SWEET DREAMS - STRANGER THINGS SEASON 1

twenty-five; you're human

Mary sat alone outside the school on the steps. She was still, practically motionless asides from her shoulders that moved with each breath and her eyes that blinked away dry tears and mascara smudges.

           She was freezing to the touch, although she had no idea, she just felt numb. It took her time to process what Eleven had said but she truly knew what it meant. She hasn't said that Charlie was cold, she said his body was. And that meant he was gone.

            Mary regretted her actions almost immediately, she regretted yelling at a little girl, threatening a little boy and storming out the way she had. At the end of the day, Nancy was sure Barbara was dead and Jonathan had a brother and Joyce a son that they were worrying over — and Mary didn't know if they found out if Will was alive. But she hoped he was, she hoped there was one good outcome.

          Mary still didn't move when she heard footsteps, she didn't even flinch when a jacket was placed over her shoulders. Jonathan sat down beside her, pulling his knees to his chest, "She found Will." He spoke up, finally earning a reaction from Mary.

            The teenager tipped her head back, breathing out air of relief, "Thank god." She whispered, closing her eyes for a brief moment and Jonathan watched her carefully.

            Silence washed over them before he spoke again, "How you holding up?" He asked her and she sighed deeply, staring straight ahead, her eyes focused on a lamppost that was flickering a little ahead of her — it had been that way since she had sat outside.

            She shrugged her shoulders limply, "I don't know," She admitted, "I feel numb, Jonathan. I just feel so cold. I just can't believe it, I mean, I'm not in denial, I understand what this means... But, I just wish it wasn't true." She explained, her voice tiny and Jonathan inched closer to her, placing his hand on her knee gently just as Nancy stopped at the doors; she was previously looking for him but after seeing the two she suddenly stopped and watched from afar.

           "Your dad and my mom are going to find Will. Maybe Eleven was wrong, maybe Charlie —"

           "Jonathan, don't," Mary breathed out, looking up at the boy with her mascara smudged eyes, though still looking beautifully broken, "I've accepted it. I can't feed myself with delusions. Thank you, but Eleven must be right..." She trailed off, looking back to the blinking light. Her knee was warming up from Jonathan's hand.

           The silence grew again and Nancy almost walked out, but then Mary began to speak again, "Charlie was better than all of us you know — Steve, Carol, Tommy and I," She said, a ghost of a smile on her lips, "He was pure and warm and kind... Qualities we all fail to possess." She chuckled a little, hanging her head as she felt her eyes burn again and she began to think she had cried more that week than in her entire lifetime.

           "If the monster should have taken anyone then maybe it should have been one of us. Maybe it should of been —"

             "No, Mary, no," Jonathan spoke over her, moving closer to clutch onto each of her arms and turn her to face him, "Don't you do that to yourself, don't you dare." He demanded, his eyes connecting with hers, desperately begging her not to play that game or go down that road.