Words Unspoken

Darkness surrounded me, and it was eerily quiet. I squinted my eyes in the dark, turning around in endless circles trying to find a way out when in the far distance I could see a small dot of light. I decided to make my way towards what seemed to be my only way out, but I couldn't move. My legs felt stiff, like they were glued together and onto the floor. I began to forcefully lift my legs, one foot after the other, but it felt like weights were attached to each leg. Something or someone was trying to keep me from reaching the light in the far distance.

I carried on moving, slowly but surely as the light was getting closer and closer. I could now hear sounds coming from the other side of the lighted doorway and I stopped in my tracks. The sounds got louder with each step I took, towards the only source of freedom from this pitch black nothingness. The sounds were more distinct, they were voices, screaming in agonizing pain and calling out for help.

My heart began to beat fast as I stopped, not wanting to get any closer, but I forced myself to keep going as I felt drops of sweat trickle down from my forehead. The screams grew louder with each step I took, it sounded like they were fighting one another. As I finally reached the bright lighted doorway, I was about to step through when a loud BANG echoed and the screaming suddenly stopped.

BANG! BANG!

I jolted up right in my bed, panting heavily from the nightmare. I placed a hand on my chest feeling my heart pounding as I began to slow my breath. I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted the darkness of my room. I looked around observing everything in my room, from my closet across the bed, to my desk that was right next to it and the vanity across my desk. A small now relaxed sigh escaped my lips as I peeled the covers off me and stood up and took a step to the window pulling open the curtains. The full moon light shone brightly through my window as I reached down and pulled the window up to let in a cool summer breeze.

Leaning against the windowsill, I thought about the dream I just had, or rather nightmare. What did it mean? Why did I dream about it? I shivered slightly thinking about the screams and the bang, which was most likely fired from a gun. After a few minutes of trying to analyze this nightmare, I decided to let it go for the time being and plopped back down on my bed. My eyes flickered over to my clock and noticed it was only 3 in the morning.

"Great.." I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my eyes for a minute and got back under the covers turning to face the window as I gazed up at the sky. After a few minutes I closed my eyes trying to go back to sleep before work in the morning.

I woke up the next morning with the loud beeping of my alarm clock. I let out a loud groan, still tired as I reached over to turn my alarm off. Finally getting out of bed, I rushed over to my closet to get dressed for the day. I looked at my reflection as soon as I was dressed, noticing how my eyes looked a little baggy. I sighed softly before making my way downstairs for a cup of coffee. Entering the kitchen I furrowed my eyebrows realizing my parents weren't home.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out and listened for a moment but nothing. I made my way over to the fridge when something caught my eye on the counter. It was a note from my mother:

'Your father gave me a ride downtown for an interview that we saw in the paper this morning. Wish me luck!'

-Mom

A smile beamed across myself as I set the note back down on the counter before making myself a quick breakfast. Kyle soon came into the kitchen, his bookbag propped over his shoulders as he looked around the kitchen, a confused look on his face.

"Where's mom and dad?" He asked as he sat his bag down on the floor before opening the cupboards and grabbing a mug to make a cup of coffee.

"Dad drove her to an interview." I replied and then motioned to the note that she left. Kyle just nodded his head pouring a cup of coffee and sat down across the table from. It was quiet but not one of those awkward types of quietness. You could say Kyle and I have a great brother/sister relationship, we tell eachother everything, and of course keep our secrets between each other.

Last night before bed, I told Kyle everything that happened, from when Jill told me that there were rumors of a rebellion group and not long after I saw the graffiti on the house a few blocks away from home. The reason I told Kyle is that he knows that how we live, with all these rules, isn't all that cracked up to be. So we kept our thoughts on everything to ourselves and to each other.

"You know, I'm surprised those stupid guards didn't see the graffiti." Kyle said, breaking the long silence. I laughed softly nodding my head.

"Yeah I know me too, but maybe they did? Maybe that's why they were going around?" I asked, more so to myself.

Kyle just shrugged his shoulders, his finger tapping on the side of his navy blue mug that had a picture of a wolf on it. "Even if there is a rebellion group, they'll get caught eventually and every single one of them will be put in prison or killed just like what happened during the first riots and protests." He said, taking another sip of his coffee. My head nodded slowly as I took in what he said.

"Or..maybe this group is a lot smarter, and careful about what they're doing. I mean they graffitied a house, here, in our neighborhood and they never got caught, who knows how many houses they tagged to get their message across." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest and leaned back in my chair.

"Maybe." He said as he took another sip of his coffee. We sat there not saying anything for a minute, when my pager buzzed, which made me jump slightly. I read the page and it was Jill, telling me not to come in today. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion wondering why when I got another buzz. Doctor's appointment.

"Well, it looks like I'm staying home today, Jill has a doctor's appointment and I guess she doesn't want me working alone."

"Yeah, lucky you." Kyle said, rolling his eyes before giving me a smile. I shook my head with a chuckle. "You should go before you're late."

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say Mom." He retorted as he slipped on his shoes and grabbed his bag from the floor.

"See you later!" Kyle said as he rushed out of the house. I rolled my eyes as I stood up, taking both our mugs and made my way over to the sink to wash the dishes before putting them back in their place in the cupboards.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I headed into the living room and plopped myself on the light gray leather sofa in the middle of the room. Our living room was the biggest room in the entire house. There was the dining area, with a large rectangular table, a light brown color, with similar colored chairs around it and on top a white embroidered tablecloth. In the middle of the table there was a clear vase with a bouquet of water lilies, flowers my father gave to our mother for their wedding anniversary a few months back.

Next to the table there was a large bookcase with two glass doors. All around the white walls, there were frames of collectable artwork my father purchased. Around the couch there were matching colored chairs and a light brown coffee table. On the other side there was a mantle and fireplace. On my left, where the dining area was, there was a door next to the bookcase that led to our backyard, which we sometimes used during the summers for barbeques and parties, but lately no one's been in a social mood, since my mom lost her job.

Hopefully we go back to that, and soon.

Now that I had a day off from work, I wondered what I was going to do, rather than sit home all day. I finally decided to take a walk down to the local library, even though we have books at home, but I've read all of them already, twice.

After putting my shoes on, I grabbed my bag and slipped it over my head and onto my shoulder and wrote a note for my mother letting her know where I was going, in case she got home before me. Grabbing my keys, I stepped out of the house and locked the door behind me.