Night Terrors

Time is on my Side

I

Today is not my day, Will thought.

This happy thought was his first thought upon waking. It came to him unbidden before even opening his eyes. Still keeping his eyes closed, he blindly reached for the blaring alarm clock and brought his hand down on top of it bringing peaceful silence back to his world. He repositioned himself and got comfortable again. He knew he had time before he absolutely had to get up because he always sat his alarm for earlier than needed. This was the first snooze hit; he still had two more before he really had to get out of bed. Just as he was starting to drift back to sleep, he felt his wife, Laura, stir next to him. He smiled inwardly to himself, today was her day. They alternated days taking their five-year-old son, Grayson, to school every morning. Yesterday was his day so Laura got to sleep longer. Now today it was his turn. Will listened as she got out of bed and went to get Grayson up. the boy made the usual morning protests, he was like his father in that regard, but after a couple of minutes he complied. Will knew he had because he could hear him moving around now. He heard the sink turn on in the master bathroom and knew Laura was brushing her teeth. Outside, there was a loud crack of thunder. A crack so loud that it sounded like the sky was being ripped open and it made Will sit straight up in bed.

"It's going to be fun out there this morning," Laura said.

He looked over to see her standing in the bathroom doorway, her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Now the unmistakable patter of rain hitting the roof filled the room.

"You going to be all right, or do you want me to drive him instead?" Will asked.

"I'll be fine. Besides it's my day, get those extra couple of minutes," she replied.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Will replied and laid back down.

The next thing Will knew, he could hear Grayson downstairs asking for cereal. He must have dozed back off but it couldn't have been for long if Grayson was just getting around to cereal. He looked over at the clock and confirmed his suspicions; it had only been about ten minutes. He laid back down and closed his eyes, he could still get another half an hour of sleep before he had to get up for work if he went back to sleep right now.

Laura loved the fact that their garage was connected to the house this morning. The way the rain hitting the roof sounded now she knew they were in downpour territory. She opened the door that lead to the garage and thought about how soaked she and Grayson would get if they had to go outside. She opened the back door to their car and watched as Grayson got in and buckled up. He was very adamant about being allowed to buckle himself in without interference. They had a deal; she would let him buckle himself in if he let her check the belt when he was done without incident. She wondered if he and Will had the same arrangement. Probably not, she thought. Will would be perfectly fine with him buckling himself in and then just move on. He wouldn't need to check.

"Good?" She asked.

"Yes," Grayson replied.

Laura reached in and gave the belt a tug, making sure that it was nice and tight. She made sure the belt ran down over his shoulder and not against his neck or face, and that the lap belt was secure around his thighs and not his stomach. The booster seat did a great job of making the belt sit where it was supposed to. When she was satisfied, she closed the door and got in herself. She fastened her own seatbelt, started the car, and let out an audible sigh when she saw the gas gauge. They only had a quarter tank of gas, that was nowhere near enough to get Grayson to school and then her to work; they were going to have to stop.

"Damn it Will," she said low enough that Grayson wouldn't hear.

Will had gone to the grocery store last night and was supposed to fill up when he was done. It must have slipped his mind, like it always did. She loved the man to death and he was good at a lot of things but he never paid attention to the gas gauge. She opened her purse to make sure she had her debit card before they left. That was Laura in a nutshell, always double checking, always making sure that everything was as it should be. She knew she got it from her mother, that woman always had everything planned down to the tiniest detail. Growing up, her mother used to grill what she called the five P's into Laura's head. Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Her father was more like Will. fly by the seat of your pants, roll with the punches and everything will work out. The sound of the rain filled the garage as the door rose. She looked out to see that the rain looked like a sheet of water. Visibility is going to be fun this morning, Laura thought as she turned on the headlights and pulled out of the garage.