Perchance To Dream Ch 01

All character's are imaginary, and over the age of 18... No animals, aliens, robots, ghosts, large or small machinery to distract from the story line, etc., etc. This time though, a rather spooky lady...

I accept full responsibility for all grammatical and spelling errors, omissions and general 'goof-ups!'

My goals in writing are two-fold; to entertain, and to learn how to improve my efforts. In that light, all 'constructive' criticism is welcomed. And of course, if you enjoy the story, I'd certainly like to hear about that as well.

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It was a great game-day event! I'm still alive, and feel quite well, but the details of this year's playoff party pale a bit in light of subsequent events. I do remember some rather odd, intensive things, however. At least I think they were real memories...

Let me introduce myself first. My name is Jessie Coumer, and I'm the manager of a branch at one of the largest research labs in North America. I'm 31 years old and physically, I'm about 5'11", weigh about 175 lbs, and am in good shape for a science 'geek.' Playing tennis every weekend and jogging during my lunch hours have helped me put off the ravages of age and overall crappy dietary habits.

Oh yeah; and I'm still single. I keep forgetting that everyone who meets me wants to know that singular fact. Not sure why; maybe it's an innate desire to make sure that everyone is in the same matrimonial status as themselves. Sorry, y'all! Still looking for Ms. Right!

My social life is pretty much a bust, if you get my drift. I spend long overtime hours working on projects that are considered cutting edge for the age that we live in; and I'm fascinated by the process! Any time that I do get to engage in social activities, I'll have to admit that it's usually due to the efforts of the spouses of my workmates, who for some reason or another, feel sorry for me. Sigh!

Just so you don't feel the same, let me explain that I DO get laid from time to time, although the experiences aren't that often and have been somewhat less than earth shaking. No magic; fireworks; stuff like that. Except for my childhood, I've led a perfectly dull, normal life; what excitement I experience these days is pretty much contained within my work.

So it makes some kind of sense that what little social life I now have involves the regular company of a childhood friend with which I grew up. Surrounded by farmlands and Indian reservations, we grew up in the adolescent world of the U.S. Midwest! We'd been close friends since we were about 8 yrs old, and didn't part ways until we graduated high school. I guess that's where the separation of coincidence and fate become a bit blurry, although it crept up on me so gradually, I didn't immediately take notice. Sometimes he would come to my apartment for game time, and sometimes I attended the occasion at their home. Except for his wife Gloria's obsession with getting me 'hooked-up,' we got along famously.

You see, Seth and I were both accepted into universities, but at opposite sides of the United States. The curious thing was, without any collaboration between us, we both chose to major in microbiology and upon graduation, we both ended up working in the same corporation, although in different departments.

To further strain the laws of chance, we had both been promoted to management status in our respective departments on the same day! Go figure! Since that time, we've collaborated on several successful projects to the financial benefit of the company and to the appreciation of the beneficiaries of our results. Feels damn good whenever that happens, I can tell you that!

My problem now however, is that another department within our division lost its manager a few weeks ago, and I've had to do my work as well as the work of the vacated manager position of the other department. Worse, they seem to have worked themselves into a research stalemate on their latest project, and were just thrashing around in looking for new and innovative ways to provide a solution to their problem. I was getting pretty stressed out at this point, given my responsibilities to my own research project.

To complicate matters even more, there was a departmental lead in the leaderless department named Willie Carter who considered himself, against all evidence to the contrary, the obvious candidate for the vacant manager's position. To press his point, he seemed to be sabotaging much of his workmates efforts in a way that made him look like their rescuer. That department was an all-male operation, it was rumored, because of his foul attitude towards the opposite sex, loudly insisting that women were useful in only one capacity. You can imagine what capacity that might be...

This weekend however, Seth had managed to convince me to be a guest at his home for the football playoffs on Saturday, so I figured that might be the right venue to mentally 'clear screen,' and get a fresh start on the projects this coming Monday. The only problem was that the party was going to be held some ways from my apartment, on the other side of the city in fact, and I'd have to watch my alcohol consumption this time. I wanted to be able to make it back to my own apartment that night, since I had to take care of Mr. Fleez.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that little fact; Mr. Fleez is a Yorkie that showed up on my doorstep about 5 years ago, and wouldn't leave. After a couple of weeks of advertising around the neighborhood for the owner of a lost dog, I simply had to give up and keep him. Proving to be remarkably well trained, I couldn't think of a single reason to turn him over to the pound. Hmmm... There were those sad little eyes of course... The name? Well, there's a bit of a story behind that I'm afraid. Maybe another time.

Wrapping up early that day, I left for Seth and Gloria's house at about 6:00 pm (yeah, Saturday, and that's early for me...), and I used the travel time to review what I remembered about the spouse of our host and their home. Seth had met Gloria in college, and they had married upon graduation. An English Lit Major, she countered Seth's tendency towards being a bit of an egghead by her popular publications of rather steamy romance novels. Her commission on sales had started as a pittance, but had risen to a rather substantial sum over the past few years.

Answering the door, Gloria quickly pulled me into a hug and hauled me into the living room, where Seth had already set up some game-time snacks for us. I'd brought a bottle of fine, red wine and passed it on to Gloria, fulfilling my obligation towards the alcoholic requirements of the event. She was dressed in her usual casual, home-team colors, and was over solicitous to me; also as usual! After all, I

was

still single.

After checking all rooms and corners to make sure that Gloria hadn't stashed some blind date here for me (just kidding...) I made myself at home. I'd not had a chance to get much to eat that day, so I was more than happy to get started on our hosts chips and dips, but I could also smell some wings being prepared, and her famous chili! My week had already been pretty much of a disaster, project wise, so this was a welcome respite.

The hosts were marvelous! The game was exciting, the food fantastic and the drinks relaxing. After the game, Seth kicked back in his overstuffed chair, sighed, and suddenly got a little reflective. Looking over at me for a few moments, he finally said, "I got a call from Dan a couple of nights ago." Waiting for some kind of response from me, he added, "It's about Angel."

My heart suddenly skipped a couple of beats! Dan was his older brother, who was now residing in Seattle with his wife and new baby girl. And Angel...well Angel was their stepsister, a couple of years younger than Seth and me.

Seeing the sudden interest in my eyes, Seth continued, "Dan told me that Angel had appeared in their home just after midnight to congratulate them on the birth of their baby girl. And after waving a few 'good-luck' charms about the apartment, she just as quickly disappeared." He knew what I was thinking; he was just waiting for me to respond.

Finally I spoke. "Y'know, she's always managed to pop up in the most unexpected places, Seth. Don't act so surprised." What I didn't tell him was that I thought I knew what her secret was, but I knew it'd sound like I was some kind of kook! I'd tried to tell them once years ago, but I was immediately teased into silence. Already fortified with a substantial number of beers though, I went on. "She's been popping up in your lives ever since she disappeared after high school; whenever someone needed something from her, or whenever she felt a need to contact you folks. And just as quickly disappearing to wherever she came from right afterwards."

My mind began slipping back to when I first met the Johnsons, when I was a runny-nosed 8 yr old in middle school. My family had just moved into town and in my introduction to the local middle school community, Seth and his brother were the first to put me 'under their wing,' as it were. It wasn't long after that I met Angel; rather bumbled into her.

It had been about a week after my arrival at the school, and Dan and Seth were walking me to class when we all heard a commotion at the south side of the schoolyard. Dan immediately turned to Seth and said, "Here we go again Seth, follow me!" Both of the boys broke into a run towards the noise, and I followed, curious as to what they were rushing towards.

Heading straight into a group of hecklers, Dan and Seth broke through the mini-mob, scattering brats on both sides! There in the center of the commotion, was a small figure, huddled up in fear it seemed. Dispersing the crowd, Dan and Seth approached the child, and cuddled her tenderly, protecting her with their bodies. I approached them slowly, noting that the child appeared to be a little girl, but what a remarkable little girl!

Her hair was coal black, shiny and braided into two long lengths extending to her waist. She was slim, almost skinny, and her skin was unblemished, glowing with a subtle tan hue. Most startling were her eyes! Ice blue and piercing! When she looked up at me, her whole demeanor changed! She calmed down almost immediately and just sat there, staring at me with those beautiful eyes.

Feeling a little awkward, I simply waved my right hand at her and said, 'Hi!" Dan turned to me and said, "She can't hear you, Jessie; she's deaf." Then he went on to explain that she was their stepsister, adopted when she was barely a year old. She'd been abandoned on their parent's doorstep without a note or any other explanation, and after a few months of trying to find the mother and father, their parents decided to keep her as their own and adopted her. As to why she had been abandoned, their mother offered the only theory that made sense to her in those days.

She noted that the baby girl had certain characteristics that indicated that she might be part of the nearby Indian reservation, the hair, and complexion. If, she noted, that were true then the ice-blue eyes and the deafness would have indicated a mystic power that might have proven dangerous to the tribe, a combination too strong! Yeah, right! The boys ate

that

up big time! NOT! To them, she was just a little pest that drew too much attention to herself because of her 'peculiar conditions.' As for me, I didn't see any features that resembled anything other than any other girl her age, except for the fact that she was extremely pretty; for a girl that is.

Those 'peculiar conditions' got my ass in more trouble growing up than I would have imagined, given my preference to peace and non-violence. You see, I was a nerd, even in those days. However, the one thing that tied our fates together was my fascination with her company, and my juvenile determination to protect her from the unfairness that I perceived around her. I was a really crappy 'knight in white armor,' but I tried; I really did.

One thing I learned early on was that she was a creature of contradictions, and of exceptional intelligence! Because of her, I learned sign language, and a whole lot more. While she was being home-schooled by her mother and I was passing through middle school into high school, we became 'soul mates' of sorts, often spending the majority of our free time together. This free time was most often spent in the fields and forests that surrounded our community, mostly because of the unfriendliness of our civilized town towards someone a bit different from themselves, and it was in these places I learned the most about my most intriguing companion.

She fascinated me! She soon became my best friend; my companion; my tutor in so many things; and my confidant. Moreover, I have to confess that her beautiful eyes and sparkling laughter had me completely under her spell! The plus side for her was that my companionship eliminated much of the harassment that was drawn to her whenever she happened to get too close to 'civilization.' The fact that she couldn't hear me, or speak to me with a voice made no difference to me, as our sign 'conversations' managed to cover the entire range of human experience, at least as we knew it to be at our age.

Seth and I chatted a bit more about our experiences growing up, and about some of the adventures that we'd had while in the company of Angel. Seth had to admit that there were some rather eerie events surrounding some of these events, but was just as quick to rationalize them in one way or another. However, while he was actually her stepbrother, I had been the one who spent the most free time with her.

The reasons were quite simple; he was interested in a typical adolescent social life, and a little stepsister was not forefront on his agenda. I, on the other hand, had no such obstacle to overcome, and I soon became known as the 'the little witches boyfriend,' but not until

after

something really strange occurred.

That incident also had a bit to do with her family's growing suspicions regarding her seeming ability to 'pop' in and out of their lives so effortlessly. It took long enough, I thought. Frankly, it spooked the hell out of me at the time, but had only strengthened my attachment to Angel. Truth be told, I'm still a bit spooked about it. I'd described what happened that day to her whole family, but her stepmother was the only one who didn't outright dismiss it as fantasy.

Seth, after watching my face for a while, suddenly cleared his throat, and asked me for the 'ump-teenth' time to relate that story to him once more. As he asked me that, Gloria quietly came into the room, and sat down next to him. I don't believe that she had ever heard the story directly from me, the only one other than the bullies who were there that day. After announcing this to be the last story for the night as I was beginning to fade... fast, I began the well-worn tale.

One Saturday mid-morning in late fall, 8 months after I had moved into town, Angel and I had skipped off into the forest that surrounded the town's water tower. We'd been there many times before, and I'd discovered many interesting facts about my companion over those months. Angel had an affinity for animals, particularly wild life. She'd shown me many instances where she'd enticed some forest creature to approach within inches of us; something that never failed to amaze me, as I'd never managed to get within sight of most of them myself. She'd also improved my signing to near proficiency during that period as well, and we used it to communicate constantly, as any kids our age would normally do. I was just approaching my 9th birthday; she'd just had her 7th.

Sitting with our backs to the water tower, we were just 'chatting' about the events that had happened during the week for a while, when she suddenly signed, 'Wait!' After shading her eyes from the sun for a moment, she pointed off into a clearing about 50 yds off into the distance. Following her pointing finger, I could just make out what seemed to be a doe and her very young fawn, just grazing on the far side of the clearing. I smiled at her when I spotted them, but she suddenly pushed my shoulder back towards the clearing, pointing once again.

There, about 30 to 40 ft from the pair, just out of sight at the edge of the clearing were the figures of 5 boys who were local bullies of the worst degree, with what appeared to be sling-shots, ready to be discharged against the unsuspecting animals. With a look of horror, Angel got up and began running down the side of the hill towards the waiting 'would-be' assassins. Taken by surprise, I got up and started down after her, fearing the worst!

Now, I had never heard Angel utter much sound other than her laugh before, and that had been absolutely delightful. Beyond that, just a grunt or so to catch my attention. This time however, she let out a piercing shriek that immediately alarmed the mother deer and her baby, allowing them to escape from their stalkers into the surrounding brush. Her alarm also spooked a small flock of crows, about 6 or 7, into the air near the clearing, and they began to glide slowly around the scene, simply watching things transpire below.

The thugs turned around to find out who had spoiled their little game, and were quick to identify Angel, who had just pulled up short of her rush and had begun to run back towards me. Now that the deer were safe, she knew that the attackers focus would be on her. She wasn't wrong, and all five of them started shouting and running after her. Stopping every now and then to take a shot at her with their slingshots, everyone approached me very quickly and I knew then we were in trouble.

I recognized these guys as a gang who had already been in and out of jail, accused of everything from strong-arm theft to burglary, drug use and assault. I'm sure that they were using slingshots because they were still too close to town, and didn't want to draw attention to themselves with guns. It didn't seem logical to me that they would hold back on their rage or listen to any kind of reason. So naturally, I was scared to death as I supposed any rational kid might have been. But my fear for myself was overcome by my juvenile desire to protect Angel!

As she neared me, all I could see in her eyes was the excitement of the chase! She was smiling, her face radiant in what I would now term an 'adrenaline rush." Grabbing my arm as she ran on by, she dragged me behind her towards a copse on the other side of the tower. As the gang was very close behind, I couldn't see what advantage we would have in there.

Sure enough, once we reached the small group of trees and brush, we literally had our backs up against the wall. Turning around towards the nasty group closing in on us, I saw that they were pissed as hell! Stopping some distance from us, the leader of the group bent down, picked up a good-sized rock and said, "Well, if it's not the nerd and the freak! You both made a big mistake, fucking with us!" With that, he whipped the stone directly at my head!

I dodged that easily enough, but it was apparent that the group meant to take out their frustrations and hatred out on us, no holds barred! Checking back on Angel, she was still grinning ear to ear, and I was beginning to wonder if she had any concept at all about the trouble we were in! I looked back at the guys, and they were all loading up their slingshots for the next act of their idea of entertainment; and I knew it would be us!

Tapping me on the shoulder, Angel pointed up into the sky, where the crows had been lazily circling above. It might have been my imagination, but that flock had grown from the 6 or 7 I'd seen earlier to nearly 25 or 30; and more were coming in as I watched. I'd never seen anything like that in my life, and I was torn between being awed and being scared.