The weather pattern had changed in New York. It was the middle of May, and it was freezing outside. The day started off beautifully it was 79 degrees and then all of a sudden the temperature dropped dramatically to 29 degrees. People on the streets of New York, who had gone out early to work and school and what have you, found themselves without warm jackets and coats. In addition to that, the television news was reporting marked changes in the weather all over the world, and no weather personality or meteorologist could come up with any reason for so drastic a climate change.

New York had also experienced a small earthquake, buildings shook, people were running in the streets, reports were coming in from all over the city. The only severe damage from the earthquake, however, was concentrated in the crossroads of America – “Times Square. The street had split apart. The earthquake ripped it right in the middle. Fortunately, no one was hurt. A New York City cabbie was trying to beat a traffic light just as it was about to turn red. He floored his cab just as the earthquake hit and his cab landed smack dab in the middle of the rip. New Yorkers and tourist who were on the cabbie side where the split in the street had occurred, ran to the cab and pulled the cabbie out of the driver’s seat before the cab completely fell into the rupture on the road.

Everyone was shaken up and freaked out but like typical New Yorkers, everyone was pulling together to try and understand exactly what was going on and why these things were happening.

Phillips friend Sheri arrived at The Port Authority at his request.
She felt a little-annoyed because it was the weekend and that just because he was off on weekends, had he forgotten that she was not. And with the earthquake, the extreme temperature drop and then she stopped and asked herself why she was going off in her head about this. She realized that Phillip had nothing to do with any of this. He just simply asked her to meet him. It must be important! In all the years that they’ve been friends, She hesitates and then continued the thought, must be important!

Sheri made her way through the crowds of people at the Port Authority. She didn’t stop to look at anyone. She was still in that New York head. Look down as you walk and only look up when you are sure you are at your destination. In her case, that meant gate 313. She checked her watch.

“Phillips bus should have been all ready.” She thought to herself.

She looked around the bus waiting area. No Phillip!

She walked over to the schedule board. It said that the bus had arrived at 2:45 she shook her head. That was 10 minutes ago. Where is he?” She whispered to herself.

A crowd of people started walking toward her, thinking that another bus service had just arrived. Without really looking up to acknowledge the crowd of commuters coming her way, she moved off to the side so that she wouldn’t get mowed down as they were all making their way to the station and when she did her foot bumped into a homeless man’s backside. It startled her because she did not notice him lying there.

“Oops, excuse me I’m sorry. She said without thinking. She knew in her mind that she didn’t care. It was an awful thought, but it had come from years of living in New York and becoming immune to the homeless people where ever they were among the streets of the city or subways or buildings. She hated that she thought that way, but she knew why. It wasn’t what was in her heart. In her heart, she ached for the plight of the homeless and their hunger and for what they have to go through day to day, minute by minute never really knowing where they would end up at the end of the day and what is the end of the day for a homeless person? Too much thinking, she thought to herself and then she smiled at her herself in spite of herself.

The homeless man did not respond to Sheri accidentally kicking him with her foot. He just kind grunted to himself very softly and rolled over further into the corner that he was already in.

Sheri carefully backed away from him while he was rolling himself into the corner and while she was doing this, she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. She jumped!

“Excuse me miss. Do you have some change so that I can buy a cup of coffee?”

It was another homeless person, this time. It was a woman. Her hair was a dark gray and white and matted to her head. Her clothes if you could call them that smelled horrible. It looked like she was wearing an old worn out poncho that walked itself here from Mexico. The colors were long since faded and she had an old beat up belt wrapped around a very skinny waist of the poncho that just barely held her and it together.

“Miss I don’t mean to bother you I just want a little change, dime, penny, whatever you can give so that I can buy a cup of coffee.”

Sheri had heard this sales pitch before from other homeless people, so her first instinct was just to ignore her. She knew that giving this woman a dime or a penny would not be enough money for her to get a cup of coffee in New York City. Why doesn’t she just come right out and ask for a dollar or even two dollars? Why not shoot for the moon and ask for five dollars. Sheri smiled nervously and reached into her purse and pulled out a dollar bill and put it into the homeless woman’s cup and nodded her head and smiled nervously again.

“Thank you miss and God bless you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sheri said as she turned away from her.

“Where the hell is he?” She whispered softly to herself or at least she thought she whispered it.

“Where is who miss?” The homeless woman said.

Sheri thought that the homeless woman had walked away from her once she had given her the money.

“Who you looking for Ms. can I help you?”

Still surprised that the woman was still standing there, Sheri shook her and said: “no thank you.”

“Sheri how do you know that I can not help you, after all, you just helped me.”

Astonished Sheri jerked head around and faced the woman.

“What did you just call me?”

The homeless woman smiled. “Sheri is that not your name?

Sheri could not believe what she thought she was hearing. Perhaps the earthquake, the sudden change in the weather or maybe because the night before she was out partying with her friends until 4 a.m. maybe that’s why she thought she heard this homeless woman calling her by her name.

“Did you just call my name?”

“Sheri yes that’s right that’s who you are!”

Sheri looked all around her. The Port Authority station was hustling and bustling with thousands of commuters and passers-by and homeless people, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the fact that this homeless woman that she had never seen in her life was calling her by name. A million thoughts ran through her head. None of them she thought made any sense, but she felt she had to believe or come up with something. Phillip perhaps had paid this woman to come over to her to freak her out as a joke. Yeah, that’s possible. She thought to herself but where the hell is he? I don’t see him she thought to herself again.

“He is here Sheri, and you must go to him now.”

Sheri swung around. “What the hell are you doing to me?”

The homeless woman smiled at her and said. “I am helping you, Sheri. The friend that you seek is standing by the bowling lanes. Go to him now but make haste to him and listen to all that he has to say and believe all that he tells you for time is short with him.”

Sheri still could not believe what she was hearing if she was right this homeless woman was reading her thoughts, but this could not be possible could it? She was afraid to think it. What if?

The homeless woman interrupted her thoughts.

“Time is of the essence here.” The homeless woman said.
“What if I take you back to a night when you lay sleeping, there were spiders, every spider that crawls upon the land, crawling all over your body and each and every snake that slithers and slides on the land was slithering and sliding all over your body. It was your biggest fear you awoke frantically, and your eyes saw a light and in that light, you saw a figure beside you kneeling on your bed, that figures hands clasped in prayer. That figure acted like it was not supposed to be seen but before the figure disappeared, it smiled and winked at you. You sat up in your bed confused but not afraid to go back to sleep. Your fear of spiders and snakes no longer exist since that night. You never told anyone how you overcame that fear and never told anyone about that figure even though you knew what it was. I am that figure.

A wave of fear, happiness and joy ran through Sheri’s entire body. It was like when a runner hit’s the wall. Then gets that feeling of exhilaration of when the body goes from hot to cold to pure energy. She felt like she stopped breathing. When breath returned into her body, she was able to look beyond what was a figure of a homeless woman standing in front of her. Instead, she saw a light, pure light in this woman’s face. There were no more doubts no more fear just tears.

The homeless woman reached into the pocket of her filthy dirty clothes and pulled out a clean, pure white handkerchief that was bathed in light and put it on Sheri’s face and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Sheri buried her face so deep into the handkerchief that she was able to touch the homeless woman’s hand, and she rested her face in it until her tears stopped falling.

“What do you need for me to do?” Sheri asked, still with her face lying in the homeless woman’s hands.

The homeless woman lifted up Sheri’s head.

“The person you see before you now is very sick. She will need your friend Phillip. At this moment, he stands by the bowling lanes. He is lost, confused, full of doubt for his task at hand. His heart speaks but his mind has to see. Go to him now and bring him here. Go!”

She spoke the last words “Go” with a sense of urgency that made Sheri’s body jerk away from the homeless woman.

“I’ll go get him right now. Don’t move. Stay right here. Don’t go anywhere.” She felt like a woman possessed desperate even saying all this to her. “Don’t move!” but this was a life-affirming moment for her. The woman that kneeled on her bed that night praying for her, her angel! She was there with her again. Now! And she didn’t want to let her go.

Sheri ran around the corner down the hall passed the many stores in the Port Authority. She knew exactly where the bowling lanes were. Sheri had never been in the bowling lanes, but her many trips and stops through the Port Authority had allowed her to pass by the bowling lanes. The last time she had passed by she noticed that they had closed it. “Closed for renovations,” the sign said. She remembers thinking to herself many times that it looked like it needed a make-over and perhaps that if it looked more inviting after the renovation that maybe she and Phillip would stop in and bowl a few games. As she rounded the corner to the Bowling lanes, she spotted Phillip immediately. He was just standing there in front of the bowling lanes.

“Phillip!” She shouted as she ran to him.

He didn’t even acknowledge her.

“Phillip!” She said again as she stood in front of him.

“Phillip it’s so good to see you. You would not believe… Well, I need for you to come with me.”

She grabbed his arm, and he jumped. After he had got over being startled, he reached out and pulled Sheri to him and hugged her.

“Sheri I’m so glad that you found me..I—I am so lost. His words were stammering. “I mean I’m not lost here. I know how to get around The Port Authority, I just.

Sheri interrupted him.

“Phillip I need for you to come with me now!”

Phillip pulled away from her embrace. “What! Go with you? You have no idea what is happening to me. Frankly, I’m not sure what is happening to me.”

Sheri gave him a quick smile and looked at what she thought was a new light or shadow of light on his entire face.

“Phillip whatever is going on with you, you’re lost you said. I need for you to come with me quickly. I think I have someone who can help you find whatever it is you might need.”

She didn’t wait for him to respond. That jerk that she felt when the homeless woman told her to “GO” hit her again and she grabbed Phillips arm and pulled and started running with him. Once again running passed the people, corners, and the stores.

Sheri did not stop until she saw some people gathered around, screaming and yelling for help where she had left the homeless woman. Pushing through the crowd with Phillip still in tow, she realized why the people were screaming and yelling, there lying on the red cold tile floor was the homeless woman. There was blood streaming from her mouth, and her head was cocked to the right side of the tip of her shoulder causing the blood to run down her already filthy dirty clothes.

“I don’t think she’s breathing.” Someone said.

“Anyone know C.P.R.?” A man nicely dressed in a business suit yelled.

No one responded. The man knew C.P.R. himself, but as badly as he felt for the homeless woman lying there on the floor, there was no way he thought to himself that he was going to administer C.P.R. on her. “I might catch something, get sick myself. I don’t need that!”

He felt sorry for thinking theses thoughts, but he knew that he was not alone in his thinking. He was aware that everyone in the crowd standing around looking at the sick, homeless woman lying on the floor bleeding from her mouth was thinking the same thing. It was best that they just wait for emergency services to get there and help her.

Sheri immediately knelt down beside the homeless woman and then she looked over at Phillip, who was still standing with the crowd of people who were surrounding the homeless woman. She got up and grabbed his arm and pulled him into the circle with her. “Phillip do something!” She shouted.

He didn’t look at her. Instead, he started talking to himself or at least to Sheri and everyone standing around them he appeared to be talking to himself.

“Phillip, what’s the matter with you? Stop acting like you’re crazy, pull yourself together and help her damn it she’s dying!” Phillip stopped moving his lips and just stood still over the homeless woman.

(Phillip’s conversation with Jurist: No voice.)

“Phillip, what doth thine eyes see before thee?”

“Jurist you know what I see, or rather I see what you see. It is all so confusing. And stop always sounding so cryptic. It’s a homeless woman dying.” Phillip said.

“Phillip thou rememberest’ the woman lying on the street? You saw her after you left your daily journey. I was with thee then.”

“Yes,” Phillip said.

Doth thou also remember what thou felt and what thou knew to be truly happening to the woman lying in the street?”

Phillip hesitated. He knew what Jurist was getting at.

“Yes!” He said. And but I don’t feel that now.”

“You also did not see then because thine eyes were not open yet! Behold now and see.”

Phillip lifted up his eyes and what he beheld caused him to gasp, within the circle of people gathered standing around the homeless woman was a band of angels. The colors that surrounded them were so brilliant so bright. He felt that it should have blinded him, even sent him running and hiding. The angels were praying. They were hovering just above her, hovering and praying. Then as if by instinct, he yelled out.

“She can still breathe the air on earth!”

Everyone else in the crowd looked at him as if he had three heads.

“Another crazy in New York City!” Someone shouted out.

“You do not feel her passing through thee yet. If thou art to do anything for her, the time is at hand”. Jurist said to Phillip.

Phillip still standing over the woman with a dazed, crazy look all over his face, at least to Sheri and the crowd standing around him. He bent down over the homeless woman, then he held his head up and looked directly into his friends Sheri’s eyes, smiled at her, then he did something that made the entire crowd of people whispers, gag, and gasp. Phillip opened the homeless woman’s mouth and put his mouth to hers blood and all, and started breathing into her mouth. He wasn’t administering CPR, he just kept his mouth to hers and kept blowing air through his nose, out through his mouth into her mouth.

The crowds of people were mortified and disgusted.

“What the hell does he think he is doing?” A man in the navy blue business suit yelled out.

A couple of people starting retching in disgust, some were yelling out things like come on man what are you doing? Why don’t you wait until the paramedics get here! Several people yelled out that he was going to catch something, but Phillip just continued with what he was doing.

Sheri didn’t respond either way. She just looked on at her friend. Sheri had been Phillips friends for a very long time knew him inside and out and in all the time that she had known him, he would have never done anything like this, helping a homeless woman, getting this close to one as to put his mouth on her bloody lip. No, she knew that something bigger than he was, was afoot here, bigger than anyone standing around retching, gagging and being disgusted, A lot bigger. So she held on, trusted like never before. She whispered- “That’s it, Phillip! Please, that’s it!”

“Coming through!” – A voice boomed through from outside the crowd that had gathered.

“Please, we need for everyone to step aside, clear the area so that the medical techs can see to the emergency.” It was a couple of cops from the NYPD with three emergency medical techs in tow. The crowd slowly and reluctantly parted to allow the police and the emergency team in because no matter how repulsed the crowd was they just could not leave, so everyone remained transfixed upon what Phillip was doing.

The emergency medical techs were about to spring into action when they saw Phillip appearing to give the woman CPR. They asked him and Sheri who remained kneeling down beside the homeless woman to please step aside so that they could see to the patient.

“He’s helping her please let him finish what he’s doing!” Pleaded Sheri. “Just let him be!” She continued.

“That’s what we are here for. Now please step aside so that we can give her the proper medical attention that she needs.”

Sheri still did not move, and Phillip just continued breathing air into the homeless woman’s mouth appearing completely oblivious to the fact that anyone but he and the sick, homeless woman were the only two people there.

One of the medical techs’s motioned to the cops to remove Sheri and Phillip so that they could get to work. The NY city cops before putting their hands on them asked them to please move along. Sheri was seeing the seriousness in their eye’s reluctantly let go of the homeless woman’s hand and stood up and took two tiny steps backward. Phillip still did not respond. The two cops repeated themselves again this time even more urgent demanding that he stop whatever he was doing to “help” and to let the emergency medical technicians do their job, still Phillip kept at what he was doing.

“Enough of this!” One of the cops said and as he was about to pull Phillip away from the sick, homeless woman’s when all of a sudden Phillip stopped breathing into the homeless lady’s mouth. He looked up at the police officer, not acknowledging him but rather just looking passed him, straight through him. Then Phillip lifted up his hands, they had blood on them, not just stained blood but the blood was dripping from his hands. The on-lookers all gasped. The Policeman backed away for fear of getting blood on himself thinking that he might contract something from the blood.

The medical techs who already had gloves on were about to help, but then Phillip put both hands bleeding very gently onto the sick, homeless woman’s face the blood it flowed from his hands into her eyes, nose, and her mouth even into her ear’s. It was like the blood was being absorbed by her.

There were screams and cries from the crowd and the two cops and the medical tech’s were stuck, frozen they couldn’t move, did not know how to respond to what they were seeing, to what was happening.

Phillip then removed his hands from the sick, homeless woman’s face and when there was no more blood to be absorbed, Phillip lifted up his hands which were no longer bleeding, they were clean no blood stains, nothing! Phillip smiled and then all of sudden the sick, homeless woman who had stopped breathing when she fell to the ground let out a breath so loudly and so strong, that all who stood around her could hear. She sprang up from the floor, sitting straight up, she smiled, even glistened and then she spoke.

“I am new!” She said.

“What the hell!” Both the cop and one of the emergency medical techs said in unison