Child of Echoes

It was so warm. I was in my favorite bikini, in my favorite spot, with my favorite sort of weather. My skimpy two-piece was dark pink with light pink wavy lines that tread the material horizontally. I jumped into the cold and salty waters with a small laugh. The sky was partly cloudy, but the sun still beamed on me. It was so hot that the cold waters caused me to tremble a bit at the quick change in temperature.

I dove deep into the waters. I had my eyes wide opened, even though it burned to do so, but I couldn’t miss this sight. Despite the blurring salty waters it was still so very clean and clear. I saw the fish swimming 15 yards ahead of me and further still I saw a number of tiny corals, sponges, and what I thought was a tiger shark. My lungs burned for air, but I wanted a few more moments to enjoy the beauty of marine nature. It was so colorful and so filled with life. The fish swam in, around, and out of a number of living homes. When I feared drowning I kicked off the sandy floor below me and swam up for the surface. When I broke through I noticed the waves carried me quite far. I looked to the beach and saw someone calling for me. Their hands were before their mouth so they could broadcast their call. I smiled, even though I couldn’t tell their face, and started swimming towards them. From the length of my arms and the lack of any feminine development, I guessed I was around 12, maybe younger. As I swam back towards the beach I saw a massive resort. It stood 4 stories high, a wooden-cabin engraving, and had strange characters that I couldn’t decipher. Despite the wooden look, this resort had massive glass windows at the front and up where the rooms were. The glass windows hinted at extravagant suites that would cost more than I could ever afford at 12.

When I was able to walk on the sands underwater I made my way for the person calling my name. Their face was obscured but he was my age and slightly chubby. I could never place what he was wearing or even the sound of his voice. He offered his hand and I reached for it. Just before we managed to grasp the other night fell. He took my hand and we started running. The resort was on fire, the sandy beach red with something thick and the smell of burning wood filled my nose. We ran into a dense forest filled with tropical and thick shrubbery as well as a number of short trees. My name came from him again; soundless words. “Yes?” I asked, hoping for an answer. He only called again and again. I answered and finally words came. “Wake up” said a female voice.

My eyes bolted open. Cynthia, my friend and fellow psychologist, smiled to me as she noticed I had finally woke. “Geez, Jessica you shouldn’t sleep at work! What if the boss came in? Gah! I bet he’d yell at me. You never get in trouble” she complained, tired and lazily. Cynthia had short brown hair that hugged her head. She held her bangs back with black hairclips at the sides of her head. Her hair was clipped short, stopping before her neck. Cynthia wore a short brown skirt, a white tee-shirt with a tan sweater. It was her typical get up.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t even remember dozing…” I apologized.
“No need to apologize. So, what did you dream about? Was it that same dream?” she asked, her analytical side showing in her narrow brown eyes. Cynthia was probably the best friend I had and she seemed to always listen to me.
“The beach I don’t remember…The resort I’ve never heard of…The boy I can’t place…” I said as I wiped a bit of drool from the corner of my mouth. I would have been embarrassed if anyone, aside Cynthia, had seen that.
“What’s so strange is that you have a better sensory memory than anyone I’ve spoken to. You remember finer details than the important ones. Like the name of the resort or the identity of the male with you. Then, there is the night version…” stated Cynthia
“I think it may be a delusion. Some mix up with my forgotten memory and the current encoding of information thereafter…I think I’m just jumbling things up with a vacation I took and maybe a scary movie I saw?” I thought aloud. I would have believed that, if I hadn’t been dreaming this dream every time I close my eyes for the last 6 years. It was either this dream or darkness.

Cynthia, who as at my side, walked over to the front of my desk and sat on the corner of it, “Maybe you’re trying to escape something and fly away to a dream fantasy. It may be one of the best times of your forgotten memory, thus you always revert to it. Maybe, your mind and body wish to go there once more and finish something. Unfinished business can stay on the mind for years and won’t rest until they are put to rest” stated Cynthia. She was so keen on reading people. I knew that was probably from her 14 years of experience as a psychologist. “Then again, I could be way off. I’m just some 43 year old woman” she said with a slight chuckle.

I stood from my desk. I looked at the clock, “5:30? I don’t have any clients today either…I think I’ll ask Adrian if I can go home for a bit” I said
Those tired eyes of Cynthia sighed, “I have a 6:15…That fool will probably be late again. Call me when you get home, we still have talking to do about this dream” she said with a kind smile. I couldn’t help smiling back.
“Sure” I said.

I walked out of my office, Cynthia right behind me. For some reason I felt as if Cynthia was jealous of me. I don’t think I’m deserving of envy, but I just had a strong feeling like that when my back was too her. It was like; she was thinking it loudly when I wasn’t looking her in the face.

I walked down the brown linoleum hallway with the glass walls of each office. The glass was fogged so we couldn’t see into the others offices. We saw clients downstairs and our bosses were upstairs. This 20 story building had various departments; the physiology departments were 1-5, the bottom. I made my way down the hall, into the elevator, and out into the green linoleum and tight hallway of the floor of our administrators. I was in and out of his office as he let me go home early. I went back down, said goodbye a couple co-workers, and left the building.

I lived 8 blocks from my job, 1.57 miles exactly, so I jogged home. I quickly slipped my headphones on and walked down the snowy and busy streets of my home. It’s all tall buildings, bright lights, 18 inches of snow, 2 million residents, and cloudy weather. The smell of orange was always in the air because of the orange juice factory directly across my building. They pumped out the smell too, as a gimmick of sorts, to get people in or to make them happy.

I sighed. There seemed to be a car accident and the side walk was closed ahead of me. Santus, my city, rarely had accidents. The cars were built with computers in them to prevent accidents. If there was ever one, it was the car and not the driver that caused it. I didn’t want to turn so I decided to go into an alley near me. It was dark, cold, wet, and lacked the presence of any others, but I have gone down it before with friends so I was sure I would only be in the alley for a few moments.

To be honest, I’m not brave or normally so bold as to go down a creepy alleyway, but I just had the strangest feeling that I should get home as soon as possible. I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen and happen soon. I guess that lowered my inhibitions enough so that I could move into that alley.