The Space Between

Chapter 3

When he saw her, he was struck dumbfounded. He fumbled around, made an excuse to Benny, and left in a hurry. He didn't have the words or desire to try to explain anything to him. The entire bike ride home, David was in a stupor. He rode almost aimlessly, missing his turns and backtracking a few times. That girl. How was it possible. How could she be real? He tried to remember more of his dream, but it was useless. All he could recollect were the things he already knew. The flash, her voice, and her face. It just didn't make any sense. Who could she be?

It was almost four o'clock by the time he got to his home. The house he and his father had painted when he was seven. They painted it a light green with white trim. It was the only house he had ever lived in. There was a place in the backyard where he had buried his pet hamster, Howard. The backyard where his father had bar-b-qued and his mother watched him play in the sprinkler. It was where he played catch and learned how to throw a football. When he was little, his father let him sit on his lap and steer the riding lawnmower. The back fence is where he helped his mother with her vegetable garden. It was where he, Benny, and Scotty camped in his backyard and built a treehouse. Twelve of his fourteen years in this house had been happy ones.

David put his bike in the carport and went inside. He started dinner for his mother, putting a couple of chicken breasts in the oven and mixing up some Jiffy cornbread. Then he hopped in the shower. When he emerged his mother was home and finishing up preparing the meal. He dressed and sat down to dinner with her. He explained to her about the painting job and that Benny's dad, an English teacher, who was off for the summer, was to drive them in the morning.

"That sounds like a big commitment, are you sure you want to give up your entire summer working?" His mother asked.

"I do, it's not a big deal. Me and the guys will still get to hang out together and we can still go to the pool and go fishing and camping and stuff." David countered.

"Ok then, I just want you to think it through, honey."

"I have, Mom. I can use the money for a new belt for the lawn mower and I'm going to need shoes soon."

"David, honey, you know I appreciate you helping out, but I really don't want you to worry about those things, we will be just fine." She leaned over and patted his hand.

"I know, mom, I don't worry really." He lied. He did worry. He worried about her, how much she worked, and how happy she was. He worried they would lose the house and would have to move away from his friends. He worried if the car broke down, they wouldn't be able to pay to fix it. He carried a feeling in the pit of his stomach, everywhere he went, that something would happen, and he would lose even more of the life he knew.

They finished dinner and cleared the table. His mother put some fried chicken and a piece of cornbread in aluminum foil for his lunch the next day. He washed the dishes and wiped down the counters. They both settled in front of the television set to watch one of David's favorite shows, The Invaders. He watched while his mother thumbed through a Readers Digest. It was one of the routines he had shared with his father.

Sam Massey passed down his love for science fiction to his son. He read Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Rice Burroughs to him at bedtime throughout his childhood. They had spent many nights crouched over a telescope on the back patio, searching for stars, planets, and galaxies. Together they built a kit radio receiver that still sat in his parent's bedroom. It was an interest they shared, and it brought them closer.

Normally, David would have been glued to the set, not to miss a word of the program. Tonight, however, his mind drifted. He replayed the day's events, thinking and processing what had happened and what it all meant. The strange dream. That wasn't a dream at all. The incident at the post office, and, most of all, seeing that girl. Right there in front of him. At first, it had scared him a little, and he didn't know what to make of it. Now that it had worn off, he needed to find out who she was, where she came from, and everything he could about her.