WRITTEN DOWN

I always knew how I was going to die. It was written on my skin from the day I was born. My Father tells me to live as though I was not afraid to die even if we both know how I was going to die. “You can’t escape or avoid your destiny” he says, “It would take something greater than you if you have any chance of changing it.” As a young girl I have learned the truth of his words all too well. 

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My name is Olea, Olea Alexander. Some people mash up my full name and call me Oleander. My mother picked my name for me when I was born right before destiny caught up with her and she passed away just as it was written on her skin. My name was taken from a beautiful flower yet a deadly one. My father tells me many things about my mother and one thing he always remembers is her hope for life. She hoped to see me grow and to have more time with my Dad. Despite growing up knowing that everyone in her family and every person she ever knew ended up as the ink predicted on the skin of their bodies still she hoped. During my mom’s pregnancy my father spent most of his time trying to find a way to prevent the inevitable from happening. As a medical professional he knew the fact that no matter how hard he tries he will not succeed in curing someone who came with their already written illness or “accident”. 

One morning I woke up and saw my father pacing back and forth in my room. “Dad are you okay?” I asked. “Good you are awake. Get up fast. We need to go.” He spoke in a hurried voice and went out of my room. I never saw my father act so nervously before. He is a man who doesn’t get excited or fearful. Should I ask where we are going? I was hesitant so I chose to quietly do as I was told. We got in the car and sat for a minute. My dad looked at me and said, “Live as though you were not afraid to die”. I was always the driver. We stopped in a town that I knew by name but I never went there before. There was nothing different in that place as far as I know. My father caught my hand firmly and told me to stay calm and keep quite. His hands were cold and shaking. I became even more worried. I can only guess what could make him act so strangely. He must have found a way to change our fate. But that is just impossible isn’t it? We got out of the car walked a few steps and stopped to knock on a door. A man opened and invited us in. We sat on the couch when he pointed us to sit. My father started speaking, “I don’t have time to beat around the bush. Your brother told me about ransom.” I didn’t understand what my father was talking about but surely the guy looks like he did. He stared at my father with his wide eyes then turned to me and said, “I see you have something to fight for. Look this is simple if you are willing to do what it takes. I don’t care if my brother was your friend. You need to pay me everything you own and I will take you to your desired place. You are never going to come back any way so you might as well give it all to me.” My father stood up as if he was poked on his back and sat back down. “I can’t give you everything. I am going there to change my destiny so I can come back and live.” At this point I am blown away by this conversation. I know what they were talking about but I wanted for my father to look me in the eye and explain what in the world is going on. When he gave me a quick glance I remembered that he told me to keep quiet and so I did. The man raised up pointing his finger at my father and said, “You listen to me man, this is not a negotiation. Either you pay me everything or you don’t. If you are not willing to pay then I won’t have anything to do with you. It is only when you pay that you and I can speak the same language am I clear? Besides I am sure that you won’t find what you are looking for. Destiny, no matter how hard it is to face it is even harder to change.” 

The next day I woke up again to see my father pacing in my room again. When he looked at me and found me awake he said “Oh good you are awake. We need to go now get up pack a small bag and get ready.” He hurried to the door. “Dad can you please calm down and tell me what is going on?” I asked sounding very worried. He stopped still holding the door handle not turning his face he said “Olea not many people know about this so you must not say anything about what I am about to tell you.” He turned to me walking slowly he came and sat at the edge of my bed. “Listen to me honey, there is a place called ransom. It is very far from here. In fact I don’t know where exactly it is. I was told there is a young lady who lives there who can change our fate. I think they call her Sister. I don’t know what magic she uses but she has managed to change their fate. That is where we are going.” “But dad how can you be so sure? What if it is fake and she couldn’t change our fate?” I asked him wanting to hear words of assurance from him. “I am not sure.” He said it plainly. “But I need to try once and for all. I need to do this for you.” He bowed his head. “But dad aren’t you the one who told me that no one can avoid or escape destiny. You told me to not bother to change my fate.” “I am your dad Olea, I don’t have to explain everything get up let’s go.” He commanded.

My father collected his files that had contracts which will be signed for the selling of our home. He had every paper work ready to transfer everything we owned to the man who would take us to the so called place ransom. We got in the car and sat for a minute. “Olea my daughter, live as though you were not afraid to die”, he said. As we drove to the highway I was very disturbed. We were leaving our home for good. We probably are never going to come back. After few minutes we stopped at the man’s house. My father told me to wait in the car. He went into the house and came out after a while. He got in to the car and said with weak smile, “We are going to ransom.” And turned to face the road. That was when a truck that was coming straight for us crushed our car along with us. “Death by a car accident” was the written tattoo on my father’s skin. 

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“You can’t escape or avoid your destiny” Dad used to say, “It would take something greater than you if you have any chance of changing it.” Maybe that is why we only know how we are going to die and not when. So we might not waste whatever time we have been given trying to change our fate but rather accept and embrace this life for as long as we may last. I shouldn’t have survived from the car accident but I guess I too had to meet my fate in my own term. After I got out of the hospital I found myself with no family, no home and with absolutely nothing that I could call mine. "Suicide.” was the tattoo written on my skin.