The Nightmare is Over

"It's like a dream,

no end and no beginning.

You're here with me,

it's like a dream."

~ Alex hadn't realized he'd been shot. At least not right away. The gunfire in the grocery store parking lot was so loud, the breaking of glass so close, that he could only think to duck from the attack before quickly firing back.

He'd noted that the SUV had been dark and was leaving quickly. The attack on the Sheriff of White Pine Bay had been sloppy and brutal. Leave it to Bob Paris to come up with a hit so cheaply done.

He knew who'd tried to kill him… knew the attack was coming… he had to call Norma and warn her…

Romero felt strange. His chest hurt and he looked dumbly at the bright red coming out of his shirt. A bright red flower, blooming with the mark of death.

1.

~ The basement was Alex's sanctuary. A place where he could be alone and do little projects. All without anyone getting in the way or bothering him. He was sitting at his work table, a place where he did odd repair jobs. The kind of safe haven every man should have for himself, complete with the calendar featuring classic cars for every month of the year.

The same calendar was in front of him now, and he blinked looking at the new line of cars in vibrant colors.

'1957?' He thought, before shaking his head and standing up.

"Alex?" Came a voice upstairs and he could hear some sort of commotion going on.

"Alex? Are you down there?" Came the voice of a woman again.

"Yeah." He said absentmindedly. He had to think for a moment about where he was. How did he get here? Something about gun fire and blood. But he hadn't been around actual live gunfire since… he couldn't remember. He didn't like the noise gunfire made. Didn't like to think about death.

He easily shrugged off the disorientation and headed upstairs. Stress. Stress plagued him sometimes. Maybe he should take some well earned time off.
"Alex?" Came the feminine voice more urgently.

"I'm coming!" He called and quickly unlocked the basement door.

Norma was standing there, her expression slightly annoyed.

"Alex, the sink is clogged again." She said shifting the toddler in her arms to the other hip. "It's backed up with water."

Alex sighed.

"Yeah, I'll unclog it." He sighed and looked back at his wife as though she was completely new to him

His wife; the toddler in her arms. A beautiful little boy in coveralls and short sleeved shirt. His jet black hair in need of a haircut. His face was content while he nibbled on a cookie his mother had given him.

"Tom?" Alex asked the boy curiously. The boy's name coming to him as if plucked from thin air. It was like seeing the child for the first time, but knowing that he belong to them and it had always been like this.

"Alex?" Norma asked; pulling him away from his thoughts. "The sink?"

"Oh." He nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

The house was a constant struggle these days. Already four decades old, the impressive Queen Anne on the hill needed a lot of attention just to keep it together. Not to mention the work it would take to heat it through the winter. Still, it was home and the only place they had ever lived. The only place he could ever imagine Norma in.

"We should call a plumber." Norma suggested for the hundredth time.
"We don't need a plumber." Alex scolded as if insulted, and saw the unsightly mess of foul smelling water taking up the entirety of the large white sink.

"This is the third time this week it's backed up." Norma argued and put Tom back on his feet. The toddler taking unsteady steps, looking around the kitchen with mild interest before deciding to stay close to his mother. His fat little hand gripping tightly to her skirt.

"Norma, I fixed plenty of sinks during the war." He said casually. "Both tours."
"I remember." Norma sighed.

Alex knelt down under the sink and saw the problem. The U pipe was already leaking, trying desperately to drain the water. He quickly grabbed a bucket and unscrewed the pipe to drain the sink.

"I fixed all kinds of things." He smiled as the foul smelling water streamed out and into the bucket.

"I have to go to the hardware store." He decided suddenly cleaning up his hands. "Get a new U pipe for it."

Norma rolled her eyes.
"What?" Alex laughed.

"You're going to go to the hardware store and chat with Sam Loomis all day." She accused playfully.

Alex wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. He was trying to remember when he'd married Norma Bates. Trying to remember how they had met. Was it before the war? Before the attack on Pearl Harbor? He couldn't remember their wedding day, or the birth of their son, but they were both there in front of him.

Norma was defiantly his wife, and Tommy was his son. There was no question about that.

It was almost a relief to know that they were there. That they had a life together. A boring life of home cooked meals, children, and repairs to an old house that would never end.

"What?" Norma asked with a laugh. "What are you smiling at?"

Alex realized he'd been staring at mother and child. Tom feeling more confident now, releasing her skirt to wander around a little.

"Nothing." Alex laughed. "Just looking at you two."

"Oh." Norma laughed. "I think Anne will be back in soon. It's almost lunch time."

As if on cue, their daughter burst into the kitchen. The braids her mother had so carefully tied that morning were coming undone and she looked hot, tired and in need of a bath.
"Can I have lunch now, mommy?" She asked. Alex noticing the dirt on her socks and how her play clothes were already filthy, when it was barely noon.

It was a constant struggle for Norma to keep their daughter clean and well groomed. Annie fighting her mother the entire time and never conscience about keeping her clothes neat and her hair combed.

"It's 'may I have my lunch now', and yes, you may." Norma sighed. "I'll make you a sandwich. Wash your hands."

Anne went to the kitchen sink where her father told her it wasn't working and to wash in the laundry room sink.

"Just don't stay out too late." Norma scolded him. "After I put the kids to bed, you promised we'd watch Ed Sullivan."

"Thought you were mad at poor ol' Ed." Alex reminded her playfully. "Elvis?"

"Disgusting." Norma huffed and blushed. "Children might have been watching that. It was so vulgar."

"Oh." Alex smiled to himself.

The TV. The giant Christmas splurge he'd bought for the family for the princely sum of $230. An entire month of pay he'd secretly socked away and surprised the family with when they had thought all gifts were opened.

As parents of young children, they had found it to be an effective babysitter at times. Especially when it rained and Annie had too much energy.

"I won't forget." He promised. The late night ritual of watching their programs after the kids were in bed, had been engrained since he'd heroically assembled and installed the antenna on the roof when the snow melted.