The young child was running, laughing in the snow, struggling at how much there was She had wandered father away from the house than she should have without thinking about it. The snow was altering her visual limits. The icy wind seemed to whisper a warning but the child didn't hear it Suddenly, there wasn't snow anymore but something that looked different to the child. It was for a lack of other words shiny compared to the snow.
She took one step forward onto it and almost slipped. She steadied herself and then took another step again having to steady herself. Step by step the five year old continued on, getting further and further away from the edge that she had come on from. It was such a game to take each step and not fall down. With the next step however a loud noise thundered below her and startled her. She began to fall but farther than she could have ever imagined.
She fell through the ice and was immersed in freezing water. She started screaming for her mommy but Mom was too far away in the warm closed-up house to hear her. She struggled until she was too cold to struggle and slowly began to sink under the water. She didn't remember after that. It was like she had gone to sleep and forgot to dream and all was dark.
Krysta woke from the dream struggling for a moment to catch her next breath. After so many years, one would think she would have stopped dreaming about it. It was always the same dream moment for moment, it never varied. The memory could never fade, the dream never would let it even after sixteen years.
The rest of the memory was different. She grew up being told what had happened. Someone had happened by and saw her fall in and pulled her from the icy water. He breathed air into her once water-filled lungs and brought her back to life, wrapped her in a thick coat, and carried her to the house. There she was quickly rushed to the hospital. She never had a memory of this, it was told to her by her mom or grandfather time and time again.
She vaguely remembered the hospital room that she woke up in. It was dimly lit when she woke, her mom sitting holding her hand and stroking her hair. Her mother's face was marked with concern and tears as she clutched her to her now that she was awake. They differed on one memory though. As Krysta leaned forward being clutched by her mother, over her Mom's shoulder in the darkness stood someone watching. Krysta didn't ask that night who was watching not until later when remembering with her Mom. Mom always told her the same thing. No one was in the room but them.
Her hero, the brave soul that rescued her, was never heard from again and no one even got his name. They said he was a man of twenty or so. Once he got her to the house, in all the commotion, he just left. Her mom still had the coat that he wrapped her in he even left without it. It was odd that he would leave it but she had the coat.
Krysta grew up hearing about how she was saved by her guardian angel and that there was a special reason she was saved. It was part of her. She knew how lucky she was to be alive, to have been given a second chance. Sometimes though, she wondered why.
Having the dream always seemed to bring reflection. Why she was even out there that day was always the question. Her mother always said she was determined and rebellious and that's why she had sneaked out to play in the snow when she had told her no. She was always told she was like her father, always determined to do what she wanted no matter what. She wouldn't know, she didn't remember her father, he left her Mom and her before she was two. All she knew of him was a couple of photos and a few old stories that didn't give her much of a dad.
Her grandfather was the only father figure she remembered in her life. They were living at his farmhouse because that's where they went to live when her father left. It was home that day, snow, lake and all. That was as much the reality as the five year old being out in the snow at the lake that day. Reflection never changed any of it, maybe it just added a little sober sadness. She didn't like to think about it most of the time. Sometimes denial was bliss.
It was too early to get up, so she settled herself back to try to get some more sleep. However sleep didn't come so she chose coffee to wake her instead.
She turned on the TV and sent to make some coffee. She could hear the weather forecast saying rain was coming. It was too early and too dark to see clouds out of the kitchen window. Funny though, they said rain, she felt like a major storm was brewing and a shiver went through her. She shook her head and mumbled to herself to get a grip. It was probably just being awakened by the dream. It always brought strange feelings with it.
Several cups of coffee and a corn muffin later she was at least somewhat prepared to face the day.
She showered, dressed in jeans, a light blue shirt, and boots, after all, they said rain. It was light outside now and the sky was filled with dark clouds. She grabbed a jacket and her purse and left the apartment for the bus stop. She had lots of orders to work on today at the flower shop. Mr. Williams' funeral was tomorrow. Hopefully, the rain would end before then, she thought to herself.
She liked working at the flower shop where she'd worked since she was seventeen. She loved flowers and found she was very creative with them. Maybe she wasn't a rocket scientist but she liked her job and someone had to do it.
Once on the bus, the usual faces greeted her and she found a seat. The rain began to lightly fall and she fingered drops running down the window she sat next to. She stared out the window as the bus traveled along its route past neighborhoods of well kept houses. She saw the blocks of shops coming into sight. The first block had the ice cream shop, hardware store, and pet shop. She got off on the next block across the street from the flower shop where she worked. A few doors down was Sarah's Café that had some of the best burgers around. You could smell the aroma of food even this early in the morning. The ride never took too long.
As she got off the bus she realized the coffee buzz was already gone and she was feeling tired again. Tired or not she knew she had a lot to do and it was going to be a long day.
Seven arrangements and eight hours later as well as several more cups of coffee it was time to go home. Hopefully she would sleep tonight. With any luck it would be without dreams.
The ride home was quiet, only several other riders. The rain seemed to be over at least for now. Her body was feeling heavy and reminding her of how tired she really was as she walked the block and a half to her apartment building.
Once inside she turned on the lights and television. When she was home, she kept the T.V on a lot. It probably would seem strange to some but to her it made her feel somehow a little less alone. It was a long running habit. Some night she even slept with it on. Actually a lot more nights than she would like to admit.
A bologna sandwich with lots of mayo and dill pickles and a sweet tea was dinner. She could make it quickly and it was one of her favorites. She only thing she wasn't sure she needed was something with more caffeine. As tired as she was though, she didn't think it would be a problem. She shrugged and took several swallows as she sat down on the couch with her sandwich and began to eat. She flipped the stations on the T.V with the remote but nothing held her interest. She settled on an old show from the sixties she had never heard of and left it there.
Once she had finished her food, she made a decision to take a nap. Reaching for the afghan mom had made her that she kept draped on the back of the couch, she snuggled down with the afghan on and about her. The room, the voices on the television quickly began to fade into the cozy feeling that she was slipping into. For a few hours there seemed to be a restful peace. If only it had lasted.
The young child was running, laughing in the snow, struggling at how much there was. She had wandered farther away from the house than she should have. The snow was altering her visual limits. The icy wind whispered a warning but the child didn't hear it. Suddenly, there wasn't snow anymore but something that looked different to the child. It was shiny.
She took one step forward into it and almost slipped. She steadied herself and then took another step, again having to steady herself. The five-year-old continued on getting further and further away from the edge that she had come on from. With the next, a loud noise thundered below her and startled her. She began to fall.
She fell through the ice and was immersed in freezing water. She started screaming for her mommy but Mom was too far away to hear her. She struggled until she was too cold to struggle and slowly she began to sink under the water.
Usually, the dream ended there and she would wake breathless and scared. This time the dream took her further into a memory or fantasy, she wasn't sure which, then she had been before.
The red winter coat was heavy and icy on the small child's body. If anything it was weighing her down, taking her down. The feeling of two arms that reached below into the icy water and scooped her up out of the chilling waters. He laid her down in the snow and began giving her CPR. After a few minutes, the child spit out some water and began coughing to clear her lungs. The red coat seemed to be getting heavier, freezing from the icy breeze about her. He reached for a coat and began wrapping it around her to give her some warmth. It was then that she looked up into a face, his face.
He was handsome beyond any words that could describe handsome. It was almost as if he glowed he was so beautiful. He looked to be twentyish. His hair was a bronze color, short but long enough to somehow frame his beautiful face. His eyes were medium sky blue and his skin somewhat pale yet he was radiant.
He wrapped her well in the coat and grabbed her up into his arms. There was a familiar smell to the coat as she snuggled into it. It was gardenia. She knew the smell because grandpa had gardenia bushes in front of his house. She remembered the smell from when the buses bloomed. He scooped her into his arms and ran for the nearby house. As he got closer, he began screaming for help hoping someone would come out to help.
She woke startled and confused. The dream had never gone this far before. She sat up and pushed away the afghan. The TV was playing some old movie in black and white. She really didn't care what was on. The clock on the wall said two A.M. Again too early to think about getting up and she had a feeling that she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. She kept thinking about the new part of her dream. Over the years she had had the dream various times. Only this time was it different. Only this time did she have a face to put to the stranger who had saved her as a child.
She yawned. She really wanted to go back to sleep. She pulled the afghan back across her and laid back down on the couch. She closed her eyes and listened to the dialogue of the old movie. Tiredness took over and she drifted back to sleep. Thankfully a dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.
She woke a little more rested than the day before, which she was grateful for. The memories of the newer dream outcome however had not in any way faded. A young man's face was now etched into her mind whether it be a forgotten memory of a fantasy ending to a reoccurring dream. Reality or fiction she didn't know. She wasn't sure why it mattered so much. It was just a remnant of something that happened to a child a long time ago. She tried to shake it off. She wished the dream would go away. Maybe she thought to herself, it would now since it seemed a more complete version.
She ate quickly, toast and jam and drank some orange juice, and went about getting ready for work. She didn't want to miss the bus. Once ready she took her morning walk the block and a half to the bus stop. The clouds were gone and the sun was back again. The usually uneventful morning bus ride usually took about twenty or so minutes. he sat staring out the window, watching for her stop.
As they slowed down to make her stop she noticed someone sitting on the bench. Usually a rare occurrence, for this stop. As she stepped down from the bus she glanced over at this person sitting on the bench reading a book. Her heart began to beat a little faster as he looked up from his book and startled her. It was someone she recognized surprisingly, impossibly. It was the person from her dream. She smiled a weak smile at him thinking to herself she had to be wrong.
He had gone back to reading his book. She stood there staring. She should cross the street and go to the flower shop but for some reason she couldn't. Suppose his bus came and he disappeared never to be seen again. Could she live with that? He looked up at her again from his book. It was now or possibly never.
"Excuse me, have we met before?" She asked taking a step or so closer to him.
He looked at her with his sky blue eyes. He didn't answer, his face seemingly stunned at that question.
"Have we met before? " She asked again.
" I think I would remember having met you," he answered with a smile that seemed to quickly erase the stunned look.
"You remember everyone you've ever met?" she asked, amused or aggravated, she wasn't sure which.
"I hope so. Everyone we meet is important so we should remember them."
She wasn't sure if he was for real or the biggest jerk she'd ever met. All she knew for sure was it was him. The one in the dream. She was sure of that.
"What if I said we'd met before?" she asked waiting for a reaction.
He showed no change and just looked at her.
"Can I ask when?" he asked.
He had her. She couldn't answer the question without looking crazy. How could she say they met almost sixteen years ago when he looked just as he did then? It was impossible that it could be him. An older brother maybe, a father, an uncle? Maybe she had met a member of his family.
"I didn't say we met. I said what if I said we'd met before."
"And when do you think we could have met before that I might not remember?
"Never mind, obviously it wasn't you." She said but still felt sure somehow it was him.
"Well we can officially say that we've met now I suppose. I'm Guardian Mann," he said stretching out his hand and staring what seemed like into her soul. People call me Ian."
"Krysta Byrd," she said, taking his hand. "Guardian, I've never met anyone named Guardian before."
"I never met anyone named Krysta before so we're even."
"Any humorous story behind the name?" she asked.
"My father believes in guardian angels," he said and smiled a smile that could melt a heart.
"Makes sense...I guess. My grandpa believed in guardian angels. He always said I was saved by one as a child," She said, looking for any reaction.
"Awesome. I'll have to tell my father I met a believer."
"Grandpa was the believer." She reminded.
"Don't you believe?" he asked.
"All I know is that someone saved me as a child."
"Well that's what was important, right?" he said still smiling as he stood up in front of her.
"Yeah, I guess," she mumbled.
"Well now that we have met I promise I won't ever forget," he said and turned to walk away.
He turned back and looked at her still watching him. She felt her face flush red and turned and walked towards the flower shop. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry and she needed the job. She had flowers to get ready today for a wedding tonight. She had to focus she thought as she turned back to look in his direction. He was completely out of sight.
"Work Krysta work. Think flowers," she said to herself as she entered the flower shop. She did her best to put him out of her mind. She worked but the mind would not let him go.
So many thoughts. Maybe he was related to the person of years past and looked like him. Maybe she had seen him in passing somewhere without paying much attention and he just randomly showed up in her dream. The ending of her dream which she didn't know if it was reality, memory unlocked or just a fantasy ending to put the dream to rest. She even got angry with herself because she didn't know why it was so important anyway. It happened so long ago. She survived, so why did anything more really matter? Several times she even glanced out the front window that faced the bus stop, looking by chance to see if he was there. He wasn't.
"Girl you've got to get a grip." She told herself and continued to work on the flower arrangements. She tried thinking about what the wedding would be like to get her mind off other things.
Finally delivery was ready to be sent out and the day was passing quickly. She was getting tired as she carefully helped load the last of the flowers onto the van. Outside, again she glanced towards the bus stop for any sign of him but he wasn't there.