Everyone!!! This is a brand new chapter... After this one, I'm not quite sure when the next one will be out, but the more you reply, the faster it will come. = )
also, i'll put up a notice (sp?) when i'm done editting chapter one... you might want to read it again... Mandy and I have worked out some nice changes... Please reread and comment again. = )
Chapter 4
The apartment is tiny, four rooms, two bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen/living room. This dreary place makes me miss home even more.
Caroline and I spend thirty minutes moving in our stuff, which are really only clothes. All the furniture and appliances are complementary. Caroline arranges things just so.
There is a knock on the door. Caroline goes to answer it. She swings the door open with an angelic, innocent smile on her face. I glare at her. “Yes?” she asks in a sing-song voice.
“Oh it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Donna Horton and this is my son Jacob,” a lady says. I turn to get a better look at the lady and her son. She is shorter than Caroline with shiny, black hair pulled up into a high pony-tail. She has a thin frame, but it is covered with a baggy t-shirt and loose jeans. The boy is the same boy that almost ran me down in the landlord’s office. He is dressed in dark-washed jeans and a plain gray t-shirt. His stance is relaxed and he has a kind smile gracing his features.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Caroline Austin.” Caroline shakes the lady’s hand. “And this is my daughter, Melony.” I walk up to the door.
“Oh delightful. We live right next door. Come by if you need anything.”
“Would you like to come in Donna?” Caroline asks.
It seems as if she was waiting the entire time to be invited in. “Actually, I’d love to.” Donna and Jacob walk in through my door. I back out of the way and stand off to the side.
Caroline leads Donna and Jacob to the couch. Caroline takes a seat in a big chair with a weird, yellow colored upholstery. The couch is an awful green with oddly shaped palsies. It’s all very 70’s.
“It’s really good to have some new people around here. We haven’t seen new faces in a while. Do you plan to stay long?” I cringe.
“Actually, we don’t really know. We’re just hoping things play out alright,” Caroline replies with a smile. I feel sick.
“So what grade are you going into Melony?” Donna asks me. I look at my feet. An awkward silence passes.
“Sorry, she’s a little sky. She’ll be in fourth grade. How old is Jacob?” Caroline says covering me yet once again.
“Oh well, he’s nine and is going into fourth grade as well. Isn’t that nice? Do you have any idea where you’ll be sending Melony to school if you stay that long?” Donna inquires.
“No, do you have any suggestions?”
“Jacob goes to Conover Elementary. It’s quite a big school. You might be looking for something smaller.”
“Caroline seems to think about it for a
second. “Hmmm, that sounds pretty good. Well, I have a while to decide. It’s only June.”
“Oh course.” Donna smiles. I look away. “Well it was lovely to meet you Caroline, and you too Melony. I hope to see you both soon.”
“It was nice to meet you Melony. I’ll see you around,” Jacob says. I turn to look at him. A bright smile is lighting his young face. I want to respond. I want to talk to him. He seems so trustworthy. I want to tell him how my heart’s been broken. I want to fell someone’s compassion and love.
Donna and Jacob walk from our door. Caroline gently closes her eyes and turns to lean her bent back against the door. He long, slender fingers rub her temples. Her brow furrows. “They were so nice,” Caroline says in an aching voice, more to herself than to me.
I think back to Jacob’s smile and remember the wonderful feeling of giddy peace that had flowed through me. I close my eyes and let out a peaceful sigh. If only I could have talked to him for a little bit, maybe that would be a good distraction from all that’s crashing around me.
Caroline sinks to the ground, sliding down the smooth wood to a sitting position and wraps her arms around her knees, drawing them up close to her chest. I quietly walk away from Caroline. I don’t need to sit and watch her suffer with self-pity. I walk into my bedroom and slowly shut the door. Caroline is still in complete sight of the door. I don’t want to move to quickly. I might frighten her, like a wild animal. Once inside my room, I sink onto my bed.
What can I do? I don’t have anything. Everything I know and love is far away and far from reach. I lay my head down on the foreign pillows. Sleep grasps my consciousness and drags me down with it.
“Merry Christmas!” Gab yells, shaking me from my peaceful sleep. “Come on sleepy head. It’s Christmas morning. You can’t spend it in bed.”
I quickly shuffle the heavy blankets off. The hard, wood floor is cold beneath my bare feet that were just protected under the masses of quilts.
“Here.” Grab throws my pink, kitty slippers at me. I quickly slip my feet in and follow him out the door. Gab takes off down the stairs to the main level of our house and throws open the front door. “Merry Christmas world!” he calls out to the neighborhood. “Hey Melony, come look at the snow.”
I walk up beside him and peek out the door. Snow blankets the world in an icy, cold, loveliness. It looks so soft, but I know better. The beautiful sight was absolutely freezing to the touch and should only be played in if you had protective cover and pink kitty slippers are not sufficient. A cold just of wind whips wisps of hair from my face.
Gab quickly grabs me away from the door, shutting it in the process. “Come one Melony. Let’s go open presents!”
“I’m coming. I’m coming. Hold your horses,” I reply with a smile. I take one more deep breathe of cold, winter air as the door quickly slams shut in my face.
Gab pulls me over to the sofa and sets me down. Mother and Daddy are already sitting on the couch catty-corner to the sofa. Gab sits himself in front of me on the floor and turns to look at me.
The room melts away, the Christmas tree, the presents, the sofa, Mother and Daddy and the couch, everything except Gab, but his face is changing. The room is replaced with the Hoffman’s television room with Jason staring up at me from the floor where he sat through Mary Poppins, his right shoulder leaning against my left knee. His smile shines at me like the early Christmas morning sun that I had just witnessed. I reach out to touch the angelic face, but it begins to slip away. I grasp faster, but the dream is gone.
I sit up. The images are still running through my mind. It had been so vivid, the cold floor, Gab’s warm hand in mine and even Mary Poppins in the background. Jason had turned around multiple times to look at me. No wonder it was playing itself in my subconscious mind.
This dream is not slipping from me like many others do. It is strong and vivid in my heart and imagination. I play it over, reliving it again. I close my eyes against the memories. That’s enough. I gently slide my feet over the edge of the bed, resting my warm feet on the cool hard wood floor.
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God bless.
~Jesusfreak
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hehee.
