Dead Attachment

Chapter Six : Breaking News

-SIX-

BREAKING NEWS

                “How was your sleep, Darlene?” Dad asks as I take a bite of bacon. We’re sitting in our places last night, Grandma in front of me and Dad beside me. This will be our permanent seats, I guess.

                 Grandma’s reading the town’s newspaper, her glasses drooping on her nose every few minutes that she needs to pull them back again. Out of reasons that Dad and I don’t know, she would just suddenly gasp or chuckle to herself that even if Dad is busy munching on his breakfast, he would stop eating and look at me. I just mouth out Leave her alone and then Dad would just resume eating again. I guess we’ll just have to get used to it.

                Now, since he has finished his breakfast while I still have 2 more sticks of bacon left in my plate, he has decided to interrogate me.

                “Fine.” I say with my mouth full. The oil from the bacon drips down on my mouth and I try to wipe it using my tongue but it already drips on my shirt. Darn.

                “Had any dreams?”

                Last night, I was expecting that I would dream about my Mom again. That I’ll just see nothing, just black, and she’ll call my name again out of nowhere. Because of what happened last night, I wanted to hear her voice because I know it’ll make me feel better.  

                But I had no dream last night. All I remember is closing my eyes, trying to fall asleep, and then opening them again, seeing my room drenched in sunlight. It’s as if I didn’t even sleep at all. It felt like just a few minutes when I’ve slept hours already.

                “No. But I slept good.”

                Dad nods as he reaches over the table to get the napkin Grandma placed there earlier. “I actually had a weird one. It’s about you.”

                I continue munching on my bacon as I look down on my plate with only a stick left. I finish chewing and after swallowing it down:

                “What’s it about?” I’m almost afraid of asking that question, knowing the answer can be anything. I slice the last bacon to three parts and gobble the first one up.

                “Well, I don’t remember much but I know you were there. Everything is black and you were just standing there, like nothing weird is happening.”

                I try my best to not look like I’m surprised. That sounds like my dream, but instead of my Mom’s voice, I’m in there and I’m just standing. Could it be that Mom is calling out to my Dad now?

“Really?”

                “Yeah. And I think I called out to you, many times actually, but you wouldn’t turn around and then this figure comes up to you and—”

                Grandma suddenly shrieks, making Dad and I flinch. Our necks almost break when we suddenly  look at her. She looks so horrified that her face seems crinklier now. Dad and I know the reason, and it’s obviously in the newspaper.

                “Ma! God, don’t do that! We’re going to think you’re having a heart attack or something.” Dad’s face wrinkles up too. It does when he’s worried and it makes him look twice his age. I, on the other hand, am completely surprised and disappointed because I wanted to know Dad’s dream. I remain relatively calm as Grandma still looks horrifyingly at the newspaper.