Once in Every Life

In the shadowy darkness of the hallway, she paused.

The bell tinkled again. Louder this time.

Frowning, Tess moved toward the living room. The bedroom door slammed shut behind her. She jumped at the unexpected sound. "Hey, what the ..."

She smelled smoke. And roses. Tess's frown deepened.

From somewhere?she couldn't quite place where? came the rustling sound of fine silk. Suddenly the shadows parted. A pale, rose-hued cloud rolled into the hallway, swirling around Tess's bare feet. The smell of roses intensified, turned sickeningly sweet.

Tess reached blindly for the bedroom door, and found it locked.

"Jack." His name was a whisper from her too dry mouth.

She took a deep breath to calm down. Somehow she'd

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accidentally locked the door. Except ... except the door didn't have a lock.

"Tess," came a hoarse, feminine voice from the living room. "I'm waiting."

She told herself not to move. She didn't want to know what was going on. She just wanted to stand here, waiting for Jack to open the door.

But before she knew it, she was moving through the rose-colored light toward the living room. In the corner of the room, the Christmas tree, surrounded by paper-wrapped packages, seemed to be floating on a layer of Stardust and light. The dozens of candles that Tess had blown out an hour ago were burning brightly, sending plumes of smoke into the air.

The holiday scents of brandy and candied orange peels and evergreen were still thick in the house, but now there was another smell as well. Something Tess couldn't identify. A haunting, heady smell like burning roses.

"Is someone here?" she asked quietly.

A breeze caressed her face. On the tree, the homemade paper ornaments rustled softly together. A bell tinkled gaily.

Tess brought a shaking hand to her throat and moved toward the tree. She'd made every ornament for that tree, and there hadn't been a bell.

"Hi, Tess."

Tess gasped and spun around. There was no one in the room. "Wh-Who is it?"

A throaty barroom laugh filled the small room. "Don't tell me you forgot your old friend, Carol."

Relief rushed through Tess. "Carol," she said with a smile. "I should have known it was you."

"Of course you should have. Sex must be corroding your brain."

Tess grinned. "But what a way to go."

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"Which brings us to our point. It's time to choose."

"Choose what?"

"Whether you want to stick with this life or move on."

"Are you kidding? I'm staying."

"Your decision is permanent. You won't be Tess anymore. Your soul will remain the same, of course, but your memories of the twentieth century will be gone. Your new memories will start from when you first woke up in this house."

Tess laughed wryly. "Afraid I'll invent tampons and rubber baby pants before their time?"