Just a Nightmare!

It was still dark and raining outside. Elaine sat up in her bed panting. She wiped her forehead that was covered in sweat. Her throat had dried up so she got up to fetch water from the thermos she had kept on her study table. She was still shivering when she filled the glass with water.

After taking a sip her throat felt a little better and she calmed down. "Guess I'm still caught up in the past huh…And here I was thinking I had already moved on." She laughed self-mockingly. Looking at the scattered books she felt a little bitter but soon it disappeared without leaving a trace.

"I still have tomorrow. I will rather sleep…", she sighed.

No sooner had she closed her eyes she was startled by the sound of thunder. If there was one thing that she was afraid of it was thunder and lightning. She curled up in her bed clutching the blankets and tried to cover her whole body with her once again shivering hands. It was worse when there was sudden blackout. In that dark room the only thing she could hear was silence that broke whenever she moved in her bed or exhaled.

"Mom I'm scared…"she sobbed silently the whole time until she finally fell asleep at the break of dawn.

The old man at the pharmacy was bathing in the sun yawning now and then. He looked warm and cozy like an old tabby cat.

Every morning he was greeted by the sweet voice of Elaine. His own children and grandchildren were in the city and they rarely visited him and his old wife. The old couple had seen Elaine grow up right in front of their eyes.

She was the sweetest child around. She used to run all over the village with her short cute legs smiling brightly showing her canine teeth. Even as she was growing up she never forgot to maintain her innocence and playfulness.  The village which was getting devoid of young children found solace in her.

Even as a grown up girl she was still kind and lovely as ever but she had lost her smile completely. Her smile seemed forced or sad and it broke his heart. Only if her parents…. The old man sighed.

Fate was truly despicable at times and especially to such a kind girl like her.

It was already past the time she usually came. Seeing that she hadn't arrived yet he got anxious. He had a bad feeling in his heart.

"Honey look after the shop", he shouted over to his wife who was knitting a sweater. "I will go check up on that silly girl."

She nodded as she watched her husband hurrying towards Elaine's house. Once outside the house the old man rang on the doorbell before knocking on the door. Seeing no reply he hurried to the backyard and entered the house using backdoor. The key was given to him by Elaine to use whenever he had necessity of tools kept in the store room.

He looked at the house. It was spotlessly clean. Seeing no sign of her he hurried towards the bedroom on the corner of the first floor. He knocked on her door thrice and called out, "little girl, are you in there?" hearing no response or movement from the room he panicked a bit. Using all his might he forcibly opened the door.

Warm sunlight poured inside the room. On the bed near the window he saw a still curled up ball. Looking around he saw the unmanaged books which were still open.

"She must have stayed up all night reading and overslept" , he thought as he moved towards her to wake her up.

When he finally touched her head he was shocked by the heat he just felt. Her whole face was red, eyes were puffy and her body was burning. She was feverish and it was bad plus she looked as if she had been crying judging from the tear stain on her cheek and pillow. Seeing that she had just fell asleep he let her continue sleeping.

He hadn't been pharmacist all these year just for show. He moved her first to the sofa and after making her lie down comfortably, changed the sheet, pillowcase and blankets cover. Although he did it without resting a bit it still took time. He was tiered when he finally finished all these. 'I'm not as young as I used to be anymore huh….' he thought as he moved the sleeping Elaine to the bed.

After series of these actions he went to the kitchen to prepare an herbal medicine that gives strength. 'That girl' he thought 'she is too weak and malnourished.' He shook his head as he entered the kitchen. Looking inside the fridge he finally understood why this silly girl was malnourished and weak. The whole fridge was covered with instant cup noodles and there was not a single vegetable.

Dejected he called his wife and explained the situation to her. "Prepare a warm congee and make a few green side dishes that goes with fever and cold." The old man instructed her and continued, "As for the shop you can close it. We have more necessary matter to take care of." After finishing whatever he wanted to say he cut off the call.

' Phew…He is way too bossy.' The woman thought as she looked at the call detail. But he was also really kind and she fell for that the moment she met him, well that bossy character was a part of his charm and she didn't mind it one bit.

After half an hour she reached the house and entered the kitchen with two baskets full of food. After nodding at the husband who was making a paste of some herbs in the kitchen she went directly to the bedroom. She placed both basket beside the bed and gently touched the head of sleeping Elaine. The aroma of the warm food filled the entire room.

"Wake up sweetie. Time for some food." She softly said this looking at her lovingly.

Elaine was having a dream. She was running in desert chasing after a rabbit. It was fluffy and its white fur looked tempting. She wanted to cuddle and pet the rabbit. She was about to catch it but it escaped her by just a centimeter. Whether it was intentional or not she didn't know but she didn't want to give up. When she finally caught it she hugged it and rubbed its soft fur without any delay. She felt content and happy.

Mrs. Ron looked helplessly at the young girl who was snuggling closer to her and looked at ease. But food couldn't wait. She used a little more force and woke her up.

Elaine half opened her eyes and looking at the warm gaze of a woman on her she couldn't help but call out softly, "Mom..??!"

What was she doing her??? Why could she smell the homemade food?? What about the incident 2 years ago?? Was it just a long nightmare? Series of question barraged her thought as she stared at the silhouette of the woman.