Sam Stanton had all he could ask for. A nice house, a happy wife, and a beautiful healthy newborn son. However, one day his life turned around. Sam got involved in a car crash that took the life of both his wife and his son. It was a tragic incident where Sam also got seriously injured. The story made headlines all over the country, the search went on for several months but the bodies were never found.
Three years later without any resolution in the case a miracle occurred.
At the grocery store
One afternoon in San Clemente, California, Sam had driven to the grocery store to buy some essentials, and while waiting in line he was faced with a life-changing sight. He wiped his eyes to make sure that what he was seeing was real. He glanced once again and his jaws dropped.
Could that be them?
It had been three years since the fatal car accident took the lives of his wife and son. Even though Sam was still attached to the memories he had of them, he never thought there was a possibility they could still be alive. Yet, that day changed it all…
In disbelief
Still in awe of possibly witnessing a true miracle, Sam vividly remembered what his close family looked like, he knew exactly what he was seeing. Many questions circled his mind and it was in that but he knew his wife and son were alive. Still in shock, trying to get a hold of himself, he decided to wait outside in his car.
The accident
Three years before this strange unfolding of events, Sam his wife Tammy, and his newborn son David were involved in a terrible car crash. He was the only one that survived but suffered serious injuries. The accident made headlines all over the news and after the collision it took years for Sam to recover.
Doesn’t hurt to ask
During that encounter, Sam recognized his son and wife even though it had been years since he had last seen them. So, as he saw them leave the store he had no choice but to approach them. Yet, to his surprise things did not go as he expected. Was that really who he thought they were?
“Who are you?”
Sam was no longer as corporate and clean-looking as he used. He was a mess and unfortunately, when Sam came up to who he thought was his wife and son they did not seem to acknowledge him. In fact, they rushed out of the parking lot. Sam was in dismay and did not understand what just had happened.
The news
Three years previous, as Sam laid in the hospital bed he received the worst news. The police had come earlier and said that his wife’s and son’s bodies were not found. That was the worst day of his life but he still felt a blind sense of hope thinking they must be somewhere…
What were they doing there?
During a long walk at the beach, Sam couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in that grocery store. He began questioning his sanity. Was he seeing things? Were those the people he thought they were? Could his beloved family still be alive? These questions lingered as Sam continued soul searching.
How was the recovery
Surviving the car accident had proved to take a toll on Sam’s life. His mental and physical health were severely impacted. It took years of rehabilitation for him to start walking again and find the motivation to get out of his house. Although he was evolving physically he needed to work on his mental health.
Down the coast
Sam and his family would always drive down to San Clemente when they wanted to take a break from busy, Los Angeles, but this time it was different. He went there in order to get out of his house and revisit the places he would go with his family. Could they really be there?
Familiar places
Sam decided to visit all the places he would go with Tammy and David. He did that every day and took the same route every time. That became his routine but he had no idea of what was about to unfold. Something totally out of the ordinary happened and Sam was once again in disbelief.
A strange sight
At this point, there was only one place missing in his routine check, the pier. As he was casually strolling toward the pier, he stopped as he saw something strange on the other side of the street. There was a crowd of people there, but this time his gut feeling spoke louder…
A shocking revelation
As the light turned green, Sam sprinted across to the other side of the street to get a closer look at what he thought he’d just seen. There they were again. The same child and women that were in the grocery store. This time the child was eating ice cream and the woman was holding the child’s hands, but as soon as he took the courage to talk to them they vanished in the crowd.
The recovery continued
At the time of Sam’s recovery, the doctors were impressed with his progression but his extended family was worried. They were aware of how attached he was to his wife and son. After all his son had just been introduced to the family right before the tragedy. Ultimately, they feared that his past habits would catch up to him at some point and so it did.
Helping hand?
As time went on, Sam convinced himself that he had to stay in San Clemente until he deciphered this mystery. He had already rented a small studio there. He decided to break the silence and called his brother Mike to tell him what was going on. Confused with the overload of information, Mike began thinking the worst. The more Sam went into details the more concerned Mike became. Was Sam getting crazy?
The therapist
Soon after the call, Mike called his friend Richard who was a therapist, and explained to him a little bit what was going on. A couple of days later, Richard called Sam to check up on him. Sam trusted Richard so he explained the situation. The therapist explained to him what he could be experiencing and tried to put him at ease.
Help?
During the call, the therapist told Sam that he could be experiencing a variety of feelings, grieving being the biggest source of his suffering. With a certain sense of urgency, Richard asked Sam to come to his office in San Diego for a full evaluation. However, Sam was taking none of it. He was convicted that what he had seen was true and nothing could prove him wrong.
Existential crisis
As the sun was setting the bottles of booze kept pilling one after the other. Sam was reaching the abyss. He was digging a hole for himself. It was a chaotic night. He got consumed by anger and destroyed nearly his whole studio. His frustrations and solitude took the best of him.
Where are they?
It had been two weeks since the last time Sam had seen his supposedly deceased wife and son. His old plan was not working. He had quit drinking and was focused on finding them but to do that he had to try something different. So, came up with an idea. He came up with a plan to finally get back what belonged to him. Sam was now feeling more alive than ever.
