Chapter 6
Melody
The shadows are everywhere. I hear screaming. An evil laugh sounds over it. I try to fight my way out of the shadows. I see a guy and I sigh knowing that he is still ok. I call out to him and he turns to see me. I can't see his face. He calls out my name and tries to fight the shadows to get to me. The shadows rise up and overtake him. I scream. They turn to me. Then, I see a light. I look up and see the full moon shining down on me.
I wake with a start. I'm panting and shaking. I look around my room and tell myself it was just a dream. Well, it wasn't just a dream, but the dream.
My dad is sitting on my bed. He puts a hand on my leg. "Did you have that nightmare again?" He asks. I nod. My dad sighs.
"Maybe we need to take you to the doctor. Maybe a psychologist."
"No." I blurt out. He gives me a confused look. "I mean, it'll go away here soon. It's just a nightmare. Let's not make a big deal about it." Thankfully he nods. This is too crazy to have scientist knowing about it.
"OK, you're right. I'm just worried about you." He says.
"I'm fine, Dad." I insist. "So, what's for breakfast?" I say, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, shoot, the bacon!" Dad jumps up and runs out of my room. I laugh. Once I'm sure he's gone I pull open the drawer to my night stand. After digging through papers and books a find my navy blue, spiral notebook. I pull it out and close the drawer.
A while ago I started having these dreams. They ended up coming true. For example, the first dream I had was about Lisa entering a beauty pageant and winning at the end of our eighth grade year. I had the dream repeatedly while she was in the pageant. When she won the dreams stopped. Then it started again, this time with a different dream. I knew something was up so I bought a spiral notebook and started to record them. Every morning I write down the day and add on to the dream.
I flip through until I get to the middle. I keep turning pages until I arrive at a blank page. I pick up my pencil.
Saturday, November 30th
I had the shadow dream again. This time, after the shadows overtake the guy, I look up at the full moon and the light is all I see.
Possible Symbolic Meaning: Moon? Shadows? Maybe someone I care for is going to die and the moon is a way of saying everything is fine.
Actual Meaning: So there is a fight with evil shadows? Yep still sounds crazy. Got to be symbolic.
Sociological:?
I pull out my phone and go to google. I type in: Sociology Dreams Moon. I scroll and find Moon-Dream Moods. I click on it. It says there may be some mysterious aspect about me. Also, I could be changing moods. And I need to follow my instincts.
Oh crap.
Mysterious, changing moods, follow instincts?
I pick up my pencil and write one word next to my question mark.
Jack?
Jack
I'm biking through this small town near New York City. If the next guardian had to live anywhere, I'm glad it's here. This place is growing on me. Stopping the bike, I check the address again. 287 Titans Road. The map says its three more streets down. I start peddling again. Some teens from the school wave as I bike by. I wave back. After reluctantly passing a donut shop and nearly running into a car, flying is easier then biking, I get to her street.
I count the houses until I get to the fifth one, her house. It's not really big, but thankfully bigger then the log cabin I'm staying in. I walk the bike up the driveway and prop it up by the garage door. I walk up to the front door. I ring the doorbell and look through the glass on the side. A man in a recliner holding a bunch of papers looks up. He sees me and waves. I wave back.
He calls Melody down but I can't understand what he's saying. I see him laughing in the chair. Melody's voice is loud and clear though: "He's not my boyfriend!" She shouts from upstairs. I laugh and blush slightly. No wonder they call North "Father Christmas". He acts like a dad.
Melody opens the door. I smile, hoping I'm not still blushing and trying not to laugh. Her face is flushed. She motions for me to enter.
"Hey, Jack. How are you?" She asks. I enter the house and she closes the door.
"Hey. I'm doing great. I'm ready to get started." I say. Her dad gets up and walks over. I'm slightly intimidated but not as much as I would be with North.
"Hello. Nice to meet you, Jack." He shakes my hand.
"Nice to meet you, too, sir." I say.
He laughs. "Sir? Call me Mr. Lillis, or Mr. Dameon. The kids at school call me by my first name."
We head to her dining room. She motions for me to sit down at the table. Melody brings in a laptop and her notebook from school. She hands me the notebook and set the computer next to me. Melody pulls up a chair next to me.
"So, Melody Lillis?" I say. "Very pretty."
Melody laughs and blushes slightly. "Yeah. I get that a lot. So, what are you thinking for the presentation part?" Melody asks. "I like the idea of a trifold. I know there are nine muses so I was thinking," She takes a pencil and draws a sketch of the trifold on the notebook. I lean back and let her draw. "We would have 'The Nine Muses' across the top. One word for each section." She writes 'The' on the left side, 'Nine' in the middle section, and 'Muses' on the last one. I follow her train of thought.
I pick up the other pencil. "So, we could put three of the muses on each section." I draw three boxes on each part of the trifold drawing.
"Exactly." She puts down her pencil and turns to the computer. Her pencil rolls to the edge. I reach out and grab it before it falls. Melody does the same and her hand lands on top of mine. We stay like that for what seems like forever, then she removes her hand and I pick up the pencil. We are both blushing slightly. I clear my throat and she fixes her hair. After being awkward for a moment Melody opens the computer and goes to the internet.
Ok. What was that? Why is it so awkward between us? I have an excuse since I've only been human for a couple days. We were fine last night. In fact, we had a great time. So why do I feel so weird?
"Aha! This will work great." Melody says. I look at the computer screen. She is at a mythology sight. "Write this down." Melody tells me. I grab my pencil and turn to a clean page.
"Ok. The nine muses are: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomeni, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope." Melody has to help me spell them. "They were born of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. Clio was the muse of History. Euterpe was the muse of Music. Thalia was Comedy."
"I like that one." I say while writing.
Melody laughs and continues. "Melpomeni was Tragedy. Terpsichore was Dance. I like this one." Melody laughs and continues. "Erato was Lyric Poetry. Polymnia was Hymns. Urania was Astronomy. And lastly, Calliope was Epic Poetry. Did you get all that?" I finish writing Calliope's and she looks over. "Nice hand writing."
"Thank you." I reply. It must be from years of frost. We keep researching find some pretty interesting stuff. It's no North Pole but it's still pretty cool. I laugh inwardly at my cold pun. After an hour of work we have pictures downloaded and information typed on word printed. Plus a works cited page, which I still don't understand completely.
Melody leans back and sighs. "I don't know about you but I'm ready for a break." I laugh.
"How about that ice skating?"
Tada! Thanks for reading this far. Thank you Unicorn232003 and Brittany Bauer for the reviews and continuing support. Happy Reading!
