3. The Dreamer-The Dream Changes

She was someplace else.  In any other situation, she would have been fascinated at the change in scenery.  Couches, carpet, walls, Julie and Michael, all were gone.  In their place was sky, snow, and dark patches of mountainside.  The setting sun glinted off the snow, painting it gold.  The sky was rich pink, orange, and deep blue.

The arm around her throat distracted her from the breathtaking view.  Her fingernails dug into the flesh around her throat.  Her teeth sunk into the palm across her throat.  In response, her captor laughed.  The flesh around her throat flowed and changed, turning into rubbery bands.  A man stepped into her field of vision, a new arm and hand forming as she watched.

The more she looked at him, the less she was able to discern any features about him.  His appearance seemed to shift and shimmer, one moment a large African American, the next a stout Scandinavian.  Even his clothing was impossible to pin down for more than a moment.

The grip began to tighten.  The world was fading and she felt herself growing weaker.  He examined his new arm, and experimentally bent the elbow.  He seemed to be satisfied.  Now his attention returned to Anna, and the draining feeling increased.  There was nothing she could do.

"Hey!" a new, different voice shouted.  Her captor snapped his head around as he looked for the source of the voice.  No longer did he look pleased and triumphant.  The grip around Anna loosened.

"Wake up," it was the same girlish voice, but softer and gentler now.  Anna didn't hear them, really, but felt them in her mind.

"Show yourself!" her captor snarled.  In the distance she heard a song.  It was a song she knew.

"This one is not for you," it was the same voice.  As the words were spoken, a girl faded into view.  She was small with short, straight, black hair.  Her eyes were large and red.  In her hands was a scythe.  The song grew louder.  It was something Anna recognized, a song which meant something important.

"Wake up," the girl repeated.  Raising the scythe, she rushed in towards the man.  Metal rang on metal as the captor met the scythe with a sword.  The mountains echoed with the sound of their battle.  Anna realized what the song was.  It was her ringtone for her cell phone.  Someone was calling her.

"Wake.  Up!" the girl screamed as she rushed at the captor again.  The ringtone drowned out all sounds of battle as Anna reached out into the mountain air...

And gripped her cell phone.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the phone.

"Hi," Nick's voice answered her.  Sitting up, she looked around.  It was her bedroom.

2. The Dreamer-Unintentional Eavesdropping

Anna was lying on the floor.  The other two were sitting on the couch watching "Star Trek".  Nodding with approval, Anna sat up and waved at them.  She didn't say anything, because talking would imply she would have to explain.  And she didn't think she could explain.

"Not this again..." Michael grumbled and leaned back into the couch.  Dead center in front of him was the television.

"Um, hi?" she stood.  They ignored her.  Perhaps she was still dreaming.  She waved in front of their eyes.  Nothing changed.  She snapped her fingers right in their ear.  Nothing.  She screamed as loud as she could.

"I must not really be here.  I'm dreaming," she looked around with wide eyes, waiting for the world to fade and change.

"I love Nick with all my heart and I know you love Anna!" Julie's desperate plea got Michael's attention.  And Anna's.  She'd had no idea that Michael...but this was a dream.  He slowly turned towards her, sitting up as he did so.  One hand supported him while the rather ran through his hair.

"Yeah, I do.  I love her.  And you know what?" he waited for an answer from her, but she only shook her head.

"She's happy with Nick.  That's all I could ever hope to ask for.  If he breaks her heart I will be right there to help her heal.  Even if I'm not the one, I want her to be happy," Julie and Anna stared at Michael.  Julie was astounded because the concept of loving like that had never occurred to her.  Anna was surprised because she'd had no idea how Michael felt.

Arms wrapped around her throat and mouth.  She screamed, but even she could barely hear it.

"You are not supposed to be here," and light blinded her.

1. The Dreamer-Where the Dream Begins

The cool air washed over her.  Air conditioning, in her opinion, was the greatest of mankind's inventions.  She could live without a computer, cell phone, her car, and more.  But she could not live with the feel of cold air blowing across her sweat soaked skin.

"That's it, I knew they were wrong.  Activity, fresh air, and sunshine are bad for you," she spoke to the ceiling.  It didn't respond.  It was midday on Saturday in July.  One of her friends had needed help moving, which is what she had been doing all morning.  Once afternoon had begun all agreed it was to hot to work anymore.

Which is why she was spread on her bed, feeling the air move over her body.  Slowly the cold air was returning her to a state of alertness.  As she waited to cool down, her eyelids fell.

There was a door.  A wooden door with a brass knob.  There was no building and structure to go with the door.  It stood freely, flowers circling all sides of the door.  She went towards it and realized she was on a hill.  The door stood at the top.

A gust of wind carried a whisper of her name.

"Anna...Anna..." she whipped around to see who was saying her name.  There was no one, she was alone.  The wind came again and this time she knew she heard her name.  It was coming from the door.  She began to climb the hill.

She was hot and out of breath by the time she reached the door.  The sun had beat down on her body, mercilessly as she climbed.  The hill had turned into a mountain, but every time she looked back all she could see was a hill.

The door stood there.  As she approached, the voices grew.

"Anna?  Why are you talking about her?" she recognized that voice.  Julie, a friend of her boyfriend.

"She is Nick's girlfriend.  Kind of hard to talk about Nick without mentioning her," this voice belong to Michael, her boyfriend's best friend.

"I just hate her," Julie said.  Anna wondered why she was dreaming something like this.  Julie's jealousy of Anna and George was well known.  She placed a hand on the doorknob.  A golden glow spread from the doorknob and around the door.  She tried to let go, but couldn't.  The light grew and overwhelmed everything else.

When the light faded, she looked around.  Her clothes were the same sweat soaked ones she had fallen asleep in.  But she wasn't where she had fallen asleep.  She knew this living room.  It was Julie's living room.

How This Works

Hi!  I'm 27 and live in central Georgia.  Technically, I'm a student at Valdosta State University.  But I have health issues which sometimes get in the way.  Seizures.  Anyways, because of them and other life happenings (don't start a semester and then decide to file for divorce), I am still plodding along towards my four year degree.  Other than school, I do crafts.  Crochet, knitting, cross stitching, card making, and I recently added nalbinding to  this list.

And I write.

Currently I have completed two novels and working on a third.  My writing seems to bounce from genre to genre, horror one day and romance the next.  Words and words are constantly at the forefront of my mind, pressing against my fingers in a frenzy to escape my body and be recorded.

That's only some days though.  Most days I slam against the keyboard and something coherent comes out.  Which brings me to this blog.  I will post something new on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Each post will be the next part in a story.  The story will unfold as I write it, with only minimal spelling and grammatical checks.

Oh yeah, as I write I will be reading any comments left.  I may or may not take what you say under advisement, but you are the reader.  If it doesn't make sense, let me know.  I may not be able to go back and edit something, but I can sure clear up confusion in the next posting!

I may end up with multiple stories.  If so, don't panic.  Each post will clearly be labeled as to which story it belongs to.  Thank you for coming to my little section of the interwebs, I hope it was a worthwhile visit.

Crystal