The Visions

Chapter 2

When I woke, I could tell it was way past eight in the morning. The morning sunlight reflected off my mirror, casting delicate shadows across my blue walls. My desk was covered with unfinished homework, dirty clothes, the book I'd just started. It looked, for some reason today, so out of place, so unlike myself. I sat up in bed, blinking hard. My bed sheets were tangled around my legs and my pillow was on the floor. Jeez, I felt like crap too, as if I was nursing a hangover or something. I untangled myself my my sheets and sat on the edge of my bed, just staring out the window. I could see my neighbours, the Challenors, preparing for their yearly vacation. Their camper van was up, and Mrs. Challenor was carrying a large bag of cooking utensils into the caravan. I sat there, watching for a few more minutes, before I stood up, stretched, and wandered into my bathroom. I couldn't hear my mum banging pots and pans downstairs, so I guessed that meant she had left for work. My dad was overseas, working for a large oil company, and he wouldn't be back for a few months. Great, I thought, so it's just me, myself and I all alone in this house. In the bathroom, I stripped off my t-shirt and pajama bottoms, and went over to turn the water for the shower on. I picked up my hair brush, and started to comb through my massive tangle of hair. My hair was a nice colour, sort of a golden blond, with an auburn tinge to it. My hair wasn't long- just a couple on inches longer than my shoulder, but it was thick. Not only that, but my hair was also quite curly- not so curly that I had individual ringlets, but just curly enough to give a bit of texture to my face. I studied myself in the mirror- my eyes seemed extremely blue this morning, and my skin seemed almost dirty- like I'd been rolling in mud or something. Odd, I thought, I'm sure I had a shower last night... Remembering that I still had the water running, I jumped quickly into the shower, turned the cold on, and relaxed. There, that felt better. I closed my eyes, and took some deep breaths. Why did I feel so out of breath this morning? I opened my eyes, and looks down at my feet, and the water around them. Wow, I thought weakly, I really was dirty! I wonder how it happened- as far as I'm concerned, I definitely don't sleepwalk! Must've just been a one off, I thought dreamily, sat down, and sank into the feeling of the hot water pounding off my bare shoulders.

I opened my eyes violently, my heart thudding. At first I didn't know where I was, or why freezing cold water was being poured onto my body. I then, realised that I had fallen asleep while in the shower. I stood up, turning the freezing water off, stepped out of the shower cubicle and wrapped a warm towel around me. My wet hair was plastered against my forehead, and with a shaky hand, I ran my hair back from my face. I was quite surprised that I had fallen asleep in the shower, but then again, I wasn't feeling too great earlier either. With the towel still wrapped around me, I stepped out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. I dried myself off as best as I could, and glanced at my clock next to my bed. 10:30am, it said. Oh well, I thought, it's not like I'm missing anything. My school was having a junior year parent meeting, and school was cancelled for the years 10 and above. Still thinking about school, I walked past my window, and stepped towards my chest of drawers; grabbed out some underwear, a clean t-shirt, jeans and sat down heavily on my bed. Outside of my window, I could still see the Challenor family getting ready for there annual holiday. I closed my curtains, and started to dress. Where were they going again? I know it was somewhere down south- my family had gone there when I was younger. We stayed in cabins and it had a nice forest surrounding the place. It also had a lake, a nice big round one, with mini streams running off parts on the lake. I remember playing in them, and the one time I got so muddy my wellies were filled with gunk. Lake Tote? Was that it's name? Lake Trute? Lake Torge? Lake... And then it clicked into place- Lake Troute. And with it came with a bad feeling. Why was Lake Troute such a bad place? I had lots of good memories there! And then it hit me- The lake. The boat. The girl. I froze- my t-shirt halfway over my head. Sarah. The girl was Sarah, the one in my dream. Sarah Challenor, my neighbour. And I had dreamt that she had drowned. Oh god, I thought, and before I could stop myself, I screamed.