It’s not your time yet, unless you so choose it to be.  However, your time is coming very soon.

I have a choice?  How do I decide?  When is my time?  Shane wondered.

You’ll know the right thing to do when you see what shall be. 

The visions started then, playing out in her head like a home movie.  She saw herself, healthy and very much alive, with all of her friends.  Shane saw Dana getting down on one knee with a ring and proposing to Alice.  With an excited squeal, Alice accepted.  There was an obvious jump in time, and suddenly she saw all of them at Dana and Alice’s wedding, all of them bawling like babies as Dana lifted Alice’s veil and they kissed.  And then a tired, but happy Alice in a hospital bed, a baby boy cradled in her arms as a beaming Dana stood beside them.

Next she saw Bette and Tina together, happy and smiling, four year-old Angelica beside them as they fed a tiny baby girl.  Another fast forward in time showed Dana and Alice’s son on his first day of kindergarten, Alice and Dana both crying more than all of the other parents put together as he obliviously skipped away from them, excited and eager to meet new playmates.  Angelica, aged eleven, teaching Alice and Dana’s seven year-old son to swim.

Next appeared Carmen with another woman, both clearly content and enjoying one another’s company.  Jenny, healthy and happy, was with them and had a girlfriend of her own.  Carmen’s wedding.  Jenny’s wedding.  Carmen giving birth to two beautiful sons.

The faces of everyone she knew flashed before her, growing older.  Happiness etched on everyone’s faces.

The voice came back then.  Should you choose to leave now, this is what will become of the world instead.

The visions changed abruptly.  She saw Dana, unsure of whether or not to propose to Alice, and deciding not to.  Alice, growing impatient and deciding Dana didn’t want to fully commit, ending the relationship. 

Bette and Tina arguing, and Tina accepting a date with a man.  Tina leaving Bette for him and taking the baby, leaving Bette alone.

Next came Jenny, who was miserable and lonely, committing suicide.  Had someone been there to help her, she might have lived.  A heartbroken Carmen never getting over violently losing Shane, cutting off contact with the world and locking herself in her room, rarely venturing out of the house.

In this vision, every single one of her friends ended up miserable and unhappy.

You’ve seen enough to make your decision.  Keep in mind, should you chose to live, your time is near, the voice reminded Shane.

When?  When is my time?  Shane asked.

Once your work is done, responded the voice simply.  You still have promises to keep.  And don’t you want justice for yourself?

Shane felt her anger flare up.  Someone had tried to kill her, and she couldn’t remember whom.  Yes, she wanted justice.  She wanted revenge.  But most of all, she wanted to set things right with her friends in order to make them happy.

I want to live, Shane decided.  But when is my time?

So be it.  You’ll know when the time comes, the voice explained.  Now go, your time is limited and you have work to do.