Winter Nights

*Dream*

Crunch, crunch, crunch...Is all I heard under my feet as I was running; running far away from my fear. The wind was strong; as strong as my fear was; as strong as the man who was chasing me; I feared the moment he caught up to me; what was he going to do to me? I hid behind a tree; in hopes that he would give up and leave me alone.

As I hid I looked to the left of me; I caught eyes with this boy... he seemed so familiar. He had his head down; staring into a glowing orb and chanting something under his breath. Suddenly the fear escaped as we made eye contact, everything around me grew dark...

....And then I woke up.

I glanced around me, everything seemed the same as from when I fell asleep. Except for the fear of the dream still hidden in the shadows of my mind. The face of the young boy mirroring my thoughts as I tried to remember where I had seen him before.

I grabbed my journal I kept with me from my purple drawstring backpack and reflected on the dream that I just had.

January 15th,

I saw him in my dreams again, that boy; its like he's trying to tell me something. He never says a word he just stares at me and all my fears are driven away. And then when I wake up, I forget his face; so it's not like I could try to remember him even if I wanted to. All sorts of different things happen in these dreams, whether I'm being chased by some ravenous beast; or someone I know and love is being tormented; he always seems to approach and provide comfort and save me. Who is he? I wish to know...anyway; I'm so cold and I'll have to move on from this place and find somewhere else to stay. I've already been warned once by authorities that camping out is prohibited; I'm considering heading over to one of the shelters for the rest of the night and then catching a bus to who knows where come morning time.

I sighed and closed my journal and shoved it back into my bag, I couldn't believe that I was actually going through with this whole running away thing but it was the best thing for me. I couldn't stay another day with my Aunt; after my mother had passed away in the fall she had became ruthless and resentful of me, blaming me for her passing. Even though we both knew it was the cancer that had taken her away from us. Regardless, her actions had driven me away from there; I haven't heard from her since I left so it's not like she gave a shit about me anyway.

My thoughts stopped suddenly when I heard the sound of a branch breaking, I spun around and grabbed my flashlight off the ground and shook the snow off it; the button had frozen shut from the cold and wouldn't turn on. The sound of snow crunching began to get louder and closer, and I saw a second flashlight turn on and shine at my face.

Seeing as it was the middle of the night; who else could be out here on this cold wintery night?

“You can't be out here.” Two security guards retreated from the bushes and glanced at me curiously, “This is private property.”

"I was literally just about to leave anyway."

“Where are you headed?” The officer asked taking a step closer his feet crunching in the fallen snow and examining the set up I had.

“I’m not sure right now…” I replied honestly looking down at my feet.

“Seeing as you’re not causing any trouble, we’ll give you a ride to a youth shelter. At least you’ll have a roof over your head for the night.” I nodded in agreement and hung my bag over my shoulder and made my way out of the cold forest and into a clearing where their squad car was parked.

I hopped in the passenger side of the vehicle and strapped myself in, the two officers slid in the vehicles up front and we set off through the quiet night streets.

The officer whose nametag said Bill turned around and glanced at me slightly before asking, “How old are you anyway, you look pretty young.”

“I just turned 19 two weeks ago.” I informed him and looked out the window hoping the rest of the ride there would be silent.

As we approached the building I would be staying at for the remainder of the evening they pulled up to the curb and I hastily opened the door and slammed it shut.

I gave a nod and a quick thanks to the security guards and watched as they tore out of the parking lot, I turned and made my way up to the door of the shelter. I was nervous, but too tired to really feel anything either. My fingers were also very numb and regretted not buying gloves before taking off.

I got up to the front desk of the shelter and approached the old lady running the place; she was in her mid-thirties and seemed tired and impatient.

“Name please?”

“Uhm, Faith Jordon.” I told her as she looked up at me from her worn out glasses, typing it in and still eyeing me down.

I nodded and turned to follow the instructions on the wall to the rooms, it let me down a long winding hall and I couldn’t find a light switch. I pulled out my iPhone and used the light on it to guide me to the rooms.

I finally made it there and stumbled around until I found an empty bed to sleep on, I laid down for a moment and closed my eyes briefly before reaching into my bag and pulling out my notebook to write in it for that day.

January 15th Continued…

I finally have a roof over my head; it’s been about a week since that had happened. I’m not cold anymore, even though this bed I’m lying on isn’t the most comfortable but it will have to do. I’m not sure where to go next after tonight but I will decide that when the morning comes. I’m not too worried, I saved up enough money to last me for a while until I find a place to settle down, I submitted my final assignment for my psychology class so I don’t really have to worry about school anymore either. I miss Mom, so much. I wish there was something I could have done to make her stay longer. I wish I could have gotten Aunt Hilary the help she needed before everything got out of hand. I don’t miss dad though, he caused enough torment on our family and I don’t care if I don’t ever see him again. I’m starting to fall asleep now, but I will write again tomorrow if I think about it.

***

The next morning I awoke to the sun shining brightly through the window, I lied there for a moment before realizing where I was at that moment. The events of last night still lingering in my mind, but I was still warm and was glad I made the decision to come here.

I ruffled through my backpack before I found a change of clothes to wear for that day, leggings and a long sweater-dress. It was something my mom had given me for Christmas that year and I always loved wearing.

I sat down at the table of the noiseless cafeteria, there didn’t seem to be that many people here. I was pleased about that.

I turned around to leave before jerking into someone; I looked up and noticed a boy about my age standing before me. He had gloomy eyes and was wearing a black hoodie that covered his medium length dark hair; he seemed familiar but I couldn’t place as to where I had seen him before.

“I'm sorry.” I muttered, and he gave me a slight smile and examined at me for a moment then shook his head and took off out the door. I shrugged it off and left the building, my next plan of action was to go to the nearest bus station and catch the next bus to the next town. I wasn’t about to stay in one place longer than required.

The winter air brushed over me as I made my way through the busy city streets, I got out my phone and opened up google maps so I could locate the nearest bus station. I found one and noted that it was a half hour walk away; I stopped at a nearby coffee shop and purchased a coffee before following the map to the station. The warm taste of fresh brewed coffee pierced my lips and I sipped it down, the warmth instantly soothing my cold throat. My hands warmed up as I held the coffee, exchanging between both hands.

After walking through the unfamiliar city, I finally reached my destination and opened the doors; there was many people walking about waiting around to get where they are going. I looked at a map on the side of the wall, I had made my decision and walked up to the counter to purchase a ticket.

"When's the next bus to Whitebridge?" I asked anticipating it was soon.

"It leaves in an hour, and gets there at approximately 2 pm." he immensely upbeat lady replied as she pulled it up on her computer screen

I glanced at my phone to check the time quickly; it was almost 9:30. "Great, can I get a ticket then?" I asked her drawing out some money.

"Not a problem, that will be 50$ please!" I handed her a 50$ bill and she printed off my ticket for that bus and handed it to me. “Enjoy your trip!”

"Thanks." I replied heading over to sit down to await the arrival of the bus, playing on my phone. Just as I was sitting there sipping what was left over from my coffee I noticed the boy I ran into earlier make his way into the building, a large bag draped over his shoulder and another one in his hand. He had his music playing loudly as I could still hear it over his blue headphones. As he walked in, he had tucked away a package of cigarettes into his pocket and walked up to the counter. After talking with the lady for a moment he made his way over to one of the tables and sat down and looked at the time on his phone. I realized that I had just been watching him the entire time, as he glanced over at me and gave me a familiar glaze. But he got up after pulling another cigarette out of his pocket and heading outside to smoke it.

After he had returned from outside he began pacing back and forth in front of the doors; then suddenly an announcement rung over the speaker.

"I apologize for the inconvenience but the bus headed to Whitebridge will be delayed by a half hour."

"Dammit." I heard the boy murmur under his breath, looking aggravated.

Turns out, we were taking the same bus.