February 21, 2012

  • Story: It was just a dream

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    I joined a writing blog for fun because I really want to get some practice. Every week they post a new topic and we all write stories and submit them. This one is my first submission. I had a deadline and I had to crunch a story that was much longer into a condensed version so I feel like it's pretty weak, but I am hoping I'll get better with time. If any of my subscribers are writers or would like to join the blog let me know and I'll get you the details. This story topic had to be about Love and death. Here is my story

    IT WAS JUST A DREAM

    Light streamed in through the window of the empty bookstore. Annie loved working in the silence. Outside she could see people rushing by on the busy streets. Cars, sirens, dogs barking…all the noises of the outside world were drowned by the silence in the bookstore. It was her own personal sanctuary where she could watch the world from a safe and peaceful distance. It was always slow in the morning so it gave her time to let her mind wander while she cleaned or read books that would take her mind to somewhere else completely. She needed that serenity and she clung to it like a life preserver. It had been two years since Collin had passed away in a car accident, but the pain was still as intense as if it had happened yesterday. She knew that she would never love anyone else the way that she loved him. The quiet tranquility of the bookstore had helped her to manage her feelings and get to a place where she was finally able to start living her life again. She picked up a worn copy of The Great Gatsby and began to read where she had left off the day before.

     

    She read until the early afternoon when a gentleman came through the door. “Good afternoon” he said, “Would you happen to have a copy of Walden on hand?” “I think we do” Annie replied, “Let me check the back.” While she was out of the room she heard the bell ring as someone else entered the store. She quickly found the book she was looking for and started back to the front to ring the gentleman up. As soon as she stepped into the doorway she dropped the book in shock. Her heart began to race and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Miss? Are you all right?” the man asked her as he retrieved his book from the floor. She didn’t even hear him. “What?” she gasped. She thought this must be some cruel hallucination her heart had conjured up. It had to be. Collin was dead. His mother had called sobbing and broke the news on that horrible night, years ago. Annie had seen the car when she went with Kelly to clean it out. It was totaled. There was broken glass where the rescue team had to break the window to get him out. There was blood on the seat and on the steering wheel where he had hit his head. The image was burned into her brain. There was no way that the person standing before her could really be him. The silence hung heavily in the air as she stared at the stranger and he just stared back. The old man looked from Annie to the young man in confusion, set his book down, and quietly left. “Annie it’s me.” Collin said softly. He took a step toward her as if he wanted to hug her but then changed his mind and stood still. It felt like the pain she had been bottling up in her heart had been set free. It tore through her body and she felt like she was losing him all over again. She had wanted to forget him and now she wanted so badly to believe he was here but she knew there was no possible way that could be true. She burst into tears. Collin immediately rushed forward to hold her in his arms like he always had before. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest sobbing. He rested his chin on her head and held her. As she listened to his heartbeat as she had so many times before she knew this was real. He was real and she was his.

     

    “How did you… what happened?” She asked, pulling away from his body enough that she could see his face. She had so many questions that she didn’t know where to begin. “I’m really sorry Anne. I never wanted to hurt you and neither did my mom. I don’t remember everything that happened that night. The last thing I remember was that I was on my way home and another car started swerving over into my lane. I tried to get out of the way but he hit me and then it went black. When I woke up I was in the hospital and I had no idea how I got there. Mom was waiting by the bed and she started to cry when I woke up. She told me I had been in a coma for a really long time. They didn’t know if I was going to come out of it. The doctors told her they weren’t sure if I was going to make it and that even if I did I might not be the same. She loves you like a daughter Anne. She didn’t want you to put your life on hold for me and she knew you would. So she told you I didn’t make it.” Annie felt anger starting to boil up inside of her “Why would she do that?!” she asked. “I’m here now.” He said apologetically. Looking up into his eyes Annie couldn’t stay mad. How many nights had she spent praying to god to bring Collin back for her? How many times had she wished he would hold her just like he was doing now? She didn’t want to re-live the nightmare of the past. It was over now and she didn’t want to spend her time being angry. She put her cheek back onto his chest again, breathing in deeply and smelling the familiar sent of his cologne. “I’m taking the day off then.” She sighed happily.

     

    Being with Collin was everything that she had remembered it to be. The went to the gas station and bought slurpees just like they had done every Friday afternoon the summer they first met and they sat on the curb out front making up stories about the strangers walking by. After that they spent hours walking through her neighborhood. She felt so comfortable walking hand in hand with him down the familiar streets and talking about things as if he had never left. When they got to the honey suckle bush he picked a flower and popped the honey suckle into his mouth. She made a face as if she was disgusted but she ate one too. He pulled another flower from the bush, put it behind her ear and with a wink told her to save one for later. She couldn’t help smiling at his sarcasm. They went to the school where they had spent so many summer nights together back when she was younger and she had to sneak out to see him. They played Frisbee and wrestled in the grass. It didn’t matter how much they had grown since those first nights together they never stopped playing like that. She laughed as they rolled in the grass and she tried to pin him so she could steal the Frisbee from his grasp. He had that mischievous boyish twinkle in his eye and he laughed at her failed attempts. She hadn’t laughed since the accident and it felt great, like stretching after having been asleep for a very long time.  She finally gave up on trying to get the Frisbee and laid down next to him.

     

    “Which one is Pegasus again?” she asked him as they lay in the grass looking at constellations. He knew all of them and he would point them out to her. This had been something they had done before the accident. Sometimes they had just made out til their lips were numb because they liked doing that too.Really, it never mattered what they did she just like to be with him. He held his arm out for her and she curled up against his side with her head on his shoulder. Her favorite place to be is in his arms. He held her while he kissed her and she got this dizzy happy indescribable feeling. Everytime she kissed him she got butterflies and it was hard to catch her breath but no matter how dizzy she got she never wanted to stop kissing him. As they cuddled in the grass with her head on his chest she fell asleep to the sound of his heart beating.

     

    She felt the sun on her face before she opened her eyes. She didn’t think she could have ever felt this much bliss again. She stretched happily and rolled over to give Collin a morning kiss. Her hand fell where his chest should have been and instead she just felt the cold emptiness of the bed. She sat up and for a second she was alarmed. Then it started to sink in. She hadn’t been to her old neighborhood in years. The laughter she had heard so vividly last night was just an echo of a memory. It had been a dream again. A beautiful dream, but she was alone. Collin really was gone and he wasn’t coming back. The dreams were just her hearts way of trying to get back the piece it was missing. She knew there was no way he could have survived the accident. That was just something she wanted so badly to believe. Tears fell down her cheeks as she looked out the window. The leaves on the trees were gently blowing in the breeze and birds flew past in search of their morning meal. The world had moved on without Collin, but she still hadn’t.  She felt the lonliness and longing that followed after each dream, but she also felt a calm peace inside of her as well. It was like a whisper telling her that this was the answer to her prayers. It was the only way that she would be able to see Collin again. She got up and started to get ready for work just like she always did, trying not to think about the bitter sweet dream.