Falling For Her Dream

CHAPTER NINE

Abby was alone on a beach, the feel of sand on her bare feet, she’d been here before.  She looked out to the ocean beyond the sand, she looked left and right, there were only specks in the distance, people?  She looked left again and there he was, that grey shadowed figure that always came to her in these dreams.  He was close, so close.  She reached out to touch the side of his face, but something had changed.  Instead of her hand going right though the grey figure, as if he were a ghost, her hand was stopped.  She felt him.  She was confused.  Why could she feel this man with no face?  Just as that thought ran through her mind, his face began to reveal to her.  Little by little, she was able to start making out his nose, his eyes, his cheeks…it was Kristopher Phalen.  How, she asked herself?  Just as his face fully formed, he disappeared again, her hand touched nothing.  A sadness entered her soul.  She laid down on the sand and looked up to the sky.  It was still dark enough to see a few remaining stars that were not being drowned out by the rising sun.  Distracted by the stars, she began to count them.  Her counting made no sense though.  None of this dream made sense.  She heard screaming down by the water, she sat up to see where the screaming was coming from, but she saw nothing…  The water was still, and no one was there.  She heard a whisper next to her ear, she could feel his breath.  “You must move away from the water”.  She turned to where the voice came from.  No one.  She was on her own.  She laid back down on the sand again, looking up to the sky and she cried.  Abby woke up feeling sadness from her dream.  Her face was damp, and reality hit her.  Kristopher was gone.

Abby filled her day with non-stop sight-seeing.  She needed the distraction.  Alli made the most of it and photographed everything!  Even before the sun had gone down for the day, they were both beyond exhausted.  They were booked on an early flight out of New York to Rome the following morning, so they had an early night.  Abby had nothing to help her sleep, so she drank two alcoholic drinks and hoped for the best.  Abby made sure they were all packed and ready to head to the airport with minimal to do when her alarm sounded in the morning.  She laid in the large bed, on the side Kristopher had been the night before, and eventually, after about three hours, fell asleep. 

The airport was buzzing with early commuters but finding their way to the gate they needed was easier than expected.  Abby had received a message from her son to let her know he had left Brisbane and was in Sydney, ready to leave Australia.  Their respective planes were due into Rome an hour apart with Abby and Alli arriving first.  It was another turbulent flight crossing to Rome.  Abby was stressed but it seemed Alli had grown used to the turbulence and handled it like a seasoned traveler…or she was doing a fine job of hiding how she was really feeling!  Abby was relieved to finally land and disembark.  On checking arrivals, her son’s flight was showing a thirty-minute delay so Abby and Alli found an eatery and sat down for a meal and began to plan some of their trip for the next ten days.  Abby was able to log into the airport’s Wi-Fi, there was no message from Kristopher, so she shut her phone down and put it back into her bag. 

A tailwind made up for some of the delay with her son’s flight and they were all leaving the airport together earlier than anticipated.  The next two days were filled with trips to the Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Roman Forum and the Sistine Chapel.  The decision had been made to fly across to Athens from Rome, so they had more time to do the full ‘tourist’ thing, rather than spend hours on trains, busses and a boat.  They made their way to Athens where Alli reminded Abby that in three days’ time, they would be bungy jumping into the Corinth Canal, just over an hour outside of Athens.  This was Alli’s payback.  Abby had insisted, before their vacation began, she would be taking Alli to skydive while they were in Las Vegas.  This was towards the end of their time away and when they head back to the United States.  Alli had said, if she had to skydive, then Abby had to bungy jump.  Abby didn’t like the trade-off but what could she do?  She couldn’t say no, that wouldn’t seem fair.  Every time Alli brought up the subject, Abby had to psych herself up to it.  She felt safer jumping out of a plane than she did relying on a cord to keep her from plunging to her death!