Theme Thursday...........STAGE

Opal Nation13

What had it all meant? Would the Professor believe me if I told him what had happened? I crawled back into bed after a while. I really needed to see the Professor. I hoped that it would happen very soon. Then I heard an icicle fall and shatter! I nearly jumped out of my skin. Was I the only one who heard the loud noise? I listened, but heard nothing. No one seemed to be checking out the icicle falling. It had seemed so loud when I heard the noise, but was it real? Was anything real anymore?

I rolled over in my bed and covered my head with my quilt from Mother. I somehow felt a litttle safer and comforted. But was this feeling real? Was Mother really giving me comfort or was this just a stage in my life that I was going through? Always thinking of Mother and Father so much, then feeling such loss. I knew not where or when Father was. Should I just accept that he was no longer coming back or should I keep looking for answers? Finally I fell asleep.

Why was the quilt covering my face? I hated to sleep with any covers on my face. I quickly removed it. The sun was shinning so brightly into my room. What time was it? I rolled over and looked at the clock on my nightstand, it was a little after one in the afternoon. Something must be wrong, I never slept that late, then I remembered. I quickly sank back into the bed and covered my face up again. Should I peek out and look at the rocking chair, would I see Mother sitting there rocking?

I just laid there and then slowly pulled down the covers and looked up at the ceiling, it seemed safe. Yes, this must be just a stage I was going through, last night had never really happened. I jumped out of bed and started to get dressed. Then I saw it just a few feet from where I stood. I wanted to crawl back into bed and hide again. How could that have gotten there? I needed to find Ben and ask him about last night. But I could not move. I just stood there, half dressed and afraid to move an inch.

This was just a dream, I was not really awake, so I pinched myself. Damn, that hurt! Maybe this was not a dream, or I was pinching myself while I was dreaming. Yes, that is what it was, I was in one of the stages of sleep and was not really feeling any pain, I just thought I was. I looked over at my arm and felt it. I pinched it again. Damn it, that hurt just as much as the first time I did it. And why did it look like I was beginning to get a bruise on my arm where I had pinched it? Maybe I was awake.

I took a step closer to it. It looked real, but I was afraid to touch it, for fear that it might be real. If it was real then maybe last night had really happened. I wanted to touch it, but the fear inside me was so great that I just felt frozen in time. Oh that was great, I am frozen in time, but I wanted to conquer time, I wanted to be like the Professor and master time. But I still could not move. I knew I had to but, I just kept starring at it. It felt like it was looking back at me, starring at me, daring me to touch it.

I heard a door shut, I jumped, I almost ran back to bed again.

"Be brave, be brave.", I kept telling myself.

Strange that no one had come to check on me, usually my maid would have come to see why I was sleeping so late. What had Clara done when I had not come down for breakfast, to not eat the eggs that she would place upon the table in front of me. Why did I not tell her to stop doing that? I think I continued to let her bring the eggs so I would not have to face the fact that Father might not ever be here to eat his eggs again.

Maybe Ben had told them I wanted to sleep in this morning.

I took a step closer. I knew I had better try to touch it now or I would never do it. Just a few inches closer. I jabbed my finger into it quickly and my finger was wet. The puddle was real.

For those who missed part 12, here is the link. Which also links to part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.