The Gated Return

Chapter 1 - Don't Go

Its morning and the sun is shining through the bedroom window which gently awoke Daniel and his dog Dinky laying in bed with mom and dad on either side. Its calm and a Saturday so everyone is home for the weekend. You see, Daniel kinda likes to sneak in here at night and fall asleep. Not just on weekends, but every night. Its his safe spot, his zone, his place that no one can get him. Not even his the really bad dreams. And, I am not talking about the normal "monster gonna get you" nightmares. These are so real and vivid, Daniel cant even tell they are dreams when he wakes up. They feel more like memories of actual events. Every sense that a person has while awake, Daniel has while he sleeps too. What Daniel didn't know, are what those dreams were and what they meant. All he knew, was that the things he would dream were vicious, dangerous, and frightening in just about every way. The things Daniel would see and experience in his sleep left him laying in bed wide awake for as long as he could each night, just to prolong entering that other world again. So having the safety and comfort of Mom and Dad by his side, seemed to allow his dreams to change into something fun, exciting, and even controlled consciously to make the dream his own perfect world. It was the only way Daniel could ever get any sleep.

Daniel was the youngest of two and his brother always picked on him for what ever reason he could find. However Daniel was still a happy kid that played with friends in the neighborhood, would take some toys in the back yard and play in the dirt, and loved to try and ride his big brothers bike. And Daniel wasnt the type to just let people keep picking on him, even at age four he was playing pranks back on his oldest brother, John.

It was a bright and warm summer eve and was a day for family and everyone was over to visit. There was food, drinks, music, and so much talk. The two-story house is set up where the living room is massive and attached is a stairs to the bedrooms, one bathroom, and the kitchen. The bathroom was one of those that were deep like a short hallway and had a door at the far end but had a broken lock, while the toilet was on the opposite end. Now, the boys had no idea what everyone was celebrating or even what was being talked about. All Daniel knew was that his brother recently sat on his head and farted and this may be a grand opportunity to get him back. All he had to do was just wait for a while and it happened, John had to go take a shit. Daniel waited just a few moments for him to get started and BAM! He flung that door open so fast and yelled loudly so to catch everyone's attention, then ran off. It worked like a charm, John stuck on the toilet taking a dump and cant close the door! John got so mad screaming, "I'm gonna get you Daniel!" while the family in the living room all staring and giggling. Daniel locked himself in his room for days after that. But he and John had that kind of relationship to where they may be mean to each other, but still loved and cared for each other no matter what, even if they never wanted to admit it.

Daniel and John's father, Tom, was the type that would take his sons out for outdoor fun, projects, and watch StarWars together and was just like any other good father spending time with his kids. The brothers were young and didn't realize the turmoil their parents relationship were in and had no idea that their parents were planning a divorce. Instead, both Daniel and John were led on to believe that everything was okay and normal. However, the time came that Dad had to part ways with his family and moved out abruptly to only return once each month on the first Wednesday to visit his sons and take them out to spend the day. This was hard on the boys at first as they were close to their father and seeing him only once each month felt impossible. Tom would take the boys to a place called Malibu which was a fun-park that had bumper boats, drag racing, and games. But this type of fun really made up for being gone so long each month. A year passed and it became easier to see Dad so few times because the brothers knew, when he came, it would be a blast. The hard part was getting through the nightly horribly-gone-wrong dreams without his father there because his mother no longer allowed him to sleep in the same bed at night. Mom kept Daniel out by locking her door each night forcing him to cope with the dreams nightly.

Like clockwork, every first Wednesday, Daniel would sit at the front door until his father arrived to take him and his brother out for the day. This was the only day that the boys looked forward to because every other day at home was just the boring, nothing to do, type days. It was a hot July and was Daniel's fifth birthday happening this month. Daniel wondered what special things his father may do for him when he visits on that Wednesday. Daniel waited by the front door as usual. But this time it was different. Daniel waited by that front door for hours just watching through the glass screen waiting on his father to arrive. "Mommy, when is daddy coming home?", Daniel asked. His mother replied only in a low mutter, "he isn't". "Maybe he is just running late today", Daniel kept telling himself. And continued to sit and wait for more hours of the day. Nightfall came and Daniel found himself staring through the clear glass screen door to the outside world that his Father was supposed to take him to. "Its okay, he probably forgot today was Wednesday and will be here tomorrow". Daniel didn't sleep that night and was still there waiting by the front door all night and all day long not moving except to use the bathroom. His mother in tears just sat and watched Daniel at the door feeling a pain like none other, knowing what her son was experiencing. Hours turned into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months, Daniel just waited and waited and waited at the front door every day, hoping his father would come back. At least until a full year went by and by that next July, Daniel finally accepted that he is now on his own, without a father, and left to face his nightmares alone. . This was the first time Daniel's mother had ever seen him give up hope and knew this was only the beginning...