Chapter 11: Nightmares
That night, I have another one of my dreams. Samara and Taylor and I are all running down the middle of an empty highway. No barriers or limitations. All three of us are strong athletic teens. A huge transport truck comes barrelling towards me. I take a step forward and throw myself into the air. I start to fly. As I land on the other side, I wake up screaming. Someone comes running in with a flashlight.
“Melissa are you OK? What happened?” asks the voice.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“Olivia,” the voice says. She shines the flashlight towards her.
“Sorry,” I say, crying.
“What happened?” She whispers.
“I had a nightmare. About my accident.” I explain.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Yeah,”
I suction my prosthetics on and we carefully make our way outside. I step gingerly onto the porch swing while Olivia holds it still.
“Now tell me what happened,” she asks.
“My friends and I were all running down the middle of an empty highway. There were no barriers, no cars, nothing. I imagined all three of us being strong and tall. We all use wheelchairs. Anyway, a huge transport truck was in my lane, coming straight for me. I leapt forward, and jumped over the truck. Then I landed on the other side. That’s when I woke up. It was terrifying. I don’t know where it came from. I’ve never had that dream before. It really scared me. What if something has happened to one of my friends?” I ask nervously.
By now, I have woken another counsellor up. Demya comes outside. She has a worried look on her face.
“Everyone’s awake now.” Demya says, seemingly disappointed. “What happened Melissa?” she asks.
“I had a really scary nightmare.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks. She turns to Olivia. “Go on back inside. Try and get the others back to bed.”
Olivia goes inside.
“It was about the accident. Kind of. I’ve never been more scared in my life. This was even worse than the accident itself,” I explain.
“Do you mind me asking what happened? I know the general idea that you were in a car accident,” Demya informs me.
“I was run over by a bus,” i explain.
“I see. And you’ve been having a hard time adjusting.”
I nod.
“Well, we can talk more in the morning, but I think you need to get back to bed. It’s almost 2:00. We’ll see how you’re feeling. We have lots planned for the first day, and I would hate for you to miss out.”
I follow Demya inside. Most of the campers are back in bed. It takes a while to fall asleep.
YOU ARE READING
Life on Wheels
General Fiction2 weeks after her 16th birthday, Melissa is in a horrific accident and sustains a life altering injury. She is forced to face discrimination from many as she attempts to integrate back into society. From Crown City Rehab, to shopping at her favourit...
