“Please…stop that…” Zia Scott groaned as she laid down and groped the couch for her phone. “Be quiet already,” she grunted as she finally found it and turned off the ringing alarm. She blinked a couple more times before she finally decided to get up and start her day. She sat up and was about to hop down the couch. That was when she realized something.
Her feet were planted on the floor the moment she sat up. And as she looked down, honey colored hair fell to her shoulders. Her legs were long. She looked at her hands, they were big. The dress pajama she wore the night before now looked like a regular size shirt on her body. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She grabbed her phone and looked at the reflection of herself on the screen. She touched her face with trembling hands. She was still having a hard time understanding the situation.
After a few seconds
Thank you for reading! And sorry for trolling you guys. I actually laid out a lot of hints that it was all a dream. The first one was the title. If you jumble the word, you'll get "asleep". Again, thank you guys for reading this chapter! Share your thoughts in the comments!
Edward Bartlett drove to the hospital. He went up to the ward where Alice Burgin was. When he opened the door, he saw Felicity standing by the bed. The bed was already empty. The machine and tank were already taken. It was as if there was never anyone there. Edward quietly approached her. She had this exhausted look in her face. There were bags under her dead eyes, her lips were dry and pale. There was no longer any hint of brightness and cheerfulness in her face. It was as if a big vacuum had sucked her energy dry. When she finally noticed him, she looked over her shoulder. And seeing his sorry expression, her eyes started to well up. He embraced her in his arms as she started sobbing on his chest. After over an hour of weeping, Felicity had finally calmed down. She loosened her hug on Edward and he also did the same. He studied her features. Her eyes were red and dry. She had really cried her eyes out.
“He’s…sleeping…in her house?” Gray Stewart stared at Zia who was frozen in front of her. “Baby? Are you still there?” said Edward on the other line. “I…” uttered Gray. Zia had not been blinking the last few seconds. Her jaw dropped. Eyes were dead, expressionless. And tears started to form in her eyes. “I have to go now,” said Gray to Edward. “Goodnight.” “Oh…” There was disappointment in his tone. “Okay. Goodnight, honey. I love you.” Gray ended the call without saying anything back. She set the phone down on the coffee table. She looked at Zia. Still no reaction.
Edward stared at his phone with an expression painted with yearning. That call seemed to be a short one. And he so wanted to talk more; however, he figured she was already exhausted from whatever schedule she was catching up on. “Here, I brought you pillows.” Felicity set the pillows down on the couch. “I’m giving you your last chance. Are you really set on sleeping on this hard couch? Because I can just sleep in my mom’s room and you can sleep in mine.” He gripped on his phone and turned to her. “You know…” He paused. “I think I’ll just go home after all.” “Oh,” said Felicity. “Will you be alright? It’s still a few miles to your home.” “I’ll be fine. Listen,” he approached her. “Thank you for dinner. I’m sorry I can’t stay with you tonight.”
“Give me ten reasons why I should go with you,” said Gray who was sitting on the dining table with her cheek leaning on her palm as she listlessly yawned, staring at her empty plate. “One, you’re my guardian,” said Zia, cooking in the kitchen. “Two, you’re the only one who knows about my situation. Three, you’re my best friend. Four, you have nothing else to do---” “Excuse you but I have a jam-packed schedule today,” countered Gray. Zia sneered. “Really? Like what?” “I have a three to five hours schedule of resting after breakfast, five-hour nap after lunch and ten to fifteen hours of sleep after dinner.” Gray leaned back on the chair, still yawning. “How rude of you to assume I have nothing else to do.” Zia brought a ce
“Why don’t we just give her to a staff member? For sure they’ll handle lost children better than us,” complained a visibly irritated Gray. “Yeah but what if a bad guy takes her? We should take her to her parents ourselves. She’s our responsibility now,” countered Zia. “Ourresponsibility? I believe it's her parents’ responsibility, Zi. We’re not heroes. You came here to have fun, right? Go take her to a lost and found center and let them announce about the parents over the speakers. That’s faster. Believe me.” Zia scoffed and turned to little girl, El, but she was gone. She looked up at Gray. “Where is she?” Gray looked around and noticed that the girl was actually gone. “Where is she?” repeated Zia with a
“Sarah?” uttered Gray Stewart as she saw Sarah Lewis hugging little girl El. Sarah turned to her. “Gray? You were the one who found her?” Gray stood up from having squatted down by the corner. “Y-yeah.” Sarah put both hands over her chest. “Oh, thank God you found her.” Then she squatted down to level with El’s height. “Elreese.” She put both hands on her shoulders. “I told you not to get out of the staff break room, right? But you disobeyed me. Why?” she said in a stern but calm tone. Elreese started to quietly sob. “S-sammy.” She sniffed, big drops of tears falling from her eyes. “It’s alright, El. Sammy’s not angry.” Sarah gently rubbed her frail shoulders. “Just tell Sammy why you went out.”
“I’m not what?” asked Sarah Lewis, bemusement painted all over her face. Gray Stewart herself was startled by the words that came out of her mouth. She looked at Sarah who was visibly confused and insulted, then she calmed herself and sat back down. “N-nothing,” she quietly said. The rest of the ride, nobody dared to speak. And they were tortured by the deafening silence that ensued. When they got off the cart, the two little girls were already waiting for them. “Sopieeeee.” Elreese tightly hugged Zia who was slightly bigger than her. Her eyes were teary again. “Don’t cry, El.” Zia wiped her cheeks with her chubby hands. “Let’s play again next time, okay?” Elreese obediently nodded while sniffing her snot. “Okay.”
In a highly respected suburb on the outskirts of the city stood the two-storey house of Theresa Scott. A vintage house in calming shades of wood with a spacious front lawn surrounded with waist-high wooden gates. In the early waking of the sun, Theresa was mowing her lawn. She was a woman in her late forties, medium size with an average height of 5 foot 4 inches. She had shoulder-length straight blonde hair and ocean eyes. She wore a vintage clothing style and stood like a mighty oak. And even as her age was evident in her facial features, it could be agreed that she was an attractive woman in her youth with oozing charisma. As she was pushing the lawn mower, a sedan pulled over at the gates. Her attention shifted to the person who climbed out of the car. “Sweetie!” exclaimed Theresa as she saw Gray approaching t