Beyond The Cracks: The Break

Chapter 4

        Oh no! Bow! I lift my face from the pillow, and look around. No-one is here. I smile to myself. I knew he wouldn't be here. After all, that was just a silly, crazy dream. I mean, how can you just take someone's dream away from them? That's not possible. It was all in my head. Just a dream. I sit up, and scoot onto the edge of the bed. I rub my eyes and look around once again. If he were here, he wouldn't be in my room, would he? I run out of my room and look out of the window in the dining room. The view overlooks the small neighborhood. I look over the the leafless trees, dirty sidewalks, and emptiness of the streets.  No, he's not outside. Why did I even check? This isn't a dream. "It's reality," I say to myself.  As I continue to watch, I see my father's truck pull into the driveway. I smile as I watch him wearily climb out of the front seat. His long, slender arms outstretch into the truck to pull something out of the passenger side. It's a very big box. He struggles to pull it out of the truck, and onto the ground. That poor, tired old man.  I run downstairs and out the front door to hep ease his struggle with the heavy looking box. 

         "Daddy!" I yell as I smile welcoming, holding my arms out towards him. He pus he into his warm embrace and chuckles, "Hey, Buddy." He lets me go, and I look at the box. "Do you need any help with that box?" I desperately ask. 

            "No, Sky. I got it."

           "But you know how I feel about you lifting heavy stuff. The doctors say that you should rest your muscles before doing anything else. It's already enough that you're back on that field lifting heavy weights and football equipment. You're the coach. You shouldn't have to do all that. Make the boys carry it all!" 

            "Sky, Sky. It's okay. You don't need to worry about it. What you do need to worry about is studying for that winter exam so you can take honors classes in high school"

            "Dad, stop trying to change the subject. You know how I feel about this."

             "Sky.."

            "No! I already lost mom over this kind of stuff! She wasn't careful with her medication, and her driving, and now look where we are! I don't need you to go. I need you. You're all I've got, Daddy." I hug him even tighter this time.

            "Sky, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere. Why are you so emotional all of a sudden?"

             My face goes red. "I just had a really funny dream, that's all. 

         "Well, that dream must have gone to your head. What happened? You dreamt your boyfriend broke up with you again or something?"

            "No, dad. In the dream my nonexistent boyfriend did't break up with me in the dream."

            "Hm. Then it must have been a hell of a trip, then."

             I laugh as I pick up the large box, and we carry all of his things inside of the house. When we get inside, he trudges up the stairs with a handful of mail and a mug of coffee. "I'll be back down after I've opened these letters, okay, Bud? Then we can watch Family Guy together," he yells from the top of the stairs. "Alright, Dad," I yell back. 

            I walk onto the wooden floors of the living room, which holds a large flat screen television, two couches and a small side table beside the edge of both couches. I pull a blanket out of a nearby closet, and plop down on the couch. I pull my phone out of my pocket, and press the "Unlock" button. 

                     *No new messages*

             Great. I have no friends...not surprising. I lift my feet onto the cushion and lay my head down on the arm of the couch. I start to drift off to sleep again. As my eyes close, I hear a faint tapping noise. What is that annoying tapping? Oh my gosh. Stop. My eyes flutter open to find Bow sitting across from me, smiling and tapping his nails across the surface of the desk. He gracefully snaps his hair tie and frees his long, auburn hair. I stare in awe as his green eyes move from the floor, up to mine. He smirks and throws the hair tie behind him. He's so...gorgeous. "Sorry I'm late. Is this a convenient time for you, or should I come back?" he humorously suggests. "I'm sure my other appointments can wait," I snap back. 

             "Good, because they're going to be waiting a pretty long time."

            "How are you here?"

            "Well, I just walked through the front door, as a normal person would."

            "You aren't normal if you can't move yourself from a dream to reality.."

            "You're right. I'm not normal. I'm not abnormal either. I'm...Paranormal."

           "You're what?"

            "Yep, that's right, I'm a spirit. Or what everyone else calls a 'ghost'."

           "You're a ghost?"

            "That's correct."

            I try to stifle my grin, but instead it comes out as laughter. He thinks he's a ghost! How entertaining! This might just be a stupid dream, and I might be asleep on the couch. Yep, this is just another dream. In the middle of my fit of laughter, he stands, pulls me toward him in a cold embrace, and gazes into my eyes, with a serious, still look on his face. "No, Sky. This is not a dream, and I am not alive. I'm a spirit. Believe it or not, I am drawn to you for some reason. You are so different that most of the dwellers of the...Outside. There's something innocent and light about you." What? The outside? What is he talking about? I pull away from him. "Well, if you're a ghost, how could you touch me, much less hold me like...that...." 

            "That's a very big stereotype about spirits that none of us will...live down," he smiles as he explains. 

               "Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Seriously, what do you mean the Outside? What do you mean I'm innocent to you? What the hell is going on?"

                "That's why you're so innocent. You have no idea about who or what you are, do you?"

           "I'm pretty sure that I'm Sky Jonez, an eighth grader, scared out of her mind right now, because a man-ghost is standing in my living room, creeping into my dreams and trying to tell me who I am!"

               "And very, very much more, Sky. If you sit down, and let me explain it to you, then, you'll know how I'm here, and who you are." 

               I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I sit down on the couch. When I open them, he is right beside me, tying back his hair, and taking a deep breath himself.