“Where’s your red nose Rudolf?” somebody yelled as the boys burst into more laughter.

He tried to walk with a normal easy stroll but he felt tense and awkward. It was hard to normalize this situation while he battled both embarrassment and fear. Embarrassed everyone was staring at him and fear that another snowball would smack the back of his head…or worse, that a sudden shove to his back would throw him again face first to the ground.

“We want to see you fly Rudolf!”

“So would I,” he thought amid their jeers.

His head suddenly lurched forward and he felt the cold sting of another snowball. He didn’t pause to brush off the snow, determined instead to distance himself between himself and the school.

He both loved and hated his name. Christmastime was the worst. Most of the rest of the year passed with only minor incidents but after Thanksgiving the teasing continually got worse. By the last day of school before Christmas break he expected this. Even the snowballs.

But his name was all he had from his father. He held onto the name in the same way that he held on to his imagined life with a father he’d never met. Somewhere out there was a man named Rudolf who understood. And Rudolf tolerated the teasing because the pain of letting go of the idea that someday he’d find his father hurt more than the snowballs.
After a few blocks, the mob lost interest and Rudolf was left to walk in peace. He shook the icy water out of his hair and wiggled his shoulders to rub his coat on his back. It soaked up some of the freezing slush that had drizzled halfway down his spine. He picked up his pace to get home where he could take off his wet shirt and wrap up in a blanket.

The house was cold and empty. His mom worked two jobs and wouldn’t be home until just before the sun rose tomorrow morning. She’d sleep a few hours and then rush out to catch the bus. Rudolf spent most of his time in the dark, quiet house reading. He tossed his coat on the couch and quickly stripped off his wet shirt, careful to keep it from touching his bare skin. He grabbed the heavy wool blanket on the couch, wrapped it tightly around his body, and collapsed in a cold shiver onto the soft dusty cushions. He spent most of his life alone on this couch.

After his shivering subsided, he reached one arm out from inside the warm blanket to the table behind him and flicked on the light. In the same motion, he grabbed his book. For the next five hours he was happy. In these adventures he had friends and people who loved him. Men admired him. Girls oogled over him. And he stomped out evil and saved the world.

When his eyes finally dropped shut and the book fell to his chest, Rudolf slept with a smile as his escapades continued throughout the night. When he opened them the next morning, the smile stayed in place. He loved dreaming. It had been a wonderful night. In the real word, his mother had come and gone again. In this world his warm breath form a tiny cloud in the cool air above him. He tightened his grip on the book, still resting on his chest, lifted it, and escaped for the rest of the day. He finished it just after the sun stole the meager winter daylight.

His stomach growled. He rolled off the couch and stood, careful to keep the blanket wrapped tightly around him. He moved through the house to the kitchen and looked for something to eat. The fridge wasn’t completely empty but it didn’t have much to offer; a pickle jar with only green juice, old cottage cheese that looked more like blue cheese, and a carton of milk that was on its way to becoming cottage cheese.

Earlier in the week he bought can of Speghettios for 99 cents at the mini market down on the corner. They were probably still on sale. He shuffled through the kitchen drawer for spare change. Unsuccessful, he went back to the front room and searched the bookshelf. He let his blanket fall to the floor and ruffled through the cushions of the couch and chair. Seventy five cents later, he decided to make the best of it. Wearing three shirts, both pairs of his pants, three dirty socks (two on each foot and one on each hand), and his coat, he ventured out into the dark cold Christmas Eve.

Near the market he checked a payphone hoping for a break. It was empty. Inside the market he confirmed the Speghettios were still on sale and even spent a good minute looking at the picture of the little round noodles on the cover. He paused on his way out of the store and thought about buying a Snickers bar instead. But he wanted the Spheghettios. He figured he could find some change somewhere.

Outside he walked down the streets. Several of the houses had blinking lights along the roof and windows. Most of them had a Christmas tree on display in one of the front windows. He wondered what it was like past the glowing trees. Did families actually sit together for a Christmas dinner? Did they read Christmas stories? Maybe sing around the piano? He hoped so.

A large SUV in the distance slowed and turned into a driveway several houses ahead and on the other side of the road. Car doors opened and closed. He saw a few shadowed figures walk into the house and a couple more around to the back of the car. The back swung open and the people unloaded the vehicle. He heard muffled voices as the figures, loaded with grocery bags, walked into the house.

As he drew even with the house, a dark Christmas tree in the window suddenly sprang to life. As he watched, something near the car caught his eye. Curious, he walked across the street and saw a grocery bag laying on the ground near the vehicle.

He crossed the street and picked it up. It was heavy. He opened the bag and wasn’t surprised to see it was full of food. He was, however, surprised to see a can of Spheghettios. For a moment he hesitated. He could take the can and leave the rest. He didn’t consider taking the whole bag. In fact, he wouldn’t have even considered taking anything but Spheghettios had been on his mind all night. They wouldn’t miss a mere can of Spheghettios. Their nice car, nice house, bags of food…why shouldn’t he take it? He could leave the rest on the porch, ring the bell, and run.

He walked up and rang the bell. The door swung open and he held out the bag. The warm air rushing out of the house carried smells that made his mouth water.

“You forgot this,” he said.

The teenage boy at the door looked down at him for a moment.

“Oh, thanks.” He said and took the bag. “Have a Merry Christmas,” he said with a quick smile.

An irritated yell from back inside the house interrupted Rudolf’s response, “Come on Jake, we’ve already been waiting all night!”

Jake glanced around and then back to Rudolf.

“Thanks, you too,” Rudolf answered as he stepped back.

The door shut and Rudolfo turned and began walking down the steps. He reached the sidewalk and hurried to the left and out of view of the front window. And then he stopped. He felt the can in his pocket. He wanted it so bad. He could already smell and taste them. But he was starting to feel sick. He remembered the boy wishing him a Merry Christmas and felt worse.

He rang the bell a second time. A large woman wearing a red sweater decorated with green Christmas designs answered the door.

He avoided her eyes and held out the can in his sock covered hand.

“You forgot this too,” he said.

She didn’t take the can. With his head hung low he rolled his eyes up. She was staring down at him and he quickly looked away, ashamed. He thrust out his hand again hoping she would take it. But she didn’t.

He looked up and she was covering her mouth with her hand. ‘She knows,’ he thought. ‘She knows I stole it.’
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was hungry.”

“What’s,” she cleared her throat and seemed to struggle to speak. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“Rudolf,” he answered.

“Like the Reindeer?” she said.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Like the Reindeer,” he said without enthusiasm.

“What are you doing alone tonight?” she asked.
He shrugged.

“Won’t your family be worried?” she asked.

“Nah,” he said and held out the can again.

She took the can and bent down so her eyes were even with his.

“We are just getting ready to eat and we have plenty. I would be honored to have such a fine young man join us for dinner. Would you like to come inside?”

Rudolf wanted to but shook his head, no. He felt bad.

“I’m sorry about the Sphegettios,” he said, again avoiding her eyes.

“Rudolf,” she said.

When he looked at her she had tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Thanks for stopping. Thanks for reminding me what Christmas is really about. Sometimes I get so caught up in everything I just…”

Rudolfo didn’t understand.

“Take this, at least,” she said and pushed the can back into his hand. “You deserve a lot more.”
He hesitated but accepted her gift.

She chuckled and sniffed. “You saved Christmas Rudolf.”
He was confused, but he smiled at her and shook the can, “So have you.”

“Stop by again some day, will you?”

He nodded.

“Promise?” she asked.

He looked back at her and nodded. “Ok, I will,” he grinned.
The looked at each other for a moment and Rudolf stepped back.

“Merry Christmas,” he said.

“Merry Christmas, Rudolf” she answered.

At first, I didn’t do anything. I thought it was a mistake or somebody talking behind me or in the other room. But twenty minutes later it happened again.

“The knife in the kitchen will be crimson by morning,” said the same dark voice.

This time I sat up and turned around. My brother, laughing, was watching the TV from the couch behind me.
“Don’t Hal!” I snarled. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing at you stupid,” he answered through his giggles.

I looked at Cindy. “Did you do it?”

“Shut up loser,” she said, “I can’t hear.”

I frowned and turned back around. It took several minutes to brush it off but soon I was once again laughing with both of them at the completely unrealistic antics of the teenagers. Another twenty minutes and the tall nerdy boy with glasses tripped over the cute girl. He fell and the kids around him laughed, Hal and Cindy behind me laughed, and I laughed too. Then he looked directly at the camera and instead of the squeaky voice I was used to, I heard the dark sinister voice from earlier.

“Susan, you are a very bad girl.”

I screamed, sat up, and covered my eyes and mouth with my hands. The laughing behind me stopped and an angry voice filled the room.

“SUSAN! SHUT UP!” yelled my sister.

I turned and glared at her. She looked back at me and raised her eyebrows.

“Well,” she said. “We can’t hear! Stop messing around.”

“But doesn’t that freak you out?” I said. “Why did he say that?”

“What?” she said and shook her head quickly to mock me.
I stared at her for several seconds and spun back to the screen. The geeky boy was talking to the cute girl. I was afraid to ask my question but had to do it.

“Didn’t you hear him say my name?” I said without turning around.

“SHUT UP!” she said. “Geez SUSAN!”

I got up and stormed out of the room and up the stairs. I was done with the TV and I did what I always do when I’m upset and need to calm down. I went up to my computer to write in my journal. I was using the computer before anyone had a chance to teach me to type so I learned on my own. As a result, when I write I stare at the keyboard and my fingers fly randomly around and I peck each key one by one with my index fingers. Surprisingly, I can type pretty fast like this (faster, in fast, than some of my teachers).

I was punching the keys like I wanted to punch my sister, complaining about how she always teases me when something felt wrong. It’s a feeling I get when I have typed something wrong but I don’t consciously realize it. It’s a gut feeling that says…oops, mistake! I stopped and looked at my screen. What I saw made me scream and lunge backwards, which caused me to fall back in my chair onto the floor. The next thing I remember was my dad’s voice.

“Susan? Susan?”

It was like a dream. Like the voice was coming from hundreds of miles away yet at the same time, it was right next to me. I opened my eyes and saw his face above me. For a moment I didn’t really know what was happening but then I remembered and jumped up into his arms and tried to hide from my computer.

“Woah! Sweetie. What’s going on? Are you alright?”
I pointed to my computer without lifting my head from his shoulder. He picked me up and I squeezed tighter as he sat on my chair. He read for a moment and then spoke in a solemn voice.

“Well, I can see we have a big problem here,” he said.
I nodded, knowing what he was talking about.

“You spelled arrogant and conceited wrong.”

I spun my head around and looked at the screen. The word I’d seen moments ago was gone and had been replaced with my angered ramblings.

“That’s not what I saw,” I said.

“You mean what you wrote,” he asked.

“No, that’s not what I saw. There was something else that I didn’t write. And…” I paused.

“And what?” he asked.

“It dripped down the screen like blood.”

He laughed and asked, “and what did they say?”

But I was mad and didn’t want to tell him. I stood up and walked out of the room. I started to go into his room, but then I saw the computer by his bed and I stopped. I turned and walked into Cindy’s room but her TV was just inside the door. Hal had a computer, the hallway had a computer, and I had nowhere to escape! I stepped into the bathroom and locked the door behind me.

“Susan?” my dad said several minutes later as he knocked lightly on the door. “Are you okay in there?”

“NO!” I said.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t talk about it. I was trying not to even think about it.

“Will you come and talk to me?”

Uneasy, I unlocked and opened the door. He picked me up and sat on the floor as he cradled me in his arms.
I told him what happened and he didn’t laugh or make fun of me. I even told him the word on my computer; “Murder.”

“How about if we turn off all the computers and the TV’s for the rest of the night?” he said. “Would that make you feel better?”

I nodded.

Cindy yelled in protest, but Dad made everyone shut down for the night and the house was quiet. Several hours later, we played cards to fill up the time normally on the TV and computers. Hal ended up mad cause he didn’t win and Cindy called me a cheater and said it was the worst day of her life as she stormed into her room. Dad said the game was over and went upstairs. Hal followed him and I was alone in the quiet family room.

I suddenly felt cold and afraid of the TV behind me. It was off, the room was quiet, and I felt like somebody was watching me. I felt like the TV was watching me. I couldn’t move and prayed somebody would come downstairs. I couldn’t even scream. I was too scared.

“Dad?” I finally said, weakly.

“Nope, not Dad,” the evil voice whispered me.
I jumped up and heard horribly wicked laughter behind me as I ran up the stairs.

It wasn’t easy, but I convinced my dad not only to let me sleep between him and mom, but to take the computer out of his bedroom. He said I was being really weird and we might have to make an appointment for me to see a therapist. I didn’t care. There was no way I was sleeping alone or near a computer or TV.

But even with my parents I was scared and couldn’t sleep. Scrunched in between Dad and Mom, arms wrapped around them both, I stared petrified at the ceiling for hours. In the dim blue moonlit room, I cringed at every creak and groan the house made throughout the night. But when I heard the TV downstairs click followed by static, my blood turned ice cold. I stared at the open door into the hall as my body quivered in fear.

A chilling whisper echoed through the house, “Suuuuuuuusssssannnnnn.”

“Dad!” I screamed and shook him. “Dad!”

He sat up and jumped out of bed. He stood by the bed for a minute, confused I think, and then looked at me.

“Susan! Why did you do that? You scared the hell out of me!” he said as he got back in bed.

“The TV dad,” I said.

“What about it?” he asked.

“It’s on downstairs! Somebody turned it on.”

He listened for a minute and got up out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. He descended the stairs and moments later I the TV went silent. He rattled the front door then opened and closed the garage door. After a few minutes he came back into the room.

“Why was the TV on?” he asked.

Mom was awake now too.

“I don’t know, I said. It just turned on.”

Something flashed in my dad’s hand and sheer terror filled my eyes with tears.

“What are you doing with that knife?” Mom asked.

“Oh, I just grabbed it when I was downstairs and thought somebody might be in the house,” he said and set it on the dresser. “But nobody was. The TV was on, which is strange.”

“Why didn’t you turn it off?” she asked.

“I di…” he started to say and stopped and listened. The TV was on again.

He turned and walked to the hallway and Sandi got out of bed to follow him. By the time I got out of bed to follow them, they were down the hallway.

“You are evil, Susan.” the voice said and I stopped in my tracks.

I grabbed the knife and held it in front of me. I could see partially into the hallway. The door was half open in front of me. Against the far wall a shadow flickered in the hallway as it shuffled and grew larger.

“Murderer. You evil little girl. You can’t hurt me!”

I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t move. I held out the knife. The door started to swing open. I screamed and swung the knife. It hit something and then a small body fell to the floor. Evil laughter filled the room as I stared horrified at my little brother, Hal, on the floor while red blood dripped down the knife in my hand.

That was five years ago. Hal still has a deep scar across his face. My family comes and visits me at the institution. Today my therapist thought it would be good for me to face my fears and look at a TV. I didn’t want to. I told her it was a bad idea but she pressured me into it. The voice told me I was a bad girl. It told me that by morning the night nurse would be strangled by the sheets from my bed. And I’m scared again.

The wind stopped, her bike stopped, and she sat frozen in the air. Confused she looked at the handlebars in front of her. The green grips, the red posts…and a strange circular…

“…Frying eggs, come and eat.”

Aubree opened her eyes. She wasn’t on a bike. She wasn’t flying. She focused on her alarm clock: 7:05.

“Come on kids, come and eat breakfast.” Again the voice of her mother echoed up the stairs and into her room.

She closed her eyes; trying to see the green handlebars and red posts of the bike. She tried to see the ground beneath her, but…nothing. It was gone. She grumbled and kicked the blankets off.

“Whose bike is that on the front lawn?” yelled her dad from downstairs.

Aubree sat up and glanced out of her bedroom window (which overlooked the front lawn). She stared in disbelief. A bright red bike with green handle grips was lying on its side in the middle of the lawn. She ran down the stairs, out the door, across the lawn and stood over the bike. For a moment, she stood frozen…afraid to look. It couldn’t be! She was positive she had never seen this bike before in her life. But what if it had the strange circular sticker…

She bent down and grabbed the handle. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and pulled the bike with her. Her mouth dropped open. There it was. A red and green swirly circular design right where she had seen it in her dream.

“Whose bike is that?” Her dad’s voice from behind her startled her.

She spun around and saw her dad standing on the front porch.

“I don’t know. But dad! I just had a dream about this bike.”

He nodded his head and mumbled a muffled “hmm.”

“No dad, you don’t understand. I dreamed about this bike. I’ve never seen it before in my life and I dreamed about it. Now here it is.”

They were both quiet for a minute.

“Well, you must have seen it and not realized it. Somebody has probably been riding it around the neighborhood…otherwise, how would it have ended up on our lawn?”

She thought for a minute. His explanation sounded good. “Yeah, that must be it.”

“But I don’t know whose it is,” she said and let go of the handle. The bike fell back to the ground and she turned and walked back towards the house.

Aubree put up a “found” sign on the street lights in the neighborhood without luck. After a week, her dad drove her and the bike to the police department and the mysterious bike was left so the city officials could find the owner. Another couple of weeks, and the bike was forgotten…almost. As Aubree sat on the school bus staring out the rain splattered window, the red and green circular swirls from the bike popped into her mind. She remembered sitting on the bike and flying over the rooftops. She closed her eyes and relaxed to the thrilling memory…until the sudden jerk of the bus jolted her out of the daydream and nearly out of her seat.

She hurried off the bus and ran into her school. Not because of the rain, but because she was anxious to talk to her friend, Jenicca. As she rounded the corner and entered her classroom, she expected to see Jenicca sitting at her desk reading. She rarely beat Jenicca to school and Jenicca was always reading when Aubree arrived. Today, however, Jenicca’s desk was empty; so Aubree waited (by sitting at her own desk and reading).

When the bell rang, Jenicca still hadn’t arrived. Normally at this point, Mrs. Smitkin (her teacher), would lead the class to salute the flag. Today, however, she sat at her desk with one hand holding the telephone to her ear. Her other arm, elbow resting on her desk, supported her head which was staring down. Every few seconds she closed her eyes and shook her head lightly while she spoke into the phone. The class was silent.

Mrs. Smitkin hung up the phone and took a deep breath. She lifted her head and looked directly at Aubree. Time seemed to stop for a moment as they locked eyes. Mr. Smitkin turned up the corners of her mouth forming a weak yet tender smile and stood up.

“I have some sad news,” she told the class. “Early this morning on the way to school Jenicca was involved in a car accident.”

Aubree’s chest pounded. Her mouth cracked open and she breathed fast and heavy. She stared wide-eyed at Mrs. Smitkin waiting for more information. The silence seemed endless. It was like the world was in slow motion. Afraid, Aubree waited to hear the next sentence which a part of her didn’t want to hear.

Mrs. Smitkin continued, “Aubree….Aubree….Aubree! Aubree, wake up.”

Aubree opened her eyes. Her mothers face hovered above her.

“You’re going to be late for school, time to get up.”

Her heart was still beating hard and she looked around her bedroom.

“Oh, thanks mom…thanks for waking me up.”

Mom gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room. Aubree smiled and rolled out of bed.

“Wait until I tell Jennica,” she thought.

An hour and a half later, she rounded the corner and entered her classroom. Jennica’s desk was empty. She froze and turned her head towards Mrs. Smitkin. Her teacher sat hunched over her desk…talking on the phone. Aubree was unable to move. Her hands began to shake and a tear streamed down her cheek.

Mrs. Smitkin looked up and, upon seeing Aubree, dropped the phone and ran to her. Aubree nearly collapsed as Mrs. Smitkin took her in her arms.

“Oh, Aubree. I’m so sorry. You must have already heard…Don’t worry…don’t worry though, she’ll be fine.”

Aubree stared at her, eyes full of tears and shook her head. The hairs on her arms and the middle of her back tingled. “What happened?” she asked.

Mrs. Smitkin’s forehead wrinkled as her eyebrows tightened down forming a puzzled look.

“You mean you don’t know?”

Aubree shook her head slightly, still in a mild state of shock.

“Early this morning on the way to school Jenicca was involved in a car accident.”

The room began to spin and Aubree fainted.

Moments later, Aubree heard Mrs. Smitkin’s voice…

“Aubree, can you hear me. It’s ok Aubree, she’ll be fine…”

She opened her eyes and focused on her teacher. Aubree was lying on her back, feet resting on a cushion and head cradled in Mrs. Smitkin’s arms.

“Aubree, Jennica broke her leg…that’s all. She’s going to be just fine….don’t worry.”

After several seconds of silence her teacher continued, “Are you ok?”

Aubree nodded.

“Well, why don’t you lay here for a minute and we’ll take you to the nurse and call your parents…just to be safe.”

Aubree nodded again.

The bell rang. Mrs. Smitkin looked up at the faces of concerned classmates, who were all gathered around.

“Ok, everyone,” she said, “back to your seats. Zack, lead everyone in the flag salute.”

The kids went to their seats and Mrs. Smitkin looked again at Aubree.

“Are you really ok, Aubree? You know that Jenicca is fine, don’t you?”

“Yes, it’s not that…”

Aubree stopped to think. She thought of her dream last night…at least she thought it had been a dream. She was confused now didn’t and didn’t know what to make out of it all. She even wondered if she was asleep again, dreaming another dream.

“I want to go home,” she said.

Mrs. Smitkin helped Aubree to her feet. She was a bit shaky and leaned on Mrs. Smitkin’s arm while the two of them walked out of the classroom and to the office. A half hour later she was sitting in the car driving home with her dad.

“I talked to Jennica’s Mom,” Dad said. “She’s fine. It was a minor accident. In fact, Jennica was the only one hurt at all…and only because she was sitting on her knees as her mom slammed on the brakes. Her leg was caught in the seatbelt and she flew forward and snapped her bone.”

Aubree grimaced.

Her dad continued, “there was only minor damage to the car. They barely even hit the other vehicle.”

He looked over at her. “The news must have just sent you into a mild state of shock.”

“It’s not that, dad. Last night I dreamed Jennica was in a car accident. Everything happened just like the dream…well, almost like it.”

He turned and looked at her for a brief moment. He didn’t speak, but his eyes expressed interest and concern before turning back to the road.

“It was way freaky,” she said. “I mean, first that bike dream and now this. I don’t know if I’m going crazy, imagining all this, or what…I don’t want to have anymore dreams like that. I don’t want to have any dreams at all.”

Her dad took his right hand off the wheel, reached over, and took her hand…squeezing it three times.

“Don’t worry Aubs, we’ll figure this out. We need to get your mind off things…do you think Baskin Robbins might be able to do the trick?”

Aubree smiled. “I think ice cream is just what the Doctor ordered.”

After finishing a double hot fudge sundae, dad’s expression became serious.

“Tell me about your dreams, Aubree” he said.

She explained both dreams to him, giving special attention to the red and green swirls.

“In both dreams, I saw that strange design. And both of those dreams ended up being real. The dreams seemed so real, too. I mean, I really thought I was awake…both times. I just don’t know what to think about it all.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Aubree. I really don’t. This is strange…I mean, it’s hard to explain. It’s hard to believe…yet I do believe you.”

He opened is mouth to say more, but then just smiled, shook his head, and shrugged his shoulders.

“What do you want to do about it?” he asked.

Aubree took a deep breath and sighed.

“I don’t know. I feel better though, knowing that you believe me.”

“Next time you have a dream with that swirly thing, tell me right when you wake up.”

Aubree nodded, “oh, believe me, I’ll tell you alright.” She grinned.

Dad stood up and she followed him outside to the car. On the drive home they talked about their last family vacation and Aubree forgot about her dreams.

Later that night after mom and dad had kissed her goodnight, Aubree stared at her ceiling and thought about the two dreams. It had been quiet a while since the light from her parents bedroom had vanished and the house was dark and quiet. Almost afraid of going to sleep, Aubree just stared at the ceiling…thinking. If only she would have called Jenica first thing in the morning…right when she woke up. Then none if it would have happened. It was her fault…something had warned her but she didn’t do her part.

Crack! Aubree’s body jumped as a loud shatter following by a high pitched tingling of small pieces of glass echoed through the house. A window downstairs had been broken. Eyes and ears wide open, Aubree was fear frozen in her bed. She felt her chest pounding and took short quick breaths through her mouth…trying to be motionless and quiet. For a moment, the house was quiet and she took a deep breath…but held it in when a stair creaked. Her heart seemed to be trying to pound it’s way out of her chest, and when another stair creaked, she forced the air out of her lungs and immediately sucked more in. Her breathing raced out of control as she stared at her open bedroom door unconsciously pulling her blanket higher until it rested right under her wide eyes. The footsteps continued up the stairs.

The open hall was bright blue from the moonlight shining through a large window above the stairs, and as a dark shadow slowly crawled across the floor from the stairwell, Aubree pulled the covers completely over her head. Her hands, arms, and legs shook uncontrollably and she closed her eyes and vainly tried to stop moving. The blankets suddenly were ripped from her hands. She looked up to see a large body wearing a black hood standing over her bed….and she closed her eyes and screamed.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and she screamed louder. It began to shake her…

“Aubree….Aubree….”

She continued to scream.

“Aubree…you are having a bad dream. It’s ok….this is dad. Wake up.”

Aubree opened her eyes and stopped screaming. She saw her dads face above her and jumped up, throwing her arms around him. She burst into tears.

Her pounding heart and heavy breathing continued through her sobs. Her dad squeezed her tight, patting her back gently while whispering to her.

“It’s ok sweetheart…it’s ok.”

This continued for several minutes, until she had calmed down a bit. “Tell me about your dream,” he said.

She sat up and looked at him.

“Dad! Call the police! Somebody is in our house” she whispered.

“It was a dream sweetheart. Nobody is in the house.”

“But dad, remember my dreams?”

He looked at her for a minute without speaking.

“What was your dream?” he asked apprehensively.

She told him.

“But what about the swirly design? Was that in the dream?” he asked.

She thought for a minute. “No dad…no, it wasn’t. At least that I can remember.”

She stopped for a minute and looked at him. In another whispered voice she said, “but what if I just didn’t see it?”

“I think you just had a nightmare,” he said. “But why don’t you come and sleep in our room just so you will feel safe?”

“What about the other kids?” she asked.

Her dad stopped for a minute. She expected him to tell her that everything would be fine. This is what he would always have said in the past. But this time, he didn’t say that.

“Well, I’ll carry them in too,” he said as he picked her up.

That didn’t make her feel better…to hear him say that.

It was a long night for Aubree. Being in her parent’s bed was comforting, but she was still scared. What made it worse is that when she’d finally fall asleep, somebody would roll over, kick her in the face, or make a strange noise and wake her up. A king-size bed seems large, but not for five; two parents and three kids.

“Last night was terrible!” Mom said and rolled out of bed.

Aubree looked over to see her mom standing next to the bed, glaring at the three kids all sprawled across the mattress.

“Why in the world did all three of you come in last night?” she asked.

“I had a nightmare,” Aubree replied.

“All of you had nightmares?”

“No…but I was scared for everyone,” Aubree said.

“Oh…your dreams,” mom said and threw a nervous look at dad shaving at the bathroom sink.

The buzz of Dad’s electric razor stopped and he walked out of the bathroom nook into the bedroom.

“She didn’t see the swirly design in this dream,” he said.

Mom breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly.

“So why did you bring all the kids in then,” she asked.

Dad shrugged, shook his head, and said, “I don’t know. Just to be safe I guess.”

“So what was the dream?” Mom asked.

Aubree explained the dream to her. Dad added that he had checked all the windows and doors and even stayed awake for several hours afterwards and listened for any strange noises. Nothing happened out of the ordinary.

Aubree tried to use the scary dream as an excuse to stay home from school, but it didn’t work. She went to school, and, as her parents had told her, everything was just fine. Although she was unusually jumpy for the first few hours, by the end of the day was laughing and joking with Jennica and her other friends. In fact, the next day went even better, and the next after that….and as the days turned into weeks, Aubree’s dreams were forgotten by everyone, even Aubree.

It was a sunny friday afternoon. Aubree stepped off the bus with her brother and sister. They walked quickly down the sidewalk arguing over who would have control of the TV. As the argument escalated, so did their pace, and soon they were all running towards the house. But as they approached the driveway to the house, Aubree froze. In the driveway was parked a bright red bike with green handle grips. She stared; her eyes were tense. Although she was a little scared, she was also angry…and curious. Angry because she hated the dreams and anything that reminded her of them. The curiosity and the anger overpowered her fear, and she walked up to the bike briskly and looked. There it was; a red and green swirl…right in the middle of the handlebars.

With her curiosity now satisfied, anger wasn’t enough to stop the fear. It engulfed her like an icy breeze…making her hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. Her mind raced and body shivered as a terror filled panic began to form…until, from some deep place in her mind a simple thought pushed it’s way though the chaos.

“I’m dreaming,” spoke her thought.

The panic began to subside, and she said aloud, “I’m dreaming again.”

She looked up and down the street, into the sky, and around at the houses.

“I’ve seen the swirl again and I’m dreaming,” she thought. “Now something is going to happen.” She took a deep breath.

“I’m going to be ready for it,” she muttered aloud.

She walked up the sidewalk and stood in the open doorway and listened. The sound of cartoons coming from the TV in the family room was all she heard. She turned to the right and walked into the front room and sat on the couch. She sat on the edge of the cushion, back straight, hands in her lap…like a perfect school girl at full attention. She stared straight ahead, listening…and waiting.

“Aubree?”

Aubree turned to the right to see her dad standing in the hallway. She ignored him and turned her head back. She didn’t think he was the purpose of the dream.

“Aubree….are you ok?”

“Dad, go away,” she thought. “I’m busy.”

He didn’t go away. In fact, he walked into the frontroom and kneeled right in front of her face.

Irritated, she said, “Dad, leave me alone. I’m dreaming.”

Although she tried not to see him, she couldn’t help it. He lowered his right eyebrow and puckered up his mouth…his thinking look. She didn’t flinch. She had more important things to do in this dream and she decided to ignore him.

He still didn’t go away, but instead lowered both eyebrows and, as he stared into her eyes. He opened his eyes up wide and flared his nostrils. She still didn’t respond, and he didn’t give up. He added a frown and puffy cheeks to the look, and then in a Yodalike voice said, “dream you can’t, for you are awake, yes.”

“Dad! Stop distracting me!” she said with a smile on her face.

“Distract you from what?” he asked.

“I’m dreaming, dad. I’m in the middle of a dream. I’ve seen the swirly design and I’m waiting to see what happens. When something happens, I’ll wake up and come and tell you, ok?

“Oh…so you are asleep right now?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“So are you sleep talking then?”

She looked at him. He didn’t get it. “Dad, you aren’t real right now. You are in my dream. Now…go away. It’s my dream…go away.”

He started laughing.

“Aubree, you are not asleep, I promise you.”

She looked at him. “I saw the bike in the driveway…remember, the one from my dream. I saw the swirly design. That means this dream will become real.”

“Oh,” he said as a smile slowly crept across his face. He chuckled.

“Aubree, the police department brought the bike over earlier today. It’s been 90 days and they couldn’t find the owner, so now it’s yours.”

His smile grew. “You are awake you silly girl!”

Aubree was silent for a minute while she thought.

“So, I’m not dreaming?”

“No, you aren’t dreaming,” he said with the same grin stuck to his face.

“Oh…” She was quiet for a moment.

“Sorry I was so rude then…” she smiled sheepishly, her eyes looking up at him while her face pointed down.

He laughed again. “No problem Aubbers,” and then added in a stern tone, “but don’t let it happen again!”

She laughed with him for a second and then stopped…suddenly quiet and still.

“What is it?” dad asked.

“I don’t know dad. I really thought I was dreaming.” She spoke slowly as she thought about what had happened.

Her gaze fell downwards and with a blank stare, continued.

“I was trying to be mature and responsible and figure out what the dream was telling me. At first I was scared the dreams were back but then I decided to be strong and watch carefully to find out what the dream was about. I’m so confused.”

Dad sat on the couch next to her and picked her up, squeezing her in his arms.

“Maybe we should see a doctor about these dreams,” he said.

“No!” Aubree blurted. “No! …I’ll be fine. I don’t want to go to a doctor.”

“Ok,” dad said. “We’ll put the doctor on hold for now.”

He squeezed her again and she put her head on his shoulder.
Later, Aubree sat on the bike and studied the strange design. It was a small round sticker with shiny red and green lines swirled together. She lifted her feet from the ground and began to pedal. She glided down the road as the air tossed back her hair and bathed her face in a cool breeze. It was a nice bike. She liked the color, the position of the handlebars, the seat…and it was a gentle smooth ride too. In fact, she didn’t remember ever riding along so effortlessly, speeding down the road. Normally, by now she would be almost tired as she pedaled…pedaled? She hadn’t pedaled the bike since leaving her driveway! The road was flat, yet she coasted along like she was zooming effortlessly downhill. She looked at the road ahead. She was nearing church hill.

It was impossible to ride up church hill. Everyone had to walk their bikes up church hill. It was too long and steep to even dream of riding to the top. Oh, she had tried plenty of times…got a good head start, pedaled hard, stood up and pushed hard, but the best she ever did was a quarter way up. It just became too steep.

Her heart began to pound as she neared the base of the hill. She tried to calm herself by thinking, “I’ll stop. I’ll start up the hill, the bike will slow, and I’ll stop. It’s ok…” Another voice inside disagreed, but she tried not to listen. She reached the base of the hill and began to ascend the steep road…and she kept rolling forward!. She hadn’t pedaled once and she was already a fourth of the way up the hill, which was now getting steeper! But she kept right on climbing.

A part of Aubree was terrified; another part cheered at defying the invincible hill, and another part was busy analyzing the situation.

“Am I dreaming or am I awake?”

Normally, she would assume that for something this strange to happen she would have to be dreaming. At the same time, the bike was mysterious. Maybe she wasn’t dreaming.

As she neared the top of the hill, she smiled at conquering it so easily. She reached the top…and kept right on going. The bike seemed to have a mind of its own, carrying her forward to an unknown location. Although there was still a terrified feeling about it…Aubree was tired of being afraid of the swirl and her dreams. She buried the fear and just watched as the trees and houses rushed past her.

The bike made several turns, crossed an old bridge, and started up an old windy dirt road. There were no more houses; only a forest of large trees and shrubs. Several miles down the dirt road, the bike suddenly stopped. Aubree stepped off and looked around. As her eyes adjusted to the shade in the forest, she saw a curious house nested in the shadows. The small house was covered in green vines which hid all but two windows and a door which had a rounded top. Around the house was a thick layer of plants…flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables. A small path weaved though the growth to the house. Aubree stepped off the bike, leaned it against a tree, and followed the path.

As she neared the front door, it opened and revealed and old gray haired women sitting at a small round table.

The women smiled and said, “Welcome, Aubree. Wake-up! It’s is time to begin.”

Aubree opened her eyes. She was lying in her bed, her blankets tucked around her neck. Her room was dark. She sat up and looked out her window at the bike on the lawn below. She knew what she had to do…her arms tingled, her mind was clear, and her heart pounded. She had never been so excited and full of energy. She knew that today she would uncover some of the mystery behind the strange dreams.

Aubs crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. The house was still and quiet, a typical Saturday morning as everyone enjoyed a few extra dreams. She made a sandwich, poured a thermos of milk, grabbed a few cookies and put everything into her backpack. She slipped out the back door and within minutes was pedaling her bike quickly down the road…the same path she had followed in her dream.

This time, however, it wasn’t an effortless glide. She pedaled hard as she approached church hill. She was already tired and breathing hard! In her dream she had made it to the top of the hill…so maybe on this mysterious bike she could ride to the top. She reached the base of the hill and began to race upwards, climbing! Climbing! …slowing, slowing….

She stood on her pedals, using her body weight to push them down, trying to keep moving, but the hill was ruthless and seemed to laughed at her efforts. She jumped off her bike as it came to a stop. Nearly exhausted, she huffed and struggled for air. Her side hurt and her face was wet with sweat. She raised her arm and wiped her forehead on the short sleeves of her shirt. It left it soaked. She repeated this with the other arm and then took the lower part of her shirt in her hand and wiped her face.
Aubree, still breathing hard, looked at the hill. She was barely a fourth of the way up. She looked at the sun. She pictured the ride ahead….several miles of road; past the old bridge and up the dirt road. All this for a dream? Was she crazy? She flipped her bike around and straddled the seat. Looking down the hill and sitting on the bike reminded her of the first dream. Same hill, same bike. She looked at the swirl on the bike. Her foot was pushing the pedal backwards, locking her in place on the steep hill. All she had to do was lift her foot and she would glide down the hill…and almost all the way home.

“I’ll get Dad to give me a ride,” she thought. “If I just drive home…”

Somehow she knew that wasn’t the way it had to be done. She climbed back off her bike and turned it around and began to push it up the hill. She laughed back at church hill, “you won’t beat me today!”

Two hours later she crossed the bridge and worked her way up the windy road. Although she had never been on this road, she recognized every turn. With excitement, she rounded the final bend to the point where she knew the house and old lady awaited. As it came into view, her heart sank…causing her to catch her breath. She skidded her bike to a stop and she stared wide-eyed and mouth-open. The view was not what she expected.

She recognized the trees, for the most part. She saw many plants, although they weren’t the flowers and vines that she remembered. But nestled in the shadows was not a cozy little house but the remains of an old building. She walked to the place in her dream where the house should have been. There were still rocks marking the pathway but they were overgrown with grass and brush.

In front of her stood what she imagined a house would look like after being ripped apart by a tornado. A few walls were still standing, but not many. Old wood covered the floors and pieces of broken furniture, glass, and chunks of concrete littered the area. It was a mess!

The house looked like it had been destroyed fifty years ago. Nothing remained. There were even plants in the middle of what used to be the living room, growing up through the broken boards. Aubree thought of the old lady who had looked at her. She remembered the sparkle in her eyes, the excitement in her voice. Aubree expected to meet her and get an explanation of what had been happening, but instead….there was nothing!

Her eyes filled with tears mixed with the sweat on her cheeks as they tricked down her face.

“I was so stupid,” she thought. “I rode out here for nothing. All because of a stupid dream.”

She picked up a rock and heaved it at the house. She opened her mouth and her frustration came out in a loud scream of anger and frustration.

“Why? What are these stupid dreams! What is happening to me! What is going on?”

She dropped to the ground and sat crying with her head buried in her hands. Her voice wailed uncontrollably as she sobbed…she felt the complete opposite of her excitement from this morning. She was mad at herself for getting excited, for thinking all those ridiculous thoughts. She lifted her face, eyes still full of tears. It must have been just another funky dream. She pictured the old lady sitting at her chair, her eyes sparkling…her eyes sparkling. She rubbed her eyes. Something was sparkling. Something in the rubble near where the old woman had been sitting!

She jumped up and ran through the destroyed house. Something was under the pile of wood! She frantically kicked aside the rubble and knelt down to find an old wooden box. A decorative lock on the front of the box is what had sparkled and caught her attention. She picked it up and held it in both hands. It was about the size of her pencil box. The wood was old but solid. It wasn’t cracked and warped like the house around her. It was smooth, clean, and pretty. It was carved with several designs….and as she looked closely at them, she gasped. There was the swirl from her dream, carved right into the top of the box! She tried to open the box but it wouldn’t budge. She pulled on the latch, but it was solid. She dug her fingernails behind the lock trying, unsuccessfully, to pry it open. She used her feet, sticks, and rocks; but nothing worked. The lid would not open.

After several hours looking through the remains of the old house and surrounding area, she put the strange box into her bag and ate her lunch. She had rummaged through the rubble and hunted around the yard, but found nothing else of interest or value. The box must be what she was sent to find. She mounted her bike, and began to glide down the hill. At least the ride home was much easier!

That evening as Aubree snuggled in her bed preparing to go to sleep, she tried again to open the strange box, but without luck.

“What good does it do me?” she thought. “Why send me on a crazy trip if I can’t get the dang thing open?”

She tossed the box aside, flipped off her lamp, and dropped onto her pillow.

She was slightly irritated at the strange old women, which seemed funny to her. She was mad at a woman whom she’d never meet, never known, and probably hasn’t even been a live for many years…if ever at all! The thought made her laugh out loud. She was mad at a stranger from a strange dream….and with those thoughts, she drifted off to sleep.

Immediately she was standing in the Ice Cream store. Before she even saw the new strange flavor of ice cream (the one with an all too familiar swirly design), she knew she was dreaming.

“Well, if I’m dreaming” she thought, “I may as well enjoy it!”

“Hi, I’ll have a triple hot fudge sundae.”

The girl behind the counter made a giant sundae and put it on the counter. “That will be $4.99,” the girl said.

“$4.99?” Aubree thought. “This is my dream, how am I going to pay….wait. It’s my dream and I want to have $10 in my pocket.”

She stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a $10 bill! With a huge grin on her face, she gave the ten bucks to the girl and told her to keep the change.

“This is so cool!” she thought.

She sat on a stool next to the window and scooped out a mountainous heap of ice cream. It was delicious…and so low fat, she thought, which made her laugh out loud. The door chimed behind her, and she turned around to see who had come in. She froze, dropping her spoon onto the floor. Suddenly, the dream was not so pleasant anymore.

A man with wearing a green jacket, old levis, and a stocking cap, over his head was pointing a gun towards her.

“Nobody move, and nobody gets hurt.” He said.

Aubree was shaking. In the back of her mind she kept reminding herself this was a dream, but it seemed so real. She heard once if you died in your dreams you die in real life…what if he shot her?

“Your money goes in this,” the hooded stranger said as he threw a duffel bag to the girl behind the counter.

The duffel bag landed on the counter next to the girl and slid to the floor, but the girl didn’t pick it up. She just stood there, staring at the man. Her head was quivering, she was breathing fast, and her eyes were full of tears.

“Fill up the Bag!” he said as he took a step towards her and waved his gun at her. “The Bag!”

The girl didn’t move.

The guy walked right up to her, pointing his gun to her forehead.

“Fill up the bag with your money.” he said long and slow. “I don’t want trouble, just the money.”

The girls eyes rolled up behind her head…she swayed for a moment, then fell backwards. There was a loud crashing of metal spoons and pans…and, bam! The gunshot was unexpected and caused Aubree’s entire body to jump. She didn’t even realize she was screaming until the gunman turned to her, pointing his gun.

“Shut up!” He screamed.

She began to shake and she realized he had grabbed her and was shaking her back and forth.

“Wake up,” he said.

“it’s ok, it’s just a dream….” He said and continued to shake her.

His voice faded, the ice cream parlor faded, and her dad’s voice was speaking, calm and easy.

“It’s a dream, Aubree, wake up.”

She opened her eyes. She was sitting in her bed, both her parents at her bedside. Her dad was holding her shoulders. She was breathing fast and hard.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

She nodded yes.

It was quiet for several moments and the three of them sat looking at each other. Then, without a word, her dad picked her up out of bed and began carrying her down the hall. With her head on his shoulder looking backwards, she saw her mother carrying her pillow and following them. Seconds later, she was cuddled up between her mom and dad in their king sized bed.

“Do you want to talk about it tonight or tomorrow?” dad asked.

“Tomorrow,” she said. She didn’t want to think about it at all tonight.

Feeling safe between her parents, Aubree fell asleep for the second time that night.

Early the next morning, Aubree shook her dad. “Wake up!”

He rolled over, grumbled, wrapped a pillow around his head, and muttered, “let me sleep!”

She didn’t.

“Dad, my dream!” She continued to shake him, “Something bad is going to happen!”

He sat up and looked at her.

“What was it?” he asked.

Her mother was also sitting up now, and she told them both about the dream.

“We have to call the police!” her mom said.

“And tell them what?” Dad said. “Hello, our daughter had this scary dream last night and we think you ought to send a police officer to Baskin Robbins?”

“We have to do something!” Aubree blurted out, almost shouting. “What if she gets killed?”

They all looked at each other confused.

“I know, I know….we just need to think about this for a minute.” Dad said. “Do you remember what time of day it was?”

Aubree thought for a minute. She had no clue…it was light outside, and she guessed it was sometime in the afternoon, but she wasn’t sure. She shook her head back and forth with a sigh.

“Maybe we could take a bunch of people and go hang out at Baskin Robbins all day. Maybe he’d get there and decide not to do anything,” her mom said. “Or,” she continued, “maybe we’d end up with an even bigger problem, or maybe he’d just go somewhere else.”

“What we need to do,” her dad said, “is make sure that nothing happens at Baskin Robbins or anywhere else. Somehow we need to get the police involved, so they can stop it and arrest this guy.”

Aubree climbed out of her parents bed, “I’m going to get dressed,” she said.

As she walked in her room, she froze in her doorway. On the floor in front of her bed was the mysterious box…and the lid was wide open! She walked over to it and looked inside. The box had a soft purple velvet interior. In the bottom was a small folded piece of newspaper. She took it out, opened it, and read.

It was an obituary. She ran into her parents’ room, hardly able to speak.

“Dad, look at this!”

He took and read it.

“Dang, that’s really sad,” he said as he handed it back to her.

“No dad! It was in the box!”

“What box?” he asked.

She hadn’t told him about the box. In a single breath, she quickly told him the whole story about the other dream, her bike-ride yesterday, and the box.

“This morning when I went in there it was open, and this was in it! It must be a clue or something!” She was so excited she couldn’t seem to talk or think fast enough.

“We have to hurry!”

Her dad looked at the article again.

“This says that a woman named Susan Hanson was killed by a drunk driver last month….I wonder if the guy who is going to rob the store was that driver?” he said.

Aubree shook her head. For some reason, she knew this wasn’t the case.

“The guy who is going to rob Baskin Robbins was this woman’s husband. It says she left a husband and little girl behind…that’s him.”

Her dad looked at her.

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“I just do.”

After a short silence, her mom said, “Why don’t we see if he’s listed in the phone book?”

Aubree ran to the night stand and pulled the phone book out of the drawer. She flipped pages quickly for several seconds, her parents looking impatiently at her.

“Hansen, Hansen, Hansen, Hanson James, Hanson Jay!” she yelled. “He’s here! 321 North Baneberry Lane!”

“Let’s take a drive.” Dad said. “uh….after we all get dressed, that is.”

Fifteen minutes later the three of them were driving down the road. Her younger brother and sister were both playing at the neighbors. Mom felt it better the kids stayed behind. In fact, mom didn’t like the whole idea of going to this guy’s house in the first place and hadn’t stopped trying to convince them to try another plan.

“This is dangerous,” she said.

“We’ll just drive by….a normal family out for a normal drive. No harm in that. What other choices do we have?” replied dad. “Ok, do I turn left on 10th street, Aubs?”

“Yes,” said Aubree, who was looking at the map. “And then a quick left onto Baneberry Lane. We are almost there.”

They were in an older neighborhood. The houses were nice but far from fancy. The yards were quite large and large trees covered the area in a dark shadow.

“229….looks like it’ll be on the left” dad said. After a moment, he added “there is 289….it could be the next house.”

The three of them were quiet. Dad slowed the car a bit as they moved into view of the house and yard.

Number 321 was a modest, clean house. It was small, there were flower gardens which looked neglected and the lawn hadn’t been mowed in weeks, but the house looked nice. The front yard had cute little brick fence that curved up and down separating the yard and the sidewalk. Suddenly, dad turned sharp and stopped the car.

“What are you doing?” mom asked.

“Look!” he said, and pointed to the corner of the yard up ahead.

Aubree looked where he pointed. In the corner of the yard sitting under a tree was a little girl hunched over. As dad opened the door the three of them could hear her crying softly. They jumped out of the car and rushed over to her.

“Are you ok?” mom asked.

The little girl, probably about six, looked up. The tears had turned the dust on her face into mud streaks.

“My dad is mad at me.” She said.

“Why?” asked mom.

“Because I’m hungry and we don’t have any money to go to the store. My dad says he’s sorry he’s such a bad father.”

The little girl wore a dress that, although was very cute, was quite dirty. Her hair was long and pretty even though it was not combed.

“But he’s a good daddy…” she sobbed. “He’s just sad…and I’m sad.”

The three of them were silent. Mom already had a tear halfway down her face.

“Where is your dad, sweetie?” Dad asked.

Just then a car started behind them. Startled, they quickly turned around as an old truck backed out from the car port. The side of the truck had a sign that said “Hanson’s Masonry.” As the truck backed out, the driver saw them and the truck stopped. The door opened.

Aubree’s heart pounded. The man walked around the front of the truck, wearing the same green jacket and levi’s she remembered in her dream. His face, however, was not hidden behind a stocking cap. He looked like a nice man.

“Hi, can I help you people?” he said in a hesitant voice.

His face looked tired and stressed. His eyes were dull. Although he had a kind feel to him, there was an emptiness to his expression.

“Uh…” her dad started. “Well, uh, we were driving by because…”

There was a bit of silence and the man shifted the weight on his feet and looked quite uncomfortable.

“Well,” her mom continued, “…your neighbors down the road mentioned that you might be able to help us out.” She hesitated and continued, “We are looking for someone to build us a brick fence…kind of like the one you got here.” She pointed to his little brick fence. “We heard you were the best and wanted to find out if you were available.”

The man was completely silent and stared at them.

“You want me to build you a…” he stopped. He took a couple deep breaths. He was having a hard time talking. “You want….”

His eyes began to fill with tears and he raised his hands over them, trying to make it look like he was shielding the sun.

“Uh, yea….” The man couldn’t talk. He began to break in sharp breath, breathing in and out fast, then holding his breath in an effort to control his emtions.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled, apparently aware that he wasn’t able to hide behind himself.

Dad walked over and put his hand on the mans shoulder, “it’s ok, friend.”

The guy sniffed and looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I haven’t had work for months. You have no idea…I just…” he put his hand over his mouth. A fresh wave of tears fell from his eyes. “I just haven’t known what to do.”

The guy rubbed his cheeks with his hand, took a couple deep breaths and calmed down. He wiped his eyes clean.

“Boy, not a good way to start a business deal is it?” he said with a slight grin.

Dad laughed gently, “It’s the perfect way,” he said, through is own moist eyes.

“How about,” mom said, “we go talk about the details over breakfast! We’ll take you two out for pancakes! Have you had breakfast yet?”

“Pancakes!” the little girl shouted.

Later that evening as Aubree watched Jay Hanson mixing cement in his wheelbarrow in her front yard, she held the box in her hand. It was locked shut again; she found it that way when they’d come home earlier in the afternoon. But for some reason, she knew it wouldn’t always be locked shut. It scared her a little, but watching Jay helped give her courage…she’d be ready for the next dream..

Aubree stopped and turned around. Curtis sat on a rock next to the trail and took off his shoe. His coat was torn, his pants were covered in mud, and he had a blood stain on his cheek. She swallowed back the lump in her throat. She was scared and she knew Curtie was scared. Still, they both talked and acted like fear did not exist. Perhaps they each new they wouldn’t survive if they let the fear take control.

Aubree looked down the forest trail. On the right, Pine trees towered and blocked out the sunlight. On the left, a gray rocky mountain rose up past the tops of the trees.

“Ok,” Curtis said and stood up. He looked at her and smiled. “Do you want another granola bar?”

“How many are left?” She asked.

“Six.” Curtis told her. He paused, and then added, “We need to find a place to sleep before it gets dark. Maybe I can catch another rabbit for dinner!” He grinned.

She laughed. Yesterday he surprised her by catching a rabbit for dinner. It seemed like so long ago. “I’m so hungry I think I’d actually try and eat some this time,” she said.

Curtis reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a peanut butter granola bar. “How about a peanut butter granola bar?” he asked.

“Sure,” she replied. They sat down for a rest and snack.

“Do you think Mom and Dad are ok?” Curtis asked.

Aubree swallowed the lump again, “I don’t know Curtie.” There was an awkward silence. “I’m sure they are fine. We just have to hurry and get some help.”

“I’m worried about Mikayla,” Curtis said. “It won’t be easy to take care of them for a couple of days all by herself, especially with them both hurt so bad.”

Aubree nodded. “I know Curtie, I know.” She put her arm around her little brother and he leaned his head on her shoulder. They sat in silence and munched on the granola bar.

Chapter 2

Mikayla looked at her mom and dad, both sleeping. They had been sleeping like this since the accident. She took a deep breath, took a log from the woodpile, and put it on the fire. Sparks flew up into the air and followed the smoke out of the cave.

She walked to the front of the cave and sat on a rock. She rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands and looked out over the forest.

The cave was up high enough on the mountain that she could see out over the trees. Somewhere out in those trees, she thought, were Aubree and Curtie. She wondered how far they had been able to hike today.

She noticed the sun was getting low and night wasn’t too far away. She decided to get some more firewood and water before nightfall.

She took the canteen and walked down the trail into the forest. She was alone in the forest, but she wasn’t scared. She knew that taking care of Mom and Dad was the most important thing, and she didn’t have time to be scared.

Several minutes later, she arrived at the stream and filled the canteen. The water was cold, and she took a big drink and filled it again before leaving. She hiked back through the forest, picked up several sticks for the fire, and climbed the mountain again.

The hike was tiring, but she still needed more wood. She walked back down the mountain and gathered more sticks. After several more trips, she was tired. The sun was going down. She put a few more sticks on the fire, took a drink of water, and snuggled up between her sleeping parents.

Chapter 3

“We should start looking for a place to sleep,” Aubree said.

“I’ve been watching,” answered Curtis, “but I haven’t seen anything yet. I wish we could find a cave like we did yesterday.” He paused, “if you want a rabbit for dinner, I better get busy hunting too.”

“Yea, you’re right. I doubt we’ll find a cave so we might as well stay here. Let’s make camp. I’ll make a shelter while you catch a rabbit.”

Curtie smiled and reached for his pocketknife. “Bee Berry berry quiet….I’m hunting wabbit….hehehehe,” he said.

Aubree looked around. Not too far off the trail she saw a tree bent over sideways. Perfect, she thought. She hunted for long sticks and leaned them up against it. After she had a nice row of sticks forming a shelter, she covered the tops of them with leaves and pine bows. She also put leaves on the ground underneath to help keep them warm.

Curtis crept up the trail, listening and watching intently. In the distance, he heard the soft bubbling of a mountain stream. He ran a short distance and found a small stream that weaved through the forest. He filled his canteen and took a drink. He grabbed a long branch of willow tree and snapped it off. Using his pocketknife, he trimmed all the branches except for one at the bottom. This branch he cut into a point, which hooked up. He put the branch down and dug in the soft dirt next to the stream. He held the soil in his hands and pushed small amounts away with his thumb until he found a big fat worm.

“Ok Mr. Worm, get me a fish,” he said and stuck the worm onto his sharp barbed stick. He looked up and down the stream studying the flow of the water. He knelt on the ground and crawled down the stream for several yards. Laying flat on his chest, he inched his way towards the water and lowered his stick into a deep pool. Within seconds, the stick jerked hard and he yanked it out of the water along with a large brown trout hooked to the end.

Curtie walked back to camp and saw Aubree sitting by a crackling fire. “Look what I got!” he shouted. She looked at the fish. “Hey, I ordered rabbit!” she joked.

Curtie smiled, “I’m sorry maam, but we are completely out of rabbit this evening.”

Aubree laughed. “Oh, that’s ok. I’m hungry enough to eat fish too!”

They worked together to cook dinner. Aubree surprised Curtis with some wild raspberries she had gathered. They ate fish and berries until they couldn’t eat another bite.

“That was really good, Curtie,” Aubree said. “I didn’t know I liked fish so much.”

“I’m so full, “Curtie said. “I ate too fast.” He smiled at her, “It was too good.”

Suddenly, they each realized how tired and sore they were. Curtis looked at Aubree and yawned. “What a day.”

“Yup,” she answered, “what a day.”

They crawled into the little hut and snuggled together in the leaves.

“Goodnight Curtie,” Aubree said. But Curtis was already asleep.

Chapter 4

The cave was bright when Mikayla opened her eyes. The sun shown directly into the opening and warmed her. She looked at her mom on one side of her. Her mom still slept peacefully. Mikayla carefully lifted the white bandages to look at the cuts on her mom’s forehead. The bleeding had stopped completely now. She took off the blood soaked cloth and threw it in the fire. The then took some clean wrapping from the First-Aid kit. She was glad Curtis had been able to save it before the plane had exploded. She gently wrapped her mother’s cuts in fresh bandages.

She looked at her Dad’s broken leg. The swelling had stopped, which was a relief. The cold water from the river must have kept the swelling down.

She stroked her fingers through her dad’s hair. “Wake up daddy, please wake up,” she said. She took a deep breath and stood up. Her stomach growled. She had three granola bars left and decided it was time to eat one. She tried to eat it slow, but she was too hungry. It seemed like it was gone before she had even started.

She put some sticks in the fire pit, which by now was only a few coals. She blew on the coals and within a few minutes, the fire was once again cracking and burning.

She heard a loud cough, which startled her. She turned around and looked at her parents. Another cough, which she realized was coming from her dad. She ran over to him. “Daddy?” It was quiet. She poured some water out of the canteen onto her hand and caressed his face and forehead. “Daddy, can you hear me.”

His face jerked, and he coughed again, and his head lifted slightly. “Daddy?” Her heart pounded with excitement. She picked up the canteen and began to pour the cold water on his face. He opened his eyes and rubbed his wet face with his hands. “Daddy!” she yelled and grabbed him tight around the neck.

It took a minute, but he started to wake up. “Mikayla?” He squeezed her tighter. “Where are we?” She sat up and looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Daddy, I’m so glad you are awake.” And she hugged him again.

“Our plane crashed,” she said.

His memory began to return. The family was flying for a weekend vacation to Disneyland. “How? What happened?”

“I don’t know,” she said. We were all asleep in the back when it started spinning. You yelled for us to hold on. Then there was a lot of bouncing and spinning. Then, it was quiet and still. Curtie, Aubree, and I….”

“Curtie and Aubree! Where are they? What happened to them?” he said in a panic.

“They went to get help dad. They are following the trail along the mountain. During the first night, we saw lights that way.” She pointed.

“The first night? How long have we been here?”

“Five nights,” she told him.

He looked over at Kim and tried to move over to her. A pain shot through his leg, “Ouch, my leg hurts.”

“Be careful, dad, your leg is broken.” Mikayla told him.

He looked at the splint the kids had made to hold his leg in place. “Who was my Doctor?”

“All of us.” She said. We used the first aid kit. We made a stretcher and dragged you both up to this cave so you’d be safe.”

“Wow! I can’t believe you did all that! That’s amazing,” he said.

“Well,” she said, “it took us a couple of days. It wasn’t easy.”

Warren reached over and looked at Kim. He checked her pulse, the wounds on her head, and caressed her soft skin.

“Is she ok?” asked Mikayla.

“Well, she has a bad bump on her head, but it looks like she is ok. How far away is the plane?” he asked.

“It’s a couple blocks away, but it burned up. We got out everything we could that wasn’t ruined.”

“So I guess the radio was destroyed?” he asked.

“Yea, Curtie tried it. It was melted.”

Warren took a deep breath and reached over and picked up his little girl. He held her tight. “I’m glad we are ok. I’m sure Curtis and Aubree will be here soon with some help.”

Chapter 5

Aubree and Curtis slept under the cover of their shelter, snuggled together. As the sun climbed up over the distant mountain, a bright ray of light shined on Aubree’s face. She opened her eyes.

It was cold. It was warmer sleeping in the cave. They had also kept the fire burning all night in the cave too. Last night, however, they were both too exhausted to worry about the fire. She closed her eyes and smiled as the sunlight warmed her face.

Curtis was also awake and looking at the sun climbing over the mountains. He thought of Mikayla taking care of Mom and Dad. For a minute, he wondered why they ever decided to leave her there alone. It was a difficult choice, and one they had all discussed for hours. In fact, it was Mikayla who convinced them to finally proceed with the plan. She pointed out that if they all just stayed in the cave, they might never be found. Somebody had to go and search for help. Sending one person wasn’t safe. The two strongest and fastest must go, she said. Now, here they were; in the middle of the forest, not even sure where to go next. He rolled slightly to get up.

As Curtis rolled over, Aubree sat up. “You are awake,” she said. “I didn’t realize that.”

Curtis look around at her. “Good Morning,” he said. “Yea, I’ve been awake thinking about Mikayla and Mom and Dad.”

They both looked at each other for what seemed like hours. Aubree took a deep breath, “we better not waste any time.”

They both stood up and brushed off the leaves and dirt. They shoved their few supplies into Curtis’s backpack. He put it on and looked down the trail.

“Move it out Jack,” Curtis said, and they headed down the trail.

They walked in silence for several hours, mindlessly following the trail through the trees. Hiking was harder today. They were sore and tired from walking all day yesterday. Today was much slower. With each step, they felt the pains in their feet and legs. Curtis also had a stiff neck and back from the backpack. When they felt like stopping, they thought of Mom and Dad, unconscious in the cave with Mikayla.

“Hey Aubee,” Curtis said. “I’ll give you five bucks if you sing Row Row Row your boat all the way down the trail.”

“haha, very funny.” She replied. “How about $500?”

“Actually, now that I think about it, I’d rather you didn’t.”

Aubree laughed. “Yea, once is enough for me.”

Chapter 6

“Are you hungry?” Mikayla asked, “do you want some lunch?”

“What are we having?” he replied, “Chicken or chicken.”

Mikayla laughed. “We have granola bars, berries, and, um….well, a rock if you want it.”

He laughed back at her. “Well, I’m trying to cut back on rocks, so I think I’ll take the berries.”

They ate berries and drank water from the canteen. “Are there lots of berries out there?” Dad asked.

“Yea, they are all over,” Mikayla told him. “There is a stream down there. You slept though a lot of fish dinners while Curtis was here.”

“Oh man!” he said. “I can’t believe I didn’t wake up when I smelled ‘em cookin’.”

“He showed me how to do it. I’ll try to catch one for dinner.”

He smiled at her. “How far away is it? Maybe I can go help you.”

“No,” she said. “It’s down the mountain and through the forest. I can do it. You better stay off your leg.”

Mikayla stood up and walked across the cave. She picked up a stick and walked back and sat by her dad. “Here is our fishing pole. Curtis found a hook and some line in the first aid kit. We catch worms by the stream and fish with them.”

He took the fishing pole from her. “Well, now that’s about the best looking fishing pole I ever saw! I’m going to have to get me one of these.”

She smiled at him. “Well, you are in luck dad, they are all over the place out there. They just don’t come with string or hooks.” She took it from him. “I’ll go see what I can catch for dinner!”

She walked to the front of the cave and turned around. There was her dad, sitting by the fire smiling at her. Her mom slept next to him. She waved and held up her hand in the secret “I love you” sign, thumb, forefinger, and pinky extended. He held his own hand up with an “I love you” to her, and she turned around and walked down the mountain.

Chapter 7

“Aubree, I need to eat something, I’m starving.” Curtis said.

She kept walking, but looked down the trail. “There is a clearing up ahead, let’s eat there.”

They reached the clearing and Curtis dropped to his knees then laid in the grass. “I’m so tired,” he moaned. “Wake me up when we get home.”

Aubree began to respond but a loud nose silenced her. The forest echoed with a loud screaming wail. Curtis jumped to his knees and crawled up next to Aubree, who had dropped low to hide in the grass. They both started down the trail with eyes wide open, quiet and watching.

Curtis whispered, “Please tell me that isn’t what I think it is.”

Aubree looked back at him, “well, it ain’t Mickey Mouse if that’s what you were thinking.”

“I wish it was Mickey Mouse,” he said.

They stared ahead into the forest, waiting for another sound. It was quiet.

Curtis tugged her sleeve, “I can’t remember what to do if you come across a mountain lion,” he said.

Aubree looked at him, opened her mouth for a second, but then closed it again and shook her head as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Dang,” he said.

They sat in the grass for a half hour listening for another roar. “We can’t just sit here,” Curtis said. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“Well, we can try and go around that part of the forest,” Aubree said.

Curtis stood up. “I’m going through it. There isn’t time to go around.”

Aubree paused for a moment, considering the options. She looked at Curtis, her mouth in a slight tense frown. She shook her head. “Yea, you are right.” She picked up a few rocks and stood up. “Let’s do it.”

Chapter 8

Mikayla laid in the grass and crawled forward toward the stream. As she came to the edge of the water, she flipped her stick and her line plopped into the water. Her worm sunk to the bottom. She lay quiet and still.

Once she had stayed with Curtis for over an hour as he waited for a fish to bite. She would wait however long it took. Her dad loved fish and she was excited to bring him one for supper.

Staying still and waiting wasn’t easy. When she went fishing back home she wouldn’t wait. She’d reel in her line and throw it again. It was more fun that way, but she hadn’t caught very many fish that way either. She thought about how they would go fishing at the lake by their house. They loved to camp and hike, and it’s a good thing. It’s lucky they new a few things about living in the wilderness, or they might all be dead by now. She was in the middle of dreaming of canoeing with Aubree when she heard a stick snap across the stream. Her heart pounded as she slowly raised her head to see what was across the water.

Twenty feet away from her was a black bear.

She opened her mouth slightly to breath more quietly. She was breathing very fast and could feel her heart banging against her chest. She felt wind against her face, and knew that at least the bear wouldn’t smell her. She laid still, watching the bear and tried to remain calm. It walked up to the water on the other side of the bank and began drinking. Just then she felt a slight tug on her pole.

“No!” She thought. “Not now…go away fishie” she thought. Her stick jerked again. Normally at this point she would jerk back on the stick to catch the fish. Now she only hoped the fish would pull the worm off and go away without getting hooked or breaking the line.

The bear continued to drink quietly when suddenly the pole almost shot out of her hand with a mighty jerk. She grabbed it with both hands and tried to keep it from flipping around madly. The fish began to jump and splash as it fought the line. Not only was it now hooked, it was a big fish. The bear looked up at the fish jumping in the water. She tried not to move as it pulled her stick in all sorts of directions. She thought of letting go of it, but didn’t want to lose their last fishing hook.

The bear looked confused. It stared at the fish flipping and splashing in the water. It took a step forward. “This is my fish, go away,” Mikayla thought. She decided she’d let go of the stick and crawl away if the bear moved any closer. It didn’t move for several minutes.

Just as Mikayla started to think maybe it would just walk away, it took another step towards the fish. Mikayla then surprised herself. She jumped up and began to scream and yell while holding tightly to the pole.

“AAAAAAHHHHH, Go away, go away bear. This is my fish….AAAHHHHHH.” As she yelled, she picked up a rock and threw it at the bear. It splashed in the water next to it. The bear looked at her and backed up a step, then at the fish splashing in the water.

Then the bear opened it’s mouth and roared loudly. Mikayla stopped yelling for a moment. She wanted to run, but couldn’t. She just stared at the bear while the fish pulled her arms right and left. She took a deep breath and looked right in the bears eyes. “Please leave me. I need this fish. My mom and dad are sick.” She was just about ready to turn around and run, when the bear took a step backwards, turned around, and then ran into the forest.

Chapter 9

Aubree led the way as they walked in silence through the meadow. At the top of the hill, the grass was short and almost pleasant to walk on. As they moved towards the forest, the grass was longer and walking was difficult. Curtis was almost a foot shorter than Aubree, and the grass was nearly to his shoulders. Pushing their way forward was slow and difficult.

“I can’t see anymore,” he told Aubree. “Are we almost there?”

Aubree paused for a minute, “I think we are close. The trees aren’t far ahead.”

“If this grass gets any deeper, you won’t be able to see either. We’ll get lost out here.”

Aubree stopped. “I didn’t think of that.” She looked back. “We’ll be ok. Look.” She pointed behind him. A pathway of mashed grass clearly marked their trail through the heavy meadow. “If we have to, we can always find our way back.” She turned and continued forward.

Each step was slow and difficult. As they pushed forward the grass became taller. Before long, they were in the middle of grass that towered several feet above Aubree’s head.

Pushing through the grass was difficult. They used their hands to pull the long blades of grass aside before stepping forward. Their hands were covered with tiny cuts from the sharp blades and they moved slowly but steadily.

“Curtie, I see something” Aubree yelled. “I think we are coming out of the meadow!”

Curtis looked up and saw Aubree take another step forward into the light. The sunlight shined through. Then, to his horror, Aubree screamed and fell forward and out of his view.

He rushed forward and heard a loud splash. As he stepped forward to look down, the ground collapsed under his feet. He fell forward and down, tumbling down a steep dirt cliff and then free-falling through the air.

His hand hit water, followed by his face and chest. He splashed and sunk into the cold darkness while struggling to kick and swim. He opened his eyes. The world around him was spinning as the current of the river pushed him. He kicked and pulled at the water with his arms, fighting his way to the surface. He reached it and panted heavily while swimming towards shore.

His feet touched the ground and he stood. Spinning around, the water still up to his chest, he yelled, “Aubree!” and scanned the river. He listened, but the roar of the river was all he heard. He turned and ran out of the water and down the shoreline as he continued to yell, screaming frantically for his sister.

Chapter 10

“Ta da!” Mikayla yelled.

She stood at the entrance to the cave and held up a large trout. It was bright outside and her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark cave, so she couldn’t see anything inside. From the darkness she heard her dad’s voice, “Wow! Wow, Mikayla! That is a huge fish!”

She walked inside. It was dark, but after several seconds she could see her dad sitting next to her sleeping mom. She took the fish to him.

“Man, that must be a 4 pound fish!” her dad said. He looked at her, “how did you catch it?”

She told him about the stream, sneaking up in the grass, and how the fish splashed and fought in the water. She left out the part about the bear. She knew it would worry him and he might not stay down and take it easy if he was worried. He might try to do too much.

“How about if I clean the fish while you put some wood on the fire? Then we’ll cook it up for lunch” he said.

She kissed him on the cheek and walked over to the fire, which was just a pile of glowing embers. She put several more pieces of wood on the fire.

“How’s mom?” she asked.

“I think she’s ok. In fact, she seems to be a bit more restless in her sleep now, so maybe she’s going to be waking up soon.”

“I hope so. I wonder if Curtis and Aubree are ok.”

It was quiet for a minute. Dad looked at Mikayla. “Me too, sweetie. Me too.”

Chapter 11

The river was about thirty feet across and thundered as water splashed over rocks and fell over small waterfalls. Curtis continued to scream.

“Aubree!”

He could barely hear himself over the roar of the river. He ran further down the stream, stumbling several times along the way. He scrambled over rocks, slipped on wet moss, and even fell tumbling to the ground several times as ye yelled. Every ten yards or so he stopped and looked out over the river searching for his sister.

With each step his panic and terror increased. He climbed onto a large rock and yelled again. By now, tears were streaming down his face, “Aubree, please answer…” his sentence was interrupted as he began to cry. “Aubree….” He yelled again, through sobs. He jumped off the rock. His eyes were full of tears which made it hard to see and as he landed hard, he slipped and fell into the water. As he began to stand to scramble out of the water, he noticed something. He stood taller. He saw Aubree’s body floating lifelessly in the water.

He dove into the cold water. He kicked and swung his arms hard as he swam to her. He grabbed her arm and spun around, pulling her slowly back towards the shore. She was motionless and her face was white. He pulled her halfway out of the water and laid her on her back. He put his head to her chest and listened for several seconds. No breathing, no heartbeat. In a quick motion, he put his hand behind her neck, lifted her head back, opened her mouth, pressed his mouth against hers and blew air into her lungs. He then jumped up onto her chest and pressed hard three times with his fist onto her heart. Then, he dropped down again and blew more air into her. He repeated this motion several times without speaking, thinking, or even realizing what he was doing. Aubree didn’t seem to be responding.

He continued to breathe for her and pump her heart. As he pushed on her chest, he cried and pleaded, “Please, Aubree…please don’t die. Come on Aubs…” Tears were streaming down his face, but he didn’t slow in his life-saving attempt.

Then Aubree choked. Curtie jumped off her chest. She coughed again. “Come on, Aubs!” He grabbed her head and lifted her, first, to a sitting position and then leaned her forwards. She began to cough again and water poured out of her mouth. She coughed hard for several minutes while Curtis supported her. As she stopped coughing, she opened her eyes. She was confused. She turned her head and saw her little brother holding her. His face was bruised, bloody, and dirty. His eyes were red and full of tears, which also had streaked down his dirty cheeks. His shirt was ripped and he had a large cut on his right arm, which was covered in blood, and his pants were ripped in several places. He threw his arms around her and she put hers around him. Together they held each other and cried.

Chapter 12

Mikayla normally didn’t like fish, but this fish was delicious. Maybe she was just hungry. Maybe it was because she was with her dad….or maybe she had never tasted fish this good. Whatever the reason, she filled her stomach with as much fish as it could hold.

“That was sure good,” dad said as he leaned back against a rock and patted his belly. “I am stuffed.”

“Me too.” Mikayla flashed a smile at him. “I don’t even have room for dessert. Guess we’ll have to have the berries for dinner.”

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed off the walls of the cave. The high pitched scream of a woman terrified for her life. It was such a frightening sound, that both Mikayla and dad jumped. The screaming didn’t stop. They looked frantically around the cave, confused and a bit scared.

“It’s mom.” Dad said, and awkwardly got to his feet. As he hobbled over to her side, Mikayla watched her. She was screaming and swinging her arms wildly.

“What’s wrong with her, dad?” she said, both scared and concerned.

“She’s having a nightmare.”

He reached her side and grabbed her arms and held them at her side. He struggled to keep her from thrashing about, and cradled her head in his arms. He began to whisper into her ear, “It’s ok. It’s just a dream. You are safe, I have you now…”

He stroked her head and her screams softened a bit. She stopped struggling in his arms and then went quiet once again…sleeping softly in his arms.

Mikayla looked at her Dad. His eyes became moist and a tear trickled down his cheek. She put her arms around his head, her head on his shoulder, and patted his cheek. They both began to cry. The shadows from the fire danced on the walls of the cave and they fell asleep.

Chapter 13

Curtie and Aubree stood up. They were both bruised up and bleeding in several places. Fortunately the sun was hot, or they’d be cold as well.

“No more swimming in the river,” Curtis said to Aubree.

Aubree nodded. “No more swimming in the river,” she stated back to him.

She looked downstream. “Maybe we should just follow the river. I mean, it must lead somewhere.”

Curtis nodded and they began to walk. They had stumbled along for several hours when Aubree stopped. Curtis bumped into to her from behind.

“Curtis, Look!”

She pointed to the river. On the shore was an empty lawn chair. They both looked around but couldn’t see anyone. They ran to the edge of the river. Next to the lawn chair was an open tackle box and a half empty bottle of Mountain Dew. Something moved near the water. It was a fishing pole, lying halfway in the water. It jerked again and moved farther in the water.

“They caught a fish!” Curtis yelled.

He ran forward and grabbed the pole and began to reel. The fish pulled forcefully and he stumbled forward a step into the water, almost slipping and falling. The reel began to buzz as the fish pulled the line. Curtis regained his balance and, again, began to reel the line.

“He must be huge.” Curtis yelled.

A strange deep voice answered from behind both of them. “That’s right, you got him.”

Curtis almost dropped the fishing pole as he spun around. Both Aubree and Curtis stared at an older man who stood several feet away.

“Catch the fish,” he said to Curtis as he pointed to the water. He paused as he took a closer look at them. Two kids; both bruised, clothes ripped, and blood stained.

“Oh my…” he said. He stepped forward and took the fishing pole from Curtis and yanked it hard, snapping the line and dropped the pole on the shore. He knelt next to them. They stood motionless and silent staring at him. He looked back and forth at them.

“What happened?”

He put his hands on their shoulders. It’s ok. “I’ll help you. Tell me what happened. Where are your parents?”

They looked at each other, then back at the stranger and both began talking fast and loud. He looked back and forth as they told about the plane crash, their parents being hurt, and falling into the river. He stood and reached into his pocket.

“Don’t worry; you are going to be fine.”

He took out a cell phone and dialed 911.

Chapter 14

Mikayla woke and slipped herself out of her father’s arms. She walked over and put a few more logs on the fire. The sun was low and ready to set.

The soft gentle voice of a woman broke the silence, “Mikayla.”

Mikayla stopped, thinking she was imagining things.

Again, she heard the voice of her mom, “Mikayla.”

Mikayla turned and looked at her mom and dad. Her dad was still sleeping and her mom rested on his shoulder. It was quiet. Then, as she looked closely, she saw the light of the fire reflected in her moms open eyes. She was awake!

Mikayla ran to her mom, “Mommy! Mommy!”

She put her arms around her mom and kissed her. Her dad moved and opened his eyes.

“Dad, she’s awake!”

He sat up and helped mom sit up. Her eyes were open, but she looked weak and sick.

“What happened?” she said.

He smiled and held her as his eyes filled with tears. “It’s a long story,” he said. “I’m so glad you are awake.”

“Mommy, I was so scared.” Mikayla began to cry.

Mom put her arm around Mikayla, still confused and now worried. “Where are Curtis and Mikayla?”

“They went to get help,” Dad replied.

“What do you mean, help? What is going on? Where are we? Why does my head hurt?”

“Stop…calm down,” dad said.

She looked at the splint on her husband’s leg. She looked at the blood stained clothes, the dirty faces, and the ripped clothing of her husband and daughter. Her memory began to return. The storm, the screaming as the plane crashing. She opened her mouth to speak, and covered it with her hand. She sobbed once, then began to cry. Her head fell on his shoulder again, and she bawled. Mikayla and dad both put their arms around her, holding her tight.

“Aubree and Curtis left before I woke up. I haven’t seen them,” dad said in her ear. He recounted the story to her as she laid sobbing on his chest. She put her arms around Dad and Mikayla. The three of them sat in silence as the sky darkened and the sun dropped behind the distant mountain.

“They are alone out there,” she said as she looked out of the cave into the night. “My kids…my babies.” She thought of Curtis. His raspy little voice. His short, stocky little body. His “…luv you mom” he’d frequently yell out. She thought of his messy room, toys scattered about. The frogs he’d catch in the stream behind the house, how he loved fishing, football, and soccer. Her eyes filled with tears and she longed to hold him in her arms…to feel his soft cheeks against hers. Her body quivered as she cried softly.

In her mind, she saw Aubree, her oldest child, sitting on the couch reading a book. She remembered how Aubree had packed eight books to bring on the trip. “Aubree, you can’t bring eight books!” she had said. Aubree loved to read. They had shared some great moments together reading books together. She thought when she held Aubree as a baby. She was such a sweet little baby. She pictured her first steps in their small two bedroom apartment when she was only seven months old. Aubree was always ahead of herself, doing and trying things meant for older children.

“My kids,” she cried. “I need my kids.” She began to cry and took Mikayla in her arms squeezing her tight. With her nose buried in Mikayla’s neck, she sobbed.

“I love you Mikayla,” she said.

Mikayla kissed her cheek and said, “I love you too, mom.”

After several minutes, she lifted her head and looked at her husband. His eyes too were filled with tears.

“I’m sorry” he said.

She took his hand and looked in his eyes. She squeezed his hand and smiled.

“Whatever happens,” she sobbed, “we will make it through this together.”

He put his head on her shoulder. The three of them sat in the flickering darkness.

A light flickered on the wall. They sat up and looked towards the cave opening. Several floating lights appeared.

“Mom, Dad!” The voices of Aubree and Curtis echoed off the walls of the cave.

They sat up. “Curtis?” mom yelled. “Aubree, is that you?”

In the darkness, two small dark figures ran across the cave while their shadows danced on the walls.

“Mommy…Daddy” they yelled again.

As they came into the light of the fire, Mom, Dad, and Mikayla saw them. They were bandaged, dirty, and their cloths ripped. They all met in a large embrace and held each other tightly. Dirty cheeks pressed together, they squeezed each other, frozen in time for a moment.

“We brought help,” Curtis said. “There is a Doctor…everything is going to be ok.”

The family sat again in silence for a moment. Hungry, tired, bruised, battered, and injured, the ordeal was over. They were going to be ok.

“We are all together again,” Dad said. He sat up and looked at his family. “Everything is already ok.”