"Jaclyn. Jaclyn. Wake up. We're home."
I opened my eyes.
"Come on, Jac, let's go face our mother," said Elliot.
Elliot.
"No," I said. "No no no no no no no. This can't be happening."
"What can't be happening?" asked Elliot.
"This whole...arghh, never mind." I opened the door to the car.
The reception from Mother and Dad was a lot like I'd thought it would be. Dad was shocked, and Mother behaved a lot better than she did in my dream. The greeting wasn't warm, but it was a lot better than the fictional one.
"Jaclyn, Clark HAS missed you," said Mother at dinner that night.
"That's nice."
"I think it would be nice if you invited him over."
I spit out the meatloaf that I'd taken a bite of.
"Oh, Jaclyn..." Mother shook her head in disgust.
"Sorry." I picked it up with my napkin.
That had managed to avert the conversation to etiquette, and I was safe--for the time being.
Night came quickly, and I went up to my room. It was still the same.
As I fell asleep, I tried to imagine what would have happened in my dream, but I couldn't picture it. What if I had dreamed the whole 4077th?
I burst out laughing. Not in my wildest dreams could I have made up Klinger, Hawkeye, Margaret, Charles, and everyone else. NEVER.
XXX
The next morning, I had the stomach flu.
"It's the flight," Dad said to Mother. "Altitude makes your body do strange things."
Something told me it wasn't altitude.