Waking Up in Wonderland

Noriko

Halo: Six: Noriko:

She has been having nightmares again. Usually they ebbed and flowed. But lately, they had been getting worse. These dreams have been attacking her for six nights now. She could feel everything that happened in her sleep. She always felt like choking as she woke up. She could remember a night when her sheets weren't soaked in her sweat. After, she tried to keep her nightmares a secret under a fake smiling mask. It didn't take much for it all to crumble for her. This time, her wave of nightmares came back worse than six years ago. They have become so intense that she can barely focus in her life. Her guardian suspects the worst.

"Noriko-chan," she said while the girl made herself lunch for school. The ward ignored her as put rice in the box.

"Noriko-chan," the woman tried again. The girl still didn't answer. Her guardian finally grabbed her by the shoulder. She looked up at the middle-aged woman. She didn't speak at first. Her guardian looked deep into the girl's sweet brown eyes.

"Noriko-chan," the woman said. "Are you feeling okay?" The girl shifted her eyes away from her. Her mind tried to avoid this trap again.

"It's dreams again, isn't it?" she asked. "Isn't it?" The girl pushed her away.

"Get off me," she mumbled. "I'm fine." She returned to pack her lunch.

"Your hand is shaking," the guardian said. The girl tried to keep her right hand still.

"No, it's not," she lied.

"Then why are you putting sugar on your rice?" the guardian asked. The girl looked down at her hand. She had dumped sugar on her rice. She gasped and quickly drew it back. She used her chopsticks to scrape off excess sugar off of the top of her lunch. A little better of sauce to try and fix the ruined food. She did her best to recover.

"Well, I thought I would try it sweet," she lied. "Besides, you distracted me!"

"I'm only worried about you," the guardian lied.

"I'm fine!" the girl said again.

"No you're not," the guardian said. "I should get you another therapist."

"I feel fine," the girl mumbled.

"I'll call you a therapist this afternoon," the guardian went on without listening to her. The girl glanced at her from behind.

"No!" she snapped as she pushed the woman to the floor. The guardian looked up, trembling. The girl slowly returned to her senses. She bowed her head at the woman.

"Forgive me," she lied. The guardian sat up on the kitchen floor.

"Noriko-chan..." she murmured. The girl shook her head.

"I have to go to school," she said. "Excuse me." She bowed, collected her bento, and walked out of the kitchen. The guardian gritted her teeth as the door closed behind the girl.

I cannot have her getting back again!, she thought.

She worked hard to keep the past locked and forever lost to her ward's innocent mind. Years of therapy and pills had done the best to their ability to hide the truth. For the past six years she had been doing well. The nightmares didn't really go away, but they were at least few and far in between. But now, it's starting again. Damned if she was going to let it!

The guardian reached into her jeans phone and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a familiar number once again.

"Hello," she said. "I will be scheduling that appointment for my ward after all!" The call only lasted for three minutes before she hung up. The guardian breathed heavily as the fire burned in her eyes.

She refused to have the wasteland unfold once again. This couldn't happen again.