If you’ve been following along,then you’ve seen some of the story so far (or maybe you read the first iteration of the book). I’ve been revising things, and am excited about the changes. This is an excerpt – chapter 3, to be exact – of the story. In the first two chapters, Trent is looking forward to his birthday party (even if the year itself has him feeling a little lost in what to do next), when Lisa, the new girl at work, waltzes into his life. They bond, and he’s hopeful that her appearance means his future is looking brighter. This dream comes that night, after his birthday party is over.
Call Her Forth: The Dream
Shades of lavender and violet wove through the air. It dove into Trent’s skin, warm and soft, infusing a lilac scent. Flying through the breezeless skies in soft swoops and slow motion, a distant scream sounded, drawing him earthward. Prickling began in his belly and burst through his skin as he neared the eerie silence.
He sat on the ground, caught in the ebb and flow of humanity. Though he travelled with them, he never moved. Resigned to the rush, a woman emerged from the mass and the whole world disappeared. Trent’s heart thudded to the pulsing glow that surrounded her.
Ginger hair hummed, long spirals sprouting a glistening tiara. Though her appearance whispered an age of early twenties, her eyes conveyed a gentle wisdom that hinted at more.
The crowd resumed their circuit, the woman slicing through like a ship at sea, the lacy plump of her skirt undisturbed, immune to the world around it. Sleeves draped off the shoulder, fluttering on a nonexistent wind.
A tiny blue twinkle at her throat summoned Trent closer. His arm extended, caught in a magnetic field of warmth and comfort. But the crowd was gathering, a disruption that barred his course.
Like folds of fabric, the bodies melted into one. It grew and grew, sprouting heads, arms and legs, until it towered over the woman, nearly twice as tall. Two heads looked down, shrouded and possessive, and Trent’s heart twisted and shriveled.
The woman’s lips began a soundless prattle, but every incantation bloomed with greater clarity.
Insanity.
Craze and fear intertwine as one.
Depression, confusion.
Thoughts turning, burning in my brain.
None of them are true, yet all of them are.
In a world upside-down—no irony left untouched.
What is this madness that my mind has conceived?
It will pass when Torment is through with me.
Unfathomable mystery—that is who I am.
I hide from all who seek me.
They can’t touch me if they don’t know where I am.
Fear. Panic.
Intense pain in my mind, my emotions.
Intensity increases my insanity,
As my world caves in on top of me,
Immobilizing my very being.
(you may recognize this poem from my series of poetry posts!)
Mascara-tracked cheeks held a tearless glint. Trent surged forward, his arms eager to create the comfort he sensed, but the barrier held fast. He was lost to her world, every fiber of his being rooted to this reality—to her.
A rumble arose, monsooning with every poetic repetition. It blared from the giant, whose two heads babbled at once, neither intelligible. The shadows cloaking the giant began to lift, but Trent’s gaze was glued to the woman’s emerald gaze, which flicked into focus for the first time. Eyes rounded, and she gasped, violet wisps swirling around her strawberry lips.
Loosed, Trent stepped forward, caught again in her gravitational pull. The electric arc nearly extinguished, the radiating heat nearly converged.
“Help!” she cried, frozen.
Trent stumbled backward, his foot losing purchase. Underneath him, the earth opened its maw, and swallowed him whole. He searched for breath, clawing at the grit piling on his head. It snaked into his throat, filling his lungs with the unbreathable.
* * *
Trent sat straight up in bed, his heart thudding. He took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over his head, then back forward over his face. His goldendoodle, grunted, lifting her doggy head to lick his hand as it hung over the side of the bed.
Trent hit the alarm clock button. The face glowed 5:55 a.m.
Trent ruffled his dog’s ears. “Hey, Rosie.” She whined, then lay her head back down.
Trent flipped on the lamp by his bed. “I have to find her,” he murmured, sliding from under the covers. He had a shirt over his head when he stopped.
“What am I doing?” He threw the shirt back onto the floor. Rosie lifted her head, cocking it to one side. “Sorry, girl. That was one wild dream.”
Trent shook his head as he fell back into bed, chuckling at himself. He turned off the light and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to try to slow his racing heart.
He calmed his body down, but his mind continued to race. Who was that girl? And what did that giant want with her? He tried to distract himself with thoughts of Lisa, a real girl. For moments it would work, but the dream girl kept creeping back in. Maybe the two are the same. They both wore that blue necklace.
Forty-five minutes later, Trent threw off his covers and started his day. “It was just a dream,” he reminded himself, though his heart still beat with the urgency to save her. So much for sleeping in.
***
Call Her Forth may not be out yet, but the poem you see here has been included in my collection: Poetry in Composition: A Coffee Table Book of Poetry and Photos. It contains all of the poems you see on the site, along with some stunning photography, and a few poems that you won’t find anywhere else!
