AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even though I wasn’t in the accident, every time I dreamed, I saw it as if from my brother’s perspective. I could see the metal crushing in like a tin can, the glass shattering, smell the smoke of the damaged engine and the road tar, the taste of copper blood was the worst. I have relived that event nightly since the crash.
My brother’s last memory was imprinted into my brain, a miserable way to be haunted by him. Guilt and grief were are all I knew. I was struggling to be better. To be what would make my family proud of me.
It had been six months, but it was all still so raw. I knew I needed to stop this wallowing and get myself right. I felt them watching me, and I know I made them sad.
I was gifted an annual gym membership as a farewell gift from the rancher’s wife, Miss Anna. She wanted to treat me but told me to keep it between her and me that she got me the membership.
It was a huge blessing because I use my gym pass to take showers. I excel at camping, hunting, and fishing. I can work on a ranch. Getting dirty is what I do, but I need my daily bath. It›s just a thing for me to get clean.
My membership was about to expire, though. Being homeless was just not much of an option anymore. It was time for me to pull myself up by the bootstraps. I needed to start a job hunt and get off the streets.
I tried to move my tent daily and avoid the homeless camps. I wanted to grieve alone. I sang for money to eat and get by. My gut kept telling me that a change was in the air, and my morning tea leaves kept showing me stars.
What good was any of these signs when I had none to warn me about my family’s accident? I could easily pick up on others, but my so-called gifts were just shit when it came to sensing things too close to me. Most of the time, I still get a sense that things get dull when it comes to me or those close to my heart.
Deciding sleep wouldn’t be happening, I unfurled myself from my sleeping bag and began to pack up my tent. I put my tea, snacks, essentials, and an outfit in my backpack. I grabbed my guitar case and hid my tent and stuff for camp. It was dark just before dawn, and I walked to the gym.
The sun came out, and the streets were getting busy with the morning commute. The smell of the city makes me homesick for the ranch and East Texas. I soaked in the hot tub at the gym to ease my stiff body. Sleeping on the ground was difficult for my stiff back.
I was clean- Thank God for the little things. I wanted to start a job hunt today.
I walked through Zilker Park to watch the morning runners and see the water roll by in Barton Springs. I was walking to the botanical gardens when I took a moment to sit in the grass and pray for the first time in a long time.
If there is anything out there, please help me find my way.
A black lab ran past me after a ball its owner threw. I Stood up and went across the street to the botanical gardens to spend some time paying respect to my family. I snuck in again. Security will throw me out if I get caught. This time, they might even call the cops on me.
It was pretty much empty that early in the morning. I liked to watch the Koi fish swim around in their little world of water and lily pads. I stepped over stones in the pond when I heard a man yell.
“Hey! You there, stop right there!”
I jerked back and lost my footing, falling into the Koi Pond. The cold water surrounded me, and my heavy pack sank me. I barely caught a breath to hold before I went underwater.
My ears rang, and I felt myself being sucked down fast. Sinking deeper into the darkness, I didn’t think the Koi Pond was this deep. I felt like I was going to drown. I was sinking into a dark deep water I could no longer see any fish or plants and not even the light from the surface anymore.
Just when I was about to gulp in a lungful of water, suddenly, I was pulled out of the darkness, and as I surfaced, cold air hit my face.
As soon as I got a lung full of air, I expected to see that guard. Instead, I saw a pastel furry face hissing at me and hopping off. I frantically pulled myself on the bank of the stream I was in, my guitar case still in my hands and backpack weighing me down, which made my efforts slippery and awkward.
I was officially terrified. I was surrounded by tall pine trees and a stream running steadily by. The crisp air made me tremble. I stood up to evaluate myself and this situation. With teeth chattering, I was officially scared.
My heart was pounding, and I hit my knees and opened my case, trying to pour the water out of it and save my guitar. I turned my guitar over to examine it. It was worn from when my mom had played it but mostly dry. My mother gifted it to me when I graduated high school. I couldn’t lose it, too. Nothing was making any sense! My guitar was the only tangible thing that reminded me of my family. Seeing it gave me a small comfort that I needed in this craziness.
The smell of forest, moss, and leaves registered in my nose. I looked up, and I saw tall, dense trees. The humidity and heat of Austin were gone, replaced with a cold that gave my wet body chills.
“What the Hell?” I said to myself. Turning in a slow circle, I realized I was no longer in the botanical gardens. I was also not in Austin anymore, not with this chill. Had I lost my mind? This wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be real.
“Okay, Darah, get your shit together,” I said to myself. My heart was pounding so hard I heard it beating in my eardrums. Cold seeped in as I continued to shutter, looking around to figure out what kind of trouble I got into. “It’s like I fell into the Twilight Zone!” I mutter through chattering teeth.
Chapter 2
Darah
Laverian
I
stripped off my wet clothes, pulled my things from my backpack, and laid them out to dry. I gathered leaves and fallen tree limbs and prayed my lighter worked.
