Chapter 1
The first glance between him and I, it was like magic. Those soft green eyes bore into my own like he was reading my very soul. And if my soul was a torrent of raging waves, he would ride those waves.
Into oblivion.
Into eternity.
Into the depths and on the heights.
He would ride the waves of my soul wherever it took him. Whether it be the face of hell, or the joy of heaven. He would follow.
I sighed. In that moment I was in heaven. I was on cloud nine… whatever the hell cloud nine is. I was riding the currents of freedom.
I was falling in love.
His mouth opened. He spoke. I heard sounds but couldn’t put words to the sounds. Oddly, it felt like listening to white noise.
Why couldn’t I understand his words? For how I longed to hear his voice. How I longed to rest in his embrace.
Wait? How I longed?
My eyes shot open. I felt like gagging. What kind of lovesick dream was that? Oh how he would ride my soul like a wave!
No, scratch that. I was gagging. I shot up out of bed and across the hallway into the bathroom just in time to puke my guts out.
“Ugh, son of a…” I muttered. I spit the vile taste from my mouth into the toilet. I had had retarded dreams before but never one so high on love sickness that it literally made me puke.
After my vomiting subsided I leaned back against the adjacent wall and sighed. Why was I having such weird dreams; one’s that felt so vivid, so real, and yet shared no part in my feelings or my life?
It was annoying to say the least. Especially after dealing with such chaotically vivid dreams for years. But recently they had become more frequent, more intense, and more realistic. Before my dreams were only vivid in the sense of things I saw or physically touched (if it’s possible to feel in a dream). But now, I could mentally feel things. Emotions. Emotions that weren’t mine. Emotions that belonged to someone else.
If only I could hear in the odd dreams of mine, then maybe I could get an understanding of what they meant. But alas, it would be way too simple to be able to hear in my dreams when after all I can see, and feel; both physically and mentally.
The worst dreams that I could experience are ones when I’m being harmed. I had one dream where I got hit by a tractor trailer.
That dream sure hurt. I was sore for a whole three days after the experience.
Thank God I’m semi good at hiding pain otherwise Marcus would have thrown a fit. And then Prisma would have chewed my head off.
For an aunt, Prisma sure was harsh. She never showed much positive emotion towards me. It was always something along the lines of disdain or disappointment. It was hard to pin down which unpleasant she felt towards me. Because of this I kept my distance so I would see her as minimally as possible, even though we occupied the same residence.
A knock at the door jostled me from my musings. “Jemma? Are you in there?” Marcus, my cousin, called.
I got off the floor and opened the door. “Fine Marcus. Why do you ask?”
Marcus seemed baffled. “Uh, because it’s before 07:30 in the morning and you’re up.”
“Yes, well, I had to use the restroom.” I lied, carefully placing myself so Marcus couldn’t see the toilet which I had somehow forgot to flush.
Marcus didn’t look like he believed me, but he wasn’t one to push so he didn’t. Instead he moved a bit back. “Well Jemma, while you’re up and about so early, you should brush your teeth. I hate to sound rash, but it smells like something died in your mouth.”
“Of course,” I deadpanned. “Because I always eat dead things in the morning.”
Marcus gave a look of pondering and then started bursting out laughing. “Oh, Jemma! Sometimes, sometimes you just kill me.”
“That is if my breath doesn’t kill you first.” I continued, giving Marcus a frown. I never meant for Marcus to take as a joke. It was supposed to be an insult or something, for him insulting my breath!
My words however, seemed to be killing Marcus as he continued to laugh in his loud, bolstering voice. Any louder and Prisma would wake up from her bedroom downstairs.
“Seriously Jemma!” Marcus laughed hoarsely, almost out of breath.
I should’ve known that Marcus is too much of an airhead to catch on. It was from that point on that I decided to cut Marcus some slack and forget about the whole thing. Discreetly, as he was still laughing I flushed the toilet- no need for him to see the lovely display of my vomit- and walked passed him into the hallway, closing the bathroom door shut.
“So, are you headed to work soon?” I asked casually.
“Yes, in fact I am. Roll call is in about thirty minutes.” Marcus said calmly, like he wasn’t just laughing a second ago.
I was curious. “Doesn’t the military start roll call earlier?”
Marcus nodded. “Normally, but our sergeant apparently came down with something so roll call is going to be a little late. I trust you’ll be fine here until I get off of work tonight?”
“Of course worrywart. You know me, I’ll just be wandering about.” I told him.
He gave a look of suspicion and opened the bathroom door. As he started pulling out his toothbrush and toothpaste he gave some words of wisdom. “Yeah, well just be careful. No talking to strangers, no drugs, no alcohol. Don’t go into dark corners or into any vehicle. No prostitution, remember to stay away from Ho-Boats by Fred Meyers, and whatever you do, do not give a moose alcohol.”
I gave a little chuckle. The fact that we had these safety rules where we lived made me ponder how sane my town was. “Yes, sir, commander sir! No illegal activities, no Ho-Boats, no alcohol impaired moose’s, and above all, no strangers or strange places. I’ll be safe as usual Marcus. No need to worry.”
Marcus finished brushing his teeth and turned around to give me a hug. He was a few inches taller than me so my head hit his chest and his head rested on mine. “I know.” He said.” But I still want you to be safe. Besides my mother, you are the only family I have.”
I hugged Marcus back in return. He was so worried sometimes, that he’d lose me. I didn’t even know why. “I will be safe. Wouldn’t want to make our family any smaller.” I joked.
Marcus let go of me and wiped his eye. I wasn’t going to make fun of the fact that he had a little tear there. That just showed how much he cared. “I know. Now, enough of that. I need to get going. How do I look?”
I examined his military uniform from head to toe. He looked warm enough to fare against the negative thirty something degree weather I had heard we would have today, and not a single button or shoestring was out of place. “You look perfect.”
“Good.” Marcus smiled. “Cause I….”
Honk! Honk! Honk!
Three loud honking noises from the front of the house interrupted our conversation. I looked out the nearest window to see Marcus’s best friend, Ruby, waiting in his black car, waving up for Marcus to come down.
Marcus turned to me. “Cause I gotta go.” He finished.
“Alright, I’ll see you tonight. Have fun at work.”
“Always!” He said, rushing down the stairs to the front door. “Have a good day!” He shouted from Ruby’s car.
I waved the two off until they were down the street and out of sight.
