Forever and a Half || Michael Jackson

Chapter Two - Make You Feel Better

Chapter two – Make You Feel Better

~~

I'm awoken with a loud scream from upstairs. Knowing it's Michael, I get up from the sofa – which I now realise I fell asleep on – and head upstairs.

"Michael, what's wrong?" I ask once I'm upstairs.

I open his room's door, and I see him sitting on the bed in the corner of the room, his legs brought up into his embrace, and he's rocking back and forth.

"I-It doesn't matter."

"It does."

"No ... it's okay," he mutters shakily. He buries his head into his embrace with his legs, and I hear him sigh loudly, "I just had a bad dream."

"About your family and friends?"

He lifts his head and nods. I'm intrigued to know what the dream was about, so I join him on the bed and hold an inviting gaze on him.

"We can talk about it, if you want."

"I'm fine, honest."

"Talking about it will help you."

"Must everything I don't want to do be the thing that will help me most? I didn't want to tell you why I was alone on the curb yesterday, and you said telling you would help me. I didn't want to come stay here and be a burden to you, but you said it would help me. Now I don't want to tell you my dream, and you're saying that telling you will help me!"

I sit, unsure how to reply. He must pick up on this, as his set jawline softens.

"I'm sorry ... I'm just shaken-up, still. Any negativity isn't me, it's the grief talking," he explains wearily.

I nod, "I know. But it will help you, you know."

He lies back on the bed, letting his curls fall freely around his head. I involuntarily fall back to lie next to him – not in a sexual way, just a friendly way.

"Well... we were all in it. Mother and father, my siblings and I were all at a children's birthday party. There was a piñata, a cake, banners, and a clown to keep the kids entertained. So this clown show begins, and he says he's going to do magic. We all watch him as he takes out a knife and a gun, and he asks for the birthday girl to come up and be his assistant."

"Yeah?"

"And then this girl goes up, and she takes the gun from the clown's hand. The clown tells the girl to point it at the floor and shoot it, to prove that there are bullets in it. So she shoots it, and sure enough, a bullet flies out the damn thing. The clown then says that he's gonna make all the bullets disappear from the gun, and he tells the girl to point it at any guest she wishes."

"Keep going."

"So she aims it at mother and father, and the clown goes, "Shoot it". So the girl shoots it twice, and bullets fly out of it. He never made them disappear, so mother and father are killed instantly. Then, the clown laughs and says "Aim it at all of them!" so she does, and kills all the guests apart from me."

"Is that the end?"

"No, there's more. The clown walks my way, and smiles at me. He says, "Mr Jackson, I bet I can make this knife move with my magic." so I say, "I doubt it". Before I can react, he stabs me three times, and I fall to the floor. Bam! All of us dead, just like that."

"Oh, Michael ... it's just because all of your family has gone. These dreams won't be here forever, don't worry."

"I know. And actually ... you were right. I do feel better for telling you about it."