Incoming: A Second Chance

March: What if?

Looking around, I continued to watch over my shoulder as I ran, making sure he wasn’t following me. I kept my feet moving, willing myself to keep running. Then suddenly, I could hear him gaining on me, he was coming fast.  I glance over my shoulder, but could see nothing.  Who was he? Where was he? Why is he doing this to me?

Turning the corner, I sprint into a deserted alleyway to try and lose him.  In the distance, down the alleyway I see a door.  I have to find someone to help me. I forced my legs even harder than before, ignoring the burning sensation forming in my legs. I felt as though I was moving in slow motion; each time I felt like I was almost at the door, I blinked and it was still a distance away. Finally reaching it, I practically threw myself at the door; my fist was pounding so hard, the pain shot up my arms.

Looking behind me, I see a shadow coming fast in my direction. I open my mouth to yell out for help, but nothing comes out.  The shadow of a man is suddenly behind me, reaching out for me.  His face was still in the shadows hiding his identity. Just as his hand is about to grab mine, the door behind me opens and the brightest light I have ever seen shines out from it.

The light is so bright; my hand instantly shielded my eyes from it as I tried to look inside. Inside the doorway, another man stands, and quickly wraps his arm around my waist and drags me inside.  Looking down at the arm around my wait, I follow it up to I see meet the eyes of the person holding on to me.  The eyes belonged to a familiar green eyed man that I knew too well, Ethan; he had saved me.  He positioned himself between me and the shadowed man.  As Ethan started closing the door, the light began to fade, and I finally caught a glimpse of the shadow man’s identity.

That’s when everything went into slow motion.  Ethan was still planted in front of me guarding me from the world, and standing there in the alleyway, looking back at me was Derek.  His eyes were pleading, hurt, and desperate, as if I was causing him pain.  I will never forget the look in those eyes, his eyes, as tears started rolling down my cheeks, I found myself reaching out for him, but then he was gone.

I shot up out of bed, taking in my surroundings.  I was safely in my room, heart pounding, and my eyes slightly blurred; that’s when I noticed I had actually been crying.  Something about the dream still lingered in my mind.  Kathy was still sound asleep, as I checked the time.  It was 7:55 am; my alarm on my cell would be going off in about 5 minutes to wake me for class.

I pull out my cell phone, and turn off the alarm feature.  Still sitting in bed, I think back to my dream, but the only thing I remember clear as day is the look in Derek’s eyes. 

Suddenly, the room phone rings, practically causing me to jump out my skin.  I turn quickly to answer it, as I notice Kathy starting to shift around in bed, trying to tune out the unsettling ringing.

Reaching for the phone, I whisper, “Hello?”

“Good morning sunshine.”

“Derek?” I was totally confused.  Why was he calling me this early?  Then thoughts of my dream came crashing back to me, as my heart started pounding faster.

“Yup, the one and only.  Why do you sound so surprised, I told you last night I would be your wake up call.”

“You’ve been saying that for weeks, and never called. Go figure the night I have a dream about you, is the day you decide to grace me with such a call,” clearly the annoyance was clear in my voice.

I can hear him laugh as I continued, “Seriously, the first time you told me you would call, I was late for class because I didn’t set my alarm!”  I whispered-yelled at him, still trying to keep my voice down since Kathy was still sleeping.