The Willow Tree

Chapter 8

I was sat in the kitchen watching as the rain drops ran down against the window. A moment later the skies were blue, the clouds had gone and birds were tweeting high in the trees. I felt a small giggle escape from my lips.

Sat outside I could feel the wind against my face as I watched a woman walking towards a swing attached to the tallest tree at the bottom of the garden. She didn't look too much different than I did as she turned and smiled at me. That familiar smile that I could recognise anywhere.

I looked around at the perfect setting having never felt happier. But things can change in just the blink of an eye.

Just as I had seen before the skies turned grey and the wind began to howl. And once again the woman, who had been so happy just moments before, hit the ground.

I woke with a scream. My head pounding and my heart racing.

I got out of my bed, pacing up and down the wooden floor, listening to see if my Father had woken from my scream. Not that he would come see what was wrong anyway. That is if he wasn't passed out on his bed.

I slowly sat back down on my head, anxiously looking around my room, my heart still wildly beating in my chest.

I closed my eyes trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use.

This wasn't the first time I had had this dream. It was a recurring nightmare, yet something about it was almost real.

Had this really been how my mother died. It made sense. In fact it made perfect sense. It made sense as to why my Father didn't want me going into the garden.

I felt as if it had to be real. There was no way that I could imagine something as horrific as that in my mind, I was sure of that.

I walked over to my window ledge, sitting down and hugging my knees into my chest. I looked out into the darkness to see a light switch on in the house opposite. I looked closer trying to see if I could make out a figure in the house, wondering if Jake was also sat up awake.

My phone suddenly started ringing.

I rushed over to my bed side table to answer it before it woke up my Father.

'Hello,' I whispered, wondering who was calling me in the early hours of the morning. I sat back down on the window sill waiting for a reply.

'I can see you,' A voice replied and I smiled.

It had been Jake after all.

'I can sort of see you too,' I laughed. 'What are you doing awake?'

'I heard a scream,' Jake replied.

'You heard that?' I asked, feeling my cheeks start to blush.

'I think everyone in the world heard it,' Jake laughed and I couldn't help but smile as well.

'Sorry,' I replied feeling slightly guilty.

'Don't worry about it,' he replied. 'I just wanted to make sure that you were ok.'

'Well I'm fine,' I told him. 'I just had a bad dream that's all.'

'What was it about?' He asked and I told him everything. From the birds tweeting in the sky, to my Mother's body hitting the ground.

'So you think that that's how she died?' He asked. 'You think that you were reliving a memory?' His voice sounded curious.

'I think so,' I replied. 'Does that sound crazy?'

'No, it doesn't sound crazy,' he finally said after a moment's pause. 'It's just strange that you had no memory of it at all until now.'

'That's what I thought,' I replied, my voice still in a whisper. 'But maybe it was just a memory that I didn't want to remember. Maybe I blocked it out of my mind. Do you think that is possible?'