A Mother's Embrace

CHAPTER 6

A week went by quickly. Lessons with David were fun and interesting. Teaching David was much easier than I thought. Most of the time he was quick to grasp things. Sometimes he needed a little push to help him. By the end of a week I was completely adjusted to the house. Amanda proved to be a wonderful host and warm home cooked meals three times a day was actually doing wonders to my malnourished body. It was Friday night. I was excited that it was the weekend. No lessons, which means more sleep time. Amanda had offered me a bottle of wine to help me relax and ease into the weekend. Maybe it was because I hadn't drunk in some time that I got drunk after a few glasses of wine. I locked the balcony door where I had been drinking and stumbled my way to my bed. Just as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep long sleep.

Sometime around 3 am, I felt something filling my lungs. It felt as if with each breath I took, I was sinking deeper and deeper into something I was not aware of. It was like a very bad nightmare. As each second passed by, it was getting tougher and tougher to breathe. I could feel something steadily fill up my lungs. I tried to wake up, but an unseen force was pushing me deeper into whatever I was sinking into. I realized that, if I kept my eyes closed for even a second more, I might not be able to open them again. I gathered all my strength and pushed myself up from the bed and opened my eyes. Just as I opened my eyes, involuntarily my mouth shot open and a mouthful of water came gushing out. I shot my eyes open in surprise and looked at the puddle of water on my lap.

"What the hell is this?" I asked myself and I touched the water which was now seeping through the light fabric of my nightgown and touched my skin. I jumped out of the bed and shook my gown to get off the water. I was still in shock with what happened to me. I had no idea where the water came from. I checked all the doors and windows to see if they were left open. But they were all locked shut.

"No one from outside came in, but then how?" I wondered. I was once again drowning, this time in questions. I took my phone from the charger and called Jenny.

"Jenny, are you awake?"

"You shouldn't be asking this to someone who had late night practice and just closed her eyes." she said irritated.

"Jenny, this is important!"

"Better be worth my sleep."

"I had this really bad dream and it felt so real!"

"What?"

"I had this dream where it felt like I was drowning and then when I woke up, a fountain of water gushed from my mouth!"

"No! I didn't ask you to describe your dream. Did you just call me at 3:15 am in the morning to tell me about your nightmare? What are you, a 5 year old or what?"

"NO! Jenny, listen I am not kidding! See my nightgown is drenched!" I said touching my gown but shockingly it was completely dry.

"What the -?"

"What?" screamed Jenny.

"My-my nightgown, it's dry." I said finding it hard to believe my own words.

"LIV! ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"Jenny, I wasn't lying!" my voice almost became a plea.

"Maybe you aren't but Liv you moved to another house and it's just been a week. It is normal to have nightmares. You're not a child to get scared by a nightmare and wake me up! Grow up Liv!"

"I am sorry"

"No, don't feel bad. You have every right to call me when you need me. But this was unnecessary Liv."

"I am sorry Jenny, it's just that I freaked out for a second."

"I get ya! Forget it. Try to get some sleep, you might be tiring yourself with all the teaching. Take a rest. I will call you in the morning."

"Okay," I said, still confused.

After Jenny hung up, I walked back to my bed in a daze.

"Did I really imagine all this? But the water was so real?"

I ran my hand over my blanket to see if it was still wet. But the blanket was really dry. Not a single drop of water was there. Even though I could swear that the water was there, there was no proof. I considered the prospect of me actually imagining things. But then a part of me was so sure about what I saw and felt. The feeling of being pushed down deep as if drowning and the gush of water when I woke up. I lay down on my bed, still cross checking all the possibilities. No matter how many times I went through the night's events, I couldn't come with a logical reason. At last, I decided to agree with Jenny's explanation that I might have really just imagined things.

I don't know when I slept but sometime around 10 am I was woken up by David's loud banging on my door. I carelessly stumbled to the door and opened it to see David in a nice blue shorts and yellow shirt. There was an emblem of two olive leaves on his shirt.

"Good morning Ms. Olivia!" he said enthusiastically.

"Good morning David! You are up early on a weekend."

"It's 10 am Ms. Olivia, you are late!"

"Is it 10 already?" I said looking back at the clock in my room. "I am sorry my dear, I slept off."

"It is okay! Mama asked me to call you for breakfast. Please come soon Ms. Olivia."

"I will freshen up and come down soon." I said ruffling his curly hair.

"Okay!" he said and ran off.

While I was brushing my teeth and getting ready, I couldn't stop thinking about last night's event. Even though I brushed it off as a silly nightmare, I couldn't brush off the feeling it gave me. It felt as if a sly shadow crept behind me and was now refusing to go. Even as I changed my dress and brushed my hair, I felt being watched. I felt like I was in the presence of something I didn't like.

This feeling of my personal space being attacked continued on for the rest of the day. Even as I was taking a walk around the garden and spending time with Amanda and David, the feeling of uneasiness did not leave me. I tried to shake it off by telling myself that it was all in my head but I couldn't quite get past it. As we sat down for tea in the evening, Amanda seemed to notice my uneasiness.

"Are you okay Olivia?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh! I am okay", I replied, trying to be cool about it.

"Are you sure? You look disturbed."

"It is just that I had a nightmare last night. The effect of it is lasting longer than I expected it to last", I said casually.

Just when I mentioned the word nightmare, Mrs. Ben froze. Her sudden change in demeanor brought about a change in atmosphere to the dining room. As Amanda saw this shift in atmosphere, she quickly shifted in her seat and cleared her throat. As if this was the cue to reset back to normal, Mrs. Ben turned off the stove and walked quietly to the storeroom adjacent to the kitchen. She didn't even spare me a glance.

"Oh darling! It must be because you are tiring yourself with David's lessons. I will ask Mrs. Ben to brew you calming tea at night so you can rest better." she said with the same courteous smile and stroked my hand.

"Thank you so much!"

By then Mrs. Ben came back with a plate of biscuits and placed it in front of me.

"After tea, we can walk around the lake."

"Sure! I have never been there." I said, eating one of the biscuits.