The Story Of Daniel

/f o u r/

Chapter 4

Ten Years Before

That summer was one of the best and one of the worst in his life. Nearly every day Daniel and Amelia would go to the park or walk around the town. Sometimes his parents would give the two of them money to buy ice cream if they heard the truck coming down their street. Sometimes they would set up an old tent in Daniel's front yard and go camping under the stars. Summer was always fun for Daniel after he met Amelia.

But that was also the year that a member of the Johnson family died, that summer would always be a sore memory for Daniel. He would never forget that day.

It was a clear skied afternoon and Daniel and Amelia were playing soccer in front of his house. Amelia had just scored a goal when Daniel's father opened the front door and walked out. "I'm sorry to cut your play time short, but I need you to head back home Amelia," he said. Daniel noticed that his voice sounded off and his eyes were kind of red, signs that he had been crying. His father never cried. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Daniel bid farewell to his friend and walked into the house with his father. He heard his mom crying when he walked into the living room.

"What's wrong?" he asked. His mom tried to speak, but she couldn't due to all the crying. His father told him to go to his room for a bit and they would come up in a few minutes. Daniel obeyed, retreating to his room. But he didn't close the door, that way he could hear what was going on.

"I can't believe she's gone," his mom said between sobs. "My Suzie is gone."

Suzie is what his mom called his Aunt Susan. The sisters were best friends since childhood, so it was very hard for his mother. Susan had been fighting cancer, but none of treatments were working for her. She had died that day. After a few minutes, Daniel heard his mother's footsteps coming up the stairs. But they only made it half way before she stopped suddenly and sank down onto the step. He heard his father come to sit with her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Daniel shut his bedroom door silently and stayed there the rest of the day.

Now

Daniel was waking up, he was sure of it.

Whatever that pulling feeling was, it was waking him up for good. He could hear clearly, although there was no one talking. It was just a feeling that told him he could hear and it was confirmed when he heard himself let out a yawn. He once again had control over his body. Daniel felt exhausted, but he couldn't wait to see Amelia. He needed to tell her that the accident wasn't her fault. More importantly, he wanted to finally tell her he was adopted. She never kept secrets from him so why was he keeping secrets from her? Daniel trusted that Amelia wouldn't tell anyone so he saw nothing wrong about his plans. Plus, the weight of the secret would feel great once it was lifted off of him. The guilt would be gone and he would be as free as a bird.

So he tried to open his eyes. Daniel felt like there were elephants sitting on his eyelids and it seemed as if he had to summon all the strength he had left in his exhausted body to open his eyes even half way. There was a really bright light hanging above his head so he had to close his eyes again. Colors swam in his eyelids. He tried again, this time using his hand to block out the light and it worked.

He was in a hospital bed and was wearing a hospital gown. Obviously, he was in a hospital. He wasn't surprised at all about that. But one thing did surprise him; no one was in the room. He thought that surely someone would be here. When he had gotten a concussion one day at recess in fifth grade, his parents had been right there beside him when he woke up in the hospital. He expected Amelia to be there to since she was the one who had been there when it happened. He was only out for about an hour. Right? Where were his parents? Amelia? He sat up and got off the bed and he instantly felt dizzy. Daniel steadied himself and then moved toward the closed door awkward and clumsily. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Daniel started to panic. He saw a nurse call button on the wall and pressed it. An alarm went off. He turned around. There was a mirror framed in cheap, black plastic hanging on the wall and Daniel was terrified at what he saw- who he saw- looking back at him. Surely the person looking at him couldn't be Daniel. Since when did his red hair come to his shoulders? And he looked at least five inches taller than he had when he had last seen himself. He looked noticeably older, like he was in his early twenties. But when he raised his hand and waved to put test the horrific thoughts going on in his mind, so did the reflection. The person in the mirror was Daniel. But how? How could that be him?

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