Status: In progress
Spirit Dreamers
Just A Dream
I woke. My senses being unusually greater. My ears twitched, as I listened to a great amount of the grand forest, picturing every animal in my head that made every signal sound. My eyes seeing everything differently than ever. I looked up, watching birds that seemed to be touchable, but were thirty feet high above me.
My nose catching scents that I've never smelled before. Smelling the water from the rivers, the soil that every insect crawled through, the bark that the woodpeckers pecked at, the flowers that the bees took pollen from, the grass that the elk ate from, and the misty air that the birds and hawks soared through.
The animals, the forest, and I, seemed to be one. I've never felt so connected with anything in my life.
The constant images from the animals of the forest, continued. The movements from the earth that the rabbits and moles lived through, was a muffled sound, but audio-able to my ears, nonetheless. The constant chewing the chipmunks and squirrels made with their teeth against the nuts they gathered. The thumbing throughout the ground that the buffalo's and wild horses ran through was the sound of a thousand men battling, the sounds that the birds made whenever they flapped their wings to fly higher, and the cracks of twigs and leafs being smashed by the tumble, which the clumsy fat bear made.
I turned my head, instinctively; when I heard my name being called, echoing as though it was coming from a further distance. The voice sounding familiar.
“Malean...Hey, Malean.”
I breathed in a deep breath, my eyes opening, tiredly. I slightly frowned when I realized that Nickolia was standing over me.
“Hey.” He smiled pleasantly “Your awake. You looked like you were having a bad dream, or somethin'.”
“Mm...Nick?” My frown still in place.
“Hah, yeah, it's me.”
I looked around my surroundings, seeing unfamiliar furniture, and an unfamiliar room, that I was in.
“...Where am I?”
My stomach growled at me, hungrily, as soon as I smelled a delicious aroma in the air.
“Oh, your at my place...I found you unconscious in the forest. Here you go.”
He set a plate of sandwich that was stuffed with a bunch of turkey and thickish meat. I never enjoyed having my sandwich so full of things, but I was starving for some weird reason, so I wasn't going to be picky right now.
My forehead crease deepened,“What?...You did? Oh...thanks.”
I took the plate, taking a big bite out of it, slightly turning away from Nick's view. I didn't like eating in front of people I hardly knew, it was kind of uncomfortable. And how the heck did he know I was hungry?
He nodded “Yeah.”
I stayed silent, trying to remember what happened and how I got here, swallowing my food, then taking another large bite out of the sandwich.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Uh...mhm.”
I felt much better than I did before that cougar-
I sat up quickly, putting the sandwich down; my mind bringing all my memory back now.
“What's wrong?”
My pulse quickened, as I tried to find the right words to tell him what I had seen.
“I-I...I...saw...something.”
“What did you see?”
“...I saw a...cougar...and a...wolf.”
“Oh, cool. We have those kind’a animals out here. I guess it's new to you.”
I frowned, and then shook my head.
“Yeah, but...these were big!...They were huge!”
“Hah, I'm sure they were.”
“No, they were bigger than normal, though. I'm serious. And they were fighting too! And the cougar attacked me! See, look!”
I touched my shoulder to show him the injury, but there was nothing there, but pink markings. I frowned in confusion.
“Where did it go...?”
“I cleaned your shoulder up for you. But it didn't look like a cougar attacked you. I think you hit your head a little too hard, back there.”
I sighed in defeat.
“But I'm telling you the truth.”
“Malean, when I found you, you were knocked out. And looked like you had a bad fall. That's probably how you got those scratches on your shoulder. It was just a dream.”
“...Thanks...okay, but how can you explain how my sweater and shirt got torn?”
“Easy. You must have gotten caught by a tree branch or somethin'.”
I shook my head in disbelief. I would never feel so strongly about something if I knew that it really didn't happen.
“...I thought I was going to die...”
I whispered.
“That must've been one crazy dream then.”
Wow, I could tell Nick wasn't the soothing type.
I brushed off his coldness that was probably not on purpose. I couldn't help but shake my head slowly; I never had dreams this crazy before. And I know it was all real!...But his reasons of how I got hurt were making me believe otherwise; which was making me feel like I was a crazy person.
Nick brought me back to reality when he mentioned my family.
“Hey, does your family know that you’re out here?”
I gasped out loud in realization “Oh crap!...No, they don't.”
“Hah, then maybe you should give them a call.”
I nodded as I searched for my cell phone. I sighed when I found nothing but my camera, realizing that I had left it in the car.
"I don't have my cell phone on me.”
“It's okay. You can just use my home phone.”
“Oh okay, thanks.”
As I turned to slid off his bed, I assumed I'd feel pain from my body, but to my surprise; I felt nothing. My body felt stronger, healthier, refreshed, and for some odd reason, like I've been sleeping for more than a couple hours. This made Nick's assumptions all the more to believe.
Walking out of his bedroom, I searched his living room for a clock, noticing that it was six'o five p.m.
“Damn.”
“What?”
“How long was I knocked out for?”
“Mmm, about ten minutes, fifteen at the most.”
I frowned in disbelief.
“Really?”
“Yup.”
He answered as he handed me his home phone.
“Thanks.”
I slowly took the phone, afraid and embarrassed that I was about to get yelled at by my parents through the phone, in front of Nick.
I sat down on his couch, being careful not to kick the coffee table in front of me. Nick sat across from me in a lazy boy chair, not really looking at me. His eyes seemed to be somewhere else; he seemed to be deep in thought.
I slightly turned away from him, as I dialed my mom’s cell phone number instead of my dad’s (my mom was more of the nagging type, than the yelling type), thanking god that I somehow memorized it, since I usually didn't memorize numbers and address so quickly.
It took a while for her to answer, but when she did, she said hello as she'd usually say (kind of professional, having no idea it was me, since I was calling from Nick's home phone), but her voice held back something, as though she had just been crying.
“Mom, it's me.”
My mom collected herself, and then sighed in relief.
“Malean! Where the hell are you?!? We've been looking for you!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, I heard my dad in the background.
“Is that her?!”
“Yes. I'm on the phone with her.”
My face crumpled, I didn't like the sound of my dad’s voice when he was angry. I was thankful when she didn't pass the phone to him.
“I'm at a...friend’s house.”
“What?! We just moved here, how could you have any friends so soon??”
“I met him at the liquor store.”
She sighed in irritation “Where. Are. You??”
She pressed, and then I sighed, and said.
“I don't know! Hold on, let me ask him.”
I looked over to Nick, who was kind of smiling, listening to my conversation in amusement.
“Um...where do you live?”
“Hah, here in the forest.”
I frowned, not really wanting him to play around. I needed answers; I could feel my mom’s tension from the phone. I shook my head, my mom’s voice yelling from the phone, telling my other siblings that I was on the phone.
“Okay, but what's your address?”
I put the phone back to my ear, calling my mom who was still complaining about me.
“Mom? Mom!”
“Did he tell you??”
“No, not yet, he's about to tell me!”
I couldn't help but yell, while she tried to talk over me.
“Oh, come on! Hurry up!”
“Do you have a pen and paper ready??”
I heard my mom fumbling for paper, I knew she didn't have anything to write the address down. She began yelling at my siblings to find her a pen to write with. I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, what is it?!”
They found her a pen.
I looked over to Nick in irritation.
“He says in the forest.”
“The forest?!”
“Yes!”
God, this woman.
“How the hell are we going to find you?! Can't his parents bring you??”
“Can't your parents take me home?”
Nick shook his head and said.
“My parents are back in Louisiana, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
“And Jason and his parents went out.”
“Oh.”
My mom’s voice hurt my ear, rushing me for information.
“His parents are not here.”
I wasn't about to go into details for this inpatient women.
“Ugh! Okay, then just give me his address.”
“Okay, what's the address?”
As soon as he started telling me, I repeated it to her through the phone. Also that they would find his house easily, by following a trail in the dirt.
“Did you get that?
“Yes. We’re coming to pick you up. Be ready, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Alright, bye.”
“Bye.”
I searched for the button to finally get off the phone with her. I pressed the button hard, hanging up the phone, then setting it down.
I heaved out a heavy sigh, “Hah, sorry about that. My mom’s just...really worried.”
It was actually really her way of worrying, which was annoying.
“It's okay. I understand.”
“Here.”
I handed him back his phone.
“Thanks for letting me use it.”
“No problem.”
Silence came, until Nick began rambling.
“Oh, hey, have you ever played this game before, called 'Dead Men Rising'?”
“Uhh, no, but it does sound familiar.”
“It's such a bad-ass game, you should play it.”
I chuckled nervously, as I looked away, hoping that he wasn't about to invite me to play a game that I've never played before. I didn't enjoy feeling like an idiot when I didn't understand how to use the controllers to a new game. Plus; my mind was still thinking about what happened earlier.
“Haha, okay.” Was all I could say.
Nick went on and on about what him and Jason did over their weekend. He obviously had a big imagination, explaining how many inventions, and stunts they wanted to achieve. His random, spontaneous, and animated humor, made me laugh more than I had intended to.
After a while had passed, there was a knock on the front door.
I quickly got to my feet, knowing that my parents found his house. Nick walked ahead of me to open the door, as he looked to me, and said.
“Don't worry; I'm good with parents.” He smiled eagerly.
“Heh...”
I wondered what he'd say. Nick opened the door, and as soon as I saw my parents, I knew it was time to leave.
“Hey mom, hey dad.”
I said in a low voice.
Nick surprised me by smiling, sticking his hand out.
“Hello, I'm Nickloai. Nice to meet you.”
My dad shook his hand first, then my mom.
“Hey there, I'm Eddie.”
My dad said, giving off his friendly side, while my mom smiled, and said.
“Hi, I'm Marie. So what happened here?”
“Oh, I met Malean at the liquor store, I work there.”
“Ahh.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, but where did you disappear off to, Malean?”
My mom gave me a look, but before I could answer, Nick went ahead and answered for me.
“Oh, she went off into the woods, and then got lost. And since I live out here, we bumped into each other again, and then I brought her back here. I noticed that she kind’a got hurt, so I cleaned her cuts, and feed her.”
“Oh, thanks man, haha.”
My dad said, giving his famous grin.
“Yes, thank you for feeding my stupid daughter who got herself lost.”
I shook my head as I rolled my eyes at my mom’s comment. She was kidding, but it was still embarrassing. Nick just laughed, and said.
“It's no problem.”
“How did you get hurt, anyway?”
My mom asked, not sounding the least bit concerned.
“Oh, I fell down, and a tree attacked me.”
I said, kidding around, but it was pretty much the truth...I guess.
“You clumsy girl.” She shook her head in disapproval.
I sighed and said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Alright, well we should get going. Her brothers and sisters are back at the new house, wondering if she's alive still, and waiting for dinner.”
“Haha, okay. It was nice meeting you both.”
“You too.”
My dad said, then turned and walked back to the car.
“Nice meeting you too. Bye. Come on, Malean.”
“Coming.”
I walked out of his front door, but Nick stopped me, by grabbing my wrist, and saying with the most serious tone I've never heard him use before.
“Hey, Malean...be careful out there, kay?”
“Heh...okay, I will. Thanks for everything...um, do you have a cell phone?”
And just like that, he was back to grinning, all seriousness gone.
“Yup. Do you have unlimited texting?”
“Yeah. I'll just give you my number.”
“Okay.”
As soon as I gave him my number, I said goodbye, and left.
**
Driving back home was as annoying as I knew it would be. My parents raising their voices at me about my disappearance. All I could say was “I know, I know.” and “Yes, I'm not gonna' do it again.”
When we got home, I tried to ignore most of my sibling’s questions to get to my room. I was tired of all this commotion and I wanted to be alone.
I went to my room, Isabella following, since we had to share the bedroom. We've shared a room ever since I could remember. Isabella shut our door, as she continued to watch me with her worried gaze.
I plopped down on my bed, and tried not to think about my 'dream'; or nightmare. But Isabella wanted answers.
“What happened to you??”
I sighed, knowing this would come “Mom and dad already told you...I got lost.”
She shook her head, disapproving, “I told you not to go...did you get hurt?”
“Yeah...but it wasn't anything serious. My shoulder just got scratched up.”
I said as I pulled off my sweater to examine it.
Isabella came to sit next to me to see for herself.
“Let me see...oh my god...”
She grabbed my arm, both of us eying the pink scratches, carefully. I didn't notice until now how far they traveled. It slightly started from the left side of my back, to my shoulder.
“Uhi, you should of listened to me.”
“I knooow.”
She lighty traced the markings with her fingertips.
“Does it hurt?”
I shook my head truthfully “No...but it still feels fresh, since it just happened today.”
“So that guy Nick helped you?”
I nodded “Yeah...he found me...look Bell, if I tell you something, you can't tell mom or dad, okay?”
Bell was her nickname in our family, since I'm the one who started calling her that.
“Okay, what is it?”
I sighed as I tried to find the right words to begin with. I needed to tell her this. Whenever I was unsure about something, I would usually open up to her.
“Okay....I didn't really get lost, well, I guess I did, but I was fine until I got caught by this tree, my damn foot got stuck...then I tripped, and my fatass rolled down this, like hill...and I ended up in a cave...Isabella...I saw a cougar...”
She gasped in shock “You did??”
“Yeah! And a wolf!”
“Oh my god, what happened, what did you do, were they close to you??”
“Yeah, the wolf started fighting with the cougar!....Then the cougar attacked me...”
“WHAT!?”
I shushed her as I fell onto my back to lay down. I started up at the ceiling, while Isabella pressed for an answer.
“Tell me what happened, Malean!”
“I don't know!...I was bleeding a lot though...”
I ignored her gasp of shock as I continued.
“...That's how my shoulder got hurt...I don't really remember what happened next...but then I woke up in Nick's house...”
“He didn't see anything when that all happened??”
“No, he wasn't there...he said that when he found me, I was unconscious on the ground, that I hit my head and everything that I saw was a 'dream'...”
Isabella frowned with confusion.
“How could it have been a dream if it really happened?”
“I know!”
Her sentence excited me, since she was obviously not buying Nick's excuse either. I shook my head and said.
“But I don't know what to believe...”
“Why?”
“Cause'...these animals were fucking huge! Bigger than you can imagine, Bell!”
I stood on top of my bed to try and show her how tall they would be if they were in our room.
“Like that freaking tall, I'm not kidding.”
I pointed to the molding of our door frame.
“Whoa, what the fuck?!? You’re kidding...but if that's what happened; then why are you still able to move...?”
I sat back down as I wondered the same thing.
“I'm so not kidding!...I don't know...I felt like I was; going to die after it attacked me; my body felt so weird too....but when I woke up; it felt like it didn't happen...”
Isabella hugged me tightly, then kissed my cheek, and said.
“Well, whatever happened, I'm glad you’re okay. You had us worried. Don't do that again!”
I smiled “I won't...but I still don't know...it all was too real, Bell.”
We were startled when our mom came in.
“Go to sleep already, you guys. We have to unpack the boxes and bags tomorrow, so get some sleep, so you won't be so tired in the morning.”
Isabella and I sighed together, and then added an “Alright” and nods before she shut the door.
My nose catching scents that I've never smelled before. Smelling the water from the rivers, the soil that every insect crawled through, the bark that the woodpeckers pecked at, the flowers that the bees took pollen from, the grass that the elk ate from, and the misty air that the birds and hawks soared through.
The animals, the forest, and I, seemed to be one. I've never felt so connected with anything in my life.
The constant images from the animals of the forest, continued. The movements from the earth that the rabbits and moles lived through, was a muffled sound, but audio-able to my ears, nonetheless. The constant chewing the chipmunks and squirrels made with their teeth against the nuts they gathered. The thumbing throughout the ground that the buffalo's and wild horses ran through was the sound of a thousand men battling, the sounds that the birds made whenever they flapped their wings to fly higher, and the cracks of twigs and leafs being smashed by the tumble, which the clumsy fat bear made.
I turned my head, instinctively; when I heard my name being called, echoing as though it was coming from a further distance. The voice sounding familiar.
“Malean...Hey, Malean.”
I breathed in a deep breath, my eyes opening, tiredly. I slightly frowned when I realized that Nickolia was standing over me.
“Hey.” He smiled pleasantly “Your awake. You looked like you were having a bad dream, or somethin'.”
“Mm...Nick?” My frown still in place.
“Hah, yeah, it's me.”
I looked around my surroundings, seeing unfamiliar furniture, and an unfamiliar room, that I was in.
“...Where am I?”
My stomach growled at me, hungrily, as soon as I smelled a delicious aroma in the air.
“Oh, your at my place...I found you unconscious in the forest. Here you go.”
He set a plate of sandwich that was stuffed with a bunch of turkey and thickish meat. I never enjoyed having my sandwich so full of things, but I was starving for some weird reason, so I wasn't going to be picky right now.
My forehead crease deepened,“What?...You did? Oh...thanks.”
I took the plate, taking a big bite out of it, slightly turning away from Nick's view. I didn't like eating in front of people I hardly knew, it was kind of uncomfortable. And how the heck did he know I was hungry?
He nodded “Yeah.”
I stayed silent, trying to remember what happened and how I got here, swallowing my food, then taking another large bite out of the sandwich.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Uh...mhm.”
I felt much better than I did before that cougar-
I sat up quickly, putting the sandwich down; my mind bringing all my memory back now.
“What's wrong?”
My pulse quickened, as I tried to find the right words to tell him what I had seen.
“I-I...I...saw...something.”
“What did you see?”
“...I saw a...cougar...and a...wolf.”
“Oh, cool. We have those kind’a animals out here. I guess it's new to you.”
I frowned, and then shook my head.
“Yeah, but...these were big!...They were huge!”
“Hah, I'm sure they were.”
“No, they were bigger than normal, though. I'm serious. And they were fighting too! And the cougar attacked me! See, look!”
I touched my shoulder to show him the injury, but there was nothing there, but pink markings. I frowned in confusion.
“Where did it go...?”
“I cleaned your shoulder up for you. But it didn't look like a cougar attacked you. I think you hit your head a little too hard, back there.”
I sighed in defeat.
“But I'm telling you the truth.”
“Malean, when I found you, you were knocked out. And looked like you had a bad fall. That's probably how you got those scratches on your shoulder. It was just a dream.”
“...Thanks...okay, but how can you explain how my sweater and shirt got torn?”
“Easy. You must have gotten caught by a tree branch or somethin'.”
I shook my head in disbelief. I would never feel so strongly about something if I knew that it really didn't happen.
“...I thought I was going to die...”
I whispered.
“That must've been one crazy dream then.”
Wow, I could tell Nick wasn't the soothing type.
I brushed off his coldness that was probably not on purpose. I couldn't help but shake my head slowly; I never had dreams this crazy before. And I know it was all real!...But his reasons of how I got hurt were making me believe otherwise; which was making me feel like I was a crazy person.
Nick brought me back to reality when he mentioned my family.
“Hey, does your family know that you’re out here?”
I gasped out loud in realization “Oh crap!...No, they don't.”
“Hah, then maybe you should give them a call.”
I nodded as I searched for my cell phone. I sighed when I found nothing but my camera, realizing that I had left it in the car.
"I don't have my cell phone on me.”
“It's okay. You can just use my home phone.”
“Oh okay, thanks.”
As I turned to slid off his bed, I assumed I'd feel pain from my body, but to my surprise; I felt nothing. My body felt stronger, healthier, refreshed, and for some odd reason, like I've been sleeping for more than a couple hours. This made Nick's assumptions all the more to believe.
Walking out of his bedroom, I searched his living room for a clock, noticing that it was six'o five p.m.
“Damn.”
“What?”
“How long was I knocked out for?”
“Mmm, about ten minutes, fifteen at the most.”
I frowned in disbelief.
“Really?”
“Yup.”
He answered as he handed me his home phone.
“Thanks.”
I slowly took the phone, afraid and embarrassed that I was about to get yelled at by my parents through the phone, in front of Nick.
I sat down on his couch, being careful not to kick the coffee table in front of me. Nick sat across from me in a lazy boy chair, not really looking at me. His eyes seemed to be somewhere else; he seemed to be deep in thought.
I slightly turned away from him, as I dialed my mom’s cell phone number instead of my dad’s (my mom was more of the nagging type, than the yelling type), thanking god that I somehow memorized it, since I usually didn't memorize numbers and address so quickly.
It took a while for her to answer, but when she did, she said hello as she'd usually say (kind of professional, having no idea it was me, since I was calling from Nick's home phone), but her voice held back something, as though she had just been crying.
“Mom, it's me.”
My mom collected herself, and then sighed in relief.
“Malean! Where the hell are you?!? We've been looking for you!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, I heard my dad in the background.
“Is that her?!”
“Yes. I'm on the phone with her.”
My face crumpled, I didn't like the sound of my dad’s voice when he was angry. I was thankful when she didn't pass the phone to him.
“I'm at a...friend’s house.”
“What?! We just moved here, how could you have any friends so soon??”
“I met him at the liquor store.”
She sighed in irritation “Where. Are. You??”
She pressed, and then I sighed, and said.
“I don't know! Hold on, let me ask him.”
I looked over to Nick, who was kind of smiling, listening to my conversation in amusement.
“Um...where do you live?”
“Hah, here in the forest.”
I frowned, not really wanting him to play around. I needed answers; I could feel my mom’s tension from the phone. I shook my head, my mom’s voice yelling from the phone, telling my other siblings that I was on the phone.
“Okay, but what's your address?”
I put the phone back to my ear, calling my mom who was still complaining about me.
“Mom? Mom!”
“Did he tell you??”
“No, not yet, he's about to tell me!”
I couldn't help but yell, while she tried to talk over me.
“Oh, come on! Hurry up!”
“Do you have a pen and paper ready??”
I heard my mom fumbling for paper, I knew she didn't have anything to write the address down. She began yelling at my siblings to find her a pen to write with. I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, what is it?!”
They found her a pen.
I looked over to Nick in irritation.
“He says in the forest.”
“The forest?!”
“Yes!”
God, this woman.
“How the hell are we going to find you?! Can't his parents bring you??”
“Can't your parents take me home?”
Nick shook his head and said.
“My parents are back in Louisiana, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
“And Jason and his parents went out.”
“Oh.”
My mom’s voice hurt my ear, rushing me for information.
“His parents are not here.”
I wasn't about to go into details for this inpatient women.
“Ugh! Okay, then just give me his address.”
“Okay, what's the address?”
As soon as he started telling me, I repeated it to her through the phone. Also that they would find his house easily, by following a trail in the dirt.
“Did you get that?
“Yes. We’re coming to pick you up. Be ready, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Alright, bye.”
“Bye.”
I searched for the button to finally get off the phone with her. I pressed the button hard, hanging up the phone, then setting it down.
I heaved out a heavy sigh, “Hah, sorry about that. My mom’s just...really worried.”
It was actually really her way of worrying, which was annoying.
“It's okay. I understand.”
“Here.”
I handed him back his phone.
“Thanks for letting me use it.”
“No problem.”
Silence came, until Nick began rambling.
“Oh, hey, have you ever played this game before, called 'Dead Men Rising'?”
“Uhh, no, but it does sound familiar.”
“It's such a bad-ass game, you should play it.”
I chuckled nervously, as I looked away, hoping that he wasn't about to invite me to play a game that I've never played before. I didn't enjoy feeling like an idiot when I didn't understand how to use the controllers to a new game. Plus; my mind was still thinking about what happened earlier.
“Haha, okay.” Was all I could say.
Nick went on and on about what him and Jason did over their weekend. He obviously had a big imagination, explaining how many inventions, and stunts they wanted to achieve. His random, spontaneous, and animated humor, made me laugh more than I had intended to.
After a while had passed, there was a knock on the front door.
I quickly got to my feet, knowing that my parents found his house. Nick walked ahead of me to open the door, as he looked to me, and said.
“Don't worry; I'm good with parents.” He smiled eagerly.
“Heh...”
I wondered what he'd say. Nick opened the door, and as soon as I saw my parents, I knew it was time to leave.
“Hey mom, hey dad.”
I said in a low voice.
Nick surprised me by smiling, sticking his hand out.
“Hello, I'm Nickloai. Nice to meet you.”
My dad shook his hand first, then my mom.
“Hey there, I'm Eddie.”
My dad said, giving off his friendly side, while my mom smiled, and said.
“Hi, I'm Marie. So what happened here?”
“Oh, I met Malean at the liquor store, I work there.”
“Ahh.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, but where did you disappear off to, Malean?”
My mom gave me a look, but before I could answer, Nick went ahead and answered for me.
“Oh, she went off into the woods, and then got lost. And since I live out here, we bumped into each other again, and then I brought her back here. I noticed that she kind’a got hurt, so I cleaned her cuts, and feed her.”
“Oh, thanks man, haha.”
My dad said, giving his famous grin.
“Yes, thank you for feeding my stupid daughter who got herself lost.”
I shook my head as I rolled my eyes at my mom’s comment. She was kidding, but it was still embarrassing. Nick just laughed, and said.
“It's no problem.”
“How did you get hurt, anyway?”
My mom asked, not sounding the least bit concerned.
“Oh, I fell down, and a tree attacked me.”
I said, kidding around, but it was pretty much the truth...I guess.
“You clumsy girl.” She shook her head in disapproval.
I sighed and said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Alright, well we should get going. Her brothers and sisters are back at the new house, wondering if she's alive still, and waiting for dinner.”
“Haha, okay. It was nice meeting you both.”
“You too.”
My dad said, then turned and walked back to the car.
“Nice meeting you too. Bye. Come on, Malean.”
“Coming.”
I walked out of his front door, but Nick stopped me, by grabbing my wrist, and saying with the most serious tone I've never heard him use before.
“Hey, Malean...be careful out there, kay?”
“Heh...okay, I will. Thanks for everything...um, do you have a cell phone?”
And just like that, he was back to grinning, all seriousness gone.
“Yup. Do you have unlimited texting?”
“Yeah. I'll just give you my number.”
“Okay.”
As soon as I gave him my number, I said goodbye, and left.
**
Driving back home was as annoying as I knew it would be. My parents raising their voices at me about my disappearance. All I could say was “I know, I know.” and “Yes, I'm not gonna' do it again.”
When we got home, I tried to ignore most of my sibling’s questions to get to my room. I was tired of all this commotion and I wanted to be alone.
I went to my room, Isabella following, since we had to share the bedroom. We've shared a room ever since I could remember. Isabella shut our door, as she continued to watch me with her worried gaze.
I plopped down on my bed, and tried not to think about my 'dream'; or nightmare. But Isabella wanted answers.
“What happened to you??”
I sighed, knowing this would come “Mom and dad already told you...I got lost.”
She shook her head, disapproving, “I told you not to go...did you get hurt?”
“Yeah...but it wasn't anything serious. My shoulder just got scratched up.”
I said as I pulled off my sweater to examine it.
Isabella came to sit next to me to see for herself.
“Let me see...oh my god...”
She grabbed my arm, both of us eying the pink scratches, carefully. I didn't notice until now how far they traveled. It slightly started from the left side of my back, to my shoulder.
“Uhi, you should of listened to me.”
“I knooow.”
She lighty traced the markings with her fingertips.
“Does it hurt?”
I shook my head truthfully “No...but it still feels fresh, since it just happened today.”
“So that guy Nick helped you?”
I nodded “Yeah...he found me...look Bell, if I tell you something, you can't tell mom or dad, okay?”
Bell was her nickname in our family, since I'm the one who started calling her that.
“Okay, what is it?”
I sighed as I tried to find the right words to begin with. I needed to tell her this. Whenever I was unsure about something, I would usually open up to her.
“Okay....I didn't really get lost, well, I guess I did, but I was fine until I got caught by this tree, my damn foot got stuck...then I tripped, and my fatass rolled down this, like hill...and I ended up in a cave...Isabella...I saw a cougar...”
She gasped in shock “You did??”
“Yeah! And a wolf!”
“Oh my god, what happened, what did you do, were they close to you??”
“Yeah, the wolf started fighting with the cougar!....Then the cougar attacked me...”
“WHAT!?”
I shushed her as I fell onto my back to lay down. I started up at the ceiling, while Isabella pressed for an answer.
“Tell me what happened, Malean!”
“I don't know!...I was bleeding a lot though...”
I ignored her gasp of shock as I continued.
“...That's how my shoulder got hurt...I don't really remember what happened next...but then I woke up in Nick's house...”
“He didn't see anything when that all happened??”
“No, he wasn't there...he said that when he found me, I was unconscious on the ground, that I hit my head and everything that I saw was a 'dream'...”
Isabella frowned with confusion.
“How could it have been a dream if it really happened?”
“I know!”
Her sentence excited me, since she was obviously not buying Nick's excuse either. I shook my head and said.
“But I don't know what to believe...”
“Why?”
“Cause'...these animals were fucking huge! Bigger than you can imagine, Bell!”
I stood on top of my bed to try and show her how tall they would be if they were in our room.
“Like that freaking tall, I'm not kidding.”
I pointed to the molding of our door frame.
“Whoa, what the fuck?!? You’re kidding...but if that's what happened; then why are you still able to move...?”
I sat back down as I wondered the same thing.
“I'm so not kidding!...I don't know...I felt like I was; going to die after it attacked me; my body felt so weird too....but when I woke up; it felt like it didn't happen...”
Isabella hugged me tightly, then kissed my cheek, and said.
“Well, whatever happened, I'm glad you’re okay. You had us worried. Don't do that again!”
I smiled “I won't...but I still don't know...it all was too real, Bell.”
We were startled when our mom came in.
“Go to sleep already, you guys. We have to unpack the boxes and bags tomorrow, so get some sleep, so you won't be so tired in the morning.”
Isabella and I sighed together, and then added an “Alright” and nods before she shut the door.
♠ ♠ ♠
Gonna need some comments this time if I'm going to update again.:P