The Mender

Solitth Sighting

Esri cried, "Help, help," first quietly, then a louder "help" and finally screamed longer and louder "Help me!"

Joe came barreling into Esri's room. Sound travelled readily through the thin walls of their apartment. He was half-awake and half-dressed but already into panic parent mode. He ran to the bed and gently pulled Esri into his arms.

"It's ok sweetie pie. It's only a dream, just a dream. Shake it off,"

Esri was now fully awake, "Holy, shit."

"Esri!"

"Oh, sorry, Dad. I know, shouldn't swear. I'm ok now."

"Bad dream?'

"Eee-yeah, sort of, I guess, at the end. Scared the you-know-what outta me."

Joe smoothed Esri's mass of thick, curly hair away from her face. "It'll be ok. It's been a while since you did that, called me in the night. Want to talk about it? Were you dreaming about your Mom?"

"No, not about Mom. I haven't dreamt about her in a long time. It's just that this dream seemed so real, it really freaked me out. Kinda weird but not weird. Anyway, what's with the 'sweetie pie'? I'm not a baby you know."

"Old habits. You should get some more sleep. It's still a while before you need to get up. Want me to sit here a minute?"

"Yeah, sure. Did I wake Jilly up?"

"Doesn't look like it. She's pretty zonked out," said Joe. They looked across the room at six-year-old Jilly sleeping peacefully, her mouth forming a small 'o'.

"That's good. Thanks for coming, Dad. 'Night – again," Esri kissed her Dad and snuggled back down in her bed.

"'Night Esri, I'll sit in the chair a little while." Joe slouched half-awake in the old bean bag chair until Esri's breathing slowed and deepened and then he quietly returned to his bed.

Next morning, Esri remembered the dream. And kept thinking about it throughout the day. Every detail. The touch of Zura's rough hands, her warm calmness, Dagan's large presence and watchful eyes. She especially remembered the hunger and cold, how they nuzzled together under the animal skins to stay warm at night. Esri wasn't able to talk to anyone about the dream. As soon as she tried, she'd get a catch in throat and couldn't speak. Maybe it was just as well. It was a pretty weird dream.

Where did all that stuff come from? Starting a fire without matches by twirling and pressing down on a stick into a thicker notched stick lying on the ground, foraging for edible plants and roots. In her dream, she knew exactly what to do.

Esri was distracted by the dream throughout the school day. She couldn't stop thinking about Zura and Dagan and worrying about what was happening to them. She kept telling herself to snap out of it, stay focused. People will notice.

Esri didn't have soccer practice today so her closest friends – Ada and Luka – were waiting for her after school. They all lived in the same low-rent high-rise apartment building. The three were friends since before they could remember. Their mothers met at the infant program at the local library branch when Esri, Ada, and Luka were babies.

Luka was a head taller than Esri and nearly two heads taller than Ada. Usually they walked with Esri in the middle. One of their friends referred to the three as The Stairs as the tops of their heads created a stair step effect when they were side by side.

Luka hugged Esri. He was a frequent hugger. "Hey you, incandescent true friend of mine," he said, "do you realize as of today we've survived our first month of high school and yours truly has not once been sent the office?"