Dream and Nightmare

Chapter 4 - Lioness

Roze was stretched out on the large sofa, taking up as much room as four people of the same size. An iced glass of lemonade hung from her hand as condensation dripped to the floor, the only fan in the room turned towards her so she could hog the cool air. Her frizzy hair was extra large in the humidity, and her skin looked sticky with sweat. "It's hoooottttt," Roze whined. 

Anah, sitting in the sun on the floor, didn't trust herself to respond. Her toes were already hot enough without being shoved into the socks and sneakers that she wore on her feet. Thankfully, her long, silky black hair had been tied back in a braid to keep it out of her face, and for the moment off her neck. 

The clock ticked unbearably slowly on the wall. Tock... Anah wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. TicK... From the kitchen she could hear her mother scolding Elsy to get out of the fridge. Tock... Her father turned the page in his overly read newspaper, shaking it out twice before continuing his reading. They had given up buying him new newspapers. He was just as entertained reading the same articles thirty times as he was with fresh stories. Tick...  

"Oh look here, Rebecca-" Nobody had any idea who Rebecca was meant to be. "There's a sale at Sally's boutique- twenty percent off!" Anah mouthed along with the words. It was the same thing every day.  

Roze sighed. It was her turn to play Rebecca. "That's real interesting, dad. Do they have air conditioning?" 

Their father grunted, satisfied that she had heard him, and continued reading. 

"Roze and Anah!" their mother called from the kitchen. "Come here!" 

Roze groaned from her comfortable spot on the couch. "Can't, mom! Cramps!" 

"Liar," Anah mumbled as she got to her sweaty feet. Roze just flipped her hair in the cool breeze of the fan to mock Anah. 

Their mother was putting together a little bag of leftovers. "For Jack," she explained. "His parents still aren't back. Poor boy. He must be hungry." 

Anah blinked. Was her mother actually being nice? Why now, and why to Jack? She only just met him. Being fake was expected, but genuine niceness wasn't something she ever associated with her mother. "Oh," was all that she could come up with as her mother handed her the bag. "Bring that over to him, won't you?" 

"Sure." Anah almost smiled. It was just about the time she said she was going to meet him, too. What a perfect excuse to get away. "And I'm going to go into town to get dad a new newspaper. That one's getting annoying." 

"Be back by dark," she said sternly. Apparently the sweetness was only for Jack. 

The air outside was somehow even worse than the air inside. The heat from the sand made Anah's sight wavy as she stepped across the stone path to Jack's house. She was only halfway there when she saw a woman leaving out the back door. She was tall and middle-aged with a purse in her hand. One of those purses with the logo of the company stamped all over it so that people would see it and immediately know you were wealthy. Her hairs were tucked away in a neat up do, held in with so much hairspray you could've scratched a diamond on it. Anah could practically smell the heavy perfume from where she stood. Why this person would be coming out of Jack's house, Anah had no clue.  

His door was already open when she arrived. The feeling of cold air on her sweat covered skin just about made Anah cry out in joy and forget all about the woman with the purse. "You have air conditioning!" She dropped the bag and fell to the floor dramatically, pressing the side of the face against the cool wood. 

Above her Jack laughed as he closed the door, locking it with a soft click. "I suppose it is pretty hot outside." 

"Hot? I have completely melted into a puddle of sweat."