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Grape Juice

 Part III

Nayleen sat on the school bus the next morning staring out her side window. Her thoughts ran wild with images of red eyes and grapes. Images were like flashes before her eyes. She saw images of red eyes in the grape vines and in the shadows. She saw a room of mirrors with red eyes reflecting back at her in each one and the room was filling with grape juice. She felt unstable. These were things of nightmares and scary movies, not real life. Her thoughts slowly turned to the events of the night before. The door shut on its own and she had immediately threw her blanket over her head and then sqeezed shut her eyes. She couldn’t see anything behind her eyelids at least she shouldn’t have been able to, she could still imagine the red eyes.

She shook her head clear of the thoughts and looked around her. There was nothing but other students on the bus, no reason for her to be scared. It didn’t take long for her to reconsider that, there was plenty to be afraid of. In the front of the bus was a group of girls, they were huddled together giggling and gossiping about fellow school mates. In the very back of the bus was a group of guys thinking up plans of mischief or putting them into action. Last week the boys through a stink bomb to the front of the bus and they’ve been known to do worse. Between the girls spreading rumors about her and the boys maybe playing a prank on her there were plenty of things to fear.

The bus ride was taking longer than what she thought it should. Nayleen sighed and stared out the window. The trees seemed like brown and green blurrs and it made her feel sick. She looked up to the clouds and she could tell by how fast they were moving the wind must be moving pretty fast. As she stared at the clouds she noticed they were forming shapes, not just shapes but letters. The letters seemed to form a word, MINE. Her heart started beating heavier in her chest, she could feel every pulse. She was breathing heavier now and her breath formed a fog on the window. She wiped it away so that she could look out again and when she looked out the window the sky was clear, no clouds.  She didn’t know what to expect anymore, everywhere she looked it seemed to be. When her attention made it back to the front of the bus she noticed they were at the school already. The seemingly slow trip ended rather abruptly but she didn’t mind.

The rest of the school day seemed to fly by without her taking much part in it. She walked around like a zombie, and considering the night’s rest she had she probably looked like one too. There were a few occasions where she’d walk up to a bathroom door out of habit from using the restroom at certain times, but before she’d push the door open she’d remember the day before and walk away. A few times she caught herself closing her eyes because she was so tired but she’d see a flash of red and quickly open them again. Once she looked out the window but she found herself quickly avoiding doing that as well.

Nayleen didn’t remember the trip home, or how she even got there, but the next thing she knew she was there at the door. She turned the door know and walked inside. It was lit with the afternoon sun and her mom was in the kitchen.

“What are you doing home so early?” Her mom looked at her puzzled.

“What do you mean early?”

“I didn’t expect you for another three hours or so. Is everything ok, did you get sick? Why didn’t you just call?” Her mom was always so concerned.

“I feel,” she paused briefly before finishing her sentence, “fine.”

“You don’t look fine, you’re really pale.” She placed a soft kiss on her forward, “and you don’t feel fine either, you’re cold and clamy. Go to bed I’ll make you a bowl of your favorite soup.” Naylee didn’t argue and just did as she was told, she still refused to let her mom know what was going on.

A few minutes later her mom came in with a bowl of tomato soup “prepared with extra love” as her mom always said. Nayleen couldn’t stand the sight of the red, but her mom was standing there staring waiting for to know what she thought. She took the spoon and slowly took her first bite, it was warm and the warmth filled the rest of her body. Her mom walked out of the room and Nayleen finished her bowl of soup and then fell into a deep sleep.

While Nayleen layed in bed she had the strangest dream, well strange in the sense that it seemed random. She woke up from her nap and walked into the living room. Everything seemed so real, but at the same time she seemed just slightly disconnected from the events. There she saw her brother layed across the couch playing his hand held Nintendo, typical. She looked around and saw her parents both in the living room too.

“Hey sweetie, feel any better?” Her mom looked up from the box she just placed something into.

“Yeah, what are you doing?”

“I’m packing silly, don’t you remember we’re moving to that nice house across town?”

“oh yeah,” Nayleen lied, but this was a dream and she somehow seemed to know that so it didn’t bother her too much.

Temporarily Discontinued