Dance With Evil

The thunder pounded, the lightning lit up the indigo sky, and Heather Reed ran through the dark damp forest.  She trudged on, as quickly as possible, stumbling over the huge roots of the trees. Suddenly she fell against the knotted trunk of one of the larger trees.  She must not stop.  She must get to him before it was too late.  She pushed away from the damp tree trunk and ran on into the night, calling out his name.

“David, David, where are you?  Can you hear me,” she cried.

There was no answer, only the storm answered her with another bolt of lightning. The pounding rain beat against her body as she ran on through the storm.  Her footing was unsure as she stumbled again and again.  Why wouldn’t he answer her? Why was she chasing him?  How much further must she travel to find him?  Why wouldn’t he answer her? She was frightened and confused, so many questions.

She fell to the ground in a huge puddle of rain.  The water so very cold against her skin, the musty damp smell of rain soaked trees and water soaked ground invaded her senses. As lightning bolted across the sky, she could see wispy clouds of mist rising from the warm ground into the cold air.  She shuddered inside her cold wet clothes.  She heard a noise directly in front of her.  She couldn’t tell if it was human or animal, but she knew it was here for her.  She knew in that instant that whatever was here to destroy David, would also kill her. 

“David” she screamed, “David, answer me.”

Still no answer came from David but the thunder crashed around her, the lightning lit up the night sky, and terror gripped her soul. 

Heather bolted upright in bed.  Her body, drenched in sweat, was cold from the cool air in the bedroom.  She wiped the tears from her face.  She had wept in her dreams.  She had wept for David.

“Whatever kind of trouble you are in, David,” she said to the empty room.  “I wish you would call and tell me about it, or I wish you would settle it.  I have got to get a good night’s sleep one of these days.” 

She slid out of bed, put on her robe, and padded into the kitchen to start her morning coffee.  She saw on the kitchen table the signs that Jace, her husband, had left the house for work about an hour earlier.  He always left his cereal bowl on the table, half eaten.  He always left the morning paper open to the sports page.  It was these simple things that helped calm her.  They helped bring her back to reality after a long night with the nightmares that haunted her.  Of course, she wouldn’t talk to Jace about them.  It always made him crazy to talk about her gift, or possibly her curse.  He would always tell her that she had a vivid imagination and that she should get to work, it would all be okay. So, as she poured her first cup of coffee for the day, she took his advice and got to work.  Maybe, just maybe, one day Jace would be right and it would all be okay.