Give and Take

Give and Take

1.

Sometimes life can deal you a devastating blow, it could take away all the things that mattered, or at least the one thing that mattered the most. Sean was just about to head off to his first year of university on a baseball scholarship. A scholarship he never would have got if it wasn’t for his father Nick. The man who brought him up, trained him, managed him, guided and loved him unconditionally. This man who poured all his baseball knowledge into his son. Sean had a real shot at making it to the big leagues. He was a good hitter; he could field and pitch over ninety miles per hour. He was shaping into one of the best prospects for the next pro baseball draft.

Sean was just 18 years old when his father died. his life had been shattered that day. Losing someone that believed in you so much, they did everything for you so that you would achieve your dream. Nick Cordero was killed in a car accident on his way to see a scout about the possibility of getting his son signed with the Toronto Blue jay organization. Nick, his wife Jennifer and Sean lived just outside of Columbus Ohio, which was approximately six hours away from Toronto. The accident happened in an ice storm. A semi had slid on some black ice and jackknifed into oncoming traffic and Nick’s SUV was the 2nd car hit. There was no chance of survival the police had said. But at least his death had been instant.

Sean fell into a deep depression after that, his dream of making it to the big leagues failed. His mentor and trainer were no longer there, he still had the skills to make it without his dad, but he no longer had the drive; it disappeared as quickly as his father had.

The Universe had a funny way of dealing with things. Both Sean and his father believed in the law of attraction, sending positive vibes out to the universe to get what you really wanted in life. The thought that if you imagine yourself doing what you really wanted or needed that it would come to fruition. Every night as he lay in bed; he would meditate to himself about playing pro ball. and when the Blue Jays came knocking, he now had a team and a jersey to incorporate into those meditations. It had seemed to work, until the accident that is. Sean gave up after that. Five years had now passed and his dreams of playing ball seemed to go by the wayside. It was just him and his mom now at their small home. He worked at the local factory. He never did take the scholarship due to his depression. Regret for not going to college had now set in years later. His mom kept telling him to try again as she knew the factory was just a dead end for a kid that once had so much potential. Sean thought about getting back into it, but he figured his opportunity had passed, he was now 23 years old, he hadn’t played baseball in years, -usually a major league team wouldn’t bring in an undrafted 23-year-old, out of practice player, although, he was once ranked very high in the system, which could still count for something, maybe, but he wasn’t hopeful.

2.

He decided that maybe it was time to try again, he meditated that night before bed just like he used to, he visioned himself standing at home plate on a field, swinging and hitting the ball into doubles, triples and home runs. He saw the crowd cheering, his teammates congratulating him. He repeated this vision in a loop in his brain until he finally fell asleep. He dreamt that night of his aspirations coming true, but there was a voice in his dream that kept saying, ‘you can do this, but something will be taken? To get something impossible, you need to give something, it will be final.” He had no idea what that meant.

The next morning, he woke up to his cell phone ringing, the caller ID read - Toronto Blue Jays. Sean immediately jumped out of bed, cleared his throat and answered. “Hello.”

“Hello, is this Sean Cordero?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Hello Sean, this is Jake Isaac, I am the assistant GM with the Blue Jays.”

“Hi Jake, what can I do for you?” he asked with excitement.

“Well Sean, I remember you from a few years back, I was wondering if you still play ball?”

“I do.” He lied, “Just not organized ball or in any league, but I stay limber.”

“Do you think you are limber enough to come and try out for the jays at Spring training in two weeks?”

“Without a doubt sir.”

“Well, there are no guarantees Sean, in fact I know that you don’t play anymore, and I don’t expect that you will make the cut, But I recall you were good and I want to give you your shot, albeit a longshot. What do you say?”

“I would be honored to try out for your organization.”

“Sean, I need to ask … What happened to you, I mean I know about the tragic accident with your father, but I expected you to bounce back.”

“It got the better of me sir, I lost my way after his death.”

“I see, are you back in the saddle now?”

“I am sir.”

“That’s great to hear, I need you to come to Toronto to sign some waivers and other documents, can you make it down here in the next few days? I leave for Florida spring training on the weekend.’

“I can drive there tomorrow sir.” Jake gave him the address and details of what he needed for the trip, such as medical records for clearance.

* * *

The next day He was driving on Interstate 71 North, this was the same highway that his dad was killed on. Today the weather was much better than that fateful day his dad took the same drive. It was sunny and 5 degrees, A warm day for February. He had been thinking about his dad a lot during the drive, how he missed him, what the accident may have been like. Driving alone for a while could make your thoughts run on. He wished that his father was with him, had he been alive, they would have taken the trip together, the only reason he didn’t go with him the day of the accident was that he had exams. He knew the exact mile marker where it happened, he was only a few miles away from there now. He tried to manifest his dad still alive beside him in the car, he could picture him sitting there.

Everything suddenly got blurry, He felt like the weather had suddenly changed, he slowed the car to understand what happened, he figured there was a sudden squall causing whiteout conditions. Then the weirdest thing, everything went silent, no sound of wind or sound of the car engine, no music from the radio, just dead silence. He found himself on the shoulder of the road, at the exact mile marker sign where his dad was killed five years earlier. As he looked at the sign, he heard a voice in his head say – ‘To get what you want something will be taken.’ This was the same thing he heard in his dream the other night. Sean spoke out loud, “I would give anything.”

3.

He stepped out of the car to the storm with zero visibility, the weather had impossibly changed from one minute to the next, a beautiful sunny day to a treacherous ice storm, he knew something was off, he felt it in his soul. He got back into his car to get out of the wind and ice; he wasn’t dressed for this weather. He turned the radio on to get the forecast update. That’s when he heard the news and the date. It was not what he expected, the station had said the same day but the sports cast had mentioned the upcoming spring training for 2021, he knew the date to be February 17th 2026. But February 17th 2021 was the day his father died, at the exact same spot he was now parked on the shoulder. What were the chances of such a coincidence of being at the same location on the same day of the month. Impossible he thought, and why did the station say the wrong year. That’s when he heard a loud engine growling and air brakes squealing, he looked in the opposite traffic and saw a tractor-trailer jackknifed and sliding at a good speed. Then it hit a car and obliterated it to pieces and then a second car was in the path but narrowly swerved off into the ditch. Jacob got out and went to help. The first car would have no survivors from what he saw, and the truck driver seemed fine, just shaken up, so he went to check the car in the ditch, it had rolled on its side, and the passenger seemed to be unconscious. The passenger who was his father.

** *

He stared at his dad through the sideways windshield, trying to figure out what was happening. Other people were now assisting, they got his dad out of the car, he seemed to be okay, he was coming to but a bit groggy. Sean figured either he had lost his mind, or he just went back five years to the day of his father’s death. Everything started to click in that moment. He thought about the mile marker, the date on the radio, the sudden change in weather, but mostly about the sound disappearing briefly as he drove. He had just gone back in time and his dad was alive, right in front of him. How was this possible. He remembered answering the voice, saying he would give anything, His answer wasn’t that he would give anything to make the big leagues, it was to get his dad back, and there he was.

They went to the hospital, his father had a concussion and wasn’t quite himself, he couldn’t figure out why his son was at the accident scene when he was supposed to be at an exam. At the hospital was when Sean saw in the washroom mirror that he looked younger, he was now 18 again. The realization that his meditations had manifested all this, his dad was alive, he was young again and he had a real shot at making the major leagues once again. He didn’t tell his dad what happened, he wouldn’t believe him anyway. Nobody would believe that they went back in time, plus people would say he needs psychiatric help, so he kept quiet. Sean kept calling his mom to tell her about the accident.

“Dad, I can’t get a hold of mom, I’ve been calling her cell phone for the last hour now, she doesn’t know about the accident yet.” His dad just looked at him with confusion, that’s when the doctor came into for another check on Nick. The doctor wanted to keep him overnight for observation, it was routine with concussions. After he left Nick asked his son, “What were you saying about mom?”

“I can’t get a hold of her.”

“What are you saying Sean?”

“I called; I told you I have been calling her for the last thirty minutes. I want to let her know what happened and tell her you’re okay.”

“Sean, what’s wrong with you? I hit my head; you didn’t hit yours.”

“No, of course not.”

“Why are you talking about your mom then?”

“Don’t you think we should tell her?” Nick stared at his son with confusion and worry.

“Sean, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Sean, your mother died three months ago from a brain aneurysm.” He stared at his dad as all the color dropped from his face in just seconds, he stood there trying to process the words his father spoke to him. They weren’t registering. They looked at each other in a stalemate trying to figure out what each of them was processing. Nick knew his son had not handled the death of his mom well, who would? But to completely forget, was a different way of dealing with grief. Sean left the room and went to the washroom to be alone and try to decipher what he just heard. After a long cry, he looked up into the mirror and saw his young face. This is when he remembered the voice saying something would be taken. This was his price. One parent for another. Fate stepped in and the universe gave him one parent back and took the other. He wanted to reverse it but knew he couldn’t. the decision would be final, the voice said.

* * *

In the following weeks, Sean dealt with the death of his mom, all the while pretending that he knew about it, His father kept him on track for his baseball dreams, he got his shot at spring training, and The Blue Jays signed him to a minor league contract. He regretted manifesting what happened, even though he gained his dad back, he felt the guilt of losing his mom. He wouldn’t have asked for this if he had known the consequences were so horrible. He also looked at it from a different perspective, The universe gave him this opportunity, with his father back, he made it to the big leagues, sure it was at a great cost. He had to think that the universe knew what was best for the situation, or it never would have presented itself. It was give and take.

THE END