* Second Earth *

Courtney Chetwynde started the day off feeling overall better than she had in years, but a feeling of sadness was there as well, in the background, like a song you just can't forget the tune to.

Nevertheless, she got changed into her usual pre- school morning attire, a gray tank-top and shorts, with a pair of white running shoes, then headed down stairs for a brief jog to keep in shape. Her parents and brother were still sleeping this early, around six AM.

Bringing only her spare set of keys to the front door and a bottle of water, she slipped outside into the cool air and started off at a light pace. Within a few minutes she amped it up, all the while trying to figure out what she had to be sad about.

'Its not like anyone I knows died lately.' she thought, frowning. 'No pets either, for that matter. So whats up?' she questioned silently. But no answers were forthcoming. With a sigh she once more tried to put it from her mind and just enjoy the jog.

As she passed Two Linden Place, she paused without knowing why, looking over the ordinary white two-story house with its white picket fenced in yard. As her eyes looked it over, a feeling of wrongness echoed in her near the same place as the sadness was coming from. She shivered and turned away, shaking her head.

"Whats going on with me today?" she demanded, looking up at the slowly lightening dawn. But still, no answers came to her, no sudden dawning realization. She risked another glance at the home, a single light coming on inside and the window blind being drawn back.

A young girl peered out, and Courtney began jogging again, heading away before anyone else inside started questioning why someone was staring at their home at the crack of dawn.

When Mark Dimond woke up later that morning, he felt.. odd. Overall refreshed, if you will, yet with a nagging sadness about something he couldn't really place. It was strange, and he didn't know why, but it felt like he should know exactly why.

After sliding his glasses on and glancing at the clock, he let out a yelp, realizing he had failed to set his alarm the night before.

In a flurry of movement, he threw back his bed sheets, dived into his drawers, and let out a low whine that grew in pitch as he progressed through each rapidly. What remained in there were cloths that hadn't seen the light of day in at least two years, scrunched up at the back.

Turning towards the closet, he abandoned the drawers entirely and rushed forward. "Come on... come on, I've got to have something in here!" he murmured hopefully, throwing the door open. He was buried beneath a wave of semi-dirty laundry that he now remembered was stuffed there the previous night after his mom ordered him to clean up the mess in his room.

It was, all and all, something he had intended to deal with today after-school. Dragging himself out from beneath the also semi-smelly clothes, he briefly considered the junk in his drawers for a moment. "Nun-uh, not happening." he stated flatly, turning back to and digging through his laundry, looking for something that smelled the least while still looking okay.

Five minutes later he was dressed and dragging his backpack down stairs, briefly hopping as he finished tying one shoe. "Where are you going?" his mother asked from the stove as he dashed inside the kitchen, heading for the fridge. He paused to look at her in question and said "Um, school??" "Mark, its saturday." she told him with an exasperated sigh.

Mark blinked rapidly in succession, then said simply "Oh." and turned to head back upstairs and drop his backpack off. His mother watched him go with a worried look.

By the time Mark was getting up, Courtney was at home trying to watch TV. The feelings from before were still present and just left her feeling... wrong. Like something was just wrong with the world, that she had lost something of vital importance in her life and it was on the distant edges of her memories, trying to get back to her.

She reached for the remote and flipped the TV off, realizing she was getting no where fast with it. Her parents were out and only her brother was still here. She could hear his music seeping through the walls faintly. A couple of notes made her start and glance in the direction she heard them, not even knowing why.

"I think I'm losing my mind." she muttered, frowning again as the same couple of notes reached her. With a sigh she pushed off her bed and snagged her main set of keys, slipping into her running shoes again, though wearing a more casual outfit then before.

As she left her room she banged on the door to her brothers room and shouted "I'm heading out, I'll be back later!" and made for the front door quickly as the musical notes began repeating again.

Mark returned to the kitchen and fished a couple of carrots out of the fridge, already peeled and chopped. Sitting down at the kitchen table he waited for his mom to finish breakfast and let his mind wander. As it did, the strange sense of sadness made itself known stronger.

His mothers worries increased as Mark frowned, intently in thought on why he was feeling this way. Turning from the stove, she said "Something on your mind?" Mark looked up at her slowly. "Has anyone died recently?" he asked. "Why would you ask that??" she questioned in turn, eye brows raising.

"I can't get rid of this feeling that something bad happened recently. Its really getting to me." he answered slowly, then glanced back to the stove. "Foods burning." he noted softly. She spun back to the stove and pulled the frying pan away with a low murmur, setting it down by the sink.

"Its probably just a leftover feeling from your dreams, Mark." his fathers voice added his opinion from the doorway, stepping in with a yawn. "Maybe." he responded. His mother sighed and dragged the pan towards the trash. "Whoa, whoa, you aren't going to throw that away, are you?" his father yelped, stepping forward and snatching the still hot pieces off one at a time. "I don't mind my bacon extra crispy." he noted, reaching for a nearby plate and dropping them off on it.

His mother rolled her eyes at his antics, but said nothing about it, instead setting the pan back down on the stove and reaching over to the radio. "Here, some music might get your mind off of things, Mark." she said, turning it on and adjusting the dial.

A strange series of notes jumbled forth from it, making him freeze as he listened to them, ignoring the lyrics that followed shortly there after. They repeated after a few seconds, and he began humming the tune slowly, dragging the song out. He started putting notes not heard in the song into his hum, changing its flow and sound.

"Thats pretty catchy, Mark. Thinking about a remix?" his father asked, amused. Mark glanced at them again, the modified song dying in his throat. "Uh.. I'm going for a walk, guys.. I-I'll see you l-l-later!" he stammered, embarrassed and not knowing why. The notes were ringing familiar to him, and not just the ones in that song, or solely the ones he had added to it, but the mix of them together.

His parents watched him hightail it out the front door. "... Strange." his father said, shaking his head as he picked up a piece of bacon. His mother was still worried.

Both teens nearly ran into one another. Mark was so focused on humming the tune once more, making sure he was getting it right, and Courtney with her eyes down likewise engrossed in thought about things, that if she had not heard the sound coming from him in time to come to a complete stop, they would have collided.

Instead he walked right by her. She swiveled her head around to follow his, the tune he was humming attracting her attention. "Hey!" she finally shouted when he was nearly a dozen feet away. Mark stopped and turned to her. "Huh?" he asked.

"T-that tune... where'd you hear that at?" she questioned, still not moving. Mark stared at her. "I... don't know." he answered hesitantly. Courtney noticed the address behind Mark and realized something was off: Two Linden Place. "Do I know you?" she asked slowly.

Mark shook his head, but felt like he was lying for some reason. "I-I-I don't think w-we've ever met." he stammered. 'What is wrong with me today!?' he shouted mentally.

"I know I've seen you before." she stated, stepping closer. "U-uh..." he trailed off. A car driving by honked the horn and the driver shouted for them to get out of the middle of the road. Both jumped.

"S-see you a-a-around!" Mark yelped and ran off in the direction he had been heading in, moving to the sidewalk. Courtney watched him go with the feeling that she should follow.

/end Second Earth.