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The wind slapped my pigtails across my face as I imagined touching the blue sky with my pink sneakers. “Higher Daddy!” I shouted between giggles.
“All right. You asked for it,” he laughed. In the next moment, his hands spanned my entire back, and he gave me another big push.
I wiggled my legs, trying to kick the top of the apartment building on the horizon, and laughed and laughed.
When the swing slowed, I jumped off and raced toward the slide. “I bet you can’t catch me,” I shouted over my shoulder, and my father chased me up the wooden steps, but I was faster.
I ran toward the red slide and sat down. The hot plastic burned the skin exposed by my shorts. As soon as I saw my father at the bottom of the slide. I pushed off with the palms of my hands and raised them in the air, shouting with glee, knowing he was right there to catch me.
I fell into his arms and he pretended he was mortally wounded by the impact. “Oh, oh, no. I can’t move. I need you to pick me up.”
“I’ve got you, Daddy,” I said, and with all my childlike strength I grunted and lifted him off the ground. He staggered to his feet. “Thank you, princess, for rescuing me. Now, let’s go get an ice cream.”
I clapped my hands together and shouted with uncontrolled excitement, “Yes, yes, ice cream. I want a double chocolate one with sprinkles.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. “And marshmallows, too. Can I have marshmallows, Daddy?”
“Of course you can, princess. You can have anything you want.”
As we walked toward the ice cream truck hand in hand, the sky darkened and the wind lifted my pigtails off my shoulders.
All the other people in the park were suddenly gone, as though they had disappeared. The swing swung all by itself. The wind grew stronger. My clothes clung to me and it became impossible to take a step forward without pushing through the wind with all my might.
“Daddy,” I shouted and squeezed his hand.
“It’s all right, darling. I’m here.”
But as the wind grew angrier, the rain started. At first, it fell softly, like a mist over our bodies. Then it fell harder and harder until I could hardly see my father. There was only a shadow next to me.
His hand became slippery and when he took his next step, I lost him. “Daddy!” I shouted, looking right and then left. I turned my head violently until I saw a funnel in the distance. I’d watched The Wizard of Oz enough times that it terrified me. “No, no,” I screamed, looking for my father, but he was gone. I heard the cackle of the wicked witch echo in my ear and goosebumps grew all over my body. “No,” I sobbed into my hands and fell onto the wet ground.
“Shh, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere,” a voice whispered.
My violent tremors slowed, and the rain stopped. “That’s it. You have nothing to be afraid of. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The sky was blue again and then black. I blinked a couple of times, awakening from the frenzied dream.
This wasn’t the first time I’d had that particular nightmare.
But it was the first time I’d awoken to a body holding me and a soothing voice in my ear.
“I’ve got you, Nikole. You’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you.” Jake spooned his body behind mine and rubbed my arm gently back and forth. His cheek was pressed against the top of my head and I could feel his heartbeat racing against his chest.
I must have frightened him, too.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay. I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m here now. You can go back to sleep. I promise I’m not going anywhere.”
His comforting grip soothed me, slowed my heartbeat, and ended my shivering. I closed my eyes, trusting his words, and fell fast asleep.
***
The next morning, heat crept up my cheeks as I realized last night's episode wasn’t entirely a dream. The part about Jake lying beside me was very much real. As real as the enormous erection at my backside.
“Jake,” I whispered.
He groaned next to me and squeezed me tighter. I smiled. I could get used to this. His desire for me only fueled my own. “Jake, are you awake?”
“Uh, huh,” he mumbled.
