Danger Days

Dreaming Out Loud

Chapter Four: Dreaming Out Loud

It’s late at night, and instead of being in bed, I’m washing dishes, dirty ass dishes. I hate this chore, and I especially hate it when there’s a lot of food still left on the plate because the food gets stuck on the way down the drain, then the whole sink is filled with shit water.

“Disgusting.” I cautiously move my hand around a tower of dishes to avoid knocking them down, and I submerge my hand in the dirty water.

I search for the drain, and once I find it, I’m not surprised that it’s clogged with food residue. A chill runs up my spine. I dig my fingers into the gunk to make way for the water to go down and retrieve a handful of shit. I gawk at the disgust, slimy liquid beginning to seep through in between my fingers. I grunt more curse words and quickly search for a trashcan.

“Quit that Ches. You don’t hear me complaining when I cook.” Mance mutters from the computer in the family room.

“That is a flat out lie!!” I shoot, upset that she has the audacity to spout a ridiculous lie like that; it’s the equivalent of me saying that I’m best friends with Regina Halo. “And besides, look at this!” I quickly waddle towards the open doorway and lean against the fridge. I hold up my hands, so she may witness the source of my complaints.

“That is nasty.” Mance grimaces, fighting the chill that struck me earlier, and she returns her attention back on her computer screen. “Go throw that away.”

“I was planning to.” I uncup my palms above the trashcan, and I wait until the majority of it slides off and flick the rest off. Instead of washing the dishes, I cheat the system and load them into the dish washer.

+++

Everything is white. I’m outside; I believe I’m in a pool… or a large bathtub. There’s a black hole in the center of the room. I ignore it and walk around, looking for a door, but then a large, black, ring-shaped shadow appears around me.

“What?” I ask as I look up and see a large, black circle falling down on me. I leap out the way, and just then, a mountain of china falls at my feet. I gasp, and water begins to fall from above. I step out from under the waterfall, and I feel a large, spongy, wet object land on my shoulder. I shiver as I push it off.

“Disgusting!” I wipe the remaining gunk on one of the walls, leaving a giant, brown streak.

The cold water begins to rise, and I start to panic. I don’t know how to swim, and the water is an ugly greenish color. I don’t want to drown in this nasty water. The water is at my chest now; the current sweeps me off my feet, and I begin to twirl around the hole in the floor, and then I go under.

+++

I sit up fast, covered in sweat. Panting. I am never washing the dishes again. I rub my eyes and glance over at my clock; it reads 3:13AM in bright green. I look at Mally beside me; she’s still asleep, under three blankets. I lie down, shut my eyes, and hope for sleep, but after a few seconds with no success, I switch sides – this repeats several times.

“Errr…. Shay..ill.” Mally rolls over until she hits the wall; she lets out a groan. She snores at first, but then it quiets down, signifying that she’s entered her deep sleep stage.

I remove the sheets and add them onto the pile Mally has going; I get up and walk over to my desk. I turn the lamp on and stare at the blank sheet in front of me. I sit down and grab my pencil box and color pencils. If I can’t sleep now, might as well tire myself out.

I begin to draw. I have no clue what I want to draw. First, I start with a face. As I add more facial details, it morphs into a feminine face – more human than Manga, which isn’t the type of drawing style I was shooting for, but whatever. I’ll live. My pencil begins to cast long lines and curves without my intention, as if it has a mind of its own – an occurrence that happens more frequently than I like.