Noone In Particular

He threw her up in the air and let the little girl fall back into his arms. This was his daughter and he was her one and only daddy. Never to be replaced. She loved him with all of her twelve year old heart. She never thought he'd be taken away from her so soon. It was a warm afternoon. The type of day that Robert Zuniga would take his little angels, four year old Emily and twelve year old Hazel to the park to play. They were his pride and joy. Robert and Hazel were playing baseball while little Emily and their mother were setting up a little picnic for whenever they finished their little game. Hazel swung her bat and ran around the sandy diamond. He smiled and watched her run around. She crashed into him and they laughed. They got up off the ground and he took her to her mother and sister to eat the lunch they dutifully prepared. Shooting pain hit Robert's chest in an instant and he fell to the floor. The last thing he heard before he blacked out were the panicked screams from his wife and daughters. He died before he got to the hospital.

Hazel woke up gasping and sweating in bed. These dreams were foreign to her because she hadn't dreamed about her father in two years. She was scared beyond belief. She wasn't sure if she should consider something like this a sign or if he should just ignore it. 

Hazel felt a weird sour prickling sensation at the back corners of her eyes. A feeling that was also foreign to her. She willed for the tears to not fall, trying to blink them away, but during her third attempt the tears came at full force. The emotions that were built up from everything from the past few years hit the small girl in waves. Her body quivered because of her wracking sobs as she felt a wave of sickness pass over her. She stood up with a start, running to the bathroom attached to her room. She threw herself down to the floor and dry heaved into the porcelain throne, emptying all of the contents from the previous day. Hazel moved away from the toilet and laid on the cold hard linoleum floor of her small bathroom, curling herself into a ball. Still crying, she laid there.

I guess this is what Chris meant by exploding, she thought to herself. And then she did something she hadn't done in five years, she laughed. She laughed at herself, for being so utterly ridiculous, she laughed at the jokes Chris had told her in the past, she laughed as she remembered the puppet shows her sister would put on for her hoping they would make her laugh or smile, she laughed with tears still freely flowing from her icy blue eyes.

Hazel then got up and moved towards her bedroom, glancing at the glowing red numbers on her bedside table that read 3:36AM. Her laughing had died down but she still chuckled as she reached for her cell phone, dialing the oh so familiar number of her best friend.

"Who the hell is this!? Calling me at fucking...." Hazel heard some shuffling, " Three fucking thirty in the morning! Oliver I swear to Ghandi if this is you I will rip your dick off and..." Hazel giggled quietly into the phone.

"Chris calm down, it's me."

"Me who?"

"Hazel." She giggled again.
 
"Haze? Did you... Did you just giggle?" Chris asked, sounding more awake an alert.

"Oui madame, I had this dream and then all of a sudden I was crying and then I was laughing and now I feel good, lighter than ever. Like something huge had been lifted off my shoulders."

"Wow, Hazey, that's so great. I'm so happy. I just. Ah, Ahaha."

"So am I Chris. Maybe not as happy, but still pretty happy." Hazel said with a small smile in her face.

"Well that's great Haze. I gotta get some sleep, but I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Yeah, um okay. See you tomorrow, or today or yeah, whatever, g'night Chris"

"Sweet dreams Hazey day."

Hazel settled into her bed, pulling the covers all the way up to her chin, just the way her dad use to do, and for the first time in five years, Hazel Zuniga fell asleep with a smile on her face.