Dear Mister Sandman

Chapter 4

The next day was going pretty good for Charlie. Who was she kidding? She felt amazing. She woke up at six a.m. again. But this morning, she felt more energized, happier and couldn't remember waking up in the middle of the night, because of her nightmares.

Instead, she remembered dreaming about a man. He himself looked scary, but his aura was... beautiful? She didn't know how to place it. She dreamed about this man, she's never seen before. She couldn't exactly remember what they did, but Charlie knew one thing: She wanted to dream about him again.

She had left for work at exactly seven o'clock and even found the motivation to make herself and Sheriff Peters some coffee. After that, they made their way to the shooting range. Charlie wasn't much better than yesterday, but she didn't let that ruin her mood.

In fact, she left work earlier than yesterday with a smile on her face. The sun was already starting to set, so she hurried home. Her car was being dramatic again, but she made it home safely and plopped down onto her couch, before hearing her stomach growl for hunger. Within the next half hour, she had fixed herself something other and more delicious than store bought ramen noodles: freshly cooked bolognese pasta. Another half hour later, and the young woman sighed in satisfaction after eating two plates. Today was a great day.

"Wow." She said astonished. She liked the peace she was experiencing for the first time in ages. She didn't know what came over her, but she suddenly grinned and stood up again. Her radio alarm clock came in handy as she turned on the radio and danced to an unknown song. But she didn't care, she just danced.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on her door. She didn't hear it at first, but the knocks became louder and faster. She jumped once the pounding reached her ears. The volume of the music faded into the background as she lowered the volume, before opening the door.

"Mom?" Charlie let out a sigh of relief, once she saw who was behind the door. Her mother stood there with her hands on her lips and her eyes narrowed on her daughter. Charlie gulped. She knew that posture meant no good.

"Yesterday, your excuse was bad. I know it wasn't true, because I saw your car in the parking lot when I looked out of the window. You know what else I saw? A man! And that had me thinking, maybe this man was just helping you with your car, but when I called you today and you didn't pick up after the millionth time, I knew something was going on." Her mother's words made her blink. What?

"I can't believe you are ditching your family for a man. Is he here?" Charlie had no opportunity to respond, before her mother brushed past her and into the small apartment. Charlie's hand was still placed on the doorknob as she turned to watch her mother look around in the small room, that she called her living room/ bedroom/ kitchen.

When the elder woman finally realized that her daughter's apartment was empty, her facial expression softened and she turned around to face Charlie. She didn't know what was going on with her only child and it made her paranoid. They always ate dinner together and she insisted that Charlie would stay nearby when she was old enough to move out. Her mother did not want to lose her only daughter. Especially after finding out about her husband's lung cancer.

Charlie was beyond confused now. She hadn't heard her phone buzz nor ring all day. She closed the door and walked over to her purse, fishing her phone out. The pink flip motorola was out of battery. Charlie frowned. No way! She always charged it over night. Had she forgotten? She tried to remember what exactly she did last night, but she couldn't. Thinking about it now, she did wake up in her work clothes as well. In the morning, she really didn't care, since she was so happy about her good night's sleep. But that was also odd for her.

"What is it?" She heard her mother ask and snapped out of it.
"It turned itself off, because it has no battery. I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to charge it." Charlie answered and walked over to her bed in order to put the charger into the phone.