered. It was Tim Bell’s kitchen, except it was decorated beautifully. Everything was bright and vibrant. Plants were perched on the window's ledge, and oak replaced the chrome table set that had seen better days.

"Please don’t throw me away!" I said loosing all hope.

Tabitha stopped in her tracks and gazed about the room.

"What the heck?" She asked.

"You heard me?"

"Mom, if you’re playing some warped joke with me again...." Tabitha said giggling.

"No. It’s me, Jeanne......the bottle."

With surprise, Tabitha gazed at the bottle within her clutches. Her jaw dropped from the shock of it all.

"Holy cow." She whispered.

"Please don’t throw me away, all right? I can give you something..." I pleaded.

"Glasses ‘cause its obvious I could use some."

"No. A gift. Just one though." I replied.

The girl smiled. "Like a wish?"

"Yes."

"Cool!" The girl exclaimed.

"Think it through because I can only give one."

She nodded, then smiled. "I know what I want. It’s something I pray for every night, it’s something my parents pray for too. Renee. I want Renee to no longer be autistic."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. I’m tired of everyone always staring at her. I’m tired of all my friends laughing at the silly things that she does. I just want her to be normal." Tabitha declared with a surprising determination to her tone.

Suddenly I was standing in full body before Tabitha. Her eyes popped in surprise as a rain of sparks cascaded from my hair. I pulled her hand into mine and we proceeded down the hallway into the bedroom.

I took Renee’ limp hand and stood as a transmitter between the two sisters. I felt conflicting images. On my left side I had Tabitha and I could see the world through her experiences. Her baby sister who she loved, but felt obligated to protect and defend against everyone.... her mother who she was worried about especially since Renee caused havoc all the time.

In contrast, Renee put off such a vision. My senses were overwhelmed from the images the girl projected. Details that somehow went unnoticed to everyone else was within her understanding. The currents of wind visible as a butterfly fluttered it’s wings. A fine mist of light that glowed on the top soil of earth. Auras of color that surrounded people everywhere...lights, beams, sounds all detailed beyond human possibility.

I pulled away from Tabitha and I disconnected my grip from Renee.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Tabitha with disbelief.

"You see what she’s like." Tabitha argued. "I just want her to be normal."

"She has an incredible gift and I understand now completely. She sees things on such a level........"

"You promised to grant me my wish!" Tabitha interrupted, her tone projecting anger.

"Okay, I did promise, but...."

"No butts about it! My sister is tortured on a day to day basis. The kids at school are ruthless, she goes to the doctor for countless tests, she’s forced to take horrible medications....relatives avoid her like the plague...... No person should have to go through what she does. Do it! I want the gift for her, for my parents, for me!"

I nodded, still uncertain. Dear God help me with this one, I thought.

I held Tabitha’ hand, then took Renee’ in my other. My inwards began to spin. I felt the love. Love between two sisters. Renee held the image of Tabitha pushing her on the swing set, making her giggle. An outrageous poem came to mind, something that Tabitha recited about a dog and a frog.

Tabitha countered with a remembrance of Christmas and the two sister’s sneaking beneath the Christmas tree waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus. They ended up falling asleep entwined in a hug. There were times of tenderness, times of togetherness that contrary to the mental separation, the sisters were connected.

It didn’t take as much energy as restoring death and moments later the wind tunnel ceased and I pulled away.

"You can wake her up now." I whispered to Tabitha.

Tabitha smiled, then jumped on the bed next to her sister. "Renee, wake up! Renee!"

"Tabitha?" She asked gazing into her sister’ eyes.

Tabitha pulled her into an embrace.

"It’s her." Renee said in a groggy tone staring at me in full body. "It’s Jeanne, the woman that I told you about earlier."

"I know." Tabitha said.

"What time is it anyway?" Renee asked gazing across the room for the clock.

"Time?" Tabitha chuckled, then gazed at me. "She's never asked that question before, nor looked me in the eye as long as I’ve known her. Oh my, you did it!"

With that I began to sink downwards into the floor.

"Thank you Jeanne." Tabitha said. Renee waved as I made my exit. I couldn’t help but wonder if what I did was truly a gift. Who was to say that Renee needed to be normal. What was normal anyway? Guidelines for the ordinary. What she could see, what she had the privilege of experiencing was extraordinary. Somehow my heart felt lacking at the gratitude from this experience of giving. I suspected that this gift offered did not bring me any closer to eternal rest.