Past Life Crisis

Part One - Dreaming

I heard that childish whimpering again, greatly distracting me. Spinning around on my heel, I turned to confront the source of that annoying sound. "What is it, mein Liebe?" I inquired.

"I-I'm scared, Doctor. I don't want to-"

I cut her off right there. "Did I ask you what you wanted to do? No? Do not speak unless spoken to!"

My sudden outburst led the young girl to cry even harder. I huffed and slipped my famous gap-toothed smile back on. Grabbing for my syringe, I glided over to where she sat on the operating table. "Fear not, child. It will all be over soon..."

I jerked up into a sitting position, drenched with sweat. This was the fifth night in a row that I'd had that dream, and it made no sense to me. Who was that man, and what was he going to do with that needle?

Being a sadistic ten-year-old, that dream didn't disturb me as much as it should have. It mainly just left me confused. But I didn't have time to wonder about the dream as Mamma strode into my room.

"Good morning, Anna Banana!" she chirped.

"Mmph!" I tried to bury myself under the covers so I wouldn't have to get out of bed. The sun began to shine through my window, however, and made it impossible to go back to sleep.

"Come on, I know you don't want to be late for school and break your perfect attendance record." Mamma smirked as I hopped out of bed and ran for the bathroom to get ready for school.

Within thirty minutes I was riding the bus headed for Alice Drive Elementary School, probably my least-favorite place in the world. But I was a perfectionist, and wouldn't dare to miss a single day. Honestly, my favorite subject, history, was what made me get out of bed in the morning. If only I could convince Mamma not to let me ride the bus...

"Hey, girly!"

I turned to see who said that. Sure enough, there stood Nathan. Just his name struck fear into the hearts of every kid in town. That is, exept for me.

"What did you just say?" I smiled politely, trying to be a good sport.

"You heard me, girly." He beat on his chest like a smelly ape. "I bet you're too scared to come over here." He motioned to the isle he was sitting in, which was empty. "All fourth graders are scaredy-cats!"

I laughed a little and made my way over to where he sat. "What now? I guess not all fourth graders are afraid of you."

My laughter caught him off guard. He paused for a moment, then a devious smile crossed his face. "You're a little terd."

I'd only heard that word once before from my dad, so I knew it was a little risky to say. Coming from Nathan, especially, it had to be an insult.

My smile evaporated very quickly. "Did you just call me a terd?" He looked defiant, so I continued. "Because if you called me a terd, then I'd have to do this." Before he had time to respond, I clocked him right in the nose! I couldn't help but smile seeing the blood ooze from his left nostril.

The whole bus froze. Nathan was completely shocked - no one had ever stood up to him before, much less a little girl. After he was finished being dramatic, he forgot that boys aren't supposed to hit girls and lunged at me.

With that everyone went absolutely berserk, even to the point that the bus driver glanced at the commotion through her rearview mirror. She pulled over and slammed on the brakes, jerking us enough so that I was able to get on top of Nathan and pin him down. The bus driver lady, whose name I never learned, shoved kids aside until she reached us and grabbed me by the collar. Nathan hopped up, but didn't have time to back off before she got hold of his ear.