Through The Eyes of Glass

Carrie Bateman woke from her troubled sleep with a jolt.  Her bed clothes were slightly dampened by the sweat pouring from her body.  She tried to call to her mother, but her throat would not open and let the scream escape.  This was the third night in a row that this particular dream has awakened her from a disconcerted slumber.  Carrie felt embarrassed about wanting her mother, she was fifteen now and teenagers just don’t call out to their mommies in the middle of the night because nightmares plague their sleep.  However, this particular dream was not the typical “Freddy Krueger” nightmare.  Her dreams were telling her to kill her family.

Carrie rose from her bed, put on her pink robe, stepped into her slippers and went to the kitchen for a drink of juice.  As she passed the mirror in the hallway, she paused.  Carrie looked at the image reflecting back to her.  She was an average looking girl with deep brown eyes and long black hair.  The darkening bags under her eyes reminded her of how restless the past few nights had been.   She turned from the mirror and went into the kitchen.  She was beginning to feel a bit more at ease.  After all, it was only a dream.

Carrie returned to her bedroom.  She heard her brother, Dennis, softly snoring in the room next to hers.  How could she ever even dream of harming him?  She loved her younger brother dearly.  They were so close.  They shared everything with each other.  She thought it was time to tell her thirteen year old confidant about her dreams, but it must wait until morning.  Carrie opened her door, got into bed, and drifted back into an untroubled sleep.

Carrie awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon, eggs and coffee penetrating her nostrils.  The blissful aroma caused her stomach to start rumbling.  She pulled a blue sweater over her slim body.  The tightly knitted material accented the small swell of her breasts.  She pulled on a pair of Levi’s, laced up her Reeboks and headed down the hall to the kitchen.

Catherine Bateman was preparing breakfast for her children when Carrie entered the room.  Carrie wanted to tell her mother about her dreams, but decided to wait until after she told her brother.  It was Saturday, so she would be able to spend the day with Dennis.  He may be younger than she, but he had a way of understanding things that were considered a bit unusual.  He always had.  Carrie entered the room and gave her mother a hug.  Catherine kissed her daughter on the top of the head as she had every morning since she was born.  Catherine filled Carrie’s plate and placed it on the table along with a second plate for Dennis.  Carrie sat down and waited for her brother.

Dennis came into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  He said good morning to his mother and sat down next to his sister.  He looked at her and sensed immediately something was wrong.  They quietly ate their breakfast waiting for their mother to leave.  She would be going to work soon, and Carrie would wait until then to talk to her brother.  After cleaning off the stove, Catherine told her children that she was going to get ready for work now.  She asked Carrie to please finish up the dishes, and left the room.

“What’s wrong, I can see it in your eyes,” Dennis asked his sister.

“I’ve been having nightmares.  I don’t understand them.  Something is trying to get me to hurt everyone,” she said.  “I’ve had the same dream three nights in a row.  They keep getting worse.”

“How are you supposed to hurt people?”

“There is this thing, a monster that keeps telling me to kill you, Mom and Dad.”

“What kind of monster?  What does it look like?”

“I don’t know.  It stays in the shadows.  I can’t see it, but it scares me.”

“Why would it want you to kill us?  It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know.   I always wake up after it tells me to.  I love you guys, I could never hurt any of you,” Carrie said as tears filled her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Care.  Right now it’s just a dream.

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Softcover

$15.50

Softcover

$15.50