Over at the café',
Janice is still chattering away about the latest episode of Blacklist, which
Eta is normally very into. Today she just feels less normal. That dream, it had
gone away since she'd been doing her herbal teas, but now it was back. Was this
a relapse?
Suddenly, in her
mind's eye, she saw a waiter walk by and trip
on her purse, dropping the bottle of Perrier he was carrying.
She turned to Janice
who had stopped talking, and was now staring at Eta. " You feeling' ok
hun? "
"I'm fine
Janice, I'm sorry… these darn headaches, what were you saying? " Eta
denied it.
"You need
something? I always carry the standards, generic of course… same thing, less
money…"
"Janice, it's
nothing really." Just then a waiter walked by with a bottle of Perrier. He
tripped on her purse, and she reached out and caught the bottle before it hit
the ground.
"You have
amazing reflexes! Thank you!" the waiter stated, and he moved on looking
embarrassed.
"Wow girl
!" Janice exclaimed. "You really are good! " Janice went back to
recanting the television show. Eta tried to appear interested, she actually
really enjoyed the show. But these episodes were getting out of control.
Then, Janice
disappeared. She was somewhere else, far away.
City street. cars driving by. People walking along,
minding their own business, most looking down at their smart phones as if they
were walking by GPS. Now there's people running, the streets of roped off, and
she can see people in jogging suits, numbers on their back. Then her attention
is drawn to a young man placing a backback in the trash can. She knows this
place, but she's never been here. A blinding flash of light. Glass splattering
all over her. The percussion hits her chest and…
it's over... It's
the same one she's been having for weeks now. There are the little things that
she seems to see before they happen. Like the waiter. Coincidence. Maybe. But
then there's this dream, what could it mean? She must not have been staring blankly
for too long, because her friend didn't notice at all this time. These waking
dreams are getting more and more vivid. More details. It's strange how eerie
they are.
"Oh my!"
she hears from just behind her, she turns to see the whole restaurant slowly
turning to see the television. Stunned silence. Another terrorist attack.
"An explosion
just went off at the Boston Marathon just moments ago…" the reporter
covering the information they had so far.
…wait, did they say
Boston? A sick feeling comes over her... is that even possible? Then it
happens. She sees the young man, from her dream, running away from the scene in
the news with all the other people.
Her friend notices
that she's gone pale, she asks the bartender for water. They start to fan her.
Eta folds her head into her hands at stares at the T.V. in total shock.
"What is happening?" They all assume she's talking about the recent
rise in terrorist attacks… if they only knew.
"Excuse me,
Janice, I have to make a call. I have friends in that area. I'll see you later
ok?" Eta does not wait for an answer, she walks to a nearby payphone,
which are getting harder to come by these days, keeping her face from a clear
line of sight to any cameras she sees. She calls the F.B.I. hotline with an
anonymous tip regarding the bomber, and the news channel that had the photo.
Then she heads home… to process.
***
