Thoughts Have Wings

It’s dark, as dark can be and what is that noise??  Where am I?  Kell struggled up from sleep, trying to make sense of the messages his brain was sending him.  He felt around the bedside table next to him and found the little lamp and flipped the switch.  “Wha….Cassie, baby, what is it?” Cassie was standing in front of the window, arms wrapped around herself, eyes wide open, staring at nothing.  The sound coming from her made goosebumps on Kell’s arms.

He tried to put his arms around her but it was like hugging a statue.  He turned her around so he could see her face.  “Cassie, talk to me!  I’m right here.  You’re safe!  I won’t let anything happen to you!” Kell rubbed her arms and touched her face and she closed her eyes and leaned against him, shaking and limp.

“Give me a minute” she said.  She was ice cold and pale.  Kell pulled her over to the bed and sat down, still holding her.  Tears were streaming down her face now.

“Was it him again?”  Kell asked.

“Yes and you too.  You looked so…I don’t know, bereft!  I couldn’t stand it.  And he was just smiling like your pain made him happy.”  Cassie cried.  “I hate him!  He’s there when I’m awake and shows up when I’m sleeping. I just want him to leave us alone!”

“I know. So do I.” Kell was rocking her like a child now, holding on to her, warming her.  Her robe had slipped down off her shoulder and he pulled it back around her.  The shaking had stopped and her color was coming back.  He bent his head down to kiss her on the forehead and as he did she turned her face up to him.  She had stopped crying. “Do you think you can go back to sleep?  It’s too early to get up.”  Kell asked her.

“I think so.  I’ll try anyway.”  Cassie answered. “Could you get me a drink of water?”

“Sure, be right back.” Kell said.

Kell went to the kitchen to get her a glass and when he came back, Cassie was already in bed.  He realized the robe was on the floor.  She sat up with the sheet wrapped around her and took the glass from him.  He got in the bed and waited.  They had been through so much lately, he didn’t want to misunderstand.  She set the glass on the nightstand and scooted down in the bed till she was laying down face to face with him.  “I love you”  she told him.  “I’m sorry about, well everything.  I feel like it’s all my fault somehow.”

Kell reached for her and folded her in his arms.  “If it hadn’t been for you I would have been killed.  You didn’t ask for this.  It happened to you as much as it did to me.” He said.

“But maybe if I hadn’t come looking for you to begin with, you wouldn’t have been in danger to begin with.” She whispered.

“We have no way of knowing that.  Maybe the man would have come looking for me and you wouldn’t have been there to warn me.  Besides, if you hadn’t come then I would never have known you and I can’t imagine a life without you now.”  he said.  “Whatever happens we will face it together and someday we will be looking back at all of this and it will be nothing more than a great story to tell.”

As he finished talking, Cassie smiled and kissed him.  “I like hearing you say ’someday’.  she said.  “I want there to be a lot of somedays”

This time Kell kissed her and the kiss, at first tentative, grew to more, and they held on to each other and to the love that had come with them through time. For a little while they left  the fear behind and time stopped for them.

Later they talked quietly.  Kell remembered he meant to ask Cassie about her medallion.  “You never take it off.  Where did you get it?”

“It belonged to my mother. Before she died she took it off and gave it to me.  She had worn it as long as I could remember and she told me to never take it off.”  she told him.

“It looks familiar to me. I think I’ve seen that symbol before.  Maybe we could stop by that coffee shop with the internet cafe and search for it tomorrow.  It feels important somehow. It looks a little like a figure eight”  he said.

“I never even thought about it.  We can try, if you think it means something.” she told him, shrugging her shoulders.

“What happened to your mother?  Did she get sick?” Kell asked her.

“No, it was a car accident. She was called in to work on a Saturday and someone ran her off the road.  I called her job when she didn’t come home and they said they hadn’t seen her.  I got a neighbor to give me a ride and retraced her regular route.  If I hadn’t been looking, I wouldn’t have seen her car.  It was a big drainage ditch and the trees and shrubs around it hadn’t been cleaned out in awhile.”  she told him. The driver of the other car never stopped.  She was still conscious when I got to her but she was hurt so bad….. I still miss her.”  She said.  “I was seventeen.”

“Cassie, when did you start uh, ‘time traveling’?” Kell asked.

“Not long after that.” she said.

No prompt - just story.

Kell and Cassie quickly scanned the article under the picture of the man.  Kell flipped back to where it was continued and they read on.  “This says he is a businessman from New Orleans and he’s planning on investing in this community where he now has some of his interests.” Kell said.  “It makes him sound like he’s a saint!” Said Cassie shivering.

“I know” Kell was yawning now.  “I am too tired to think .  The last few days are catching up with me, I guess.”

“Me too.  I feel like it’s been weeks since I’ve slept.”  Cassie said.  “I’m tired, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep.  It worries me that he is out there and  knows where we are.”

“I bolted the door from the inside.  If he was going to hurt us,  he has had opportunities.  I think he is waiting for something, though  I can’t think what.  Maybe if we get some rest we can make some sense of this in the morning.  Do you want to shower first?” Kell was folding up the paper and picking up the sack of toiletries.

“Sounds good.” Cassie got up tiredly and took the sack with shampoo and toothpaste.  A hot shower is sounding pretty good.”

“Cassie headed for the shower and Kell turned down the bed and looked in the closet.  There was her robe.  Now what should he do?  This was weird, to find they were married.  They hadn’t talked about it at all and now….well, with everything they had been through, they would face this too, he hoped.  Listen to me, thinking this is something we have to face.  This had always been easy before, as though they had always known each other. He took the robe off the hanger and knocked on the bathroom door.

Cassie opened the door a little and he could see she was in her underwear. He held out the robe to her and she smiled and said thanks and then froze.  I’m standing here in the door in my underwear like it’s nothing, she thought.  Why was this is so awkward? Now she was nervous.  How did he feel?  The whole marriage thing, they really hadn’t had time to talk about it, to get used to the idea.  She looked at his face and his eyes caught hers and she knew it would be okay.  She trusted him, and he believed in her.  He had the funniest look on his face.  She smiled and he grinned as though he had been waiting for her reaction.  Yes, it would be more than okay.  “Thanks!”  She said and closed the door.  She clapped her hand over her mouth as she felt the uncontrollable giggling start.  It’s the stress, she thought.  She stepped into the shower and let the hot water rush over her, calming her.  She was tired, full, and now clean.  Heaven, she thought.

She turned off the water when she was through and dried off.  Using the same towel to wipe off the mirror, she combed her hair out and brushed her teeth.  She hung the towel up to dry and then stopped and got a clean towel out for Kell and put it over the towel rack.  She pulled on her robe and stepped out into the bedroom.  Kell was sitting on the edge of the bed reading the rest of the newspaper.

“Learn anything helpful?”  She asked him.  “Ask me in the morning when my brain is working again.”  He said. “I’m way to tired to think.”

“Your turn. I even left a little hot water for you.”  She said.  She saw he had turned the bed down, and that he had a clean tee shirt and boxers with him.  She grinned at him as he gave a little shake and closed the bathroom door.  She turned on a lamp by the bed and turned off the big ceiling light.  She checked the lock on the window and shuddered a bit before pulling down the shade and making sure the curtains were pulled shut.  She wandered around the room, looking at their things and wondering what it had been like, picking them out together.  She yawned again and went to the bed and curled up on the pillows.  She could hear the water running and Kell humming in the shower.

Kell came out of the bathroom drying his hair.  He looked up and saw Cassie, sound asleep on the bed.  He sighed,  hung up his towel, combed his hair,and lay down on the bed beside her.  He reached out and touched her face and then picked up the little medallion she wore on the chain around her neck.  She never took it off and now he had the weirdest feeling.  It looked familiar, like he had seen it somewhere else.  He would ask her about it in the morning. He pulled the covers up over both of them and reached over to turn out the light.  Cassie turned onto her side and he curled up next to her, pulling her up against him.  Cassie snuggled a little closer.  Kell put his arm around her and she pulled the arm closer and in minutes, Kell was fast asleep as well.

Outside in the dark, the man in the leather coat frowned.  He stared up at the window where the light had been a few moments ago with hate and determination, turned on his heel and headed back down the street, whistling.

this truly is a bit rough.  I need an English teacher smacking my hand with a ruler on a regular basis.  I’ll go back over it later to fix it,  just had to get it down before it went out of my head.

Had to give this a go - I liked this prompt Paschal.  It wrote itself.

She was radiant as she came through the door.  She was finally going to leave him.  Things had been good at the start, but they changed over time and lately she didn’t know what to make of it.  He scared her a little bit.  He was always nice.  Treated her with respect.  He was patient and he seemed happy.  At least he smiled all the time.  Trouble was, the smile never moved up to his eyes.  He was too controlled and she had known for some time that she was going to have to get out.  Now that she had met someone, the time had come. She would tell him tonight after supper.  Her bags were already packed and in the trunk of her car.  Supper was cooked and on the table.  They would eat, she would get through it somehow. Then she would tell him and she would be free.

He carefully pulled the screed across the last of the concrete and looked back at the new patio.  It was going to be a great place to barbecue.  Neil Youngs’ After The Gold Rush was playing on the stereo and and he was sweating a bit but it was all good.  He was tired but he sang quietly “I was lyin’ in a burned out basement with a full moon in my eyes”.  He had stayed up late to do the prep work.  It took a deep hole to get her and a good sand base in before daylight.  Once he had that part done he could work during the day and it was now afternoon and he was nearly finished.  He was ready for a cool lemonade and a shower.  He was going to enjoy this new patio.  The house would go back to the way he liked it.  Everything in it’s place.  No one to wonder what he did in the basement at night.  He might even extend this patio some more before the summer’s end.

Carry On Tuesday Prompt # 7 and Sunday Scribbling # 169 Toys

“Our year is up” she said. “Will you go then?”

“I cannot stay and cannot go” He said.  His eyes filled at the thought of leaving her but he missed his home and he knew he was needed.  Could he deny himself and go?  There was nothing but pain in this decision but he would do what he must.

He smiled at Nuala and held out his arms to her.  The music was playing and they began to dance slowly, swaying with it.  She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.  “You will be old again and in pain.  I can’t bear it.”  She sighed.  “I know” He said softly.  “You know my heart.” He hummed softly and began to sing with the music.  “The red rose whispers of passion and the white rose breathes of love.  None can compare with the beauty, of my lady and the moon above…” As he sang the last words she found her arms empty and wept.

He was in the cave again and his body that had been young and healthy for his too short time with Nuala had aged and the feelings, the aches and pains, hunger, thirst, all came upon him in waves.  He slowly opened his eyes and looked around.  The wall was covered with runes of protection.  He knew that the cave would have been hidden by magic and so undisturbed until he returned.  There was no fire and he was cold but more he needed nourishment.  There would be nothing til he made his way down to the valley, to his home.

He slowly got up, saw his pack and staff, laying where they fell a year ago.  He opened the pack and sprinkled the herbs that were left on the floor of the cave in gratitude for the gift of the last year and for returning him safely. He pulled on his cloak and once again took up staff and pack and set off.  He had forgotten how painful each step was and he carefully and slowly climbed down from the cave, wishing for the path to be easier, but knowing that everything has it’s price and the cost for a year with Nuala would be great.  His breath became labored and he was shaking from weakness but he kept going.  Holding to branches, and clutching his staff he continued, nearly weeping from the struggle.

At last the ground evened out a bit and the going was not as tedious. The sun was coming up higher.  He had been traveling in the half light of early dawn and was grateful for the light and the warmth.  How he had missed the sun!  The morning birds were waking and singing in the trees and the sounds of earth animals coming out of their burrows to greet the day.  He walked on, weariness slowing him and yearning for home moving him forward.  He finally reached the edge of his beloved valley and smiled as he walked just a tiny bit faster.  Home was waiting.

Finally he reached the path that led to his house and as he stumbled forward, the sun was kind to him and warmed his bones, the same old bones that had dreamed of a lady in the moon.  He staggered to his door and with barely enough strength to push it open, thankfully entered the home he had missed.  He dropped the pack and staff and loosened his cloak.  He drew some water from the old pump and drank thirstily.  He toyed with the idea of eating but it would have to wait.  He all but fell on his bed and slept til the sun set, knowing nothing for those hours.  He woke with the moon and stepped outside his door to gaze up at the moon.  It might have been his imagination, but he could have sworn that Nuala wept a tear that became a shooting star.  It lit up the night sky over his valley for just a second and then as quickly as it appeared, was gone.

shhh - I’m back…

This post brought to you by the music of John Mayer:

Down to the wire
I wanted water
but I’ll walk through the fire
if this is what it takes
to take me even higher
then I’ll come through, like I do
when the world keeps testing me, testing me, testing me…

There is a storm coming in and it meant cloud cover at the track this morning so I got an extra lap in and then came home and helped finish mowing the lawn.  Perspiration seems to equal inspiration Come on sweet rain!

Like the reluctant wizard, we are never completely happy.  We want and wish, and when we get, it doesn’t satisfy.  We think if only…

My toys are all laid out to see
A list of prompts to inspire me
Computer lit up - keyboard in wait
Paper and pens’ appetite to sate

But the most important “toy” of all
The muse that keeps me in it’s thrall
My brain is dead, a dry lump of clay
No one, it seems, want to come out and play

Cassie and Kell won’t answer the door
Katie is mad at Mary Sue, once more
Glenna and John and the girl are asleep
The wizard and his lady are making out - I peeped

Do I force, ignor, make it a chore
Or let it alone, let it marinate more
Is it gone or just refusing to speak
Did it break, hide away, spring a leak?

I’m not in a panic but frustration looms
I hope that it finds its way home soon
I’ll finish this rhyme and hope for the best
I’m afraid I’m failing if this is a test

Forgot to post my One Word attempt yesterday.  The word was event and the site gives you one minute to write before the little timer “dings”

They don’t call it a heart attack anymore.  Nowadays, it’s a cardiac event - like something you send out invitations to and clean up the house, maybe hire a caterer and bartender.  Maybe they think it sounds less scary but you can pretty it up all you want with words.  It’s still an insult to your life.

If you subscribe to this blog via igoogle or google reader you would have seen weird spammy looking posts in your reader.  The actual post was okay on the actual blog but google had issues.  Evidently I was hacked

Luckily for me I have a friend who has super powers and things are fixed, spam is all gone, and hopefully you will see the real deal in your reader now.  Sorry if this caused any confusion.  No animals were harmed in the making of this post and spammers will be shot with water balloons on sight and then sent to bed with NO chocolate pudding.

To my super power friend, Tony - you’re my hero!  You may end up in a story

One Word this week was track

I try to go to a local walking track at least three days a week. I go at 7 and the Texas summer is telling me I may need to go earlier.  I started this morning with Spirit In The Sky playing in my ears, setting the beat, the cadence as I move around the track even though muscles are complaining.  Thinking about spirit. The human spirit.

A minute isn’t long enough for two miles of thinking.  I have to come back and revisit this.

Okay, where was I.  Spirit In The Sky, warm day.  I’m walking along, swinging my arms.  Twice around is two miles. The song starts me thinking about the human spirit - isn’t that a misnomer?  Human equals flesh - spirit, God.  My misbehaving, undisciplined, flesh, complaining, moaning, whining it’s way around the track, down the path, on the journey.

I start out moving to the song, the music keeping the speed until my body settles and muscles loosen and I fall into rhythm with comfortable ease.  About halfway through the walk the comfort isn’t quite as comfortable and I look at the shoe prints in the sand ahead of me and just follow those footprints still listening to the music knowing the goal is worth it. The killing the flesh, struggle to be stronger, healthier.  Can’t get there without some pain.  There’s pain - arthritic feet but you walk through it, past it.

Sometimes there is shade and a cool breeze.  The walking is pleasant.  I’m on the path and the path is smooth and easy on my feet.  Other times the shade is gone and the sun beats down and I’m sweating and wishing I was somewhere else and I could be, it’s a choice after all.  Sometimes I choose wrong but the path is always there and I come back.  There is some ugly trash along the path but also beautiful flowering trees.  Others walk the path as well.  We nod and speak and all keep walking.

The track is not far from where I live but it isn’t exactly at my home.  I have to act to get to it.  I have to choose to get in my car and drive there.  I choose to listen to the music and keep walking, putting one foot in front of the other, finish the race, claim the prize, complete the walk.

The spirit moves us, not our spirit.  We move along the path, track, onward on the journey, wherever the spirit takes us, flesh dying, spirit moving, til we can go home.  Trials on the way and joys too.  Never alone, spirit always with us, nudging, prodding, waiting, speaking if we listen.  Waiting for us to choose, listen, move, obey, and then come home.

The italicized text in the first sentence is the prompt for Carry On Tuesday. and Sunday Scribbling prompt #168 is Vision

A lantern light from deep in the barn shone on a man and woman in the door.  I shrunk deep as I could into the shadows.  I couldn’t hear everything they were saying because of the wind.  Then the wind let up and their words were carried through the night mist.

“Think its late enough?” The woman asked.

“Hope so, we have to chance it anyway.”  The man pulled a key from his pocket and they moved deeper into the barn.  The woman had a broom and swept straw from a place on the floor.  She helped the man lift a piece of plywood that had been covered with the straw and together they set it aside.  He knelt down and did something outside of my vision.  They pulled something and a part of the floor came up.  There was a trapdoor in the barn!

They both disappeared into the hole.  Now what?  Do I get closer?  What if they catch me?  Since the “New United States” had been formed people were suspicious of everyone.  There were whispers of people snooping around and next thing you know, nobody is speaking about them and everything about them is just gone.

You never heard about them on the news.  No sir.  All the news has to say is that things are getting better everywhere since the new president.  They say poverty is being eradicated, whatever that means.  Seems to me that everyone I know is poor.  Maybe that’s what they mean.  No one is any poorer than anyone else.

Ain’t no insurance anymore either.  The government news talks about medical care for all but it don’t mention nothing about having to wait so long to see a doctor that you die of old age if whatever you got don’t kill you.

I should know.  That’s what landed me here in the first place.  Pa got a cough that just kept getting worse and by the time he got to see a doc it was too late.  Guess he knew all along because he taught me stuff about taking care of myself.  I grew up in the country so I knew a lot of stuff already.  Ma died when I was little so it had been me and him long as I could remember so I knew how to cook and do chores.  Knew a little first aid.  He showed me plants you could eat in the woods, and stuff you could use for medicine.

He’s been gone two weeks and I found this farm a few days ago.  I’ve been hiding at night in the woods behind and slipping up just before dawn and stealing a little from the garden.  They have fresh tomatoes, I haven’t had anything so good in awhile.  Tonight I had been heading to my hiding spot when I heard the man and woman talking and eased back up closer to see what I could find out.  He spoke nice to her and she smiled at him a lot.

I crawl closer til I’m just outside the door.  I can hear muffled voices coming from under the floor.  I’m sweating and shaking but I can’t stand not knowing.  I get closer and closer trying to be silent.

I am right there now and peep over the edge.  I bite my lip so no sound comes out.  There in that hole is a computer.  My pa told me about them.  Everyone used to have one and they could read stuff and talk to each other.  I always wanted to see a real one but the government had shut down the internet for regular folks.  Only people that had it now were government or a group of folks the government called Downloaders.  They hunted them and rounded them up.  Sometimes there would be a news story about them and according to the news, they were the root of everything wrong these days.  Sucking up all the fossil fuel and something they called bandwidth.  They were accused of stirring up trouble and they would be taken for relocation and rehabilitation. Pa would always snort and say “Never thought the country would come to this.”  Then he’d turn off the tv and refuse to watch it for days.

Sometimes when we were fishing he would talk about the old days.  He never talked about ma though.  I guess it still made him sad.  I’m laying here just thinking and watching and the man and woman are huddled together in front of the screen.  I can’t see it but there must be someone there because a voice is coming from speakers next to it.

“Good to see you, Tom.  Hasn’t been much news from the south lately.  Looks like you’re almost completely cut off.” The voice said.

“We’re having to be more careful.  There’s been a lot of New United States Army trucks on the roads lately. No one is saying much and we’re all staying off the roads.  Don’t want to attract their notice when we have no idea what they are up to. “  The man said.

“How’s Lani and the boys?” The woman asked.

“Doing ok, Glenna. Thanks for asking.” The voice said.  “Our littlest has a cough, but now that spring is here he seems better. Lani misses you”

“Glad to hear they are ok.  You give them my love, Wes.”  The woman named Glenna told him.

“What about you and Tom?” He asked. “You holding up ok?  How’s the garden?”

“Wish we could send you some fresh vegetables.” John  told him. “Glenna canned some vegetable soup for next winter.”

“Lani would love that.  She craves salad and she always loved Glenna’s cooking.  She worries the boys aren’t getting enough healthy food but no one is these days. You stay safe and try to get word to us if you learn anymore about those N.U.S.A. trucks.”

“Will do,”  John said. “Same to you and Lani and the boys.”

The screen glow changed colors so voice man must be gone.  Time for me to move.  I start to inch back and  a loose piece of straw falls and lands next to the keyboard.  The man was shutting the thing down and he and Glenna both looked up at the same time.  Forget being sneaky.  I jumped up and ran for it but I guess all the sleeping in the woods and eating stolen scraps hadn’t done me any favors, because fast as I was, the man was much faster.  I was almost to the edge of the circle of light outside the barn when he grabbed hold of a fistful of my shirt and backpack and I went down.

I wasn’t taking any chances on how nice they were. I came up kicking and scratching and he just wrapped huge arms around me and lifted me all the way off the ground.  I still fought but there wasn’t much I could do.  I didn’t yell. because who was going to come?  No help that’s for sure.  I f anyone did come they might be worse than what I had gotten myself into with these two.

I kicked out and he let out a little yelp of pain and backed into the barn door.  Soon as we were inside, Glenna shut the door and stood in front of it holding the broom like a weapon.  “Don’t try it.” She said, shaking her head.  My escape cut off, I settled down.  Guess I was going to have to play like I was scared (which wasn’t to hard to do) and watch for my moment.

“Why Tom - it’s a little girl!  What are we going to do now?”

He asked me if I was going to be quiet and not try to run.  Said he would let me loose if I promised.  I nodded my head and he turned loose of me.  I dashed off a few feet, rubbing my arms where he had nearly squashed me.  I stood there looking at them with my arms crossed.

The man asked me “What’s your name?”
“Where’d you come from?”  Silence.

I just stared at him.  What difference did my name make?  The woman was looking at me, eyes all full of pity.  I knew I had lost weight and I needed a bath.
“Tom, she looks like she’s starving.  We have to feed her” She said softly.  Tom  frowned and sighed.  “Let’s get you in the house and I’ll draw some bath water.  You’re covered in mosquito bites and if you don’t get clean you’ll get an infection and I don’t want some dead kid on my conscience.”  The thought of food and a bath!  I can always take off later.  I nodded and said thanks.  Glenna opened the door and the man kept his hand on me like I might take off if he turned loose and I followed them inside.

A look passed between them and I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.  Tom had a helpless look on his face and Glenna was smiling at him like she had just gotten a present.  Maybe they aren’t so bad and they DO have a computer.

Cassie and Kell are telling me their new story right now - they will be back soon

Sunday Scribbling prompt was absurd.

Cassie and Kell walked down the street.  The street was familiar and yet it wasn’t.  Subtle differences caused by time. “Look!  The Community Center is still there!” Kell exclaimed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get too close until we know a little bit more about this time.”  Cassie said thoughtfully.

“You’re probably right.”  said Kell as he glanced around and behind him uneasily

They turned down a side street and headed toward a line of shops.  There were people strolling down the sidewalk.  Some were looking in windows, some talking, and some sharing a cone from the ice cream shop.  About halfway down the street they spied tables and chairs at an outdoor cafe.

“There!  Let’s see if they have pizza.  I know I could think more clearly if my stomach wasn’t growling!”  Cassie said. Cassie and Kell walked down to the cafe and went to the window to place their order.  There was a chalkboard menu to the left of the window and thank goodness, pizza was listed.  Cassie looked at Kell and he grinned and turned to the tattooed, pierced, and bored looking teenager behind the counter. “Two slices of Pineapple and Canadian Bacon Thin Crust and two bottled waters please.” he said.

After he had paid, they found a table and chairs in the shadows and sat down to eat.  Neither one spoke for a few minutes, too busy chewing and licking melted cheese from their fingers..  Cassie reached out and stole a piece of bacon from Kell’s pizza,  “Hey!” he laughed.  The smile kind of died on his face.  It seemed so absurd to be sitting here eating pizza as if all were normal.

“Maybe we need to figure out what we know and then work on what we don’t” Kell wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a swig of water.  We know we are in the future, but we don’t know when.”

“And we know you are supposed to do something - but we don’t know what.” Cassie added. There has to be a reason for my dreams and my uh, ability.”

They finished their water and bundled up their trash and threw it in the can by the counter.  “Come on, lets get a newspaper and some supplies and head back.” Kell grabbed Cassie’s hand and they headed down the street to the drugstore.  They picked up a paper, and some toiletries, coffee and breakfast bars for in the morning.  Kell paid for their purchases and they headed back towards the apartment.

The sun was getting lower and more people were out walking.  Cassie and Kell strolled with the crowd, taking their time.  As they neared the apartment, Cassie glanced in a window as they passed and saw a face reflected that stopped her in her tracks.  Kell stopped and turned to her and saw where she was looking.  As he peered at the window he too saw a face in the crowd that was looking directly at them.  It was there for a second and by the time Kell whipped around to see the real person, the face was gone.  Cassie still stood frozen in place.  Kell grabbed her ice cold hand and rubbed it.  One look at her pale face told him that the face was the one from her dreams.  “Come on Cassie, lets get inside!”  Cassie stumbled blindly, as Kell pulled her along.  He unlocked the door and then relocked it once they were inside.  He flipped on the light and dropped the shopping bags on the table.  “Cassie, talk to me baby!  Sit down here, come on, are you ok?  We are safe now.  We’re inside and he’s gone!”

Cassie slowly sat down and sat at the table shaking. “It was him.  He is here and he terrifies me.  I don’t even know why, Kell!”  She looked up at him.  “I’ve only dreamed of his face.  How can a dream face scare me so badly?”

“Cassie, I’ve never even dreamed of him and it scared me.  There was something about those eyes. They were so cold, even though he was smiling. We can’t let him freak us out though.  You got us this far Cassie.  You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.  We can get through this!”  Kell, held onto her hands as he spoke.

“That’s the longest speech I’ve ever heard you make, Kell.”  Cassie let out a long sigh. “Ok, we can do this.  I’ll try not to freak out too often.”  As she spoke, Kell picked up the newspaper that was rolled up in the bag and laid it on the table.  They both looked at the paper and there on the front was a picture of the man they had just seen on the street.