Dream Catcher

Chapter 1

The wind whistled through her hair. She was free, nothing could harm her. She ran faster and faster. Colors blurred by her; a blue tree, a purple cat, orange snow. But, she realized, why was she running? A cliff appeared before her. She jumped off it, and let herself fall. She floated slowly down, it was if time had stopped. The drop would never end, she could keep falling for all eternity for all she cared. But what was the fun in that? She abruptly stopped in midair, and soared upward. Up, and up, and up. Into the clouds. Into space. She flew around some planets before coming back down. She thought a change in scenery would be nice, so a sandy beach and palm trees enveloped her. An ocean served as a view in front of her. A chair appeared beside her, and she sat down.

"Jonie, time to wake up." A woman appeared out of the water, and started walking towards her. Time to get up.

"You'll be late for your appointment. Get up."

The girl found herself in a bed. A shabby one, at that. Her mother bent over her, hair white from years of worry. A much less scenic sight then the one experienced just moments before.

"I'm up, mom. I'll be down in a few minutes." The older woman left the room, and Jonie slowly got herself out of bed. As her feet touched the ground, she felt something soft brushing against her. And then a loud meow sounded. "Oh, Mia, you always pick the worst places to hide." Jonie reached down and stroked the cat, then lifted her up onto the bed. Jonie went to her closet and picked out a t-shirt and jeans, then ran a brush through her hair, unsatisfied with her reflection. She hurried downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Here's breakfast. Juice is in the fridge. But hurry, we can't be late today." Jonie was used to this routine; getting up, eating breakfast, going to her meeting. She was sick, at least everybody told her that. But Jonie knew that wasn't true. She knew there was much more to her life than others got to experience. Jonie picked at her waffles, and drank a few sips of juice.

"That's all? Are you sure you don't want more?" Her mother looked down at her with concern. Jonie shrugged, and, frowning, her mother cleared Jonie's plate away. The pair headed towards the door, and entered the beat up car the mother had saved up to buy many years previously. The drive seemed longer than usual, probably because of the dread Jonie held inside of her. Today was group day.

"All right. Have a good day..." Jonie's mother rolled open her window to say goodbye as Jonie walked toward the old brick building. "..and, Jonie, I love you. You know that, right?"

Jonie muttered, "I know", not sure if her mother could hear her. Not sure if she wanted her mother to. She turned her back and pushed on the glass door.

"Good morning, Miss Wells. How are you today?" The secretary greeted Jonie, a welcoming smile on her face.

"I'm all right. And you?" Miss Liu was the only woman Jonie trusted, and willingly responded to, as she seemed to believe everything Jonie said.

"I'm great. Dr. Kinnard is in room 128, ready to see you." Jonie gave a quick nod of acknowledgement, and then turned left down the hallway. She dragged her feet, hoping to delay as much as she could before facing the doctor and all the other eyes ready to feast on her troubles. She hesitated on the door handle, but then twisted it and made her way to an open chair, without looking at anybody.

"Glad to see you've joined us, Jonie. Would everybody please say hello to our friend?" Dr. Kinnard flashed his yellowing teeth, in attempt to make Jonie feel at home. But despite his efforts, this never worked on Jonie; it just augmented her spite for him.

"Hello, Jonie." The room resounded with bored, low voices. Jonie responded by glancing up, before quickly returning her gaze to the floor.

"Well, shall we get started? Today I would like all of you to talk about why you're here. Feel free to open up on how you are feeling; there are no secrets here." Dr. Kinnard always started out the meeting the same way. Nobody listened anymore.