Dancing in the Oaks

Dream of You

It was getting mentally and physically tiring to walk down the stairs into the basement. We walked immediately over to the corner again where the safe was. The basement felt different; different in a sense that was bad. The feeling shook my spine and made my body feel like a thousand needles tingling. I just stood there and shook because I was so cold. It was bone chilling. I guess that is literally where they get that phrase from. What is it about this darn basement that makes me feel so terrible? Maybe it is the spirits trying to convey some sort of message to me. My mind cannot even fathom the feeling. I didn't know what to think. It was almost like we weren't alone. "Nick!" I could not see anything. "I cannot breathe again!"

"Norah!" That was the last thing I heard him yell before his hand grabbed my arm. He scared me at first because I thought it was a ghost. My mind made up some pretty aggravating theories. Let's just set that straight. Nick's hand was warm on my cold arm. I felt so safe everytime he was close to me.  "Alright, here's the safe. What do you want out of it?" His sweet southern accent asked.

The only bright thing to do was to just take it all upstairs. This time we could avoid the basement for a little while longer, or at least until my ankle is healed up. "Take it all. I don't wanna come back down here. I don't wanna be right here." I stuffed some papers in my pockets and down inside my jacket.

Finally making it upstairs was a huge accomplishment. "You know that the last time you were down there you were complaining about having the same symptoms as a heart attack?"

My mind immediately turned to fight or flight mode. "What? Those are the symptoms of having a heart attack. For real? I thought I was making things up in my head." My eyes watered from seasonal allergies. "Do you think that was a hint?"

"Yes of course it's a hint that we shouldn't go to the basement." He helped me flip through papers. He finally agreed with me and what I have been trying to say this whole time.

"Sorry, my mother literally kept everything. She has a bunch of old bank statements in there from when the business happened." I pulled out a sheet of paper. "Ahh here we go. This could be of great use. Probable cause... car accident. Hit and run. It's hard to read the handwriting. Possible suspect/s: Dareck Reed." Hit and run? I propped my head up on my hand.

"So it was my father?" Nick asked very shyly.

I pulled out another piece of paper that had my name written all over it. "Oh no, here's another letter." I began to read aloud. "When your great grandmother and father came over from Germany and Holland they had set aside great possessions to set foot here. Aside from the fact that they did something great, your uncle has not. With the company now bankrupt you are responsible for providing for yourself. I had a dream that we had a barn fire and everything. We are now poor Norah, and you need to understand that. I had a dream that we all died except for you. Now is the time that you start doing instead of sitting in the fence watching the sunset. You are brilliant Norah, but still have a long way to go. In that same dream you met a nice guy that helped you get back up again. I won't tell you his name. The first time the shop was light and the second time the shop was dark. We love you and appreciate your efforts. We hope that one day you will find these letters. You deserve to be happy Norah." We both thought for a moment.  "Nick, that was like a letter of criticism!" It was official: my parents were just filling my ears with words I wanted to hear. Do they really want me to be happy? I am not sure.

"No, there's a deeper message. What don't you understand?" He poured the hot tea into the mugs.

"Exactly, that's what I don't understand. I had a dream of a cashier in a shop that looked exactly like you. The first time you wore a red and black plaid shirt. The shop was light with a nice country background. I remember there were 12 guns on the shelf back at the gun counter. I was picking up chicken food. Nick, this was before I even met you, meaning I knew your name. I was only 17, that was 24 months ago! Half of 24 is 12, which is how many finds there were. I met you exactly 24 months later. You wore your same brown cowboy hat. Your boots were all brown with little shades of tan. Your eyes were so deep just like how your true eyes are. The guy's hair was phenomenal. Your hair looks exactly the same. You look exactly like the cashier. The second dream, 6 days later, my family and I walked into a shop. The shop was a very old, weathered building. It looked like something out of an old western movie. There were horseshoes hanging everywhere. My father needed metal for his home projects. He was making stuff for the barn. I walked over to the cashier and sure enough it was the same person, Nicholas. This time you had a brown plaid shirt. In the first dream the leaves on the trees were brown, where's the second dream they were bright red. It's almost as if the colors had swapped with leaves and your shirt. In the first dream I asked for a job. I bought some chicken feed and checked out at your register. There was a lady there helping someone so I walked over to you. This was exactly what happened the first time I met you. You helped me take the feed to my farm truck. The exact same thing happened. Anyways, the second dream was very odd. I didn't say anything to you. I did smile a lot while my family and I searched the shop. You handed me a paper with the number 43.54 written on it. There were probably close to 12 digits numbers onto the 43. My phone number was listed below it. I had gotten home when later that night I received a phone call from you. I don't know what that means, but I don't want to sound creepy. I knew who you were before I even met you because your name tag said Nicholas." I tried so hard to retell my story.