Brookington

I continued to fall and with a start awoke in a math classroom, one that I had never seen before, and a teacher that I never met before, and students that I had never encountered before, and yet I knew all of their names. And I felt as if my whole life was being narrated in a 15 year old voice, but it was my life that she narrating. And she knew exactly what I was encountering.
            You know those days of summer when all you want to do is sleep, sleep, and sleep some more?  That’s what its like for me too, except I do that in the winter.  I know, weird huh? 

            Any who, I do that in the winter during class.  A bit embarrassing I must say especially when the teacher smacks your desk with a book and tells you to “STOP DROOLING ERIN!”  Did I mention that the guys in my class are really hot?  Yea, really embarrassing.  This winter while I was snoozing’ I had the funkiest dream.  It continued into a long chain of rides, everyone different one than the last and it didn’t stop.  The first dream started it all off, and here it is:

            I fell asleep on my desk, it was terribly cold in that room, I remember.  Ms. Taffy was teaching us about math, oh did I mention that she’s dating the vice principle?  If you want my advice, don’t go near the boiler room after school.  ‘Shudder’

            Any who, back to class.  Ms. Taffy was teaching us math when I dozed off in the middle of note taking.  I dreamed that I was back home in my bed, sleeping at my desk when I jerked awake.  I heard noises, like street noises, but we’re in the middle of nowhere! 

No street life in Brookington like in the cities!  But I heard city life and it was coming from my closet! I might add here that I have two closets, the second one was turned around for me to use after AJ, my older brother by five years, moved out.  At the moment I think he’s engaged to a girl named Jessica.  Wait till he finds out that she’s already married!  She told me this a while ago, when he brought her home for Halloween.  ‘String ‘em along then break their hearts’, right Jess?  Ha ha.  

            Oops, sorry, going off on a limb here, back to my story.  My original closet was shut and locked tight but there was something back there! I got up from my desk and moved closer to it.  The noises are definitely coming from behind it, and to add to the creepies, the door began to glow around the edges!  The stickers that I had taped to it started to fall off because the door was sweating.  Yes, sweating, and it began to bulge in spots as if something was pushing against it, trying to get out.  Then the noises started to dim and the pulsing slowed, everything behind the door began to go hush… hush… I could hear my own heart beating it was so hushed.  Right before my eyes, which isn’t saying much since I war glasses and everything I see is unbelievable, the door began to change colors.  It changed between silver and gold, then to blue green to black, to purple to a light shade of pink into dark blue and then it got lighter and lighter when it stopped at gold with red swirls that spun and twirled so much it made you dizzy.  I didn’t notice until now that the noises behind the door had stopped completely.  It felt like everyone was holding tier breath.  Not a good feeling I could tell you. 

            Blue swirls had joined the red ones on the door by now.  But instead of flowing like the red ones did, it just moved independently, and it was spelling something.  First it spelled out a phrase using many different languages.  I imagine it worded the phrase in Arabian, Chinese, Dragon, French, Spanish and finally English.  All it said was Enter.  I stood there puzzling for moment, wondering how to ‘enter’ when I couldn’t.  The knob was gone, I merely melted in with the door and there didn’t seem to be a secret button or anything.  I glanced at the blue letters trying to decipher what it was saying.  When dragon came around I read   use the key.  (For those who can’t read Dragon, it says use the key.)  What key was the door talking about?  Then I remembered from a book I just read, you can make lock after you have the key.  Okay, but what key did I have?  I looked around my room and spotted the key chain on my bed.  Of course!  I could use a normal useless key that didn’t go to anything!  I took the two matching keys off of the ring and stuck one a lanyard that was around.  I then looked the lanyard around my neck, hiding it under my clothes.  The second key I slipped into the door where the keyhole should have been.  Miracle of miracles, it worked!  The key went into the door like a knife cutting butter.  I was impressed; I honestly didn’t think anything would happen.  But then again, like my good friend Luke says ‘Expect the Unexpected.’  The key turned in the lock and the door opened just a fraction.  The blue lettering had disappeared and noise had stared again.  It seemed like everyone had held their breaths and let it out all at the same time in one big WOOF! of air. 

            A wave of new smells hit me, riding on a blast of hot wind.  In a moment I knew why it was so hot.  Although it was the dead of winter in Brookington, it was hot summer time in this town and a storm was coming in.  I felt another hot breeze hit me with the scent of rain among other smells.  Everyone else must have felt it too because they all began to pack up.  The farmers picked up their homegrown food, the shop owners their wares, the women dragging their children home, men clicking at their horses, ready to beat the rain home, but the noise stayed the same, if not growing louder. 

            I stepped though the door but another surprise befell me.  Instead of wearing the jeans, socks, shirts and sweatshirt that I had been wearing in my room the moment before I was wearing what the people in my closet were wearing.  Worn sandals, a skirt that went by my ankles and a wrap around top, all very worn.  Luckily I still had my lanyard.  I stepped farther into the world, maybe to meet a shop owner, someone that was already safe and dry and in a better mood to talk to. 

            I stated down the street, toward the nearest shop, it happened to be a bookshop, when a hand came down on my shoulder.  I gave a little yelp and turned around expecting to see Luke.  He always spooks me that way; it’s always either him or Charlie.  Well, it wasn’t Luke, and it wasn’t a hand. 

            It was a paw, a big ol’ hairy paw that had been recently washed.  I followed the hand err, paw up to its arm, which was covered in a sky blue sleeve, up to the shoulder, then up to its head.  I realized, with a start, it was human, in a sense.  It was a werewolf, in another sense.  It was Luke, but not Luke too.  I mean, the creature was Luke, but as a werewolf.  But it seemed to me that werewolves in this world stayed sane, they didn’t go evil and start killing things like in movies. 

            Luke said “Did I scare you again Erin?”

            I said “Yes again.” And I went in a huff with a smile. Whenever I did that he would come over and go….

            “I’m Sorry Erin, Will you forgive me?”

            And as always I would go, “Yes of course Luke.”  Then he would give me a hug, like he did just then.  Also the wind had started to pick up. 

            He glanced up at the sky, took off his cloak and wrapped it around me. 

Surrounded by his cloak night suddenly fell and the small village dissaperaed and I once again found myself with a door in front of me and no where else to turn. Where else was to go? When would this madness end?