Once in Every Life

She spun around. Jack was standing about two feet away from her, his legs braced apart, his hands plastered to his ears. There was no color in his cheeks.

"Noooo!" he screamed.

The islanders began to slowly back away, muttering quietly among themselves and shaking their heads.

Fear coursed through Tess. "Get them to stop the fireworks," she yelled frantically. When no one moved, she

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grabbed hold of the nearest sleeve and whipped a frightened-looking woman around. "Please," Tess begged. "Please ..."

The woman's eyes bulged. "O-Okay." She turned to the man beside her. "Go stop that racket, Frank."

Jack screamed again and started to run. He shoved through the silent crowd as if he didn't see them at all.

Tess stared dumbly at him for a heartbeat. Her bones felt as if they'd been pulverized. Ice-cold fear rushed through her blood. What was happening? She brought a trembling hand to her mouth. Oh, God, what was happening?

Jack pushed through the doors and disappeared. Screaming, she ran after him. "Jack! Wait!" He stumbled across the threshold and half fell down the sagging steps. Righting himself, he kept running through the knee-high grass and disappeared into a stand of maple trees.

Tess ran faster, her arms pumping hard at her sides, her breath coming in hot, painful spurts.

Up ahead, there was a thunk, then a crash.

Tess burst into the trees and came to a shuddering halt. She was alone.

"Oh, God," she whimpered. "Jack?"

She heard a groan.

Tess yanked up her skirts and dove for him. He wrenched out of her grasp and started to stumble away.

Tess surged toward him and grabbed his wrist, hanging on with both hands. "Jack?" She tried to scream his name at the top of her lungs, but it issued past her lips as a frightened, trembling whisper. He didn't seem to hear her.

Tess stared at him in mounting terror. He didn't even know she was there. He was stiff as a board, and breathing hard. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, and his skin

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was pale as death. He appeared to be having a psychotic episode.

Fear twisted her insides into a quivering knot. She'd seen breakdowns in psychiatric wards of hospitals, and they'd always terrified her. "Jack?" she whispered. "What is it? What's happening?" He didn't even look at her.

She stared up into his chalky face and felt a stab of fear so sharp, she cried out. A sob burst from her throat. "Oh, God, Jack ... what's happening?"

He screamed again, another bloodcurdling shriek of pure, primal terror. He turned, tried to run.

Tess clung to his wrist. He dragged her through the damp grass. "No, Jack," she cried, the words broken by tears. "Please ..."

He screamed again and dropped to his knees. "Johnny ..." The name was a twisted, rasping fragment. Tess took a deep, shuddering breath and clung to his hand. The warm, solid feel of him calmed her down, reminded her that he was here, beside her, and as long as they were together, there was hope.

She grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to will him to look at her. He stiffened and stared past her, his eyes still glassy and unfocused.

"Jack, I know you can hear me. Please ..." She said the words over and over again, until her throat ached. With each repetition she felt him drifting that much further away from her.

Desperation slid into her fear, giving it a razor-sharp edge.

"Please, Jack, look at me. See me. Please ..." A sob

shook her body, slipped past her parched lips as a silent