A Daughter of Light(A Light onto the World)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The light peering in through the opened window is welcoming.  The birds are chattering amongst each other on the ancient oak tree situated next to my window.  The scene is tranquil yet there is still a darkness that looms in the background.  The STENCH!!!  Was that real?  The room smells fine now.  The thought of that smell makes me want to gag.  I had to be dreaming, right?  Oh, please let it have been a terrible nightmare.  I’m begging.  Please.

I tug at my sheets.  They skim up over my bare legs as they were untucked.  Just like in my … Oh my God!!!  I leap out of my bed and sprint towards where the thing in my nightmare was standing, but there are no signs of it ever being there.  I get down on my hands and knees and I crawl towards the door.  I’m searching for evidence of its existence, being extremely thorough, making sure that I don’t miss anything.  Nothing.  I check the door, the upstairs hall, the bathroom, the bedrooms, and still there isn’t a single trace.

What about my sheets?  They were untucked from under my mattress.  What had happened?  It was on top of me and then … I can’t remember.  I’m hit with another wave of nausea, more powerful than before.  I rack my brain for a logical answer.  The only thing that I can think of is maybe I had kicked and tugged at my sheets in my sleep causing them to become undone.  That has to be the only logical explanation.

It must have been a nightmare, I think to myself decisively, although an underlying doubt still creeps around in the background of my conscious.  I try not to think about it as I head to the bathroom to do my normal routine.  I try to keep myself distracted by concentrating of my menial tasks; get your toothbrush out, put the paste on, but in the end it does little to shut out my abject fears.  It was just a dream?  Right?  Now just forget it!  I go back to focusing on the task at hand.  I really want to kill Sage for planting that seed in my mind.

I hastily descend down the stairs.  I guess I was the only one still sleeping.  I can smell the food cooking in the kitchen.  I head towards the living room.  I pop in and say hi to Marisol.  She’s sitting on the couch pretending to read the picture book, Peter Rabbit.  I give her a quick kiss before I take my exit.

“Good morning, or should I say, good afternoon,” Papa says, pointing to the clock as I enter the kitchen.  It reads twelve-fifteen.  “Up at the crack of noon, as usual,” he adds.

“How come you didn’t wake me up?” I ask.

“I told him to let you sleep since everybody’s not used to the time change.”  Texas is two hours ahead of Oregon.  In Oregon it would be ten-fifteen, a decent hour for a teen to wake up on a summer day.

“What time did Marisol get up then?” I ask, slipping a piece of bacon into my mouth.

“At eight to watch her cartoons,” Mama answers.

“Is breakfast almost ready?”  The smell of the food is making my stomach grumble and mouth water, and the bacon I just ate isn’t helping either.

“You mean brunch,” Papa teases.  “It will be ready in five minutes, and don’t touch anymore bacon,” Papa says swatting my hand away.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I don’t start till Monday, so you have one more day to spend with me so, HA!” Papa replies.

Everybody sits together during breakfast as usual talking about the plans of the day. 

“Why are you dressed?” Papa asks, puzzled.  “You usually just hang around the house all day on the weekends wearing your pajamas.  What, are you going to see some guy I don’t know about?”  He’s joking of course.  His eyes are dancing with amusement and the corners of his lips form a wide smile.  Smiling changes his demeanor immensely.  When he smiles he no longer looks big and scary.  When he smiles it pulls everybody in, a gravitational pull.