Peripheral Vision: A Supernatural Thriller(5)
She was surrounded on all sides by tall, shadowy trees. They seemed to go on forever into the sky, like the bars on a prison cell. The thought made her shudder. Looking back the way she came, she could no longer see the house, the driveway, or even the streetlamp... only trees, trees and more trees...and a fence? Somehow in her haste, she had missed the tall wooden fence that cut through the tree line. Her eyes traced along the high fence, as she turned around in a circle. Behind her was a large intimidating iron gate. She looked back the way she came once more, but things had slipped again, and now there was no path and more and more trees. One way street, she thought. She took a look down at her shoes, remembered her mother, and took a step towards the gate. As she got closer, she could now make out a sign that hung across the cold looking bars of the tall gate...Gate 17.
“Gate 17.” Sarah whispered, and the doors began to swing open..
As she stared through the growing opening between the gates, a gust of wind blew past her and with it, a tumble weed. It made her think of a Western. Some old cowboy movie. And then she noticed the posters tacked to the fence next to the opening gate. She walked closer and examined the posters. The first, was a picture of a small, orange cat with a message declaring a reward for the return of the missing kitty. Underneath that poster, hung a missing dog poster, another cat poster, and then a missing person poster. The picture on the poster was blurry. She strained her eyes, all the while stepping closer to the fence. Her eyes focused and then her heart stopped. It was a picture of her as a teenager.
After the initial shock, Sarah regained her composure and ripped the poster from the fence. The picture of her on the white page was changing again, almost aging. She stared at the magic between her fingertips. In the photograph her hair grew longer, and changed styles, as did her clothing, and then finally it stopped around her thirtieth birthday. Sarah carefully folded the poster under her arm and walked through the gate.
Chapter 3
New Beginnings
4:15 AM
Sarah's eyes sprang open. The room was pitch-black, but she immediately knew she was back. Back in her bed. Back in her single bedroom apartment, and judging by the size of her feet, back in her adult-sized body. She flicked on her bedside lamp. The harsh light heightened the shadows beneath the crows feet at the corners of her eyes. She rubbed the back of her hands against her face, and looked at her cell phone. 4:15 AM. The feeling, she thought. She set the phone back down and picked up her little red bottle of prescription pills. She went to pop one pill, and then thought better of it, and put two more in her hand.
“4:15 in the morning, when everything is possible and everything is grey...” Sarah said to the still room.
She swallowed the pills, and shut her eyes… tight.
8:30 AM
Her eyes snapped open some four hours later. She awkwardly reached for her phone on the nightstand, already dreading the coming reality, but still holding out a small hope that there still might be time.
“Shit!” She screamed and jumped out of bed.
She frantically ran to her closet and grabbed the first power suit in her line of sight. Then she raced into the bathroom and brushed her teeth while simultaneously trying to throw her hair up into a “chic” ponytail. Somehow she managed to get ready in only fifteen minutes. When she gave herself one last look in her full-length mirror, she was actually pleased with how well she had pulled it all together so quickly.
After thirty minutes of reckless-defensive driving on the I-10 freeway, with far too many close calls, Sarah arrived at her office in downtown Los Angeles. The mini city, within a city was buzzing already. Sarah’s mind was also busy replaying and dissecting her odd dream from the night before. The edges of the dream were already fading quickly. Sarah forced her mind to peer through the growing grey cloud and remember, but it was all a bit too much for her, and her head was pounding. Of course the headache could have also been the result of taking one too many sleeping pills, but hey, who’s counting?
“I need coffee first,” Sarah croaked.
Once she woke up her brain, she would try to decode the dreams. Since she was already late, she immediately ran across the street to the nearest barista to arm herself with her weapon of choice, caffeine. As she stood in line, her mind began to wander. She wondered if she would ever get a good night's sleep without a little help from her friends. Unconsciously, she tapped her jacket pocket. The pill bottle was still there. It was a new thing to have them with her, because she didn’t ever take them during the day. Oh no, but it made her feel better just knowing that they were there.
That can’t be normal, but then the sudden vibrating and ringing of her phone in her other pocket brought her back to the now. She grabbed the phone and answered.
“Hello?”
“Sarah, it's Rebecca.... is everything okay?”
“Yes, yes, I'm walking in right now.” Sarah said as she hung up the phone and hurried across the street into the tall building with the tiny windows.
Sarah swallowed the last taste of her coffee as she exited the elevator. The coffee hadn’t been hot enough, it was luke-warm to be exact. She hated that about swanky coffee shops that overcharged for drinks, but she was late and she needed it, so she sucked it down in record time. Sarah tossed the empty cup in the trash can and made her way down the long corridor towards her office. She had only made it a few steps before her assistant, Rebecca, popped up and began walking with her.