The Dream Thief-I

The full moon was playing peek-a-boo with the storm clouds that were beginning to flood the skies over London. The stars were invisible now; the moon was far too bright and the sky was far too cloudy for them to show. The drapes were wide, and the large windows provided a breath-taking view of the skies outside beginning to open up, rain beginning to patter on the streets and rooftops. A young couple, the only visible people left on the street below, ran and ducked under the awning of a shop--which of course was closed at this hour.  They kissed sweetly. 

I pulled my eyes from the couple on the street; they deserved their private moment. The clock on my bedside table read ten-oh-two at night. I sighed; it was about time I went to bed. I tugged the drapes closed and darkness flooded my room. The only illumination was the faint glow from the hallway light; I could barely make it to my bed without stubbing my toes, but I collapsed onto the bed nonetheless, yanking the covers around me. 

~

He had been watching her admire the stars for a good half an hour when she closed the drapes. It was about ten at night, so he could only figure that she was going to bed. He hopped from his perch on the rooftop across from her window, floating up to where her window was, despite the rain. The couple she had been observing had headed indoors, so he was in no risk of being seen. 

He tried his hardest to see through the curtains; to just catch a glimpse of her, just one more. He was fascinated with her--for no reason he could conjure. She was certainly not the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on; she was an inch taller than most girls, and fairly petite. Her pale skin was marred by hundreds of freckles from the summers when she had forgotten sunscreen. She had long hair that reached her bottom at its longest point; straight, auburn hair which she usually wore in a long braid down her back (at least when he saw her, which was only at night, before she went to bed). He didn't know her eye color because he'd never ventured close enough to see. If he had ventured any closer than he already did, she'd likely spot him. And that wouldn't be the best idea. 

She wasn't anything special. She was pretty, but not drop-dead-gorgeous. Even her name was nothing out of the ordinary; Alice Notte. She was not rich, nor was she poor. She had nothing about her that should call attention to her, but yet, he was so compelled by her. The way she sat in her window seat for the longest amounts of time at night, watching the stars, the moon, the people scampering inside after long days; something about it tugged at the corners of his mind. There was something he felt he should be recognizing there, but he just couldn't recall it. 

The slow sound of a police car cruising down the street nearby jostled him from his thoughts. He could not risk being seen; he had learned that the hard way. He spared one last glance at the closed curtains before rocketing up into the sky and over the rooftops. After a few turns here and there, he disappeared into thin air.

~

When I opened the gate to Ella's backyard, she was taking the dried laundry off the clothesline and emptying them into a laundry basket. Nearby, another basket filled with damp clothes waited to be hung. 

"Alice," Ella said as I approached her. She wiped a hand on her jeans, balancing the laundry basket she was holding on her hip with her other hand. Her pixie-cut blonde hair shone bright in the sun. I wished I was that pretty. 

"Good morning, Ella. Laundry day I assume?" I leaned over a grabbed the basket of damp laundry from the ground and began pinning them to the clothesline, following her as she took off the dry clothes, emptying them into her own basket. 

Ella sighed. "It's always laundry day when you have two little brothers. You are so lucky to be the youngest child."

"That's what you think," I snorted. "You get treated like an adult; I get treated like a baby. You have freedom, responsibilities! I have restrictions and nothing to call my own."

"You have plenty to call your own, Alice." 

"You know what I mean. I have no responsibilities...nothing to be responsible for."

"You must be ill; you can't possibly be telling me that you want responsibilities," She looked at me like I had three heads. 

I sighed, willing her to understand. "I just want to feel important. I want someone to rely on me; I'm sick of it always being the other way around." 

Ella dropped the last piece of dry laundry into her basket, and I pinned up the last damp sock as she turned to look at me. Rolling her eyes, she dropped her basket onto the ground. "Alice...you don't need someone to rely on you. Imagine the stress you'd have if you had to live up to not only your expectations for yourself, but someone else's expectations for you," She put her hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. "Alice, enjoy being free. You never know when that could be taken away from you."

"You've got it wrong," I turned away, dropping my empty basket onto the ground. "It's not being free. It's being trapped." 

                       ~

The sidewalks were dotted with occasional passer-by's as I left Ella's house. After we had finished the laundry, I had left. Lately our points of view had been clashing; we were from different backgrounds anyway. I was sad to see our friendship failing, but I had known from the start we wouldn't be friends for the rest of our lives. We were too different.

Ella came from a moderately wealthy family of five kids, she being the eldest. The second oldest, Maria, was Ella's only sister and was younger by three years. Maria, being only thirteen, often clashed with Ella and their disagreements were a daily affair. Ella's three younger brothers were no exception either; Joseph was ten, Rory was six, and Zachary was three. Shortly after Zachary's first birthday, Ella's parents had gotten divorced. Ella, Zachary and Rory had stayed with their mother, while Maria and Joseph went with their father. Ella had to pick up a large percentage of the daily chores, including dropping Zachary off at daycare and getting Rory on the bus, because their mother went to work too early to do it herself. Ella had gotten used to playing mommy to her younger siblings. 

I, on the other hand, was the youngest of three. The oldest in my family was my sister Tahlia. Tahlia was twenty-one now, graduating college in the spring. Terry was my older brother, and he was nineteen, and in his first year of college. Then there was me, the youngest at sixteen. My parents were still together. I didn't have much to be responsible for besides keeping my room clean and keeping my grades up.

Ella and I were too different to have a life-long friendship. As of late we'd been disagreeing more and more. She would never fully understand me, and I would never fully understand her. The thought of losing her as a friend was sad, but life moves on. Another adventure awaits everyone around the next corner. 

Shoving my hands deep into the pockets of my sweatshirt, eyes fixed on the ground in front of me, I made my way down main street. Occasionally I would pass a parent pushing a stroller or a kid on a bike and have to move to the side to make room for them. I dug my iPod out of my pocket and stopped for a second to turn it on and put in my ear-buds before continuing on my way.

I turned a corner onto Main Street, where several little shops lined the way. They were all small mom-and-pop stores that usually didn't last more than six months before a new one replaced it. One of the stores had just been replaced last week, and I stopped to look in the window when I passed it.

It was some new-age sort of shop. From what I could see through the window, it was mostly candles and decorations and things like that. 

Suddenly I was sent flying into the glass, not hard enough to break it, but hard enough for it to hurt. I'd probably have a bruise on my forehead by morning. There was a faint screeching noise and the sound of tires losing their traction, followed by a whack. 

Head spinning, I leaned slightly on the glass and turned to see what was going on. Sprawled on the ground a few feet away was a boy about my age, scooting out from under a bicycle. I tugged my ear-buds out of my ears, not knowing what to do.

"I am so, so sorry. I was so lost in my own thoughts I didn't even see you there," The boy said apologetically as he stood, brushing himself off and gingerly touching his temple. As he turned to pick up his bike, I noticed the good-sized cut on his temple. 

"Oh, don't worry about it," I said, adding hesitantly, "You have a cut on your forehead."

"I do?" He held up his bike with one hand, touching the fingers of his other hand to his wound. When they came away with blood, he smiled nervously. "I guess that's what I get for crashing into a pretty girl."

I felt a blush creep up my neck and cheeks, and I found myself laughing nervously. "My house is just up ahead, if you want to clean up," I said, leaning forward slightly. "I think you have some asphalt in the cut. You wouldn't want that getting infected."

"Oh, no, I couldn't intrude," He began turning away.

"It's fine, I insist." 

Author's Note

Let me know if you see any errors, or have any suggestions.
Please let me know what you think.
I know this chapter is pretty short. I plan on making the rest longer though. I just found that this was a nice place to cut off.
Song(s) for this chapter:
"Autumn" by Ryan Stewart
"Broken" by Helen Jane Long

Reviews

[Gina]

Pretty good, I would like more. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sarah E. Pearson]

Thanks, I'll get right on it! :)

[Grace Catherine C.]

I liked it, I like how theres still been very little hinting to what the plotline is.

[Sarah E. Pearson]

Thanks ya

[halflives]

Hmm, an interesting start. A little thrown together, if you don't mind me saying, but all the while intriguing and well written and jcdhvshcd

Listen to Olivia. Trying to be a critic.

Haha. Funny.

I can't wait for more!

[Sarah E. Pearson]

Lol thanks for reviewing :) I think your critic-skills are perfectly fine lol and no, I don't mind you saying. Thanks though :)

[halflives]

No problemo. I look forward to more~!

[Sarah E. Pearson]

:) I'm working on it! Making a good deal of progress, should be done by the weekend if all goes to plan.

[halflives]

Hooray!

[Sarah E. Pearson]

Yeah maybe I can actually finish this one! Is there any new LCCC? Totally read request me when there is, that is what originally had me look up Doctor Who (which is now my obsession).

[halflives]

Hooray! Nope, no new lccc yet, but I'm working on it. I know where I'm going next, but I'm too lazy to write it, y'know. :D What ever happened to But She Didn't?

[Sarah E. Pearson]

Lol. I've been thinking of re-writing But She Didn't, because throughout the entire thing there never really was an end in sight. Plus, it was based loosely on an RPG I was in for a while that I'm no longer in, and based on a boyfriend I no longer have. I'm kinda putting that on the back burner for a bit until I can come up with some type of actual plot. Otherwise it's just totally unending.

[halflives]

I see :D