Stretching, yawning, then turning over, he smiled. Upon reaching out for his wife of one year today, he realized he was alone. The sheets cold from the fan, he pulled away immediately. "Jess?" he called out. "Hun, do you know what today is?" There was no answer. Still smiling, he got out of bed and put his robe on. "Jess?" he called again. Still no answer. After using the restroom, he sauntered into the kitchen. How odd, he thought. Jessica was an avid coffee drinker. If she was awake, then there would be coffee brewing, but this was not the case. 2
"Jess?" he again called for his beloved wife, a bit worriedly. 3
Wandering through the kitchen, dining room, then entering the living room, Seth noticed the tv on. Only it was not on a specific channel, only static played with the volume set to mute. Confused, he turned the tv off. "Jessica? Honey?" 4
Walking through the living room and entering the hall, Seth recalled something that had happened in the middle of the night. Jessica had woken him, though not intentionally, with her crying. She was upset about a bad dream, but could not explain to him what the dream was about. He was too tired to fully console her, so he gave her a kiss and fell asleep soon after. He hoped the brief comfort would not ruin their day. He had big plans for them today. 5
Opening the door to the guest bedroom, Seth gasped. "Jess!! Are you okay? What's wrong, hun? Jess? Talk to me!" Jessica was sitting on the floor to the right of the bed with a teddy bear in her hands. Her face was pale, and her eyes unblinked. She was staring at something or through something, he was not sure. "Jess!! Are you okay? JESS!!! Oh God, Jess, what is wrong?" He received no answer and no reaction. 6
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Fairies. No, fireflies. Butterflies on fire. Screaming. Indigo translucence. Floating but getting nowhere. 8
Jessica stared at or through the wall, in a trance. What am I doing here? Where am I? She knew where she was and that she was immobile. What she didn't know was where her mind was. Whatever had her was keeping her brainwaves captive forcing her to see a combination of two worlds. She could hear Seth calling for her, she could see the wall in front of her, and she could feel the teddy bear in her arms. But she couldn't move, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe, and she couldn't do anything about it. A small gust of wind blew through her ears sounding like that of a shell by the ocean. As it grew louder, it became more powerful. Her ears felt like they would explode. The roaring became ferocious and pounded on her eardrums. A voice whispered, perhaps a child's voice. She wasn't sure and tried not to listen. This place, whatever it was, existed only in her mind, but controlled her phsyically. As terrified as she was, she was able to remain calm. Something, somewhere was giving her a peace. She wanted to fight it, but couldn't. Instinct told her this force was not angry, just perhaps confused. 9
~~~~~~~ 10
Seth ran to the phone and dialed for help. "Please, you've got to help me..please". As he ran back to his wife, she gasped for air, choking in between breaths. She fell over on her side, tears in her eyes, and blood dripping from her ears. The teddy bear stumbled from her arms. Seth's panic gripped his heart, and he couldn't speak. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her blue lips. "Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God." 11
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Jessica had never felt this tired before. She did not want to sleep; her nightmares always came at night. But whatever this nurse kept giving her gave her no choice. The nightmares stopped. But still the hospital refused to let her go home. "Rest and recuperation," they said. They gave it another week or so. She felt as if she could act normal if they would stop feeding her medication; her mind felt refreshed after her one week stay. Besides, she was so worried about her husband. He came to see her every day, worry and grief stricken. "We're still going to have that anniversary," he said today. "We better," she giggled. At 9 PM, he stood up to go, kissed her on the cheek and said he loved her. There was a distance in his eyes, an emptiness in his voice, and a pale glow about him. Something was wrong, but she dared not ask. She smiled and waved as he walked away. 13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~14
A blur of flashing lights, uniformed men and women, radio static, and cold night air bit at Seth's state of mind. Trying to recollect the day, he exhaled smoke from his Camel cigarrette. He was never a smoker. But tonight the offer from Officer Pane was irresistable. One week ago, his wife was admitted into the hospital for psychiatric treatment. He had fought to keep her home, but the medics advised otherwise. After being pushed out of the hospital at the close of visiting hours, Seth took the long way home. Nothing had gone as planned, and life had turned into a nightmare. His life was upside down, and he couldn't do anything about it. After failing to fall asleep on his own, he drank a cap full of Nyquil to calm him down. He drifted to sleep involuntarily only to awake in a cold sweat an hour later. He was crying aloud, holding himself, rocking back and forth, and muttering something. When he awoke, he froze in fear. Everything he had dreamed escaped his mind, but the terror lingered. He immediately phoned the Officer who arrived the day of his first 911 call. More confusion and now anger. He was frustrated with himself for giving in to his stress, but terrified that he felt no control. It was as if an unseen force was able to control his mind during the hour of slumber, yet he could not even remember in what way. 15
"You sure you don't want to go to the hospital? I can drive you," Officer Pane suggested. 16
"Yeah" Seth had no words. 17
"Let's wrap it up," Pane announced as he put away his notepad. "Well, if you need anything, you call." He handed Seth his card. "Maybe you should stay with a friend tonight." 18
"I'm fine" 19
And the lights stopped, the uniforms disappeared, the radios faded, and the night turned to morning. 20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~21
It was good to have her home. Seth hugged his wife the moment they both arrived home. The last two weeks felt like years, and he couldn't believe he survived it. He hadn't had another nightmare, and his life was beginning to come together again. 22
After unpacking Jessica's suitcase, Seth retrieved a box from the closet. Jessica smiled as he handed it to her. "And what's this? hmmm," She tried to contain the butterflies in her stomach. Seth always had been a romantic. "Open it," he demanded impatiently. Inside was a beautiful evening gown, deep blood red, almost black. Jessica gasped as she gingerly held it up against her petite form. "OH, it's SO beautiful! But where..?" 23
"Shhh, put it away, it's for tonight."24
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~25
Seth loved the new cell phone Jessica had bought him. Complete with one simple ringtone which he loved, an organizer, calculator, and rather large address book, it was perfect for his needs. And the banner read "Forever In Your Eyes", something he had promised in a whisper to her on their wedding night. She was absolutely stunning in that dress. Late or not, he had been able to give her the anniversary she deserved. As he stared into her eyes, he could not help but notice a strange light. Unmoving, bright, yet small in the outer corners of her eyes. A blue, almost white light...perhaps only a reflection of the candles. 26
"Would you like some more wine?" the waiter asked. 27
"No, thank you," Seth replied. He glanced back at his wife's eyes, and the light was gone. 28
"You okay?" She questioned the strange look on his face. 29
"Uh huh, let's go home."30
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 31
As Seth turned the key, his heart began to ache. The fear he dreaded would come back finally did. He stopped before opening the door. "Hun?" Jessica asked. Get a hold of yourself, damnit. This is ridiculous. "I'm fine, honey." 32
He opened the door and stepped inside, but stopped right away. Before Jessica had a chance to come in after him, he backed up and slammed the door. "Hun, what? What's wrong?" 33
"I'm seeing things or something. Let's try this again." 34
He opened the door more slowly this time, losing his breath before stepping inside. Jessica pushed her way beside him, crying out. There in the dark, were brightly lit words written in mid air as if by a plane, hanging, suspended in the living room. They read: 35
WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN? 36
to be continued...37
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