The Twisted World

Dream & Reality

The smell of sweet grass drifted through the air as she turned around and walked back into her house. In the kitchen, bacon and pancakes were cooking while she waited for her two young kids to wake up. She delicately plated the food and poured two glasses of orange juice while warming milk for her young daughter.

After ensuring everything was ready, she smiled in satisfaction. "Son, wake up!" She grumbled as she pulled the blanket off her son.

"Mom, five more minutes." He whined as he turned her back to her.

"Fine. But by the time I get your sister ready you better be out," she conceded as she went to the nursery next door.

"Baby, baby, wakey wakey," she cooed as she gently picked up her child and laid her down to change her nappy.

"Honey, you're here?" Her husband questioned as he walked into the room. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as he brushed his daughter's hair.

"Yeah, I am. Let's go to breakfast." She smiled as they walked down the hallway.

As she sat down at the dining table, "AHHHHHH."

"Do you hear that, honey?" She questioned.

"No, what are you talking about?" her husband answered.

A scream once again permeated the air.

"Do you really not hear that?" she begged.

"Hear what mom?" Her son asked as he leaned against the hall.

"Nothing. I guess I just didn't rest well." She frowned.

"AHHHHHH" once again as she gasped. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she struggled to breathe, gasping for air and grasping at her blanket.

She consciously sat up while her eyes gazed at the situation she was in. The torn blanket and the twin bed she was on with her daughter curled up next to her. Her son in the other bed with a dark smear around his mouth.

She struggled to breathe as she started to realize that this was her reality. "Ugh, ugh...help me," she gasped as tears started to roll down her cheeks. As the realization hit her that that perfect image had just been a dream of a memory that had long passed and that her husband was no longer there with her, her hands clenched as she opened her mouth to wail.

But right as she was, she used her hand to block the noise. She curled up on the bed as sobs shaked her body and she used her mouth to silence herself. She couldn't wake her children up. It was so hard to get them to sleep when they went hungry and her daughter asked where daddy was.

As she pressed her forehead against the wall, she felt her daughter curl up against her. However, contrary to relief, the feeling of her daughter just made her shake more. Her hands trembled as she silently turned and hugged her daughter to her chest.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry," she pleaded as she kissed her daughter all over the face.

"I can't do anything for either of you guys," she whispered as she hugged her child.

Glancing over the bed next to her, she thought of earlier today when her son had stolen the other half of the chocolate from his dying sister. She didn't know how her son had turned from the sweet little boy that asked for five more minutes of sleep to someone who snatched chocolate out of the hands of his baby sister.

She groaned as she hugged her daughter tighter. 'Was it this harsh and cruel world that tore families apart and killed the ones that dared to question the truth?' she pondered. This world had already snatched her husband from her and she knew that her daughter wouldn't be able to live longer. She had failed to protect the innocence of her children and even failed to give them a happy day, even at the very end. As she wondered, tears continued to slip down her face and her hands trembled against her daughter's body.

As she curled up protectively around her daughter in hopes of keeping her warm, her daughter blinked her eyes as her delicate fingers gripped her hand. She glanced down at her daughter as her daughter questioned, "Mommy, mommy, what's wrong?" Big and clear blue eyes blinked up at her as her daughter's tiny hand brushed against her wet cheek.

"Nothing, baby" she whispered as she pressed a kiss against her forehead. "Nothing's wrong. Mommy just had a bad dream."