PART III - Chapter 1: THE DREAMS

 

 

 

Chapter 1

The Dreams

(Ó 2010)

March 2001

The First Night

He has been in a deep sleep for over four hours. Tonight for some reason he was more tired than usual and he decided to go to bed early. Earlier that evening it had been raining very heavily outside, but the wind was still blowing intensely from the north. Storms always seemed to have a relaxing effect on him. The sounds of the rain, wind, and even the thunder would make him sleep even more sound. On nights when there were storms he would lie in his bed and just listen, he would always fall right to sleep.
 

The storm had ceased for over an hour, there was just a light rain falling, some rolling thunder coming from the distance, the wind blowing and the sound of the rain water draining down from the roof through the gutters. His sleep was deep, every muscle relaxed. He was calm, tranquil, and unperturbed. Lying on his left side, the streetlights were casting the shadow of the widow blinds across his bed, along with the moving shadows of the rain water running down the windows. The sheets and blankets pulled high up to his chin, and his whole body was comfortable inside a cocoon of his own body heat. Content in his sleep … in a rare moment of peace in his life.

There was another sound though, an extremely quiet whispering sound in his ear, barely audible, that only he could hear while he slept.

- - -logan - - -

His eyelids squinted slightly and his eyes started to move under them. Again … the sound came.

- - - logan - - - my sweet - - -

His head now twitched … and his eyes moved a little faster.

- - - you have to - - - stop - - - you have to - - - go - - -

His body now began to move slowly under the blankets.

- - - come back to me - - -

“Huh? Wha?” he spoke in his sleep.

- - - you promised that you’d never leave me - - -

Logan Ian Morrow’s eyes burst open, he shot up and sat straight in his bed to look around.

“Lily?” he called in the dark, “Lily?” He then began to cry. The crying over the years became a daily ritual, but this time it just became short eruption of tears. He was now wide-awake; he looked to the radio alarm clock on the table next to his bed and saw that it was 1:30 AM. He pulled the blankets off him and stood up on the cold wood floor.

“Lily?,” he called into the dark again, “Lil?’


He walked through the dark out of his bedroom into the hallway and into his living room; he did not turn on any lights. The only light in the room came from a large lavender colored candle that burned in its tall clear glass on the shelf of a wood display case. It was the type of candle that once lit would burn for a week. Next to the candle was a picture of a woman. She was looking at you with her head slightly tilted back and to her right on her slender, smooth neck. Her hair was dark, which had natural tight curls; her face had perfect skin with a light brown clear complexion. Her eyes were dark brown, and you could see a sparkle in them from the light that was reflecting through them when the picture was taken. Her nose was small, her lips were full they and had a natural pink color. She had a slight smile as if she were happy to see whom ever it was that was looking at her. 


Lying at the base of the photograph was a man’s silver bracelet, which he takes off before bed every night and always places it at the front of her picture. It’s the only time he doesn’t wear it, other than the times that he goes out on his “missions.” He stood in front of the picture staring down and asked, “Lily? Was that you? Was it?” This has happened to him before he thought to himself. But that was along time ago, it was before … before he was Logan.


He then went over to his large rocker recliner in the living room and sat down. He then set his elbows on his knees, placed his face into his hands and began to cry again. Sometimes he felt like he would someday … just cry himself to death. When this episode ended, he got up from his chair and went to his bathroom to rinse his face off with cold water. He never turned on any lights, choosing to remain in the solace of the dark. He toweled off his face, returned to the living room and went over to the blinds to peer out into the early morning. He could see another band of storms coming his way so he opened the blinds slightly, and then returned to the comfort of his chair. He began to rock back and forth quietly, he felt tired yet wide-awake, and he knew that there would be no more sleeping for him tonight.


The wind began to blow hard again, which were followed by lighting bursts, which briefly illuminated the room. The thunder which came afterwards, rattled the windows and the rain came pouring down again. He sat there serenely watching the storm and he started to think back on his life. Thinking back to how his heartbreak began, to how it developed to the things he has carried out here in Chicago.



His memory taking him back to over fifteen years ago, - - -

(CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER ...)