She
could feel the warmth on her back.
Confused she sat up and turned round. Her arm shielded her eyes as she
looked into the distance. Reds, yellows and oranges fused together producing
what seemed to be a burning inferno. She
looked on perplexed as her eyes beheld the unusual sight. Nothing was burning. This “inferno” seemed to be airborne. There was no black smoke or any of the usual
things that accompany a fire. There was
no smell and as she looked out of the window, no one seemed to be concerned by
it at all. Maybe it was an asteroid, the
beginning of Armageddon, she thought.
However it stood there still. She
watched it for a few moments and not once did it move.
Unsure
as to what it was, she got up and went outside.
She moved towards it, trying to get a closer look but it was far too
bright and her arm was no longer sufficient as a shield. She took a step
backwards but it was too alluring. It
was menacing yet beautiful and her curiosity was something that she could not
ignore. Her fingers struggled to unbutton her shirt, fear and excitement making
them slippery with sweat. Taking it off,
she hung it over her head. The
difference was slight but she walked on.
She crept slowly with apprehension as the heat intensified. Fear and excitement were no longer the cause
of the sweat that now dripped from her body.
It
was so bright that her eyes were practically closed, yet she still edged
forward. It was more orange than red or
yellow and it gave off a dull humming noise, she felt the vibrations in her
core. She let go of the shirt, which
hurtled towards the “inferno” and disappeared within its walls. Looking down she saw that her feet were no
longer on the ground. Fearful she tried
to turn around but couldn’t. Realising
that this “inferno” was pulling her body towards it, she opened her mouth to
scream but no sound came out. Panic set
her heart racing. With all her might she tried to stop herself but it was too
late. The force was drawing her in.
She
sat upright, gasping for breath, her clothes clinging to her clammy skin. Her chest pounded by her heart, made her body
jolt rhythmically as she tried to calm herself, confused by her
surroundings. The inferno was nowhere
to be seen. She was not outside and soon
realised that her body had not ventured from her bed. It was her mind that had
wandered.
She
got out of bed, walking over her shirt that lay on the floor. In the darkened kitchen she filled the glass
with cold water and gulped it down, replenishing her body. The sound of the glass being placed on the
worktop echoed in the silence of the early morning. She stood there in darkness, her body
slouching over the sink.
“Zoe,
what you doin’ standin’ in t’darkness?”
With
one sentence the silence had disappeared. Zoe swung round with such a fright
that her arm knocked the glass to the ground, which crashed into the tiled
floor, shattering upon contact, the fragments spreading themselves across the
surface. The room was filled with light
and Ade stood there half asleep, looking at her as she held and stomach, unable
to speak, her breathing erratic.
“You
idiot! You scared the living daylights out of me!” Zoe said still struggling to stand upright,
her hand still holding her stomach. Ade
carefully tiptoed around the broken glass, pulled out a chair and Zoe shot him
a thankful look before sitting down. Ade sat opposite her, his voice softened
by concern.
“Zoe,
why are you up, I mean it’s 3am.”
“Er,
you are up as well”, she said her eyes darting from the floor to his eyes and
back to the floor.
“I
am only up ‘cause I thought I heard screamin’.
Then I hear you comin’ down t’stairs and I thought summat was up.”
“You
must have been dreaming,” she said shifting uneasily in her chair. “I just came
down for a glass of water.”
In
an effort to show his concern he placed his hand on her back but quickly
removed it.
“Yer
clothes are soakin’ wet! Its like you’ve
been for a run in t’desert!”
“Well,
I was hot,” she replied agitated at the interrogation she was receiving. “That’s why I came down for a glass of
water.”
“I
don’t believe yer. Summat’s up, I know
it is, why won’t yer tell me?” His eyes
were sincere and she wanted to tell him, she yearned to let it all out but she
was scared to say it out aloud.
“I…”.
“Go
on…” he said drawing closer to her.
Zoe
thought about lying, but the idea of trying to convince Ade that she was fine
seemed much too exhausting.
“I’ve
been having these dreams.”
“Dreams?”
Zoe nodded in response, tears stinging her eyes.
“Well
what ‘appens in these dreams?”
Zoe
takes a deep breath before explaining it all to him.
“Ade
it feels so real, to the point where I struggle to know whether or not I am
actually dreaming. It feels as though I
am there. I mean look at me! I am soaking wet, I have never felt so
dehydrated in my life. As soon as I
close my eyes I am back there.” Ade
watches her hold her head in her hands and puts his arm around her. He is unsure of what to say. Her lip trembles
at his sincerity
“How
long has this been ‘appenin Zo?”
“About
a month.” She can see the shock in his face.
He looked at her in despair, feeling somehow responsible for the
quivering heap sat beside him. He opens
his mouth to say something, but thinks better of it. Zoe notices and looks at him quizzically.
“What?”
Ade
looks at the broken glass on the floor as though it will give him the right
words that he is looking for. Looking at
Zoe’s face he realises that there aren’t any.
“Do you think that you’re ‘aving these
dreams ‘cause of what ‘appened?” The
sentence dropped like a weight into the atmosphere. As soon as he said it he knew he shouldn’t
have. Zoe now stood with her back to him holding the sink.
“What
on earth could it have to do with that?”
“I don’t know!” Ade says standing up, angry
even though he knows that he shouldn’t be. “But I know you’ve not been the same
since.”
Zoe turned round her face filled with rage,
the vein in her neck throbbing.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
She hops over the broken glass and runs up the stairs as she hears Ade shout
something up at her. She shuts the door
behind her and collapses in a heap on the floor. She wants to cry but the tears won’t
fall. She wants to close her eyes but
she is afraid of falling asleep and so she just sits there staring at the wall.
Ade hits himself on the forehead, annoyed at
the way he handled things. He takes up
the dustpan and brush and starts to sweep the glass from off of the floor.
Zoe opens the door to her room and can hear
the sound of the glass being swept away.
She feels angry about how she reacted with Ade, after all he was only
trying to help. She knew he was
right. It had everything to do with what
happened.
Zoe tiptoes along the corridor, avoiding the
loose floorboard and enters Liam’s room.
Slowly she closes the door behind her and stays there facing the door
for a moment afraid to turn around. When
she finally does, she is surprised to see that everything is as it was, as
though nothing had changed, as though Liam had not died. She trips over his cup which lived on his
floor on the way to the bed. She smiles
nostalgically, as she lays down on his bed.
Zoe could still smell his scent and it was
soothing to her. She became lost in her
thoughts as the door opened.
“Would you quit creeping up on me!” Zoe sat upright in the bed. Ade walked in and lay down beside her.
“I’m sorry.
I just came to check if you were alright. I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Zoe turned her head to face him.
“Don’t apologise. It’s just I know that you are right. Liam’s death did affect me because I could
have stopped it.”
Ade sat up.
His muscles began tensed with agitation but he was determined not to get
angry again.
“Zo, for the last time it was not your
fault. So what if you had a dream about
Liam and a car. Does that mean you could
have prevented him from getting run over?”
Tears start to roll down Zoe’s cheeks. “I
could have told him. I could have
stopped him from going out.”
Ade now standing replied, “Zoe, there was
nothing you could have done. It was just
a dream. That’s all.” Zoe shook her head, whilst coming up on her
knees.
“No it wasn’t, and this isn’t either.”
Ade could not help it. The laughter came from deep down within. He held onto the bed for support as it
overpowered his body.
“So what, you’re gonna die now in some
burning inferno? Gimme a break.”
Zoe jumped up and ran out of the room. Ade shouted after her but there was nothing
he could say to make up for the mockery he made of her. She threw her self onto her bed and cried
into her pillow. She knew the dream
meant something. She knew.
The sun had finally come up and she got
ready for work. Her nose was blocked and
her eyes were red and puffy. She tried
her best with make up to hide it with little success. She could hear the clatter of pots. Ade was
in the kitchen. She sighed, he was the
last person that she wanted to see. She
crept down the stairs.
Ade put some milk in the pot and it was
boiling on the stove. He heard Zoe on
the stairs and quickly turned off the fire from under the milk.
“Zoe.”
He ran towards the door but it was too late she had gone. He felt awful about laughing at her last
night. She was in such a fragile state
but the idea that she was having premonitions seemed so ridiculous to him. As he sat mechanically putting each spoon of
cereal into his mouth he thought of ways in which he could make it up to
her.
At work Ade could not concentrate. He had sent Zoe text messages and on the hour
he would check his phone. There was no
reply. After work he went to the local
florist. Zoe loved white lilies and so
he bought the most expensive bunch he could find. He had a low feeling within him. Somehow he sensed that these lilies would not
make up for what happened last night.
As Ade turned the corner onto his street he
stopped. The lilies dropped from his
hand. His legs picked up pace. He could not believe his eyes. There were a crowd of people gathering round
and the yellow flames lit up the sky. It
burned with fury and the people stood murmuring amongst themselves.
“Whats happened?”
“They say someone left the gas on. There’s someone inside.” He heard these conversations as he pushed his
way through the crowds of people. The
road had been cordoned off and he stood at the front. A policeman walked by and he grabbed his arm.
“Excuse me, could you please tell me what’s
going on? I live there!”
“Fire started. We think someone left the gas on, we will
know more later.” As he said that Ade
thought back to when he was boiling the milk in the morning. Did he turn the knob all the way? His eyes widened with horror and the tears
choked him as he struggled to think. Ade opened his mouth to ask another
question and saw them carry out a body.
The policeman held him back.
“I think it’s me housemate, get the hell off
me! Zo, Zo!” He wriggled in the arms of the policeman.
“She’s gone mate. There is no way she could have survived
it.” His body went limp in the
poiliceman’s arms as he sobbed uncontrollably like a distressed child. Through his tear filled eyes, he could still
see the flames of the inferno burning.
