“Ava.”
Silence.
“Ava.”
She
stirred.
“Ava.”
A gentle
tap on her foot roused her from a deep sleep.
“What?
Who?”
“It’s
me, Olivia.”
Her eyes
sprung open as her dream state clashed with reality. Her body froze as fear
gripped her. She could feel her heart crashing
against her chest as she scanned the room. The sound of her heartbeats grew
louder until they were almost deafening and then her eyes rested on a young
lady at the foot of her bed.
“Good
you’re awake.”
There
was an assumption of familiarity in the statement, yet Ava was clueless.
“Sorry I
had to wake you, but we’ve been having a hard time getting your attention.”
We? Ava
could swear she was only seeing one person. Shouldn’t swear; suddenly several
others appeared next to Olivia. She battled the fight or flight urges and
calmed her mind.
“Okay,
you have my attention now.”
“Good.”
Olivia
made her way to the side of the bed and sat on the edge. She reached over and turned on the table lamp
and settled back in her spot. Ava couldn’t help but stare as she tried to make
a connection. Olivia just gazed back. Her
gentle brown eyes were partly masked by her long black hair that fell loosely
over her face.
“Haven’t
figured it out yet eh?”
“Nope.”
“Well no
wonder. It’s been awhile.”
Ava
wished she knew exactly what that ‘awhile ago’ meant.
“Still
nothing?”
She
nodded with embarrassment. Ava prided herself in remembering names and
faces. Then again, this was an odd place
to be reacquainting herself with Olivia and …
Olivia
gestured to the young man on the other side of the bed, “That’s David.” She
then pointed and continued with the rest of the group, “That’s Joshua, Ella,
Grace, Bradley and Lily.”
Ava
acknowledged them politely as if they were all milling about at a dinner party.
Then a strange feeling washed over her when she realized that somehow this
person was able to anticipate what she was thinking or going to say.
“I can.”
Ava bit
on her lip nervously, “Can what?”
“I can
read your thoughts.”
“Oh.” She suddenly felt exposed and the urgency to
guard her thoughts.
“Don’t
worry. I can’t really do anything about it.” Olivia offered a friendly smile.
“Anyway,
we’ve been waiting around for a very long time and noticed you’ve forgotten
about us.”
“Waiting
for what?”
“For you
to finish.”
Ava was
at a complete loss.
“I’m
drawing at straws here.”
“It’s
simple. See David here has no idea what his career is. Joshua is confused about
whether he lives in the city or suburbs.
Ella and Grace are not sure if they go to the same grad school.
Bradley’s not sure if he has a crush on Lily or Ella. Lily’s wondering if she is
married and that’s just scraping the surface.”
The look
of confusion was evident. Ava couldn’t understand why these people were looking
to her for answers. What had her even more concerned was how they got in her
bedroom.
David,
Joshua, Ella, Grace, Bradley, Lily and Olivia waited anxiously for her to
answer.
“Can’t
read thoughts that haven’t formed.” Olivia chuckled. The rest of the group chimed in.
“I wish
I knew what to tell you.”
Their
smiles faded.
“Maybe I
need to help you a little. Give you a refresher, no?”
Ava
nodded agreement.
“A few
years back you started to write a story.” Olivia paused.
“Keep
going.”
“You were
tossing around a few titles, Sand Castles, Imaginary Lines and oh yeah,
Crumbling Walls.”
“Oh” slipped
through her lips as thoughts started to flood in. Before she could say anything more, Olivia
jumped in.
“I can
see you are remembering.”
“I do.”
“Great!
Time’s a wasting; we have a lot of questions for you.” The group moved closer and
each took a spot on the bed.
Ava
slowly sat up and looked at them closer. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“Well,
you began writing a story. Although you hadn’t decided on a title, you started
to develop the characters, and …” Olivia looked intently expecting Ava to
finish the thought.
“Sorry,
I don’t read thoughts.”
The
group laughed.
“You
stopped. Writing that is.”
“And…”
“We
can’t function with so many missing parts.”
“But
you’re all figments of my imagination.”
“That’s
what you think.”
Ava ran her hands through her hair then
pressed her palm against her forehead.
“I’m not sure I’m following.”
Olivia
looked at Ava sympathetically. “Think back to all the stories you have
written. What you and every writer on
this planet don’t know is that every character created comes to life …
literally. Because of this, we have
quite an assortment of people, animals and things we haven’t quite been able to
identify. Many are wandering about missing key elements, in some cases, body
parts. Our numbers are growing and it’s
getting crowded. It wouldn’t be so bad if everyone was fully developed. ”
“So let
me get this straight. I develop a character and that character goes on to live
a life; that is if it, I mean, he or she doesn’t die in the story?”
“You got
it.”
“I’m not
sure I do, seems impossible to me.”
“It’s
plausible though. After all you created us.”
“Well, when
you put it that way, I guess so.”
Olivia
sat up proudly and grinned “I got my brains from you!”
Ava
couldn’t help but smile back. “So what do I; I mean where do we begin?”
“From
the beginning of course!”
“It’s
been awhile since...”
“We
know.”
Olivia
anxiously shifted on the bed.
“It’s
just; every time we tried to find a free spot in your mind, your other thoughts
muscled their way in and we just got pushed aside.”
A
feeling of remorse crept through Ava’s body.
“But we’re
sure you aren’t going to let it happen now that you know.”
Ava
didn’t want to let the group down. She frantically searched through her mind,
but the more she searched the more the thoughts became unintelligible.”
“Whoa!
You really need to slow down in there.
You’re raising the anxiety level in the room.”
“Sorry
about that. Maybe you should come back in a few days. Give me a chance to
regroup and collect what I need to finish the characters...er...you all.”
“No can
do.”
Ava
looked at Olivia quizzically.
“See
here’s the deal. Coming out like we have has never been done before and can’t
be done again. But we all discussed it and decided that this was a risk worth
taking.”
“What
kind of risk?”
Olivia
looked around at the others and then her gaze fell on Ava “We could all die.”
“Come
again?”
“There’s
a delicate balance between our world and yours.
Crossing over just doesn’t happen without some consequence. “
“But I
created you all, so doesn’t that count for something?”
“Let’s
just say that it becomes bigger than all of us.”
“So what
you’re telling me is that I need to tie all these loose ends now.”
“That
sums it up nicely.”
Ava
glanced at the alarm clock. It read 1:11 a.m.
“I don’t
know how I’m going to do this all tonight.
I have to collect all my notes…”
The
sullen faces were too much to bear. “So I guess I better get cracking eh?”
Ava slipped
out of bed and started making her way to the office. Olivia followed and one by one so did the
others. Ava stared at the neatly piled boxes
and began searching through each one. The anticipation in the room was
growing. “Hey, why don’t I get you all
something to eat while I look for my notes?”
The
group answered, “No thanks, we’ll just hang out here with you.”
She
smiled and returned to her search. Minutes seemed like hours. Each box led to
another, then another, until finally.
“Aha.”
The
group inched closer.
“Looks
like we’re in business.”
She took
out a stack of papers and fell to her knees.
Laying the papers out on the floor she poured over her notes and reacquainted
herself with the story.
The
silence was remarkable. So many people in one room yet not a sound.
When she
was done, she collected the papers and took in a deep breath. The others did the
same. The look on her face was discouraging.
“I know
why I stopped writing the story.”
No one
dared interrupt.
“When I
had started this story, I received a rejection letter; one of many. There was
something about the rejection that felt as though someone had ripped my heart
out of my chest. I cried for weeks and I just couldn’t shake it. When I tried
to get back to writing I felt empty, like I had nothing left to give. It was then I decided I just didn’t have what
it takes. So I packed everything away and haven’t looked back, until now.”
Tears
welled in her eyes. Ava sensed they wanted more but she knew in her heart that
she couldn’t give anymore.
She
wished someone would say something. Release her from this momentous task. But
all she got was silence.
She rose
to her feet and placed the papers back in the box and piled them back neatly. Turning
to the group she wiped her tears and said, “Sorry.”
Making
her way back to her room the group ensued. She climbed back into bed and pulled
her blankets close. She could feel their stares penetrating. Their silence was
agonizing. Frustrated, she shot up and cried out, “What do you want from me?”
Olivia
cleared her throat. Although her voice was trembling it was unyielding, “To
finish it.”
There it
was, lingering in the air like pea soup fog.
The
desperation in all their eyes told Ava that they had no intention of leaving
without what they came for; closure.
She
wrestled with all the feelings that she worked so hard to bury. How could she write a story when she couldn’t
get past all the feelings of inadequacy and resentment? Couldn’t she just
destroy the papers and make the story disappear for good? No, that wouldn’t
work. These were living beings that she created. They were in a state of unrest
and it was her fault. She had to do the
right thing; finish the story.
“I need
sleep. I’m no good without sleep.”
There was
a collective sigh of relief and hope.
“Okay.”
Ava lay
down and was asleep almost instantly.
Morning
arrived quickly. Ava awoke to the sound
of the alarm clock. As she reached over to turn it off, she remembered the
events of the night. She jumped out of
bed and looked around the room. Her
sudden movement jolted her husband out of his sleep. “Is everything okay?” She
took a closer look around and when she realized that last night was just a
dream, she replied, “Yeah, everything’s okay.”
As she
slipped on her housecoat her husband asked, “What were you doing in the office
last night?” Ava hesitated. How did he
know she was in the office last night?
Maybe what happened was real. “I couldn’t sleep so I decided to get up
and do some reading.” She waited for a
response. He yawned and turned on his side, “Love you.” “Love you too.” She hurried out of the room
and down the hall. There was no one in the office. Maybe she had been
sleepwalking that would explain…sounds in the kitchen caught her attention. She
raced down the stairs to discover that it wasn’t a dream. Olivia, David,
Joshua, Ella, Bradley, Lily and Grace were all sitting around her kitchen table.
“Good
Morning!”
She
looked over her shoulder expecting to see her husband coming down the stairs.
Clearly he hadn’t heard them.
“Good
Morning. So you’re not …”
“A
dream? No we’re real,” Olivia said flashing a smile.
“Can
anyone else see or hear you?”
“Of
course... not! That would be too weird.”
Silence.
Olivia pointed
to the empty seat and said, “Shall we get to work?”
Ava
nodded and joined the group at the table.
The days
fell into months. Ava was living in dual realities. Her husband was oblivious
and the group was respectful. As each
day passed she watched her characters evolve. It was as though she was watching
a child grow, but in fast forward. The
story came together almost effortlessly.
Then it happened.
She was
finished.
Feelings
of elation were mixed with apprehension.
With the completion of the story, a great achievement meant the
departure of her characters…friends.
“Ava.”
Silence.
“Ava.”
She
stirred.
“Ava.”
A gentle
tap on her foot roused her from a deep sleep.
Ava sat
up slowly and gazed at the group standing at the end of her bed.
“It’s
time to go.”
She knew
it was coming and had been preparing for it for days. There was going to be no
painful goodbyes.
She
slipped out of bed and approached them. One by one she hugged them. There wasn’t
a dry eye in the room.
Olivia
moved closer to Ava and said, “We all pitched in and got you something.”
Ava
wiped away the tears, “I can’t accept …”
“Sure
you can.”
Olivia
handed her an unwrapped box. Ava lifted the lid and there it was; a towel.
“Next
time you’re thinking of giving up, just toss this across the room.”
Ava was
speechless. There was so much she wanted to share with them; all of which they
already knew.
“You
really should be getting some sleep now.”
Ava
smiled as tears flowed freely.
She
turned to make her way back to the bed. When she looked back they were gone.
What a
fitting ending to our journey, she thought.
She
placed the box on a chair and climbed into bed.
As sleep took over she knew that tomorrow would be different. It was going
to be another chapter in her life.
