Astronomy, reprised, and Dinner Guests

[This post recounts the last two entries from the Original Untitled storyline, and carries that story forward]

Jack barely heard the knock at his door over the scratching of his pencil.

“Hey,” Beth said, her backpack clutched in front of her.

Shores of Dreamland: Fallen

“When he woke up again, he had trouble speaking. He couldn’t move one of his arms. He couldn’t stand. He could write. Very slowly, but his parents weren’t the most patient people, nor the best readers.”

Shores of Dreamland: Troublesome

“I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on, Beth.”

“I don’t know that you could help me even if you knew,” she said.

Shores of Dreamland: Possibilities and Prices

“You’re saying I pulled you out of your dream, and into… here?”

“Yes. No. That’s not entirely right,” Beth said.

Jack clutched at his head. “Now I’m getting a headache,” he grumbled.

Shores of Dreamland: Disagreement Sandwiches

“Not here, please,” Beth said.

Jack struggled to find his voice.  “I thought…” he started. “I mean, I sort of knew, but…”

They stared at each other across the table.

“A hundred years?”

Shores of Dreamland: Timelines

“Oh, I don’t know, Jack….” Beth hedged. She glanced back over her shoulder, up the stairs. “I’m still trying to get everything organized upstairs, and…”

“You’re supposed to be resting your hand,” Jack said. “Come on. Mom says it’s okay.”

Shores of Dreamland: An Afternoon with the Mouse

“All right, mister. Off with you.”

Jack looked up from his sketchpad. His mother stood over him, pointing towards the screen door. He looked out, at the late summer morning, then turned back to the aimless doodles marching around the border of the page.

Shores of Dreamland: Repercussions and Regrets

“Don’t look up,” Beth said, as she steadied Jack.

“It’s like I feel like I’m falling every time I look at it.” He blinked, waiting for his stomach to settle. He didn’t look back at the tree after they started walking again.

Shores of Dreamland: Impressions Beneath the Dragon Tree

Beth sighed. “You recognize it.”

“I drew it. Years ago. After you gave me this.” He slipped his index finger through the ring, watching the late afternoon sunlight catch and slide along the curve.

Shores of Dreamland: Dreams on Either Side of Sleep

“Jack! Please come down from there! Please!”

Jack looked down from the branch. Beth stared up at him, her hair whipped by another strong gust from the east. It wasn’t raining just yet, but the storm clouds were gathered in a long gray line, like knights lining up to charge.

Shores of Dreamland: Disclosure and Debts

Tapping at his bedroom window awakened Jack shortly before 5. He thought it might be a bird, and there had indeed been a squawk as he threw his pillow a the window. But birds didn’t call his name.

Shores of Dreamland: Dinner Guests

Jack’s father got home just before six o’clock. The truck’s headlights flashed through the front door, and the heavy rattling thud of the old pickup’s door sounded, followed by the steady crunch of work boots on gravel.

They were comforting sounds. They were routine, regular. Something that happened like the sun coming up, the stars turning in the sky.

Shores of Dreamland: Subtlety and Solitude

“I think I’ll go finish my book,” Charlotte said, and disappeared around the hedgerow. She stomped a bit too heavily on the gravel, and the screen door cracked as it swung shut. Jack’s mother’s voice drifted faintly across the yards, and he didn’t need to be able to make out the words to know she was asking if Charlotte was raised in a barn.

Astronomy, part 1

“Don’t you have a table to set?” Jack asked.

“It is. Dinner is in about five minutes, so Mom says wash up. Both of you.” Charlotte turned and went down the stairs, still smirking.

Worrisome

Jack barely heard the knock at his door over the scratching of his pencil.

“Hey,” Beth said, her backpack clutched in front of her.

Short Fused

“What did you —“

“Sit,” Jack’s mother said, pointing to the stool in the nook by the phone. She slid the door shut.

“Well?” she asked.

Accidental

“What on earth was that I just saw?” Charlotte asked, as Jack followed Beth inside later that afternoon.

“Mr. Grady had to borrow a bus from one of the churches,” Jack said.

Jack’s mother leaned through the kitchen doorway. “Did something happen? Was there an accident?”

Never Better

Jack hissed as Beth’s hand clenched around his, painful even through the gloves.

The light above the bus door flickered, and then gave a sharp “pop,” dark streaks blooming across the plastic cover.

One of Those Mornings

“Hey,” Beth said, scooting over on the ledge beneath the mailboxes.

Jack yawned, kept yawning, so waved.

“You look terrible.”

Jack shrugged, wiping at his eyes.

Sally's Bows

“…And we are pleased to announce that the Spring Fling Dance has been moved up. It’s a Sadie Hawkins dance, so ladies, that leaves you just under three weeks to ask your beau. The main gym opens at six, and the dance begins at six thirty Thursday night, April 4^th. See the fliers up by the main office and gym or just ask one of your student council reps for further information…” 

“Beau? Really? Who even knows what that word means,” Jack muttered.