A Long Night's Dream 2

Rachel did not sleep as peacefully this time around. She tossed and turned, stirred by the visions of her dream. It continued as if to pick up where it left off, full of confusion and an odd sense of fear. The dream took her back in time once more, to the day they found her grandfather's body. Instead of it being her brother as witness to the presumed crime, it was she who hid in the bushes while the two men argued.

"Get the he** off my property!" the old man snapped, as his faithful dog growled and barked at the intruder.

Rachel parted the bushes hoping to see more, but the rain was coming down heavy now, as the view around her seemed shrouded in a dense fog. She tried to wipe it away from her eyes as she recognized the other mans voice, other than that of her grandfathers.

"Daddy?" she mumbled. Shots were fired as a body thumped to the ground. Instead of going to it, she ran from it. The dog whelped in pain as two shots were fired once more, before the forest fell silent. Rachel ran as fast as her ten year old legs could carry her. She had forgotten Tommy was with her, as he didn't choose to follow. "No, no! This can't be happening, it just can't be!" she sobbed, pushing through the brush on her way out to open field. Lightening sparked the sky above her, as thunder soon rolled in around her. She ran faster now, heading for the small house they had chosen to recently call home.

Rachel curled up tight in a fetal position, her dream haunting her sub-conscious. She covered her face of tears not aware she was doing so, as she rolled back and forth beneath the covers in pain.

"Rachel, where is Tommy?" her mother hollared, wrapping a warm coat around her small frame when she was met at the front door. "I heard shots, what is going on? I told you to stay with Granpa and the dog...where's Tommy?" her mother continued to hollar in a panic.

Rachel had reached the house, unable to speak in the moment, her eyes wide with fear. "I-I don't know Mommy. I-I couldn't find him..." she wailed.

Alone and dripping wet, her mother had left her by the hearth to dry. Her mother ran for the woods, to the area of the last sounds of gun fire. When she came upon the scene, Tommy was shaking his grandfather, trying to wake him up.

"Grandpa, grandpa, please wake up! Your doggie is hurt...please help him. I need you to take him home. I need you to show me the way, Grandpa, please!" his five year old voice called out, while his hands pressed in on the wounds of his grandfather, as if in an attempt to stop the blood flow.

Tommy was lifted from his grandfather's side, his tears mixed in with the rain. His mother carried him shedding her own tears, never looking back at the scene that lay on the cold, wet ground behind them.

"No Mommy, I have to stay with Buddy and Grandpa!" Tommy squirmed in her arms, kicking as he tried to release himself from her grip."He needs me Mommy! I promised I would stay with them. Please, Mommy...let me down!"

Once they reached the house, Tommy was sat down beside his sister on the hearth. A blanket had been pulled off his grandfather's cot and wrapped quickly around him. His mother's words brought him back to the reality of things.

"Grandpa and Buddy won't be back Tommy. They are in heaven now. It's too wet out to go and get them...we will take care of it tomorrow. I promise!" she soothed through her tears.

Rachel woke with a start, her body wet with sweat and tears. She lay for a spell, contemplating the dream. Why, why had it come back to her now? The dream brought back all the horror of that fateful day. A day she'd hoped to forget and never return to.

Rachel glanced at the bedside table and saw it was now eight am. She got up to make her morning tea, before heading in to take a quick shower. After settling with her tea and feeling refreshed by the hot water cascading over her body from her shower, she sighed heavily, thinking of Tommy in that place. A God awful place for a brother to be...

Tommy had survived the death of his beloved grandfather and the dog Buddy. He had even survived the war, but when he came home, he no longer could handle the chaos. His sister had been knocked up and found to be alone. He had tried to help her in a valiant effort, by taking her in. He had found her a good husband. But time and the past had brought along with it, damage to his injured soul. His one and only nephew had been hit and killed by a car on while riding his small bicycle when the boy was only eight.

Tommy was now expected to live out his days in a mental ward. He was only thirty when it had happened. He had accidentally shot his sister's husband, just two years after the loss of their son, while cleaning his gun. Rachel seemed destined now to spend her days alone as well.

Rachel found herself rocking in the dining room chair, fearful of what might come next. Life was not fair, or to her family. They had been through enough, hadn't they? Poor Tommy, if only he had sought out consul in his youth...perhaps where he was now, could've been avoided.

Rachel knew she had to go...she had to see him and let him know she didn't blame him for her husbands death. That she still loved her brother and needed him. That no matter how long they kept him, he was not alone.

to be continued...