d121

I think she's there.

I'm standing in the middle of the grass field, clad in a dark blue gown, a yellow thing draping off my shoulders, and a gold cord to match.

In front of me are a row of those folding tables, with grad caps and certificates on top. Beyond the tables stands a crowd, but I can't see any of them.

For some reason I'm standing in a row of specific grads, while the rest of my class is grouped up off to the side. Somebody says something and everybody cheers and throws their caps into the air.

I lean forward and grab one of the caps off the table and throw it as far as I can. It sails across wildly, landing somewhere with the rest of the grads.

The next thing I know, I'm in some sort of Chinatown. I'm with a girl, but it's not her. I only vaguely know her name, it starts with a C I think.

She says to me

hey let's go here

and points to a little produce mart. Something tells me to not go, but she grabs my hand and I don't do anything to stop her from leading me in.

Somehow we end up at the back of store, and I remember. Something really bad happened here.

Her hand is gone, and she starts walking down a hallway. Suddenly I remember what happened to me last time. I remember walking into that room, and feeling a dread and depression swallow me whole. One step in and it was ice cold.

I shout at her, tell her not to go, but she does anyways. She turns to the left into an open doorway, and within a second she jumps out.

She's visibly shooken, and starts running back to me. As she reaches me, she says something about how violent they were. I reach out to comfort her, when I spot something behind her, at the back of the hall.

Out of a doorway to the right, two girls walk out, holding hands. They're both very young, but one is older. The younger one holds onto what's left of a teddy bear with her left hand.

I say

we need to go

and we run.

I wake up. My heart is pounding and the image of the two girls is etched into my head. I reach over to my bedside and flick on my lamp.

I try closing my eyes but I keep imagining the two girls opening my bedroom door and walking in. I check the time and sigh.

6:25.

Giving up on the hope of any more sleep, I spend the next eternity on my phone until I hear the sounds of my mother getting ready for the day. Bless her soul, for that, and for making sure I can make my 9:30 class.

I sigh internally and shut off my phone and eyes.

goodnight