Sarah's jaw hit the floor. She didn't know what to say except, "What you know about Jeff?" Her mind was a blur of confusion, no thoughts were coming in coherently enough.
"Oh yeah I remember him being in my math class. Although he was really quiet. I didn't know him that well. Wait a second is he your BOYFRIEND?" Emily clapped her hands together excitedly.
Sarah blushed and looked down at her feet. Her mind was still a whirl of confusion, but the thought of Jeff being her boyfriend made her feel very embarrassed. "I don't know." Sarah mumbled.
"Aww that's so cute!" Emily's eyes glinted with her usual happiness. Sarah was too embarrassed to say that she had never met Jeff in her life. In fact hearing the news that he was real was making her feel very panicky.
Emily sat back in her chair and started to yawn. Sarah took this opportunity to change the subject. "Why don't you go to bed? We had a long day. You have to work tomorrow"
"Oh yeah, you have tomorrow off. LUCKY DUCKY!" Emily didn't protest, and went to lay down in Sarah's bed without asking. Sarah didn't tell her not to, she thought it was cute that Emily still didn't want to sleep alone.
Sarah turned off the light in the room, and took the plates and cups down stairs, quickly rinsed them off and put them in the dish washer. By the time she got back upstairs, Emily was already asleep.
Sarah on the other hand, was not tired at all. She felt anxious, almost to the point of nausea. Although her body ached and yearned for rest, Sarah's mind was wide awake. She sat back down at her desk, looking blankly at her computer. She looked at her DreamTube page, almost not believing any of this was real. She saw her message inbox, with the two waiting messages for her.
She hovered the mouse cursor over the link, and then just sat there for a moment or two. She took a couple of breathes, and then quickly put the cursor over the to the top of the web browser and closed the window. Whatever was in those messages, she felt she wasn't ready to read yet.
Sarah sat at her desk for a long time in silence. Her mind still hadn't calmed down. Random thoughts kept whizzing by her. "Jeff is real?" "My dreams are real?" "What is real?" "Is anything real?" She couldn't focus on any one thought for too long before her mind was thinking up a new question. "Am I real?" "What does this all mean?" "What is going on?" "Why?" Sarah jumped out of her chair when the radiator in her house came to life. It clanged loudly for a moment before starting. Sarah looked back to see if the noise had woken Emily up, but she was sleeping soundly. Sarah was jealous of her friend, being able to sleep soundly, not filled with all these huge questions.
Sarah looked back at her computer. She went into her video folder almost without thinking about it. She put on some headphones, and clicked the earliest video that had contained nothing but blackness. She didn't know what she would find there, but something in the back of her head was telling her to watch.
The blackness filled her screen when she clicked play. Sarah had expected that of course, but she didn't expect what happened soon after that. The blackness began to lift, and then the screen was a pure white. The brightness almost hurt Sarah's eyes, but that too began to fade away, revealing the city that Sarah had so often dreamed about. Only it wasn't exactly the same. The buildings were begin to crumble, and at the center of the city stood a large tower that Sarah had never seen before. The tower was black, and it's shape was unlike anything Sarah had ever seen. It gently curved upwards, with strange whisps of blackness coming off the sides. It was almost as if it was glowing black. The dream ended abruptly.
Sarah spent the better part of the night, watching all the videos she had recorded since then. The dreams were all the same, except the city grew ever more decrepit. Buildings began to fall down. Gaping holes opened up in the streets. The sky grew ever darker. The tower grew ever taller. It terrified Sarah to see the city she had spent so many nights dreaming off falling to pieces.
The last video ended and Sarah sat in her chair, thinking to herself. "This just raises further questions." Sarah tried to remember what had happened before her dreams had turned to black, but couldn't quite remember. She remembered the open field, the butterflies, and then the storm. None of it seemed to piece together. What had happened? Why was it happening?
Sarah yawned. Her entire body ached intensely, begging her to lay down and sleep. But Sarah was too afraid to. She didn't want to fall asleep and dream anymore. She couldn't comprehend any of this. She was scared to see Jeff in her dreams again. She didn't want to feel this confused. "Am I crazy?" Sarah didn't think she was. She felt pretty sane. Of course did crazy people know they were crazy? Did crazy people think they were sane?
Sarah got out of the chair and headed towards her bed. Emily had a sweet angelic look on her face. It was a stark contrast to her normal energetic behavior. Sarah didn't want to wake up her friend, so she took the opposite side of the bed, and curled herself up in a fetal position. The confusion and stress of the day finally got to Sarah. She began to sob silently in her arms.
The rays of the sun began to dawn, warming Sarah, and gently awakening Emily. Sarah closed her eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep so she wouldn't have to talk. Emily whispered "Sarah?" and when Sarah didn't reply, Emily leaned over and gave her a hug. Sarah felt Emily's warm embrace, it touched her deeply. Still she couldn't bring her self to move. Emily let go of Sarah, and began humming quietly to herself. Sarah felt the weight of Emily shift off the bed, and and heard her rumbling around the room. Soon there was a sound of a door opening, and Emily's humming began to fade into the distance.
Sarah laid still in her bed for a long time. Eventually she heard the sounds of Emily's car starting up in the drive way, and then the car sounds faded away too. Sarah opened her eyes. The whole world felt very dim. She rolled over, her limbs feeling heavy, as if she was moving through water. Sarah stared at the ceiling. There was a cobweb in the corner she hadn't ever noticed before. Sarah stared at the cobweb. She had no reason to, but it was easier than letting her mind wander and think of things that were all too confusing.
Sarah eventually got up and went down the stairs, dragging her body along every step. Once when Sarah was very young she had gotten very sick. She had been unable to get out of her bed, and her mother had taken her to the hospital. She didn't remember much about that time, just a numb feeling. That's what she felt now. Comfortably numb.
Sarah sat down on the couch and turned on the television on. She let the sounds wash over her in waves. She didn't hear a thing that was said. The noise was a comfort. The noise blocked out her thoughts. Sarah didn't hardly notice the time passing. But time doesn't ever stay still. Sarah hardly noticed when her phone began ringing. She lazily picked it up, and heard a distressed voice at the other end of the phone.
"Sarah! Please you have to come here." Emily sounded upset, scared, and angry all in the same breath. "I went to my apartment to pick up some things, but Joey's car is here. Please please hurry and come here."
Words this part: 1362
Words Total: 25762
(Note from this part on I am using Google Docs word count, and it is different from the one I was using before, which is why my word count is now a completely different number. I also changed the title, this title reflects more about what my novel is about now than what it was in the beginning)
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