I had the dream again, the dream where I was running in a dark forest. Being an athlete, this exercise was nothing more than my daily routine. However, in this dream, the act of running up steep hills and jumping over fallen trees was more than me keeping in shape; it was keeping me alive.
In the dream, I would always run towards this ray of white light that was in front of me and I would wake up just as I entered it, but this dream was different. There was no white light; there was no place for me to run to, so I just kept running, aimlessly. I could feel the things behind me getting closer. They never got that close to me before.
I remember tripping on a fallen branch, the most typical thing that could have happen. As if something were holding me down, I laid there on the ground, panting and shaking in fear, the things of the forest nearly upon me; I could see their red eyes. They howled, like in triumphed.
Before they could take me, a large beast cloaked in darkness jumped in front of me, facing the direction they were coming from. It barked and snarled as they approached, and the things-whatever they were-fled in fear.
My rescuer turned to me, and I remembered seeing its eyes, which were just pools of white. The intensity of its eyes increased and blinded me. And then I woke up.
...
"Cassidy!"
A heavy weight landed on my stomach and continued to bounce up and down on me like I was a trampoline. I grunted, only half-conscious to my surroundings, my eyes still closed from the sleep I was awakened from.
"Get off of me!" I groggily snapped, whipping my arm above me but hitting nothing but air.
"Cass!"
"Get out of my room."
"Happy Birthday!"
I groaned and rolled over in my bed, throwing the covers over my head and trying to go back to sleep. The person on my bed shifted over to where my head was and tugged on the covers. The blanket pulled back and revealed the grinning face of Sidney Hawking, my older sister.
"I always miss seeing your grumpy face in the morning." My grumpy face stuck out its tongue, and Sidney laughed. "Is that any way to greet your big sister, who, if I might add, drove five hours straight to come celebrate with her dearest, most cherished sister?"
"I'm your only sister," I deadpanned.
Sidney waved off the comment. "Details, details." She jumped off of the bed and took everything of which I held dearly with her. I shivered when the cool air meet my flesh. "Come on, Bug, breakfast is almost ready."
As if on cue, the sweet, intoxicating aroma of cinnamon waffles drifted into my room and overwhelmed my senses. I swear that my eyes rolled in the back of my head and I groaned. I even let the passing of my horrendous nickname slide.
I opened my eyes and saw Sidney watching me, smirking knowingly. I frowned.
"Fine!" I exclaimed, jumping up from the bed. Sidney pumped her fist in the air, tossed my blanket away, and skipped-skipped-towards the door, where she stood and waited on my approach. She held the door opened and motioned with one arm to let me pass first. Strange.
I knew it was too good to be true when I stepped into the hall and Sidney jumped onto my back, wrapping her skinny arms and legs around my body so I couldn't throw her off.
"Yah, pony! Yah!" She yelled, kicking out her leg and slapping me on my butt. "Yah, I say!"
"Sid!" I quickly caught my footing, placed my hands on her thighs to steady myself, and slowly trekked down the hall that seemed to have gone on for miles. "You're too old to be doing this!"
