I shook my head and pushed to stand up. He put me down easily and once again I was startled by how familiar he looked. Did he go to school with us?
“Where’d you come from?”
He shrugged, “Just around. Saw you climbing too high and came over to see if you needed help.”
“Do I know you?” I asked watching his face take on a strange smile.
“I wish you did but you don’t. Not yet. It isn’t time.”
“What do you mean?”
He was weird and he talked like a grown up.
“Pagan Moore, get your butt over here if you’re going to get a sneak peek at my tree house before the boys get here,” Wyatt was standing at the street grinning at me like he’d just offered me a million dollars.
What was he talking about a “peek?” I wanted IN. Not a stupid peek. I glanced back at the boy who’d caught me to see if he wanted to come too but he was gone.
“Almost time, almost time, almost time, almost time.”
I sat up in bed gasping for breath as the chanting in my ear faded away. The same voice from yesterday. I knew that voice. Didn’t I? And what did it mean by “almost time.”
I dropped my head into my hands and sighed. What was happening to me? These dreams seemed so real. Like memories I’d forgotten. The same boy. The same voice.
I stared through my fingers at the light barely coming through my window. The sun wasn’t even completely up yet. There was no way I was going back to sleep. Mom would be thrilled I’d managed to get up in time to eat breakfast with her today. The dream was going to bother me. I needed to ask Wyatt about that tree. Had I told him about falling? I couldn’t remember. Maybe he would.
Getting out of bed I brushed my hair and stood at my window studying the old oak tree. It felt like there was another memory attached to that tree but I couldn’t quite remember it. I put the brush down and slipped on my flip flops and made my way outside. I wanted to go out there. It was almost as if the tree suddenly had some sort of invisible pull to it.
The cool morning air caused me to shiver as I walked down the porch steps and across the damp grass. A jacket would have been a wise decision but I’d been too anxious to come see this tree.
Scanning the yard for anything odd or strange, I walked over to the tree. It was the same as it had always been. Never really changed. Except maybe that bottom branch was now easier to reach. I studied the spot on the tree I remember reaching before I fell and calculated how far I actually fell. Could a boy actually catch me and not fall down himself from the impact? That just seemed highly unlikely.
Dank
She was scared. I could feel it even though I was a continent away. Glancing back at Gee I frowned because we weren’t finished. I still had eight hundred more souls to collect before I could call it a day.
“We need to hurry,” I snapped turning to leave the stubborn soul who wasn’t willing to leave.
“Wait, aren’t you going to help me convince this one to go? I mean, come on lover boy, I know you want to get back to your woman and all but we have a job to do.”
“And this one is being stubborn. Let it wander the earth for eternity if that’s what it wants. I’ve tried.”
Gee frowned and closed the distance between us, “Is she okay? I can go. You can summon someone else to --”
“No. She needs me. Let’s go. This one is a lost cause.”
“UGH! You’re so freaking impatient,” Gee fired back at me.
“I don’t have time for this. Take the soul or leave it. I don’t care.” The need to get to Pagan was consuming me. I couldn’t concentrate. “Do what you can with this one. I’ll meet you at the next stop. I’ve got to check on her.” I didn’t wait for Gee’s reply.
She stood outside in her back yard staring up at an old oak tree. Her hair was hanging down her back in soft freshly brushed waves which looked out of place with her pajama bottoms and tank top.
“You okay?” I asked closing in behind her to wrap her up in my arms. She didn’t even startle anymore. My appearing out of nowhere had become normal for her. The thought made me smile but her worry wiped the smile off my face quickly. Something was bothering her.
“Why are you outside so early looking at a tree?” I asked resting my chin on the top of her head.
“I had a dream. It wasn’t the first one. I think... I think they have something to do with that voice.”
Tightening my hold on her I scanned the yard in the early morning light. Nothing was out here but the two of us. She was safe, I reminded myself.