…and woke tangled
in the fleece blanket she had begged her mother to buy earlier that week. It
was much too hot for August in South Dakota, but she wanted to prove she was
right to fuss over it as much as she had. The green and blue stripes had drawn
her in, and the super soft fleece was heavenly to burrow into. For about five
minutes. Then she was too hot and threw it off. She pulled it off her arms and
out from under her and shoved it aside on the bed, still breathing hard from
her dream.
She heard her
mother’s steps, then the door opened, the pale light from the hall blinding as
it burst into her pitch-dark room. Her mother sat on the edge of her bed and
laid a gentle hand on her forehead. “Are you all right, darling? What’s wrong?”
Valyenka leaned
back on her pillows, turning her head so her mother would stroke her hair and
she snuggled back down again. “Nothing, Mama. Just a bad dream.”
In a smooth
motion, her mother reached over to the bedside table and tapped her fingers in
the open jar there. She flicked the sea salt from her fingers as she reached
back and continued stroking Valyenka’s hair. “In the ocean again?”
Valyenka nodded,
sleep drawing her back under. She closed her eyes. “Mama, will you lie with me
a little while?”
Without a word,
her mother lay down and curled up with her, tucking her arm around Valyenka’s
waist. Usually she discouraged her mother, dismissing this as treating her like
a child. But sometimes, like after a dream, she wanted nothing more than to be
held safe in her mother’s arms and believe everything was all right.
Valyenka drifted
to sleep. Her mother kept watch. She knew the power of dreams, and the power of
those who sent them. She couldn’t be inside Valyenka’s mind, but she sure as
hell could guard her in the real world. Even if there was nowhere far enough
away from the ocean….
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Dogs
in house
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Houdini
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Time
writing:
|
20 minutes
|
|
|
|
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August
word count:
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4,655
|
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