Chapter THREE: Just Settle In

After Tara's effort at saving Trisha causes her own injury, Lauren is given the honor to take care of her in the next following days... As you read this chapter of Imaginings, things take a new turn.

Today was… how can I put this… an odd yet interesting day?  Lauren, Tara and I didn’t go to bed until after one in the morning.  By that, I mean we weren’t physically in our beds until around one.  What time we fell asleep… now that’s another story… because I have no idea.  All I really know is Nurse Dorothy woke me and the girls around 11 AM.  It went something like this:

 

I woke from a dead sleep to the sound of someone banging on our door.

“WHO…WHAT the hell?”  Tara’s eyes were widened like an owl’s

“Oh, my TOAD stools!”  Lauren jumped in “What’s going on and WHAT IS that racket?!”

“BANG… CLANK… BANG… BANG”

It was so loud, I jumped!

“GIRLS!”  We heard a woman’s voice and the sound of keys knocking against the side of the door. None of us were sure which woman it was.  That’s when Dorothy opened the door wide enough to fit her head through.

“Girls?”  She said in a much quieter tone as she opened the door all the way “Well… I see you’re all awake.”

“What the FU… “

Lauren shot Tara a look of ‘you better not’ before she had a chance to finish her sentence.

“Er… what the fudge, Miss Dorothy?”  Tara pretended to be calm, emphasizing on ‘fudge’

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok Tara.”  Dorothy walked in carrying her medical bag, “I was worried when you girls didn’t come down for breakfast.”

“Oh yeah, well…”  Lauren started

“Yeah, Miss Dorothy.” Tara interrupted, “We were up until midnight.  Lauren made sure I didn’t fall asleep too early last night.  She was so worried about it that she made me stay awake an extra hour!”

“Well, I’ll be.”  Dorothy smiled at Lauren, “That was really nice of you Lauren!  I’m so glad that Tara met a friend she trusts and gets along well with.”

 

Nurse Dorothy certainly seemed concerned about Tara and her well-being… almost too concerned.

Dorothy placed her medical bag on the floor by Tara’s bed and sat down next to her.

“Well Tara,” Smiling, Dorothy gently lay her hand on Tara’s shoulder “As I’m sure you’re aware, I need to check your vitals and injury to see how you’re getting along.  Is that ok Hun?”  Tara nodded her head as she returned Dorothy’s smile.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure about Tara when I first met her but, how could anyone NOT adore another person who steps in the middle of a violent situation to assist the victim? She had my best friend’s back during that situation last night.  The girl has BALLS! That being said, Tara just doesn’t come off as the type of girl who is this accepting of sweet talk from a woman old enough to be her mom, much less her grandmother.  I half expected her to bad-mouth Dorothy.

Dorothy checked Lauren’s vitals and looked at her wound. Then she cleaned it and changed the dressing.  She reminded Lauren it was ok for her to stay in the room with Tara if she still needed her assistance.  She also reminded her of her 2 PM appointment with Dr. Trenton.  

Soon after, Miss Dorothy left them alone, but not before Tara asked… er… requested someone bring a television to their room so they wouldn’t be too bored.  I really liked the way Tara thought.

“Oh my BALLS, Tara!”  Lauren busted up laughing, “Just what the heck was that all about?!”

I tried everything not to laugh, because if I did I would definitely knock the walls over with laughter!

“Well, you see…”  Tara started, then abruptly stopped

Suddenly out of nowhere, an alarm began to blare through the Asylum.

“OH, MY SUPER BALLS!!!”  Poor Lauren, I knew she was close to a mental breakdown.  She didn’t do well in stimulating situations such as this.

“Lauren,” Tara was calm as she walked up to her.  I could tell, even though she hadn’t known us long, she knew that Lauren was suffering from a PTSD episode.

“Honey.  You need to sit down and take a deep breath.”

“What's that noise?”  Lauren gasped

“Aww sweetie, it’s just our monthly fire drill.  You’ve been through fire drills as a little girl, haven’t you?”

“Uhm, I think so.”

“Well, this is basically the same thing, just at a crazy home.”  We all laughed

“We only have 10 minutes max to make it downstairs, or we might get in trouble.  Usually, it’s a night in lock-down if we don’t participate.”

 

We followed Tara downstairs to the meeting place outside.  Tara and Lauren were still in their bedclothes.

Everyone was so crazy and out of order when we arrived outside.  I looked ahead at Dr. Trenton as he put two fingers between his lips and blew one of the loudest whistles I’ve ever heard.

“Tara, Lauren, Rose, Ruthie, Bart, Fred, Tiffy.”  He called out everyone’s names “I need you all to form two lines just like we do every month during a fire drill.  Come on you guys, this isn’t rocket science!”

It almost seemed like everyone had two left feet.  No one acted like they knew what order they needed to be in. 

“Tara, Lauren!”  The Dr. started again, “What IS this?  Where's your dayclothes, girls? Come on, let’s get it together!”

 

Nurse Dorothy walked up to Dr. Trenton to whisper something to him as she pointed toward us.  He then nodded his head. She walked past him to continue to try and get the residents in order.

This went on for about 20 minutes or so.  When everyone was finally in their most capable order, I realized it was past lunchtime.

“Ok, everyone.”  Molly’s cupped her hands around her mouth “I need everyone’s attention please!”

 

I think us girls were the quietest Sims at that moment.  Soon as everyone had settled down enough, Molly continued, “Alright everyone. As you’re all probably aware of already, lunch should have started half an hour ago.  Some of the staff members and I agreed on ordering pizza in light of the fire drill today.  I need you all to form one line and slowly proceed to the living area as we wait on the delivery.  Thank you for your cooperation.”

I was so hungry, I could hear my stomach above everyone’s chattering.  The three of us girls were the first to make it to the living area.  I noticed Ruthie was with the crowd when the fire drill was in effect.  I was almost sure they only let her out of the timeout cell to participate in the fire drill but was proven wrong when she joined us in the living area.  I didn’t understand how someone who caused such a huge injury to another was only under lock and key for maybe one day. 

We sat with Tiffy.  I got to see a side of him that really made me feel even more at home here.  We hung out as we waited on the pizza delivery.  We watched some television and conversed back and forth about this and that.

It wasn’t long before the pizza finally arrived.  I watched as Molly paid a sizable tip to the pizza delivery guy.  Surely she didn’t have to pay him THAT much to deliver here?  I guess any delivery person would be a bit leery about delivering to a crazy home.

 

Soon as she set the pizza up in the dining area, Molly let us know it was time to line up for lunch.  It’s funny how the girls and I ended up at the beginning of the lunch line.  It must have had to do with the other residents not paying attention.  How could anyone pay attention to anything with all the gabbing going on between everyone anyway?  Some people just don’t want to stop talking long enough to realize what’s going on around them.  such a shame!

“Aren’t you going to eat?”  Lauren seemed concerned for Tiffy.

“No, I don’t eat well when I’m nervy.”

“Why are you upset Tiffy?”  Tara chimed in

That’s when he pointed toward Ruthie sitting by herself at the last table. 

“OOOOOH!”  All three of us girls said at the exact same time

I tried not to laugh at how we must have all sounded at that precise moment, but the girls beat me to the laughter.

“Oh my gosh, did you see how she looked at you when she walked by?”  Tara asked Lauren

“Uhm… No, I didn’t even see her pass by.”  Lauren looked confused

“WHY is she even out of her ‘time out’ already?”  I asked a little too loud

“Yeah, why?”  Lauren still looked confused

“Why what?”  Tara replied

“Why is Ruthie out of her cell so soon?” 

“Oh, that!”  Tara rolled her eyes “Sometimes this place isn’t all it seems to be.”

She didn’t offer much more of an explanation than that.

“Lauren, it’s nearly 2, don’t you need to get to your counseling session with Dr. Tenton?”  I could tell Lauren was having way too much fun to remember.

“Aww damn.”  Lauren looked sad

“What’s wrong Lauren?”  Tiffy asked

“I have to go.  I don’t have much time to get dressed before my appointment with Dr. Trenton.  It would be weird me showing up on my first appointment in my bedclothes”

 

With that, we were off to our room.

She had at least 15 minutes left before her appointment, once she was dressed.  We decided to wait downstairs with Tara and Tiffy.

“You look pretty!”  Tiffy said as soon as we sat down

“She always looks great.”  Tara added “Why are you back here Lauren?  You don’t want to be late to your first appointment with Dr. Trenton.”

“I have about 10 minutes until my appointment.”  Lauren looked at the wall clock “But either way, I have absolutely no idea where his office is.”

“Oh shoot.  You can ask Miss Molly, or I can walk you there.”

              

Tara was always trying to help.  She had really proven to be a true friend in just a matter of a few days of knowing her.

“Did someone say my name?”  Dr. Trenton walked into the living area

He was such a handsome man.  Just as I suspected, Lauren’s cheeks turned a few shades pinker than their normal color. 

“Lauren, it would seem that we have an appointment together here, in…”  He looked at his wrist watch, “… 5 minutes.”

 

We got up and followed him.  The man walked faster than us.  It was hard keeping up with him. I practically had to run just to stay within a few feet! 

Before I knew it, we were headed upstairs.  I should have known his office wasn’t on the same floor as Dr. Melancholy’s and Miss Drake’s.

“Girls,” He said as we walked through his office door, “as soon as ya’ll have a seat, we can get started.  You only have half an hour with me.  If you need longer, we can go for a full hour.  Usually, first sessions do tend to go a bit longer.”

 

His office was the nicest one out of all three offices we had been to since our arrival.  He certainly liked purple and teal.  I wasn’t too shocked that we shared similar taste. I knew we would get along great now!

“Lauran… Gig… Gignac is it?”  Dr. Trenton peered over his computer screen

“Yes, sir.”  Lauren sounded so formal

“All righty then.”  He typed something on his computer “Now, who do we have accompanying you this late afternoon?”

“This is my best friend Sally.”  Lauren smiled as she pointed my way

“Well, it’s very nice to make your acquaintance Sally.”  He said as he got up to shake my hand

“Well, thank you very much Mr.…er… Dr. Trenton.”  I was strangely nervous all the sudden

After taking his seat again, he began reading and scrolling on his computer.

“Don’t believe everything you read about me.”  I joked

Dr. Trenton laughed.  Yup, he was unmistakably cool!

 

“Well, it’s great to see your best friend has a good sense of humor Lauren.”

“Ok girls,” his eyes still glued to his screen, “I see here you have some issues with anxiety and nightmares, Lauren?”

Lauren nodded her head.  Now was not a good time for her to become shy.

“Ok.  I also see that Dr. Melancholy started you on Clonazepam for anxiety, nightmares, and to help you sleep.  Is that correct?”

Again, Lauren nodded her head.  It seemed that she found the same hole in her pants that she had found while talking to Dr. Melancholy.

“Lauren?”  He waited for a moment before continuing “Would you feel more comfortable if I talk with your best friend?” 

 

Again she nodded her head.

“Miss Sally?”  The Dr. turned his attention towards me “Are you ok with this?”

“I certainly am Dr. Trenton.”  I beamed

I couldn’t stop looking at his face.  I now felt my own cheeks give in to his hauntingly gorgeous appearance and personality.  Oh, that voice though!  That was a voice that could make the thickest of women melt like butter.

“So, Sally.  How long have you and Lauren been friends?”

Oh my gosh, I really had to get ahold of myself.  I hoped his hypnotic effect wasn’t as obvious as it felt

“Uhm, “I honestly couldn’t remember, “I think we were in grade school when we first met.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere!” 

I looked over at Lauren, she looked as if she was about to break out in the giggles.  She made ME want to start laughing, yet I remained calm and collective.

“How did the two of you meet?”  He asked, with a deep breath

“That’s a day I’ll never forget.  She was in recess, in the 2^nd grade I do believe.”  I counted on my fingers for a moment, then nodded my head.

“Yes,” I continued, “it was the 2^nd grade.”

I was very pleased with myself.

 

“Hmmm,” Dr. Trenton paused for a moment, “I see Sally.  And was there some special circumstance that led to you meeting one another?”

The Doctor leaned back in his seat, twiddling his thumbs as if he were preparing for a long story.

“Oh yes!”  I tried not to seem too excited, but this was an exciting story “It was the first day of school, and as you can see, Lauren is quite shy.  As long as I’ve known her, she has always been shy.  So, we were on the playground at recess as I mentioned.  I had actually just made it outside when I heard the sound of a bunch of kids yelling ‘fight, fight!’  I had to walk to the other side of the swings to see what was going on.  That was the first time I laid eyes on Lauren.  She was on the ground sitting on a fat boy’s stomach as she beat the crap out of his face.  I’ve honestly never seen so much blood before that day!”

 

“What caused Lauren to do this?”  The Doctor looked shocked

“As far as I know, she was minding her business swinging by herself. That fat kid started running around the swing set yelling profanities at her while making fun of her lisp.”  I couldn’t believe I remembered that far back.

“I see.”  Dr. Trenton still looked shocked

I understood his shock.  It’s not like Lauren had come off as a noisy, trouble making fool since she’d been here.  I mean my goodness, she had such social anxiety to the point of where he had to go through me to learn more about her!

Again, he started to type something on his computer.  It was a few minutes before he looked up at Lauren.

 

“Well, Miss Lauren,” He looked hesitant to continue, “I would be holding back if I didn’t ask what was going through your head at that young innocent age while beating the s**t out of that kid.”

Honestly, I was stunned that he said s**t… but it caught Lauren’s attention.  It was written all over her face as she answered.

“SALLY!”  Lauren looked straight at me “WHY did you have to tell that story?”

I looked at Dr. Trenton for some kind of help.  That’s when he signaled me to answer her question.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say that he was entertained by our squabble!

“Well Lauren,” I paused, again looking at the Doctor, “Dr. Trenton DID ask how we met.”

I put the truth to her, but it only made her more upset.  No one wanted a pissed off Lauren… NO one!

“OH my GOD Sally!”  Again Lauren came at me, only louder this time “Sally, you’re supposed to be my best friend.  Do you even KNOW what that means?”

At that moment, all I could do was stare at her… dumb-founded.

That’s when the good ol’ Doctor jumped in.

 

“Lauren, let’s try this…”
Again, Lauren interrupted.

“Let’s try what?  I’ll tell you what to try.  You can try to go SCREW yourselves!!!”

OH wow, I had never seen Lauren this upset before in all my life!

“Furthermore, the two of you can have your OWN private session.  We can name it even.  POKE fun at LAUREN session!  How’s THAT for opening up?”

“Lauren,” Dr. Trenton interrupted her as he stood up “you NEED to calm down, now!” 

His stern voice surprised me.  Mind you, we had only just met him.  The little I did know about him was that he was a very good-looking, sweet, calm HUNK of a Doctor!  So yeah, the strictness in his tone really caught me off guard!

 

I scooted to the other end of the couch I was sitting on.  I’d never seen Lauren like this before.  I mean sure, she’s been on the verge of a mental breakdown before, but never like this!

“Calm DOWN?!”  The Dr. only seemed to add amber to the flame “Are you FREAKING KIDDING me?!”

“Laur…”  Dr. Trenton tried to cut in

“NO… you will NOT ask my best friend about the WORSE day of my life and expect ME to react calmly!”

All I could do at this point was cover my ears and hum.  But it wasn’t enough to cover up her outburst.

“Oh my GOD,” I heard the Doctor say under his breath, “I sure know how to open a can of worms.”

 

I felt so sorry for Dr. Trenton.  He most definitely was a very kind individual, and what he just said to himself proved it even more.

As I prepared myself for the worse, Lauren suddenly calmed down.  It was like magic the way she was ready to blow up, and the next moment she was like a cuddly kitten.

“Oh my gosh!”  She looked ready to start bawling “Sally, I am SO sorry!”

All I could do was stare in shock again.  It was like bi-polar war of the roses!  Again, I looked at the Doctor for help, or guidance, or something!  Again he signaled me to continue on.  It was like he was a movie director directing a thrilling passage.

“Uhm… its ok Lauren,” I was more careful at choosing my words wisely, “I probably could have been more aware of how I told the story.”

The Doctor looked much happier now.

“Yeah, well,” Lauren continued, “I could have been more careful on how I reacted!”

 

“Well, Ladies,” Dr. Trenton interrupted as he glanced at his watch, “We are actually running 5 minutes over the allowed time for this session.  I do have to end it for now, but I am truly relieved the two of you worked this out.”  He sighed as he got up, again shaking my hand.  He thanked me for coming along with Lauren to her session.  He then turned to Lauren, shaking her hand.  He told her how nice it was to have her at the Haven, and he looked forward to their next session.  If you ask me though, I think he dreaded the next one.

“What now Lauren?”

“I guess since I’m in charge of taking care of Tara, we should locate her.”

I was glad Nurse Dorothy asked Lauren to help take care of Tara.  It gave her a sense of being… of existing… a will to want to be and to want to belong.

 

“Are you coming Sally?”  Lauren sure could be persistent at times.  We headed downstairs to the living area where we were both sure Tara was waiting.

“There you are!”  Tara seemed happy to see us.  That made Lauren smile.

“Wow, that was a longer session than I’ve ever had.  You were gone for a whole hour.”  She continued “Is everything ok?” 

It was obvious that she could see Lauren had been crying.  The look of concern on her face was genuine.

“I’m fine Tara.  Thank you for caring.”

“Well, we should get back to the room before Nurse Dorothy starts wondering where we are.  We were supposed to be back right after lunch.  In fact, I think she expected us to take our pizza to our room.”

Just as we were about to get up, Nurse Janet headed towards us.

“Hi, Tara.”  She smiled “How are you feeling sweetie?”

Janet was such a nice lady.  I really liked her.

“I’m doing great Miss Janet.”

“That’s good to know.  I just wanted to let you know that Dorothy had the janitor deliver a television and a few chairs to your room.  There’s one extra chair in case the two of you want to invite a friend in.” 

That was strange.  I wonder why the staff members were letting her break practically all the rules.  Hm… Maybe they were worried about a lawsuit.

“I can’t believe you got Dorothy to follow through on your ‘demand’!”  Lauren laughed

“Ya, well,” Tara joined her laughter, “I guess I just have that special skill.”  

“What friend did she think we were going to invite to watch television with?”  I joined in “Ruthie?”

“All right,” Tara interrupted, “What should we watch?  Romance, mystery, mystical?”

“I’m all for romance myself!”  I suggested

“Romance is good” Lauren agreed

“Well, it is a girl’s genre, so romance it is!”  Tara chose a movie that Lauren and I had already seen a few times.  It was about a girl who is lost in the woods and found by a Tarzan type of hero.  Lauren didn’t tell her we’d seen it.  I’m almost sure she chose not to because Tara may have looked for something else.

“Are you hungry, or is it just my stomach having a growl-fest?”  I heard Tara’s stomach growling when we first entered our room.

“We could eat!”  Lauren answered for both of us

We still had a couple hours until dinner time. 

“We can sneak down to the kitchen, I’m pretty sure the staff is in a meeting.  They normally have meetings on Wednesdays.”  Tara suggested “We have to be real quiet though.  The janitor is in charge during their meetings, and we don’t want to get on his bad side.”

“Can we wait until this scene is over?” I asked

“Yeah, can we?  This is really a good part of the movie.”  Lauren chimed in

“Can we what?”  Tara looked confused

“Wait until this scene is over, duh!”  Lauren sounded irritated

I was starting to think Tara was a little hard of hearing.

As soon as the scene was over, Lauren grabbed the remote from Tara and paused the movie.  At that point, all three of our stomachs were growling simultaneously. 

Lauren and I both followed Tara downstairs to the kitchen on our secret snack rendezvous.  I was embarrassed because all I could hear on the way down the hallway was the numerous echoed growls my stomach was letting off.

We were in the kitchen within a few minutes, minus the few seconds or so we had to hide because Ruthie was on her way to the dining room.  It was strange how every time one of us opened the refrigerator, our stomachs would growl.  It was almost as if an alarm was going off each time the door was opened.  I tried hard not to laugh, as it would have certainly alerted someone of our location.

We were back upstairs in no time at all, and without fail.  Lauren and Tara chose animal crackers, and I had chips.  We sounded like pigs, with all the crunching sounds coming from our mouths.

Lauren grabbed the remote before we had a chance to sit back down.  Just as I was getting really deep into the next scene of the movie, Tara decided to start a conversation.  I tried to hear the television over her, but her voice was much louder.

“Lauren,” She spoke in between bites “How was your first counseling session with Mr.…er… Dr. Trenton?”

That caught my attention.  I was hoping if she revealed our little spat, Tara wouldn’t hate me.

“Oh,” She replied, “it was interesting, to say the least.  Dr. Trenton let Sally do most the talking.”

Tara threw her the most confused look.

“It honestly could have gone better.”  Lauren continued “Sadly Sally had to reveal something about my past that really set me off.”

I shot her a not so happy look.

“And, what was that Lauren?”  I could tell Tara was really interested in what Lauren had to say about me.  That had me very fearful.  Just when everyone was starting to get to know me, they would soon despise me.

“Well,” Lauren continued again, “honestly Tara, I’d rather not talk about it.  I’m almost sure Sally would become very upset with me, and then we have the Doctor-patient clause to worry about.”

“Well, what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her!”

I wondered what the heck she meant by that.  How could I NOT know, I was sitting right between them.  I almost felt as if Tara was now purposely excluding me.  I felt like crying now.

“So what do ya’ll want to do tonight after dinner?”  Lauren quickly changed the subject

I immediately felt very relieved.

“Hmmm…”  Tara threw the last few animal crackers in her mouth

“Hey!”  I jumped in “Didn’t I see a swimming pool during our tour when we first arrived?”

“OH yeah!  That’s a great idea Sally!”  Lauren sounded excited

“What’s a good idea?”  Tara swallowed her last bite

“Swimming silly.”  Lauren laughed “What did you think Sally meant when she mentioned the pool?”

Tara shrugged her shoulders as she got up.  She started gathering our empty bowls. 

“Well,” She started, “We could go after 10 tonight.  Of course, we would have to be really careful.  The janitor’s room is right next to the pool.

Huh?  That didn’t make any sense.  We walked through the whole Asylum just a few days ago.  There were no bedrooms near the pool.  Unless… nah… surely she couldn’t be talking about the cells in the basement.

After Tara returned from taking our empty bowls to the kitchen, Lauren turned the television off.

“You girls do realize we missed dinner.”  Lauren pointed out “And it’s already dark outside.  It’s nearly 9.”

Our snacks pretty much filled us all up, plus we had a late lunch. So it was just as well that we missed it.  I guess we had been too lost in the movies we were watching to realize the time.

“Well, we should take the chairs back to the storage room Lauren.  Miss Janet told me we could use the television while I’m still healing, as long as we put the chairs up at night.”

After we cleared our room of the chairs, we hung around chatting it up until the clock reached 9 PM.

We were all eager about being sneaky when it came time to head down to the pool.  It was just 15 after 10 and most the lights were off in the Asylum.  It was obvious that everyone had gone to bed for the night. Tara snuck the key from Dr. Trenton’s office. I was a little nervous about the janitor.  We hadn’t met him yet and by the way Tara described him, he was just as mad as some of the residents here!

Lauren and I were the first to jump in the pool, but Tara wasn’t far behind.  The three of us made the biggest splash jumping in.  We were so excited about swimming that we were careful with our noise. 

The water felt fantastic!  Woodland Hills didn’t have the hottest weather on Simsville, but tonight it felt extra humid.  I really hated what the humidity did to my hair.

We did a few laps around the pool.  It was nice to be able to do some sort of exercise finally.  We hadn’t been outside since we arrived here, minus the fire drill.  They had a recreational area up on the roof.  I wondered if they were ever going to let us out there.  I liked the exercise equipment they had up there.  There’s definitely nothing wrong with staying in shape.

After swimming for a bit, Lauren and Tara started chatting.  I had to laugh because right before Tara had half a sentence out, she was being clobbered by a giant splash from Lauren.  Lauren had always been good at catching Sims off guard. 

In no time at all though, Tara got even with Lauren.  She wasn’t a bad aim herself!  I even caught a bit of a backlash as I swam past them.

“So what’s really up with that Rosie witch with a ‘B’?”  I could tell it had been eating at Lauren since we had pizza earlier.  She couldn’t stand not knowing what made someone tick, especially when they went out of their way to hurt her or someone she loved.

“I don’t know a whole lot about her to be honest.”  Tiffy explained “But, I did hear one thing.  She was admitted here through the courts for a maximum of 20 years.”

“Huh?”  Lauren asked, “What’d she do so bad to end up here this long, kill someone?” 

Soon as she asked, I knew I’d regret her answer.

“Well,” Tara began, “You hit that one on the nail!”

I shook my head in disbelief

“Oh my GOD!”  Lauren’s eyes were opened SO wide “Who? Why? WHEN?!”

“Ha, it’s a funny but sad story.  Lauren, she had the nicest husband.  Rosie was actually admitted here just a few months before it happened.  He would visit her both days of the weekend, never missing one.  Then she got sent home.  All the sudden I’m hearing rumors that she sliced her husband’s throat in his sleep, and continued to chop him up into little tiny pieces.  It took her all of 2… or maybe it was 3 days to finish slicing and dicing him!”
“OH my GOSH Tara,” Lauren cried out, “How HORRIBLE!!!  I wonder what made her like she is.”

“Honestly Lauren, no one really knows for sure.  One person who used to be locked up here supposedly knew her when she was a child.  She said that her parents died when she was really young and she was raised by the meanest foster parents.  Apparently, they used to lock her in the hallway closet during the day so they didn’t have to deal with her.  That’d for sure be enough to drive me batty!”

That’s all I could handle listening to.  I knew that woman was crazy, but a part of me couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.  What a messed up situation for any one person to endure while growing up. 

Trying to forget everything I just heard, I swam to the deep end.  Just as I was about to grab hold of the side of the pool, I saw two feet move toward the edge.  I looked up and I’ll be, there was that cute little girl. She was standing right by the edge of the pool.  She gave me a half smile, but something made her frown right as she started to smile.

“Well, hello there sweet little girl.”  She looked so sad “What’s wrong sweetie?”

The girl didn’t say anything, but she sat down on the side of the pool.

“Honey, do you have a name?

The little girl just sat there staring at the water.  She had this zombie-like stare, or a ‘drugged up’ look rather. 

After a few minutes, I gave up trying to get her to talk.  We swam a bit longer and played Marco polo for a bit as well. 

“Hey you guys, maybe we should head back inside and try to get a few hours of sleep.”  Lauren suggested, “It’s starting to look a lot like morning now.”

“Oh my gosh,” Tara said under her breath, “Don’t look now, but the janitor is fixing to walk out.  I can see him through the glass door.”

Just then, the man we first saw when we arrived here at the Haven walked out the door.  Now I knew who the Janitor was!

“Oh, Hi Mr. Daryl!”  Tara tried to sound happy to see him, but she seemed really terrified

Right as the janitor was about to speak, Tiffy walked up behind him.

“Hi, Daryl.” Tiffy patted him on the back                            

“Ok folks.”  Daryl had a look about him that made him seem so sweet and innocent, but when he opened his mouth you could literally feel the hair on the back of your neck rise up.

“I think ya’ll have had enough fun for one night.  Let’s bring it back inside, and please keep it to a zero with the noise.  You don’t want to alert Molly to what ya’ll have been up to.”

That was our cue.  One by one, we quickly exited the pool and followed the janitor inside.  I saw a twinkle in Tiffy’s eye as we walked past him.  He sure was a nice guy. 

We headed to our rooms, threw on our pajamas and were in bed before any of us were able to exhale.  Sleep happened quickly.  The swim had worn us out like babies.

 

(Thank you for reading, please stay tuned for Chapter 4 of Imaginings)

Author's Note

Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter of Imaginings... Any type of constructive criticism is welcome :)