I nodded and we road on in silence. After a while I decided to break the silence. “Dani” I said looking out the window. “What?” Mike said stopping the truck to look at me. “My name is Dani.” I said and turned to look at him. He smiled and drove on. “Dani,” he said aloud. “That’s a nice name ba- Dani.” He said catching himself before he called me babe again.
Hours pass and we aren’t even half way to the next town. The little bit of rain had stopped but it was now night time. There were many stars out in the clear sky. I rolled down my window and rested my head on my arms hanging out the window. The cool breeze on my face was refreshing after all the drama and stress of losing my only child and meeting this stranger that I knew nothing about. I blinked as I felt a cool drop of water hit my nose. I sighed and pulled myself back into my seat and rolled up my window as the rain began pouring down. “Why don’t you lay down and rest a while?” Mike asked me stopping the truck to lean over me to put my seat back again. This time I took in his sent. Smelling old wood and apples still, his sent was refreshing and welcoming. His sent had a homey sense about it. I liked it. Once he had laid my seat back and sat back up and drove on. I laid back, this time turning on my side so I was facing Mike, and soon fell asleep to the soft hum of the truck and the sweetness of Mike’s sent.
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*Dani’s dream*
I wake up in a dark room to the sound of Nick crying. I get up off the cold floor and start my way towards a door. I try to open it but it won’t budge. I slam my shoulder against it a few times. On the fourth time I go to slam into it, it flies open and I crash to the floor painfully. I groan in pain and get up and see that there is only a hallway for me to walk down and nothing else. I slowly start down the corridor skeptically. Nick’s cries get louder and I quicken my pace. “Nick! Where are you!” I yell A door appears at the end of the hallway and I run to it. Nick’s cries getting louder and louder but the more I run and the faster I go the door seems to move farther and farther away from me.
I think to myself when will this torture end? When finally I crash into the door and bounce back off it onto the floor. I get back up angrily and try to open the door but it refuses to move. I hear a maniacal laughter coming from inside along with Nick’s screaming. New rage aroused I slam my fists over and over on the hardwood door. “Let me in there!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Give me back my baby!” Through my ranting the laughter continued to get louder with Nick’s screams. “Goddamnit open the door! Open the door! Give me back my baby! Let me in! Nick I’m trying sweetie! Give me back my baby!!”
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14
