parallel.htm

The night before, Ashton had a dream. In it, he felt that strange people lived right here in his house. The walls of the hallway had gigantic purple flowers on green paper and candles burned, mounted on the walls, flickering, providing some illumination, disturbed by a gentle breeze. Taking advantage of the meager light, Ashton checked the drawers of the desk placed in the far corner of the room. Most drawers had junk in it, but one drawer appeared to have family document, similar to the ones from his father. A picture of a middle-aged, average woman was attached. However, that was all that he could remember. He didn’t understand what could have happened. Another thing, normally he was afraid to go to the attic by himself. He only went up when his mother went up there and then he walked behind her. She turned on the light switch before she entered the room. Then Ashton followed her and he went straight to the box loaded with children’s books. There he sat, sometimes for more than an hour to look at the pictures and occasionally his pretty sister joined him. However, this time in his dream he was up there by himself; candles replaced the light bulbs and bats flopped their wings in the rafters. He was not afraid. The attic smelled of fresh pine, the floor was covered with an expensive carpet and a small boy played with a train carved from wood. He had a wooden hammer and tapped on the locomotive. To make his playtime more realistic, he expelled sounds; Uhh, Uhh, Chuw, Chuw. Ashton watched him. “Can I play with you?” asked Ashton. The boy didn’t look up or turn to look at him. Ashton shook his head and asked again, “Can I play with you?” Again, the little boy ignored him. Perhaps the boy can’t hear, thought Ashton. He stood up, head extended forward, and walked around the boy until he faced him. Surely, he must see me now, thought Ashton. “Hi,” said Ashton and he waved his hand. The boy continued playing; he looked up right at Ashton, continuing to make his sounds. Ashton smiled at him but the boy didn’t respond. Finally, Ashton realized that the boy can’t see or hear. It never occurred to him that the boy can’t see or hear him. Ashton became bolder. He reached down and touched the boy’s shoulder. But, where the shoulder was supposed to be was a void. Ashton’s hand passed right through the boy’s figure. Now Ashton became scared. His body shook; he screamed at the boy and then Ashton woke up. He couldn’t find out who the boy was and why he appeared to be in his attic.