THE RING - adult content - sexual situations

THE RING (faded pink yarn) - mature readers

1.

I'm not sure how long I had slept. I awoke slowly, eyes blurred by a single streak of sunlight that had found a small slit in the draperies to illuminate the darkness just enough that I could finally make out the familiar items in the room that informed me – this is where you are.

The mirrored door on the tall chifforobe, in the corner, reflected an image of a woman I scarcely recognized. I quickly moved my sight to the opposite wall to see the dresser and yet another mirror that was dark, but for a small section near the farthest lower corner. That is when I noticed the vague melody from some now obscure ballet. A closer look and I witnessed the top of the music box open, the little ballerina spinning 'round and 'round. It was if the room was slowly coming to life. I was sure I was still asleep and dreaming.

Shamus, our black lab, lie still as death upon the soft cushion that made up his bed next to mine. Ali, my cat of many colors, was sleeping at my feet undisturbed. It was if I were the only one aware of the twilight between sleep and wakefulness.

How long had I been asleep? I thought to myself again, with a bit more skepticism.

I wanted to rest my head back upon my pillow and close my eyes again. I needed a way out. There was no explanation for any of this.

I shut my eyes and began my litany of prayers to put me back into a self-induced coma or to capture these visions and send them back to the other side of reality where dreams paint landscapes, animals speak, I can walk through walls or fly above the tree tops.

Please, I thought, take me back to that magical place where nothing hurts and all one's wishes come true just by thinking them hard enough. Nothing hurts. Nothing hurts.

I opened my eyes and realized, I had slept for what seemed to be a very long time. I was truly disturbed by how different the morning was – a bright sun filling every corner of the room, no shade on the window and the draperies had been replaced with lacy curtains, drawn back and held with beautiful pink bows.

I gasped. Looking down at what should have been a heavy soft woolen blanket, was now a snow white duvet filled with down and light as the feathers within, like a blanket of air across my body. I was unsteady and confused. This was indeed my bed and my bedroom... forty-five years ago.

Surely I was still dreaming. Curious to see which side of dreaming I was truly on, I took a deep breath and waited.

I heard the laughter and footsteps as they approached my door. The giggling gave them away before they threw open the door. "Where is it?" one girl asked. "We know he gave it to you. Where is it?"

The other girl added, "O my God, how could you even sleep after last night? Show it to us. I still don't believe he gave it to you. Joe Grayson!"

I began to open my mouth to tell them this was all a dream when I saw movement from the corner where the vanity sat. I watched with a growing uneasiness as the girl spun around and threw her hand out for all to see. There on her ring finger was a rather large class ring wrapped in pink yarn around the band to fit her finger and stopping just short of the High-School emblem.

I remembered. It was my first kiss and he asked me to go steady with him... to be his girl.

What a strange memory to be having. It made me smile to remember and I became lost in the play that was being performed to perfection before my eyes.

"Tell us everything." That was Catherine Cleary. She was the captain of the cheerleading squad and, in my opinion, the most beautiful girl in the whole Senior class. "Where did he do it? Did he kiss you?"