Ever This Day (To Light and Guard Prequel)
Page 14
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In my dream, it was daylight, and I was freezing. I was in the pool in our backyard, and I was drowning. I swallowed a mouthful of heavily chlorinated water, and I immediately kicked both of my legs, pushing myself up until my head surfaced. I gasped for air.
I was wearing extremely heavy, chunky boots in the water. Come to think of it, I was also fully clothed, but in a life or death situation, there was no time to think about why I wasn’t wearing my yellow, polka dot bikini. I tried kicking the shoes off, and I went down again.
Question: If I died in a dream, would I die in real life? Answer: Only if I see Freddy Krueger. Maybe he was the one pulling me down into the water. Aaargh!!!
The next time I surfaced from the water, I quickly swam towards the edge of the pool. My feet kicked; they were sloppy kicks making outrageously loud splashes. It was so unlike me because I was a very good swimmer. Seriously. I could have been in the swim team if I wanted to, but the practice schedule was just too brutal. It would have cut away on my other interests... like TV.
After four strokes, my hand finally touched the edge of the pool. I pulled myself towards the edge as my head surfaced. I breathed in great big chunks of air, and I heard him speak. I knew it was him because I know his voice. It was deep and beautiful.
“Come to me,” the angel said.
Still breathing hard, I lifted myself a little until only my eyes peeked out from the edge of the pool. It was definitely him. He was standing under the tree, partly hidden in its shadow. He was standing so still, like a solid angel statue, that I had to blink away the water from my eyes to make sure that he was real.
“Hurry,” he said. I heard the urgency in his voice, and somehow, I wanted to make him happy.
I pulled myself up and got out of the pool. Immediately, I felt the cold wind blast my body. My body started shaking. When I was finally standing upright, my shoulders automatically hunched over from the cold, and my arms wrapped around me. This was the reason why I shouldn’t be swimming in winter. Even in Southern California, swimming in winter is a no-no unless you have a heated pool. I looked up and noticed that the sky was a deep purple. I stopped in my tracks at the sight.
“Hurry,” the angel said again. I didn’t know what he meant or what he wanted, but I was fearless in my dream. I walked towards him. When I was finally before him, he smiled. I felt as if I passed a test somehow.
“Why didn’t you help me?” I asked. My body continued to shake because of the cold. “I was drowning.” Somehow, I felt wounded because my angel didn’t help me.
His smile quickly disappeared, and his expression became brooding. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Of course. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
He frowned. Apparently, the angel didn’t think that my joke was funny at all. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I say really weird things sometimes.
“Are you cold?” he asked. “This is just a dream. There’s no reason for you to be cold.”
As soon as he said the words, I felt warmth on my skin. It was like the heat of the sun touching me on a warm summer day. Suddenly, the purple sky became brighter.
I looked at him again. I was still in awe, and I couldn’t believe that I was talking face to face with an angel. Even in my dream, I knew that we were crossing barriers by talking this way.
“I’m glad I can see you. It’s nice to put a face to the voice,” I said, and it was the truth; I was really glad that I could see him.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“Before I saw you in school yesterday, I used to hear your voice in my head… at night… in my room… at school. You talked all of the time in a language I didn’t understand. That was why I ran. I recognized your voice, and I thought I was crazy.”
“Oh, I thought I scared you.”
“You’re not that scary looking,” I mumbled. Stunningly gorgeous, maybe, but never scary.
“That’s comforting to know since you ran away from me twice when you saw me.” He lifted two fingers.
“I didn’t know,” I said. I looked up and noticed that the sky was changing colors from a deep purple to a dark blue.
The angel said, “We don’t have a lot of time.” The angel lifted his right hand and moved it towards me. His fingers were closed in a tight fist.
“It’s a gift,” he explained. “I want you to have it.”
I stared intently at his hand as he opened it slowly. Confused, I looked deep into his beautiful purple eyes.
“What is it?” I asked in awe.
“What else could it possibly be? It’s the only thing I could ever give you,” he said. “A miracle.”
DEAR READER:
Thank you for taking the time to read Ever This Day and the excerpt of To Light and Guard (Book 1). To get updates or information on upcoming releases, please visit my website at https://www.piperhannah.com or like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/authorpiperhannah.
With love,
Piper Hannah