Author's Note: I took a little time off to figure out where I want this to go, and what should happen next, etc. and now I'm back…Sorry for the wait!
The Earth's rotation seemed to have slowed to a bitterly lethargic pace, and so the days trudged on,
each no different than the last. David's world became a boring routine, predictable yet calm.
There was no more pain, no threats, and no excruciating violence; yet there seemed to be an
unsettling tension that lingered in the silence. A tension that would pass through The General's eyes,
like a silent warning that jarred the happiness, if only momentarily, to remind David of what had been pushed
aside. A pain and anger that, if the wrong thing were to be said, a dark thought accidentally
spoken aloud, could easily re surface.
David spent his days in a sort of trance. Nothing seemed real to him. Everything was simply a prelude,
preparation for the moment when it would start all over again. The pain, the yelling, the violence. It
was all coming, you just had to wait for that single moment. The moment where the silence would be broken,
when the tables would turn.
So David would wait. Really, he had no choice. He would wait through the happiness, the smiles, the sugar
coated conversations. He could feel it coming, like the distant siren of the police car that is about to come
speeding into view, like the small rumble right before the earthquake. Like the calm before the storm...
He spent his days playing with Madison, absorbing all the joy he could. It was a little weird at first, trying
to play with a five year old. To force yourself to see the world through a pair of eyes that was so
innocent, so unaware. It was almost like trying to enter a kingdom without the key to the front gate. A key that
could only be found by those who saw the world as a wonderful place...a place where there was no pain, no anger,
nothing of the world David knew.
It was at two thirty in the morning, on the seventh day that David had been home, that his world came crashing down.
The dark haired teenager was startled awake by the unsettling sound of the ringing telephone. The loud resonance
shattered the peaceful silence that had settled within the house, lurching David out of the first calming and
relaxing sleep he had enjoyed in a long time.
The phone was picked up on the second ring, before a long, drawn out pause. Then, through the hush, David heard the
soft, muffled sound of footsteps creeping down the hallway towards his room. David's heart seemed to stop beating as he waited in suspended fear for the inevitable. There was a pause, followed by a gentle knock
on his door.
A few seconds later the door inched open and David could just make out the outline of Anne's slim figure standing in the doorway,
highlighted by the soft beam of moonlight that slipped between the curtains.
"David, are you awake?" the question floated through the darkness as Anne hesitated before moving farther intothe room. She
didn't want to intrude. "The phone is for you." she continued.
David sat up slowly. 'Who could possibly be calling me at two thirty in the morning?' He wondered silently.
"I'm awake." he replied, taking the phone from his stepmother and turning on the light next to his bed.
David paused, waiting for Anne to leave the room before turning his attention back the communication device in his hand.
"Hello?" he spoke quietly into the receiver, his voice still groggy from sleep.
"David, this is Peter," the familiar voice on the other end sounded tired, and weak. Hopeless. Peter continued before David could speak.
"There's been an accident. Something has happened to Daisy..."
Ok, that's it. Coming soon: pain...tears...a song by The Calling...hope...some other stuff that I can't mention now or it'll ruin everyhting for you. Anyway, please please please review or drop me a line at jd108@hotmail.com!!! Thanks for reading :)
