One Day

Chapter 1

Screaming. Pounding on the locked door. Noah's arms around me, stroking my hair back from my sticky, tear-stained face. Sobs muffled by the heavy blanket. 

"Shh, c'mon now, don't cry. Mama'll be back soon. It'll be okay." Noah whispers. My sobs slowly start to subside, and soon there are just silent tears streaming down my face. I take a couple of deep breaths, hiccup, and close my eyes. 

Then the yelling starts up again. 

"Open the fucking door, you goddamn crybabies," the Monster yells. 

Noah's arms tighten around me. "It's okay, Jay. It's gonna to be okay. Mama will be back soon. Shh. Everything's gonna be okay."

If only that were true. I start to cry again, and Noah starts telling me a story.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess. Except nobody knew she was a princess. Her name was Jayden. " My brother keeps on talking, and it slowly starts to calm me down. 

The pounding on the door continues. "I said open the fucking door," The Monster continues to scream. 

"I want mama," I hoarsely whisper. Noah strokes my hair, telling me how it will be okay, how mama will be home soon. 

More yelling, screaming, pounding-

                                                                 **********************************

My eyes fly open. A dream. It was just a dream. My heart is beating fast, too fast. I pull back my sweaty sheets, and pad down the hall to the bathroom. 

Once in the bathroom, I take a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down. When that doesn't work, I splash my face with water, trying to wash away the dream. That doesn't work either, though, and soon I am in the all too familiar position on the floor, in front of the toilet, throwing up everything inside of my stomach.

I stand up and shakily wipe a hand over my mouth. I look at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are wide, like a deer in headlights. My hair is a mess, and my skin is pale. I grab my toothbrush, squirt some toothpaste onto it, and brush my teeth. After I spit out the toothpaste, I take one last look at my reflection, and then pad down the hall. 

When I am back in my room, I look at my alarm clock. 3:24 am. Great. Looks like I'll only be getting 4 hours of sleep tonight. The thing with these dreams is, after having them, I can't go back to sleep. I've tried everything. Listening to calming music, having a snack, counting sheep, going through my day backwards. Hell, I've even tried meditating. Nothing puts me back to sleep. 

3 hours later, I climb out of bed, pull on some running shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top, and quietly walk down the stairs. I open the door, walk outside, and start to run. 

I have been into running ever since I beat Malcolm Walker in the second grade. He  was he fastest kid in our class. So this one day at recess, he was challenging all of the boys to race him. They all tried, but couldn't beat him. So I decided I wanted to take a shot. When I asked to race him, he just laughed in my face. Come on, I told him, just give me a chance. And so, after a lot of persuading, he did. And I beat him.  

Now I just like running to clear my head, and to keep my in shape for soccer. When I run, I am free. 

I start out at a jog. Down past the Baker's house. They have 2 little boys who I sometimes babysit. Faster, faster. Up the hill, past Kenny's house. Down past Vicky's house, the screams from my nightmare still fresh in my memory. Faster, faster. I get to the park, and a run around the pond. Up ahead I see the sun starting to rise, beautiful shades of pink and orange painting the sky. Faster, faster. My heart is pounding rapidly.