The Dream Whisperer

This is the story of Jacqueline Palmer. On the eve of her birth, her parents were with their daughter, Elizabeth who was busy wondering when she would be able to play dress up with her new brother or sister. Unbeknown to them, whispers travelled through the silent land of the Whisperer’s coming.

 Seventeen years later…

Stray branches hit my arms as I ran through the forest. I needed to get out of here. I had to get to him. I had to find out why he was here in the first place. He didn’t turn around as he ran. My footsteps were muffled but I could hear his feet pounding the ground. He glanced behind him but seemed to look straight through me. Stop, I wanted to shout. But my lips didn’t move to let the word out. I looked up into the sky. A cloudless day. But wait. It was July. It wasn’t possible. I kept pursuing him. What are you running from, I wanted to ask. But again, no words came out. He looked behind him again without slowing down. All of a sudden, he went flying through the air and landed ten feet from where he was. A faint trail of blood trickled down his temple. Before I could run to him to see if he was okay, I was engulfed in darkness.

I awoke with a start. Panting and heart racing like I’d actually just run through a forest, I looked at my sweaty palms. Another dream. Another future. I sat there trying to get my heartbeat under control. Why did this happen? Why did I have dreams that always seemed so real? Why did my dreams turn into reality?

I closed my eyes and thought of the first time I’d had one of my dreams. I was only six years old when they started. I dreamt my sister, Elizabeth, running up the stairs to tell mom about the sack race she’d won at school. She ran up the stairs but in her excitement tripped over her shoes and fell. I woke up just before I could get to her. Three days, later my sister had come home brimming with happiness. It was like watching a recorded footage you’ve seen before. You know what’s coming but you still hope something will change. I saw her as she put one foot on the step and her other foot caught in the lace. She fell just like in the dream. Thankfully, there were only minor bruises that a bowl of ice cream was able to take care of. I’d been more shaken by what happened than Izzie was. Then the dreams became more frequent. Minor burns, crashes, injuries that you didn’t really pay attention to plagued my dreams.

I looked at my alarm clock. 1:30 am. He’d still be awake. I needed to talk to him. I sent a text.

Had another dream.

Need to talk ASAP.

I waited for his reply or call. I could still see the blood trickling down the man’s temple. The brown earth with the little droplets of red. Usually after you wake up, the details of dreams get foggy and unclear till you can’t even remember the contents of the dream. But my dreams weren’t like that. The details only grew as I thought about them. He wore square-framed glasses. The glass broke when he fell. His clothes were dirty from running in the forest. Linen trousers and a cotton shirt. There was a gash on his arm. I concentrated more on his face. I had seen him before. Long, Greek nose. Prominent jaw. Suddenly I could see his face with razor sharp focus. I did know him! The ringing of my phone startled me. I glanced at the name displayed. Ian.

I swiped the screen to accept.

“It’s Mr. Parker. I think he’s in trouble!”

                                               *                                             *                                        *

“ Wait. Hold it. Mr. Parker? Our teacher? The bloke with the glasses and sweater vests? What kind of trouble? Tax fraud?” he said.

“Ian! Come on! I’m being serious.” I whispered.

“Alright. I’m sorry. What did you see?” he asked.

I recounted the dream. The forest. The running. Mr. Parker falling. The blood.

When I finished, Ian was silent for a few seconds.

“You’ve never had a dream this… Gruesome, have you?” he asked.

“No. And that’s what’s scaring me. What should I do?” I asked him.

Again, silence fell between us. I could almost picture him sitting on his bed, the phone tucked between his head and shoulder; a video game paused with the control still in his hand. Ian was my best friend since middle school. We’d been in the same school for ages until one day he made fun of me in class for being fat. I punched him and we’ve been inseparable friends ever since. Sounds corny but whatever. He was the only person I had told about my dreams. He didn’t quite believe me at first but after a few dreams, he never questioned me again.

“Well… I suppose there isn’t anything you can do. You don’t interfere do you? You’ve never tried to stop any of your other dreams… So let it go. Don’t worry.” He said.

“Don’t worry? Ian, you’re not the one who just saw your teacher’s head split open!” I said, barely managing to whisper.

“Hold on… I thought you said there was “some blood”. His head split open?”

I sighed. Sometimes, Ian took things a bit too literally.

“No. But he hit his head pretty hard… He didn’t get up or open his eyes.”

“Jackie.” He started. He never called me Jackie unless he was really worried about me. “Look, I know you’re scared babe. But whatever you’ve seen in your dreams so far has been… Tame. No one has ever gotten seriously injured. I will admit this one was pretty scary but Mr. Parker will be alright. Get some sleep. Call me if you’re still freaked.”

I had to admit even when he had nothing concrete to say he still managed to calm me down.

“Thanks, Ian. Love you. You’re an idiot… But I love you.” I said.

I heard him snicker at the end of the line.

“Good night, Jacqueline. I’ll see you tomorrow. Actually, later today I guess.”

“Night, buddy.”

 I set up my alarm before remembering it was Saturday. Yes! More sleep. I went back to bed with unease. What if I saw Mr. Parker in the forest again? Lying there with a head injury with no one to look after him? But before I could give it any more thought sleep took over.