Midnight

It was silent. Icy tendrils clawed at her bare feet, gluing them to the unforgiving rocks she had landed on. Nothing could save her now.
She glanced nervously around. Where was she? Complete darkness shrouded the scene around her. She could barely see her hands. Very slowly, the light came, White radiance shot across the sky, but relief was only short lived. The sea raged all around, crashing onto the rocks she stood on, surrounding her. How did she get here?
With the light, sound returned. Thunderous roars filled her ears, deafening her, numbing her senses.
As she glanced over the restless ocean, something caught her attention. A pitch black chasm was swallowing the waves, racing towards the rocks; and her. This was it. However much she tried, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Her mousy brown hair blew over her tear stricken face, lashing out on her neck.
The seemingly endless pit was picking up speed, and size. It was so close now. She could see the black water swirling about inside; a never ending whirlpool.
Red sparks flew over the horizon, chasing and destroying the white light.
Another wave crashed into the rocks, spraying white foam into the blood red sky. The whirlpool had grown into a twister, and was racing across the water at even greater speeds. It came closer, and closer, and….
Nothing. Just darkness. She blacked out.1

~*~2

Ingrid woke with a start. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, and her breathing was heavy. After a moment of looking at the blue ceiling, she pulled away her duvet and clambered shakily out of bed, the sun already high in the sky.
She wiped her hair from hr face, and thought about The Dream. She had been having the same one for just over a week now.
Ingrid was just about to think about why she kept on having it, when her eyes met the clock. 10:15 am. Ten fifteen! She had already missed her first lesson, and was supposed to be halfway through English with Mr Greenwell. Ohh…He was going to be fuming by now!
She quickly got changed into her school gear, and started getting ready for school. She checked the date on her calendar; Tuesday 22 July.
Five minutes later, she ran into the kitchen and almost immediately tripped over her cat, falling head first onto the table corner.
“Jasper, can’t you be a little more careful where you decide to lie down?” Ingrid anted as she grabbed her bag and a cereal bar. Her mother was already at work. Thank goodness she hadn’t decided to take the day off, or Ingrid would have had to explain why she had had a lie in, again.
I’ll worry about that later, she thought as she shot out the front door and began making her way to school.3

~*~4

Ingrid burst through the swinging doors, only to find she was late. Again. The teacher didn’t even look up as she arrived, but simple remarked, “Ingrid, do I have to remind you that you only had one more chance to be late without getting a detention? Come here now.” She did as she was told, and Mr Greenwell began to write on the dreaded pink slip. “I will be seeing you tonight at four.”
“Okay sir. Sorry I’m late, sir.” Ingrid shuffled across the classroom, taking her seat next to me.