"It's time for you to come home Cara."

I woke up from my dream sweating bullets. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought about going back home. There was nothing for me there other than arguments and grief but I couldn't bet over the dreams I'd been having for almost a month now. Always a mysterious face is telling me it's time to go home.

When I left home my father, who had been a widow since my birth, told me never to return. That I would never belong there was made very clear over the first 18 years of my life. On my birthday I woke up to find my father at the bottom of the staircase in the overly 18th century style home with a large suitcase and a plane ticket. It was then that I realized he never really had gotten over the death of my mother as she brought me to life; that he would never forgive me for it. As I left the house headed for Atlanta, Georgia as my ticket stated from my home in northern Alaska I vowed never to go back home.

Jasmine, my tiny black and white cat, jumped up on the bed to get me out to the kitchen to feed her. She was my only companion since I left home. Jasmine had shown up one morning cold and alone. When I warmed her up and took her to the vet they told me it would be close but she could live if we fed her the right milk substitute since she was apparently the runt of a litter somewhere that no one wanted to take care of. She had made it and grown to her full size and in my 4 years of living in Atlanta I had never once thought about giving her away. She was my best friend.

After feeling somewhat consoled by Jasmine I headed to the kitchen to feed her and brew some coffee. When I sat down to wait on the couch I must have dozed off again because again there was the strange man telling me I needed to go home. I couldn't help but feel this dream is telling me something is wrong back in Alaska but I was told NEVER to return and that was exactly what I was going to do. Still, I would attempt the phone call as I did every month, once a month, to find out if everything was ok. I had never been able to fully reject my father as he had me. He had, after all taken care of me for those 18 years and I could never ignore that. Maybe it was stupid but I still loved him for it.

As I headed off to work I saw a colleague of mine who had been trying to get me to go out with him. I had always resisted because for some reason I just felt no attraction to anyone; man or otherwise. It wasn't anything personal, he was a great guy and would make some lucky woman a great husband but for me it just wasn't happening.

"Hey Cara how is it going?" Said Brent.

"Nothing exciting Brent. Just dreaming again. I hope it's nothing but I'm going to try to call home tomorrow."

"He never answers your calls though Cara why do you keep trying? You don't owe him anything. You know that."

" I know Brent but he's my father and I just can't ignore that. I feel like I've been having this dream for a reason and I need to know what it is. Last time I tried calling the dreams had just started. Maybe if I call out of schedule he'll answer. I have to try to figure out what's going on with me and this is the only way."

He sighed. Brent had always found my fathers rejection of me absolutely repulsive. I couldn't blame him looking at it from the outside but I was on the inside so I viewed it differently. Obviously he hoped I wouldn't listen to my dreams and fly back home but he also knew if something was wrong I would leave and it was possible I would never come back to Atlanta.

We headed inside the building of Primetime Electrical and were about to split ways when he asked me to warn him if I was leaving before I just disappeared. I knew I could never do it but I said I would to keep his spirits high. Once I got to my desk it was work as usual, paperwork, meetings, reports and more meetings. I was one of the only executive secretaries there and I wasn't about to let it slip. I had to keep my eye on the ball if I wanted to someday take the leap into the group who needed the secretaries instead of being the secretary my whole life.

When I left the office it was dark outside as it always was. On my 7 block walk home I stopped by the local grocery store to pick up some spagetti fixings and then headed on up to my apartment. It was a small apartment but it worked great for just myself and Jasmine. We had our living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. It was all we needed to be a comfortable pair. Jasmine curled up next to me as I ate my dinner and watched a little ER. Wanting to put off the rejection as long as I could I decided to take a shower as well and used the usual ocean breeze scented lotions and shampoos before grabbing my cotton pajamas.

When I decided it couldn't wait any longer I picked up the phone and dialed the long distance number to my fathers house. It rang twice and then surprisingly he answered the phone. His rough voice was surprising to me since I hadn't heard it in over 4 years.

"Yes?"

"Dad please don't hang up. I need to talk to you."

"What is it Cara? I'm very busy right now. Why are you calling out of your schedule?" There was no concern in his voice, he only sounded annoyed and preoccupied.

"I've been dreaming about someone telling me to go home and I need to know if there's something going on that I might need to come home for? I've seen the same thing for a month now and it's really starting to worry me."

"Cara I told you I never want you to return here. Stay out of Alaska. You don't belong here, it's for your own good. Please stop calling me. You are my daughter but you must stay away from here. Those are just dreams, ignore them and live your life in Atlanta."

"But dad …"

"NO Cara! I said stay away! Goodbye."

And that was it. Left holding the phone to my ear for what felt like an eternity this rejection was so forceful it was like I was standing right in front of him. He never wanted me to return and was never going to come see me. When I put the phone down it was only because of Jasmine rubbing against my legs that I came back to earth. Going to bed was the only thing left to do that night. I had no idea whether I would see the same man and hear the same words again but it was very clear I was not going to go back to Alaska. The next morning I would wish I hadn't gone to bed at all.

Cara! You must come home! It is time! I shall find you and bring you here if I must!

But why? Why do I have to go home? No one wants me there.

Because it is time Cara. It is YOUR time. I'm coming for you.

Suddenly he turned from his beautiful dark figures into a majestic wolf running through the snow to find me of all people. I felt the chase begin. He wouldn't give up until he found me. I began to run, run as fast as I could away from him but I never seemed to get anywhere. Crying because I was afraid this wolf-man would find me and make me go home. I didn't want to go home! I wouldn't!