Little Things (Second Chances 1)

tect you.”

She shakes her head and pulls away from me, “Duke, can’t you see? I’m already lost.”

Immediately, the sky turns a dark shade of grey and the clouds let out a pouring, hard rain. I reach over to grab her arm to get her to safety, only to find she’s completely vanished. My eyes quickly scan the area to see if she ran for cover, but she’s nowhere in sight.

“Raya, where are you?!”

I run along the beach screaming her name over and over again. Panic and fear builds as sweat rolls down my skin. The hard rain stings and the thunder roars through the dark sky. My tired and weak body sinks onto its knees and I look down into the sand as a tear rolls down my face.

At that moment, I hear a faint whisper coming from above, “Duke, save me.”

I look up to find nothing; just the bleak dark sky.

“Raya!!”

Warm hands grab my shoulder and shake lightly. Soft lips kiss my forehead.

“Duke, I’m here. It’s okay. Wake up.”

My eyes slowly open to find her staring at me with concern and compassion. After blinking a few times, I realize that I’m still in her room, lying on the floor. Shit, I must have been dreaming.

Her hands reach out to caress my face, “Are you okay? You were mumbling and shaking during your dream.”

Letting out a deep sigh, “Yes, I’m fine. Just trying to gather my surroundings. It felt so real.”

She smiles, “Come on, sit up. You’ll feel better after you’re off the floor.”

She pulls me up and we sit against the side of her bed.

I run my hands through my hair and rub my eyes. “Gosh, what time is it?”

“It’s six AM. Craig just left for work.”

I look at her and notice her bruised eye is starting to heal. I have the sudden urge to kiss her bruise, but decide it’s not the best time for that.

“Your eye looks better. How does it feel?”

“I can see clearly now and it’s not sore anymore, so that’s good, I guess.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my chest, “Promise me you will call me if anything happens.”

“Yes, I promise.”

I can’t shake an uneasy feeling I have. It must be from that dream. It felt so real.

“Okay, I gotta get going. Are you going to be alright?”

She nods in response, “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

I get up to gather my things and head toward her window until she grabs my arm and pulls me back.

“What are you doing? You can go out the front door.”

“What about your mother?”

“Duke, she knows you were here last night. Why do you think Craig didn’t bother me all night? She was watching him and keeping him distracted. In fact, she’s the one that told me you were here and gave me back my phone to text you.”

“Oh, well I guess she likes me enough to stay overnight. Ha-ha”