Sleep

A Story by ChibiKong

Sleep

By:Jubilee Bales

Roy, Timmy, and I sat on a log near a stream. Roy was the oldest of all of us, and was the most logical in his thinking. He was approaching ten, and was starting to demand respect. Timmy was a little bit older then me, and was quite disgusting. I was the youngest, and being the only girl, I was often picked on by the older two. My ideas were often considered irrelevant, and because they never listened, we got into more trouble than necessary.

I looked up at the trees, when I saw what looked like a car.

“Hey guys,” I said, as I stood up from the log, stretching my arm and pointer-finger at my discovery. The boys’ eyes opened wide in amazement.

“Is that a car?!” Roy asked, flabbergasted. Timmy took off running for the car.

“Hey, wait up!” I yowled, dashing after him. Timmy was like a monkey clambering up a tree. His movement was eloquent, and he was already forming muscle mass at the age of seven. I climbed up after him, and Roy followed behind. Timmy tried to force the door open. I could see that he was getting frustrated. The door was wedged between the branches of the tree.

“The door’s stuck, dummy!” Roy shouted behind us. I climbed around to the other side of the car, and yanked on the car door.

“MOVE!” Timmy pushed me to the side, almost pushing me to the ground. Timmy yet again failed at opening the door.

“The car is locked you guys,” I said, not thinking that I was just make the problem worse.

We all scurried down the tree.

“How do you think the car got up there?”I asked, as we walked away.

“It was probably from the flood last spring,” Roy answered matter-of-factly.

“A giant pretending to play racecars!” Timmy guessed, as he pretended to act like a giant.

“That’s so stupid!” Roy exclaimed. “One, there's no such thing as giants, and if there was, there would have been evidence of a giant.” Roy’s face steamed up. I could tell that he was going to lose it on Timmy. They fought a lot. It was annoying. I was alway in the middle of it.

“You're both wrong. It was obviously aliens,” I giggled. The look on their faces was priceless. They were so shocked. I told them that they were both wrong. I never told them they were wrong before,

“What?” Roy looked at me like I was speaking a different language.

“I said, you’re both wrong.” I was trembling. What was going to happen to my body once they killed me? Shockingly, Roy was o.k. with it.

“Oh, that’s what I thought,” he said, and just continued to walk. Did he not care that I just stepped out of line? I didn't know what to do.

The next day we met up by the car in the tree. I was equiped with my father’s lock picks. I handed them to Roy, thinking that he would want to use them.

“What are you giving me those for?” he inquired.

“So we can get into the car,” I replied.

“Well, then, climb up there, and unlock the car. Don’t give it to me,” he said with a smile. I climbed up the tree. Carefully being sure not to break the lock picks, I slid the picks in to place. Turning it with a POP! I was successful, it unlocked perfectly.

“I got it, guys!” I was so excited I jumped with joy. I forgot that I was in a tree, and I quickly lost balance. It happened in a mere instant, but it felt like a million years, as I fell to the ground. They say that your life was supposed to pass before your eyes, but being that I was so young I didn't have much of a life to pass before me. All I could think about was whether or not Roy or Timmy would save me. Then a pain overcame my whole body. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the screams of Timmy. I could hear Roy holler to Timmy to run for help.

“It’s okay, Jenny. You’ll be okay,” I could hear the panic in Roy’s voice. I felt his hand brush over my forehead. His hands were softer than I had ever thought it would be.

“It’s okay,” Roy said once again, before I blacked out.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of beeping. Bright light piercing through my eyelids. There was a stench cleaner in the air. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a hospital, I think. I wasn't quite sure at the time; it was not like any hospital I had ever seen. A woman walked into the room. She wore her hair in a bun. Her clothes looked funny, they had some sort of cartoon animal printed on them. It was like a coloring book.

I looked over at the woman.

“Excuse me, miss, where am I?” She looked as though she had seen a ghost. She ran out of the room, yelling for a doctor.

“What was wrong with her?” I thought. Thinking about it, I knew that she must be a nurse, but what's with the funny clothes? What happened to the all-white gowns? A second later, a man in a white coat entered the room. A doctor?

“Miss Williams, how are you feeling?” the doctor asked with a smile.

“I feel heavy.” I really did. I felt like I gained a hundred pounds.

“Any pain?” He inquired. I expected my head to hurt, but surprisingly, it didn't.

“My back feels awful,” I replied, trying to readjust my back to feel better. That’s when I noticed my hair. My short blond bob was now long brown hair. How long was I out? My flat chest had tripled in size. My hands were bigger, and my skin was much lighter. What was going on?

“Whats going on?” I asked with panic. The doctor just looked at me, and continued with what he was doing. I got no answer.

“A coma,” the nurse said to me quietly.

“What’s a coma?”

“It means you were sleeping for a long time.”

The nurse gave me a mirror. I looked at myself. I was a woman now.

“How long?” I asked, as tears streamed down my cheek.

“Thirteen years.” I was twenty. I had been seven a mere second ago.

The doctors and nurses took care of me. They left me in the room with my thoughts.

A man walked into my room. He wasn't a doctor. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place it.

“Hello,” I said to him. The man looked shocked, like he was speaking to a ghost.

“Jenny, you're awake!” The man said, as he put his arms around me.

“W-who are you?”

The man took a step back.

“Oh, yeah, right. I'm Roy.”

My face lit up. I was so happy that he was still here, staying with me.

“What, why?” I managed to blurt out.

“What do you mean, why? I wouldn't just leave you,” Roy answered, grabbing my hand. I wrapped my arm around him

“Thank you,” I said.

“I came every day after you got to the hospital,” Roy said.

“Why?”

“I felt guilty. If it wasn't for me, you would have been safe.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” I said. “I was happy that you let me do it. I felt like I was finally earning your respect from you, and that I had a purpose.”

I smiled. Roy just stared. He looked like had something to say.

“What is it? You want to tell me something. I can see it in your eyes.” Roy looked down. He was blushing.

“I've been thinking about how this would play out every day. When you woke up, I was supposed to be the first person you saw, and I was going to sweep you away. I had to wait so long to tell you how I feel.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“ I love you, and I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you.” Roy pulled my face forward and kissed me.

“I’m sorry you weren't prepared for that,” Roy apologized. I did like him, ever since I was young. I never thought that his would happen.

“I love you, too.”