Fiction... PREFACE

Preface

She heard the noise as if it was right next to her. A breath, more a gasp than a simple intake of air. As she turned to find its origin, her hair, long and tangled with the leaves and brush she’d fallen in just minutes ago, swung around and encased her neck. She saw nothing but the woods around her. Never one to doubt her senses, Abby turned and ran even faster, if that was possible. As always, logic warred with the supernatural gift inside her mind and she wondered again if her senses were of the here and now or of some time and place in the future…the past? Were they even her senses or perhaps someone else’s, channeling in need of help. Logic said this was most likely the case. Abby had no enemies that she was aware of. No one even knew of her ability, her gift, her curse. No one besides those who had come and gone and received help from this strange and mystical girl.

This must still be part of the dream, she thought. Having awakened in the forest in the middle of the night, mid-run, she had not been startled. She was used to this type of thing and instantly began observing everything around her, not knowing what would end up being of any importance. The grass was wet, though she knew it hadn’t rained here in over three months. There was no light, no moon that she could see. Cloudy? Rainy? Future? Past? Not present. That was certain. This was part of the message. Her heart quickened surprisingly as she heard the gasp again. And, again, she whirled around to face nothing but trees and wet leaves. She took this moment to note that she was wearing, not her favored flannel pajamas, but a white satin nightgown that reached the forest floor and moved with a breeze around her ankles.
She assessed her senses, or rather the senses of whoever was sending her this vision. Fear. This woman was petrified. She was beyond caring about her indecency or her bare feet. She only wanted to run. It was hard for Abby to fight the other girl’s instincts. Her legs were begging her to move and move quickly. But she stood her ground, literally. She took in the smells around her and noticed that there was a hint of cologne in the air. This woman did not wear cologne, she knew it immediately. No, this was the scent of her pursuer. Was this a romantic tryst gone wrong? Why else would a girl be in the woods in the middle of the night wearing a nightgown and with the scent of men's cologne in the air.

Unless it was an attempted escape from something much more sinister than a simple lover’s meeting in the woods. The fear. The fear is what tipped Abby off to the sinister thoughts. Something had gone very wrong for this girl and she was now reaching out to Abby for help. “I’m trying,” Abby whispered.

Immediately, Abby’s eyes opened and she was in her own bed, warm, dry, and wearing her familiar pajamas. “That’s all I have to go on?” Abby sighed. Well, she’d had less. Sometimes a troubled soul was cautious in revealing things and Abby guessed that fear was the main motivator for her recent messenger. Abby sat up and, out of habit, looked at the clock. It was 5:44, one minute before her alarm would sound. Sometimes, the minute of her arrival back into consciousness meant something and she always made a mental note of it.