Piper

Part 2: Dreams

"Dreams are illustrations ... from the book your soul is writing about you."

- Marsha Norman

At Whitly Middle School, there were four fifth grade classrooms. Usually, due to the enormous enrollment, twenty to thirty students each filled one class.

A grade repetition, heaven forbid I hated that. I don't know why, but the school faculty decided my fifth-grade students were to be the lowest of the lows. It was a pain in the butt, but I didn't have a choice. It was assigned to me. A take it or leave it choice.

And all were competitive, including the teachers I worked with. Its something I had to deal with. As if we all had a ranking and felt that a dark cloud hovered around me as if doom was my middle name.

Janneth 'Doom' Hudson

Yes, that would be me!

To top that off, all students were given a test to see what class they belonged too. Once we teachers graded their scores, each student was assigned a room number. And the rest would be history.

Then she mysteriously came to my classroom and changed my world around.

All dressed in black, a girl purely at the height of her pre-teen years entered the room. She took a seat in the front row with the students who had to repeat the fifth grade.

Must be the new girl Principal Macklin told me about. But why was she in my class? Did she score poorly? She didn't look like one of those students who would do that based on looks alone, but that's anyone's guess.

Don't remember seeing her in the exam room.

Where did she come from?

I had a cold feeling that she didn't belong there. And black attire wasn't exactly 'Hippie garb, a fad I learned that was the sign of the time.

After roll call, I learned that she was the one and only Tabitha Whittle.

"Miss Hudson, Miss Hudson ... wake up!"

Marjorie, Janneth's caretaker in Heavenly Rehabilitation Center, panicked as her patient wouldn't wake up earlier that morning. She thought Janneth was sick or worse, even dead! But as a former nurse, Marjorie checked Janneth's pulse to make sure that her assumptions were wrong.

Earlier, Marjorie put her three fingers upon Janneth's wrist to feel a pounding rhythm for a heartbeat. It was an irregular form, called Arrhythmia, where the beats moved fast. She was about to call a doctor if Janneth didn't wake up from her nightmares.

She left Janneth a tray of food by her bedside which consisted of pancakes, milk, and fruit. Yet, they were left untouched. Thus, Marjorie sat by her side waiting for her patient to arise.

And then Janneth's eyelids started to twitch, a sign that she was still alive, making Marjorie happy.

"Miss Hudson, you're awake! You had me a bit worried there. Nightmares again?"

Janneth had constant dreams about Tabitha since she left Dr. Everett's office. It was as if it was an omen, one that was trying to tell her that something was wrong.

She told Marjorie of her dreams, yet she didn't trust her with every detail. So, Janneth just told her it was nothing to worry about.

Janneth nodded and knew what Marjorie was about to say, as she repeated the same phrase about how she needs to be  seen by a medical doctor, but Janneth refused to do so. It was a repetitive remark that annoyed Janneth.

Something wasn't quite right as it was already four days since Joanne last visited her. She was also wondering why her visits with Dr. Everett stopped. Was he mad at her? Did something happen to him?

Marjorie smiled and instead of scolding her patient for the umpteenth time, she announced that Joanne visited the facility earlier.

"Miss Hudson, I'm sure you might know what I'm going to say. But today, things are different. Miss Swanson stopped by earlier to see if you were awake. She wanted to tell you that there was a small accident in Dr. Everett's office a week ago, so that was why your following appointments were postponed."

And that was where Janneth finally understood ... Piper has struck again! She must get back to that wax museum!