Cursed To Hold My Breath

Him

Later that day, with it nearing dusk, Haley and I were back at my house, lounging in the living room watching tv. Sadie sniffed at Haley's bag of clothes on the floor, her ears perked up with interest.

I could see mom talking quietly on the phone in her bedroom, pacing back and forth. What was going on? Sadie whined at me, her tail thumping against Haley's leg.

"I think she wants a walk." Haley said, patting Sadie's head.

I groaned and stood up, retrieving her leash from a hook by the door and clipping it on her collar. Haley stood with me, pulling on her sneakers.

"Let's go." I opened the door and let Sadie drag me down the street with Haley trailing behind me. Our street ended with a dead end leading to a trail in the forest. I had always walked Sadie down the trail. The sun was just disappearing behind a row of trees, turning the clouds into a golden pink.

"So, I was thinking of doing like some kind of tap dance." Haley said, supposedly trying to spark up a conversation.

"I still can't believe you would do this to me." I shook my head, stopping for Sadie to sniff something.

"Well, it's too late to back out now." She laughed.

I rolled my eyes at her, continuing down the path in the forest.

"Anyway, what are you gonna do for your birthday?" She looked at me. "Like, I could take you out for ice cream or something, I know you love mint."

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, but ice cream sounds good."

"Alright." Haley said, climbing over a fallen tree and sitting on top.

I stood there gazing up at her, Sadie tugging at the leash to move forward along the trail. I decided to tie Sadie's leash to a nearby tree and climbed on top with Haley. Letting my legs dangle from the side, I watched as Sadie gave an impatient whine and sat down in the leaves.

"So, what do you want to talk about now?" Haley asked, crumpling up a leaf in her hand.

I shrugged my shoulders, indicating that I wasn't sure either. My eyes scanned the trees around us, the open and leafy trail stretching out deeper into the forest. I heard the faint sound of rushing water, and shuddered.

Suddenly, Sadie began to bark wildly, pulling at her leash and nearly uprooting the skinny tree it was tied to.

I quickly slid off the fallen tree and grabbed hold of Sadie's collar. "Sadie, calm down, girl!" She bared her teeth as she continued barking, her ruff standing up.

Haley was soon by my side, "What's got her all riled up?" She wondered, securing the leash tightly around her arm after untying it from the skinny tree.

"I don't know." I shook my head, looking up to see whatever Sadie was barking at. Then, I saw it. The boy I kept on seeing, from my dream, everywhere, standing just between a group of trees, his blue eyes staring right back at me. My mouth gaped open, seeing him, why did he look so familiar? I felt somewhat drawn to him, like something inside of me was being pulled towards him.

"She must've seen a squirrel or something." Haley said, then she looked at me. "What is it? Do you see something?"

"Be right back." I mumbled, and let got of Sadie's collar and ran towards the boy.

"Emma!" Haley exclaimed, being half dragged by Sadie trying to follow.

I ignored her as I kept running, but I didn't see him. Where did he go? His image flashed past me, and I stopped, huffing and puffing. "Hello?" I called.