Starry Wonders: Heaven Reached at Last *REWRITING*

026

Beep! Beep! Beep!

My fingers paused their typing, hovering over the keyboard as my gaze averted to the telephone on the counter. It rang without pause, the ear-piercing noise alerting me of its presence. I glanced at the clock on the computer. 7:54 AM. Strange. I rarely ever received phone calls that early in the morning unless, of course, they were from telemarketers.

Getting up from the table, I bypassed Michael, who glanced up from the carpet where he was playing Legos and having a mini tea party with Snow White and Bubbles, and then stood in front of the telephone. I reached out to grab it, yet found my hand was trembling as I did so. Don't do it, something told me.

Simultaneously, another voice whispered, Take it, Monty.

Temptation and defiance swayed my actions. I grabbed the telephone from its stand, staring at the numbered keypad before I put it to my ears. It was so silent in the room that a pin could be dropped and heard. Goosebumps arose on my skin, and I moved my robe to cover up my chilled body, my thighs pressing together, as my lack of clothing came into effect.

"Hello?" I hesitantly called out. Immediately, a whimper and a choked sob sounded through the speakers. My grip tightened, for I knew who it was in a heartbeat. "Mama, what's wrong? Are y'all okay over there?" I palmed my chest, stiffening, as a dull ache started in the midst of my breasts.

Her smothered cries rattled my eardrums, and the sides of my lips tugged down while I leaned against the counter, my legs losing the strength to keep upright.

"Oh, baby," she finally cried out, my elbows digging painfully into the wood, as they bared the weight of my entire body. "Are you okay over there? Please tell me you're okay."

I pressed the phone closer to my ear. "Yes, mama, why wouldn't I be okay?" The dread paining my chest didn't alleviate, but instead, worsened its constricting hold. Breathing became difficult, and I forced myself to quiet down my frantic pants, as to not worry her. "What happened?" My voice fell to a whisper. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She released another whimper, her voice quieting down while she blurted, "Baby, you-you – oh my God – I can't-" Her side grew muffled, signaling she was covering her face.

"Mama," I uttered, "it's okay. We're okay. Tell me what happened. What did you dream about?"

Her shaky inhale led to a sharp, scratchy cough, making my face scrunch, as I imagined her discomfort. "It started off with us in your room. The room was dark, and the only thing I could really see was your body laying on the bed while you were sleeping. I tried to walk towards you, but it was really difficult... it was like I was walking through water, you know? So, I looked down to see what was happening to me, and suddenly, we weren't in your bedroom anymore. We were in a swamp – but it wasn't water I was standing in! It was a thick, gooey liquid that was black and sticky and hot. I could smell burning meat and – and rubber?"

My hand covered my mouth to conceal a gasp. Black. Sticky. Hot. Descriptions I was much too familiar with.

Ehmowa.

"I tried getting out of it, but it stuck to me like glue. And it was scorching hot – so-much-so that I could see the skin on my legs melting. I had this urge to claw and scratch at my body; it was almost as if I had this insatiable itch that needed to be fixed. But then I saw you on the bed and somehow, I ignored those urges and pushed through the black tar to get closer to you, but no matter what, I just seemed to get farther and farther away. Then, I saw something moving around in the water.

"It appeared to be an alligator, and its head just barely peaked from the waters, as it watched me. It was in front of the bed, guarding you, and so, we came to a standstill, and me and the gator sort of... stared for a while, waiting for the other to move. During all this, the winds started picking up around us, and when I looked away from the gator's beady eyes for a sec, I saw the trees were being blown away. It was a second - just a second - and yet, when I looked back at the gator, it was gone! But I couldn't think about it for long because... because I saw a tornado coming straight for us."