Extras ~ Short Stories

Autumn leaves crunched under my feet as I entered an old bookstore.  A bell on the door announced my arrival.  Old wooden shelves were overflowing with books stacked up to the ceiling. Ladders and step stools were randomly placed in the aisles.  The scent of old books and a couple of gray tabby cats greeted me before the wizened shopkeeper did.  He was a thin man with glasses perched on the end of his nose and a shock of white, unruly hair.  He directed me to a miscellaneous section of used books.  In perusing the selection, I was able to find what I had been looking for:  A Guide to Interpret Dreams.  The book was an old brown hardcover with pages yellowed with age and gold embossed lettering on the spine.  I paid for my purchase and gave a farewell pat to the cats before I left.  The wind blew leaves across the sidewalk as I zipped up my fleece jacket and stuck my hands into my pockets.  The weather was getting colder as Halloween was rapidly approaching.  Pumpkins, witches and bats littered the storefronts.  

When I got home, I changed into my comfy flannel pajamas and sat down in my favorite rocker, pulling a fleece throw over my lap.  I held the book in my hands, studying the worn cover.  I had been having a reoccurring dream as of late, where I am alone on a dark night.  The only thing I could remember about the place was it was some kind of timeworn courtyard with a tiered stone fountain that featured a rather large water basin.  It reminded me of a wealthy European estate, built around the turn of the last century.  As I opened the book, I wondered if it would provide me with answers.  After reading a few pages about symbolism, I began to feel drowsy . . .   

I find myself in the dark of night, in the courtyard of my dream, wearing only a white gown.  I suddenly sense I am no longer alone.  I am frightened because I know a man is looking for me and what he wants from me.  I’ve dreamt of him before.  His seductive lure beckons me.  I cannot escape him.  Out of the darkness, he emerges.  His pale skin is a sharp contrast to his midnight black hair and cloak.  He takes a step towards me.  I back away into a hard stone surface.  I look behind me to discover it is the fountain.  I look into the water, and I suddenly see myself asleep in my home with the dream book.

It's only a dream! I tell myself.

I attempt to open my eyes, but they feel as though they are glued shut!  I look back at my pursuer, who is closing in faster than humanly possible.  Was he not just ten feet away?  He is right in front of me!  I will not run.  That will only entice the hunter in him.  Besides, I have nowhere to go.  He would catch me before I could take one step.  If flight is out of the question, the other option is to confront him. 

"Why are you keeping me here?!"  I demand.

He smiles, and I can see the hint of a fang glinting in the faint moonlight.  His dark eyes heighten with a hint of crimson.  A scream builds in the back of my throat, but I suppress it.  He wants me to fear him.  I attempt to open my eyes again, but I cannot.  No, there’s another way.

He reaches out to touch me.  I tumble backwards into the frigid water of the fountain.

I woke up in my chair, with the dream book in my hands.  I struggled to catch my breath.  My clothes were dry, but I was still shaking from fear and the thought of the chilly water.  It was only a dream; just a dream.  I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face.  As I stood in front of the mirror, drying my face, I discovered two small puncture wounds on my neck!  

Dave could hear the sound of a PASS device going off.  It was the sound indicating that a fireman had fallen.  He belatedly realized that it was his own alarm.  He was surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke.  He was safe from the flames for the moment, though the fire was hungry and moved swiftly, eating anything that got in its way.  Dave knew he shouldn’t have gone off on his own.  Everyone told him that his rash ways would lead to an untimely death someday.  It seemed that day was upon him.  He slowly gained his feet.  Nothing appeared to be broken.  He switched off his alarm as he heard his captain’s voice crackle through on his radio.  After assuring the captain that he was alright, informing him of what happened and his possible location, he was told they would get back to him about a possible way out.  Despite the heat of the inferno Dave felt a chill up his spine when he discovered that the way out was blocked by a wall of fire.

He had too much to live for.  There were so many things he longed to do; that he hadn’t done in his twenty-eight years.  He was supposed to just sit there and let the fire take all of that from him . . . from his family?  He thought of the woman that he loved.  What would she do without him?  He thought of the children that they would never have.  Would they have looked like her or him?  Why didn’t he ever visit his parents more often?  How would they cope with losing him?

He had watched families lose loved ones.  He tried to prevent that from happening, but he knew that he couldn’t save everyone.  He remembered a call he went on a few years ago.  It was a bad car wreck and their engine arrived first on the scene.  There were several victims; the one he rescued was a boy who wasn’t breathing nor had a pulse.  Rather than waste time getting supplies from the truck, Dave opted to do CPR on the boy.  He was able to revive him, just as the ambulances arrived. 

“David.”  A feminine voice whispered his name, pulling him back to the present.  No one called him by his full name, not even his mother.  Was he losing his mind already?  He still had enough air in his tank and it appeared to be working. 

“David.”  That was real.  He scanned the room, until he caught sight of a white figure, coming towards him from the flames.  Even though dark smoke filled the room, he could somehow see a petite, dark-haired woman who looked to be about his age.  She was so beautiful; not so much in the physical sense, but more of an otherworldly beauty.  It was difficult to explain.  What baffled him was her calm demeanor.  She smiled kindly at him.  An unusual calm descended upon him.

She beckoned him to follow her as she turned and glided down a corridor that he swore wasn’t there before.  The hem of her ice blue cloak billowed behind her as though a gentle breeze was blowing against it.   Had she come for him?  Was she going to lead him into eternity?  No, if a person was dead, it was a deceased relative that came for them.  Right?  Oh heck, anything was better than staying there to burn!

Dave followed her on wooden legs.  The ethereal gown was easy to see through the dark smoke.  It was as though she was a beacon of light, leading him home. Why hadn’t he seen this way before?  Was he already dead?  He could see a light in front of them.  It grew the closer they got to it.  Suddenly, two dark figures emerged out of the smoky darkness beyond and flanked him on each side.  They escorted him back the way they came.  The light, Dave realized, was daylight, as his escorts led him out of the burning building. As they rushed away, the inferno engulfed what remained of the structure.

“Davy Boy!  I can’t believe it, you made it!”  Dave’s friend, Crash exclaimed, calling him by a nickname Dave used to abhor, but had grown used to it.

“There was no way to get to you, man.”  The second firefighter, Woods exclaimed.  “The way we directed you to go was blocked.  Had you gone that way, you would have been trapped.  The passageway we used had been closed off.  We almost missed it.  We had to hack our way in there.  How did you find it?”

“Where is she?”  Dave asked as he scanned the smoke-filled area that was the parking lot outside of the burning building.

“What are you talking about, Davy?”  Crash questioned.

“The lady.”  Dave explained as he looked around franticly.  “She knew my name.  She showed me the way out.”

“We didn’t see anyone.”

“She was dressed in white.”  Dave said, “She was beautiful!  You couldn’t have missed her.  You would have run right into her!”

“There was no one in that hallway!”  Crash explained, “You were by yourself.”

How could that be? Dave mused.  Had he imagined the whole thing?  Was she only a figment of his imagination?

Woods clapped him on the shoulder, “She must have been your guardian angel.”

“My what?” 

“You hear about these things all the time with close calls.”  Woods explained, “Come, we should get you checked out.  You’re limping.”

Dave could only think of one feeling later, as he waited to get checked over at the hospital when he thought about his mysterious rescuer.  It wasn’t fear or a spine-tingling feeling.  It was hope.  Hope had saved him.