The Way It Is [#OpenNovellaContest2019]

• Chapter Two •

"Mom!" Anna cried. Her mother, Skyla, was thrashing around in the reclining chair like a fish out of water, her eyes shut tight, tears running down her face, her mouth open in a silent scream. She seemed to be having a horrible nightmare.

Anna gently put a hand behind her mothers head and tried to stay calm. What had she learned about how to deal with nightmares? Gentle words, a little nudging... right?

She wasn't sure, but it was worth a shot.

"Mom, it's okay. I'm here. Wake up, it's just a dream. It's not real; just open your eyes..."

After about 30 seconds of soft whispers from a trembling Anna, her mother stopped thrashing, and after a deep, shaky breath, she finally opened her eyes.

"Mom!" Anna sighed in relief, hugging her mom. The feeling of her mothers arms wrapped tightly around her as if she was a little kid again, and the scare of seeing her mother in such a state was enough to bring Anna to the brink of tears.

"Anna, it was horrible," Skyla sobbed into her shoulder. "Your father... he was standing right there in front of me a-and then there were shadowy black hands reaching out of the darkness to grab him and drag him away and t-then it was your sister and then it was... it was you."

She pulled away from Anna and looked at her with tear filled eyes.

"Anna, you were being taken away from me. The only person I have left. I c-can't lose you...". Skyla began to cry again.

"It's okay, Mom", Anna whispered, rubbing her moms shaking back. "I'm not going anywhere."

That night, Anna slept in her mothers bed. Neither of them wanted to be alone, and frankly, both of them were scared to let the other out of their sight. So with Loki curled up at their feet and Missy comfortably nestled under the sheets, Anna and her mother fell into a dreamless, empty sleep.

~ •  ~ • ~

"That's really scary, Anna. I'm glad it wasn't something worse, though."

"Yeah. We were both pretty shaken up after."

Anna had just finished recounting the details of the previous night to Faith via FaceTime. Talking to Faith always had a calming effect on Anna, even if it was through phone calls, which she didn't particularly enjoy.

Sitting at her art desk in her room in the basement, Anna was finishing up a watercolour painting for their friend Marina, who was having a pool party the next day. Over the phone, Faith was cleaning her room, trying to find her sunglasses that had mysteriously disappeared into the mess of clothes, books, and assortment of other things on her floor.

"Anyway, you excited for Marina's party tomorrow?" Anna asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah! I bought a new bathing suit a couple weeks ago, so I'm excited to wear it. But I can't find my stupid sunglasses!"

Anna laughed at her friend's frustration. Looking at her phone, she had a clear view of Faiths bed, and the sunglasses that were sitting right there on top of it.

"What? It's not funny!"

"Have you checked on your bed?"