The Easton's

13

Oregon

His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her. The field of flowers made it hard for him to clearly make her out but he knew. She turned her long black curls flowing as she started to run. His feet started going before he could even register that he was moving. His hand reached out for her. "Mommy wait!" He called out to her.

"Please mommy I'm sorry!" He yelled as he chased her. He felt like he was running for hours before everything went dark. He couldn't see anything as he turned to look for something. Where did she go?

"It's time." He heard a voice whisper. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere. He turned around and around trying to find the source. His body stopped moving no matter how hard he tried to move.

His breath caught in his throat as he came face to face with her. Her green eyes staring into his.

"It's time Jestion." She said softly. They stood for a moment just staring before a ringing filled his ears. Her face faded away as the ringing grew louder and louder.

---

Jestion woke up in a cold sweat. Panting filled the quiet room as he held his chest trying to catch his breath. Why after all these years would he dream about his mother now. He turned to Riley who was sleeping deeply beside him.

He then looked over at June's crib seeing the boy was still asleep before he laid down. He stared at the ceiling for a while before looking over at the clock on the dresser. It read 3:45 am. He fought for his eyes to close, for his mind to drift back into sleep but no matter what he did he couldn't get her voice out of his head.

'It's time.' It repeated over and over again ringing in his mind.

---

Jestion sat at the kitchen table half asleep with a cup of lukewarm coffee in his hands. Elias walked in whistling a Christmas song. He grabbed his apron and turned to get ready to make breakfast. He jumped, seeing his brother looking half dead at the table.

"Jess! You scared me, how long have you been awake?" Elias questioned as he walked over to the fridge. Not hearing anything coming from his brother he turned to see Jestion staring at the wall blankly.

"Elias...what happened to moms stuff after they died." Jestion asked as he looked at his brother. His blood shot eyes made Elias sit everything down and walk over to him.

Elias sat down beside him and grabbed his hands. "When I came to live with my foster parents, they took me to visit mom and dads grave. Someone put all of moms things in storage, dads ex-wife took his things." Elias said as he grabbed the coffee mug.

"I'm gonna make you tea." Elias said letting go of Jestion's hand to go make some tea. "R-riley and I need to go on a trip for a couple days." Jestion called out. If the house wasn't silent Elias would've missed it.

Elias turned to see his brother with tears streaming down his face. "I think I need to say goodbye to mom, Elias." Jestion said as he tried to control himself. He couldn't be crying again, not when they were all supposed to be in such a great mood.

"Okay, how long are you going to be gone?" Elias said as he turned back to put the kettle on. Jestion sniffled before wiping his eyes one final time. "Just a couple of days." Jestion said standing to get the tea bags for his brother.

"Okay, we'll watch the boys just make sure you're back before Riley's parents arrive." Elias said, causing the conversation to die. After making his brother's tea Elias began to start on breakfast.