Esri cried, "Help, help," first quietly, then a louder "help" and finally screamed longer and louder "Help me!"
Joe came barreling into Esri's room. Sound travelled readily through the thin walls of their apartment. He was half-awake and half-dressed but already into panic parent mode. He ran to the bed and gently pulled Esri into his arms.
"It's ok sweetie pie. It's only a dream, just a dream. Shake it off,"
Esri was now fully awake, "Holy, shit."
"Esri!"
"Oh, sorry, Dad. I know, shouldn't swear. I'm ok now."
"Bad dream?'
"Eee-yeah, sort of, I guess, at the end. Scared the you-know-what outta me."
Joe smoothed Esri's mass of thick, curly hair away from her face. "It'll be ok. It's been a while since you did that, called me in the night. Want to talk about it? Were you dreaming about your Mom?"
"No, not about Mom. I haven't dreamt about her in a long time. It's just that this dream seemed so real, it really freaked me out. Kinda weird but not weird. Anyway, what's with the 'sweetie pie'? I'm not a baby you know."
"Old habits. You should get some more sleep. It's still a while before you need to get up. Want me to sit here a minute?"
"Yeah, sure. Did I wake Jilly up?"
"Doesn't look like it. She's pretty zonked out," said Joe. They looked across the room at six-year-old Jilly sleeping peacefully, her mouth forming a small 'o'.
"That's good. Thanks for coming, Dad. 'Night – again," Esri kissed her Dad and snuggled back down in her bed.
"'Night Esri, I'll sit in the chair a little while." Joe slouched half-awake in the old bean bag chair until Esri's breathing slowed and deepened and then he quietly returned to his bed.
Next morning, Esri remembered the dream. And kept thinking about it throughout the day. Every detail. The touch of Zura's rough hands, her warm calmness, Dagan's large presence and watchful eyes. She especially remembered the hunger and cold, how they nuzzled together under the animal skins to stay warm at night. Esri wasn't able to talk to anyone about the dream. As soon as she tried, she'd get a catch in throat and couldn't speak. Maybe it was just as well. It was a pretty weird dream.
Where did all that stuff come from? Starting a fire without matches by twirling and pressing down on a stick into a thicker notched stick lying on the ground, foraging for edible plants and roots. In her dream, she knew exactly what to do.
Esri was distracted by the dream throughout the school day. She couldn't stop thinking about Zura and Dagan and worrying about what was happening to them. She kept telling herself to snap out of it, stay focused. People will notice.
Esri didn't have soccer practice today so her closest friends – Ada and Luka – were waiting for her after school. They all lived in the same low-rent high-rise apartment building. The three were friends since before they could remember. Their mothers met at the infant program at the local library branch when Esri, Ada, and Luka were babies.
Luka was a head taller than Esri and nearly two heads taller than Ada. Usually they walked with Esri in the middle. One of their friends referred to the three as The Stairs as the tops of their heads created a stair step effect when they were side by side.
Luka hugged Esri. He was a frequent hugger. "Hey you, incandescent true friend of mine," he said, "do you realize as of today we've survived our first month of high school and yours truly has not once been sent the office?"
"That's true," Esri hugged him back. "In-can-des-cent Luka. Good going. Are you saying Ada and I are out of a job?" She broke away from Luka and hooked her arm into Ada's.
Ada looked up at Luka. "You know how greatly it thrills us to become intimately acquainted with all the principals and vice-principals at our schools."
Luka grinned, "Well, I'm not exactly a little kid anymore, in case you haven't noticed. So even if I end up in trouble, you don't have to look after me like you used to. Though I do always like your company."
Luka was a hyperactive kid, and his overbearing exuberance frequently landed him in trouble. In earlier school years, he often ended up being sent to the principal's office, where the girls would collect him at the end of the day.
Ada said, "Library time, Mr. Incandescent?"
Luka groaned, "Sure. But you know, you two are kind of boring some times."
"And? . . . " prompted Ada.
"My Mom says she never could have raised me without you two. Ok, so study time, here we go. I'll race your short little legs there, Ms. Brainiac," said Luka.
Ada glared at Luka, then smiled, "I look forward to the day when I'm a famous neurosurgeon and they wheel you into the operating room after you've landed on your noggin' trying out for Cirque de Soleil. I'll make you retract every shorty comment you've ever made to me before I reattach your brain."
Ada and Luka walked on, continuing to banter back and forth. Esri lagged behind, thinking about her dream. How different it was to walk for days outdoors and see no buildings or sidewalks or cars or roads or power lines - and no stores, totally relying on eating directly from nature.
Ada turned around, "Hello? Esri, you with us? You look adrift."
Esri slowed, absorbed in watching a squirrel leaping between two trees. It was Luka's turn to speak now, "Yo, Es. That would be a squirrel - you know, rats with fluffy tails."
Esri turned to them, "Ohhh, just thinking. How would you go about catching a squirrel if you had to hunt them and didn't have a gun? Probably not a lot of meat. I wonder what they taste like?"
"Uck, disgusting," Ada grimaced. "Why would you even contemplate such a thing?"
"I dunno. I was wondering what if suddenly we didn't have any place to buy food. Like all the grocery stores or restaurants were gone. What would we do?"
"Well, we'd probably all start killing each other. Maybe start eating each other until only the baddest and meanest were left," said Luka.
"Thanks for that vote of confidence for humankind, Luka." Ada shook her head and then lowered her voice. "Hey, look, ahead of us. Isn't that Solithh?" It was their code name for Scary Old Lady in the Haunted House.
They watched the older woman slowly bumping her bundle-buggy ahead of her. She had a kind of rocking way of walking, like something was wrong with one of her legs. Though she was older and moved awkwardly, she emanated a certain energy. She had short grey hair, piercing eyes, no make-up or jewelry and usually wore a colourful tunic over her pants.
They were fascinated by her and a little bit scared of her, especially when they were younger. Her spooky house sat back from the street partially hidden by a tall cedar hedge. The ivy-covered brick house was two-stories with several leaded glass windows and a turret in front. For the three friends, it was something out of a Grimms' fairy tale.
Esri came out of her dream reverie, "That is so weird. You know, Jilly and I saw Solithh this morning, too, on the way to school. I was going to tell you guys. You hardly ever see Solithh away from her creepy house. Twice in one day. Very odd."
"Remember how we used to go to her house on Halloween, and most of the other kids were too scared?" said Luka. "She'd take forever to come to the door, give us the old Solithh stare, and hand us each a quarter." Luka turned around to Esri and Ada and did a dead-on imitation of Solithh peering around her door.
"Luka, stop it. She'll see you," said Ada
Esri teased, "And she'll put a curse on you, if you don't watch out."
'Ya, right. So now you think she's a witch. You used to think she was Amelia Earhart and that she hurt her leg when her plane crashed," Luka said.
"Ok, so I was a little off on my timing with Amelia Earhart but you must admit, there's something about Solithh that's intriguing. I'd love to know her story," said Esri.
They watched Solithh's rocking movements as she continued down the sidewalk. As they did, Solithh stopped and turned around. She stared at them, nodded several times, turned, and shuffled away.
"OH – MY – GOD ! ! ! What was that?" Esri shuddered.
"She only nodded at us, Es. Aren't you over-reacting a little? I thought that was my job," said Luka.
But Esri had seen more than just a nod.