Greenwood

Chapter three

Somewhere in the distance a door was loudly being shut in the distance. Five more minutes then I will get up. I was already planning my day, I would get up, shower and grab an apple before I got into my car on my way to work. The traffic would probably be starting to pile up just as I arrive and most of the coworkers would be late to the first meeting of the day. I turned myself around and started thinking about the dream I had. I was in this strange village and I got locked into this tiny house. And above all they cut off my hair and made me wear ugly clothes. That was one messed up dream. Near me a child screamed. The sun was starting to break into the room like an uninvited guest. It made me pinched my eyes even more close. It didn't work and I turned again. Wait a minute. A child screamed close. I lived in an apartment on the fifth floor, there were no children. I opened my eyes first expecting to see my white wall with the picture frame hanging on it, but it was a wall made up of old rotten planks. No, no this can't be true. No I cannot be here. No, no if i close my eyes maybe i will be back. I closed my eyes again. Pinched them really tight. I waited five seconds and i opened them. Only to discover that the wall still looked the same. Shit.

The exact moment I realized I still was in Greenwood I heard footsteps near the door. There was a light click from a lock being opened. Before I knew it miss DiPalma was standing in the doorway with another bowl and a glass of water. Blessed being she said. Still a bit shocked I just answered with morning. She put the bowl on the table in the other room while I got out of bed and quickly went to the bathroom. When I came into the living room I saw that my bowl from yesterday was gone. Perhaps the person that delivered it went into the house and took it. Maybe miss DiPalma had just gotten rid of it. Maybe she just replaced it somewhere to make the table look clean. I sat with another bowl of something I guess oatmeal again but this time it had some color in it, perhaps there were some berries mixed with it. How did they get their hands on berries in this cold? I wanted to ask but she stood next to me waiting for me to eat. I might ask her later. She stood next to me the during the whole meal. We didn't speak a word. During my meal I thought a lot about my new life here. What would it look like and where all the people here like miss DiPalma? I also thought about the tour around town that was promised to me, maybe she will give it today? I hoped so. I was done with this cold house that was so loud. Every step I made was filled with creaks. After a while someone knocked on the door this time more clearer and miss DiPalma walked over there with the bowl, only to return with a comb and wooden stick. She said it was to clean my teeth. It looked like any ordinary stick cut off from a tree, except for one end of it which was cut into tiny strokes. Unsure of how to use it I just tried polishing my teeth with it. Miss DiPalma looked at me, at my movements but did not say a thing. I could only assume that I was doing it the right way. After I had done all my teeth I put down the stick and waited till miss DiPalma started my first lesson. And oh how I hated it already. It stayed silent. I stared out of the window. I saw a young woman walking past it with her head slightly bowed. A few children were playing tag for a while in front of the house. But they all left in the middle of their game, I assume they got called by someone. Maybe to help out or do some of their chores. Also a man with a beard and a hat. And he was staring inside. Why are you staring inside? Its disrespectful.

'And that will be our morning routine from now on.'

Wait has she been talking this whole time? Shit I missed it. Well it cannot be that bad, can it?

Her eyes were on me, I could feel it. Even without looking it could feel them burn into me. She was waiting for me to repeat. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. I decided to come clean and say that I missed it. I looked up at her while saying it. Her eyes got big. She could not believe what she was hearing. At first she was desperate to hit me, I could feel it. It hung into the air like a thick cloud of smoke. I could feel her desperately restraining the movement of her hand with her mind. In the end she did hit me, but not as hard as you would expect.