Cursed To Hold My Breath

Dream

I heard whispering voices in my dream. A familiar face looking back at me, with intense eyes. Who is that? Dark hair, freckles. An image flashed in my mind from earlier that night.

The boy in the road.

Who are you? I thought in my sleep.

His lips moved, but no words came out, despite the whispering voices around me, which I couldn't quite make out either.

What?

He held out my hand to me, but when I reached for it, everything shifted. I was floating, with coolness all around me. There was a rippling image before me, my hair flowing around me. Where am I?

Light filtered through, and there was a dark figure before me. Reaching out to me...suddenly I couldn't breathe.

I struggled in my sleep. I can't breathe! The light around the dark figure grew brighter, brighter.

I awoke with a gasp, sitting up in my bed and wet with perspiration. That dream, the boy... I drew in a shaky breath, noticing that my legs were entangled in the covers. Light was pouring in from the window, and I heard commotion in the kitchen.

I checked my clock. 11:48 A.M.

My stomach grumbled, and I glanced at the bag of stale chips on my nightstand. Crawling out of bed, I threw the chips in the trash. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I saw that my bandaid hung off my cheek, and I plucked it off and threw that in the trash as well. A pink line in my cheek still remained. Picking up my brush, I took out my bun and began wrestling with my messy hair.

After a long struggle, my arm felt sore, and I decided to just shower. It was easier to deal with my hair when it's wet, after all. I grabbed some clean clothes from my drawer, a purple owl shirt and some capris, and a towel and headed for the bathroom.

Stripping off my pajamas, I stepped in the shower and let the jet of hot water massage my back. After washing my hair, I stepped out and dried myself off and got dressed. My wet hair got the back of my shirt wet as it reached down to the middle of my back.

Combing all the knots out, I straightened my hair and put on a headband. Sadie padded over to me, tail wagging.

"Morning, Sadie." I patted her head. After freshening up, (deodorant, perfume, etc)., I grabbed my phone from its charger on my nightstand and came down the stairs.

Mom was sitting at the dining room table with a cup of coffee, her black hair wild and messy. She looked at me with cold eyes. I decided not to talk to her until she actually woke up, as in finish her coffee, or at least until she talked to me.

I crossed over to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and poured myself a bowl of cereal. Suddenly my phone went off. I checked who was calling, and it was Haley.

"Hey." I answered.

"Have you realized that I've been calling you all morning?" Haley said on the other line.

I checked my notifications and, sure enough, ten missed calls. "Sorry, I was asleep....I had the strangest dream."

"Here we go again."

"You know what, how about I come over to your house and tell you. My mom isn't...fully awake yet." I offered. Mom looked at me but didn't say anything.

"You sure you'll be able to handle Kyle?" Haley said. Kyle was Haley's wild three – year – old brother.

"I'm sure."

"Alright, I'll ask." There was a moment of silence before she returned. "Mom said alright."

"Great, I'll be over in a few." And with that, I hung up and finished my cereal. "I'm going over to Haley's, is that ok?" I looked at mom.