Dream Land Chapter 3

Joven stood in the living room with a smile on her face. It had been a good evening. Devlin had made her laugh most of the night, outside of the ruff start driving to the restaurant it had been one of best dates. She was looking forward to spending the day with him riding horses. Walking over to the leather couch beside the front door she let herself fall into it. On the opposite wall stood the entertainment center and she grabbed the remote off the glass top coffee table. With a click, the news was explaining everyone else’s bad day to her. “Yuck!” Muting the sound she pulled up the guide and started scrolling for something to watch.

Linda walked into the room from the kitchen surprised to see her daughter home. Checking her watch, “It’s only 10:30, why are you home? Did things not go well?” She made her way to the couch ready to comfort her daughter.

“Things are perfect, he is perfect. Opens doors, let me order first, funniest person I have ever met, not to mention a butt that don’t stop.”

Her mother laughed, “Glad you had fun, the butt comment was more info than I needed. When do I get to meet him?”

“I guess Sunday when he comes to take me horse back riding. Just don’t do the twenty question thing mom. Trust me to make a good decision about a guy, okay?”

Her mother sighed, “I do trust you. It’s just hard to not be the mommy all the time. If you say he is perfect I will lower it to the ten question thing.”

“Great, thanks for the help on that one. Do I get to choose the ten questions?”

“Of course not,” she laughed. “Why that would take the embarrassing my daughter fun right out of it. I promise not to ask if he has been in jail. He hasn’t been to jail right?”

“No, no jail time for him. He is way to pretty for that!” Joven informed her mother. “Not to mention he is only twenty, not like he has really had enough time for that either. He’s a good guy mom, you will like him.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“There’s nothing on TV so I’m going to bed.” She stood over her mother and leaned down giving her a hug. “This was a good move, things will be great here. Less than a week and I have a new cute boyfriend, so how could it be anything else.”

Linda hugged her daughter back, “good night hon.”



*****

Joven sat crossed legged on her dark green comforter. A small smile played on her lips with her eyes closed. On the dark green bookcase a small stereo sang how good life was when love was in it. Sitting perfectly still she formed a mental image of Devlin laughing and her smile leaped into a grin. The image was so real to her that she could almost hear his laughter. “Silly girl,” she whispered to herself and stood up to get ready for bed.

Stripping down, she tossed her clothes into the bathroom hamper. Pulling out her favorite silk green nightshirt she pulled it over her head. The cool material rippled over shoulders and across bare breast, the coat tails sinking into place right above her knees. The feel of it reminded her of the tender hug Devlin had given her at the door as a good bye.

She turned off the light and pulled back the covers of the bed. She fell into the invitation with a happy sigh and giggled at herself. Joven had never felt warm inside over a guy, much less one she had only known a day. Pulling the covers over her body she allowed them to cocoon around her and closed her eyes. The mental image of Devlin was still fasten to the wall of her mind and she quickly fell asleep hearing a new song of love from the bookcase.

Her mind faded from reality and slipped into the dream world. It was a warm summer Friday night. Austin’s night life jumped every night of the week, but Friday and Saturdays on sixth street were legendary. College kids acted as if it were their last day on earth and they were going to do everything they ever wanted to. Fights were normal, but not usually more then a black eye or bloody nose. Alcohol flowed as freely as the river Nile causing the natives to be fearless and reckless.

Frank’s Antique Shop was five blocks away from the action on eleventh and the noise whispered and screamed for most of the evening. It was finally nine o’clock and he was ready to close up, do the deposit and head home for some peace and quite. sitting at his desk in the back office, door open, looking at the empty store he called out to his daughter, “Jo, lock the door and turn off the open sign for me, okay?”

She was on the cell phone to her best friend Cindy, “okay dad, I got it.” Turning her attention back to her friend, “hey, I got to run, closing time. But we are totally on for tomorrow.”

“Cross your fingers that Mike will be there. I know he is in to you. Just be brave and ask him on a date.” Cindy giggled.

Joven turned off the open signed and leaned against the wall. The little antique store was full of expensive items and she didn’t want to knock anything over. “I could never ask a guy out. What if he said no? That would be so embarrassing!”

“Come on, it’s 09 babe! Girls ask guys out all the time. Just suck it up cream puff, I know he will say yes. Guys like confident girls.”

Laughing, “Now I know you would never do it! I can tell by the little sayings your spouting off. I’m off of here, I will see ya later.” Hanging up the phone she laid it on the counter and went to lock the door.

She took two steps and the store door opened. “Oh, I’m sorry, we are closing.”

Three young men walked in, heads down, baseball caps pulled low on their foreheads with closed dark windbreakers. The one leading the pack ignored her and held the door for his two cohorts. Once inside, he closed and locked the door behind them. Joven’s stomach turned cold and she screamed, “Dad!” and turned to run for the office.

Frank heard his daughter scream and jumped up from his desk. “Joven,” he had cleared his office by this time, throwing his body in the opening between the register and counter. A few seconds later he grabbed her and shoved her behind him. “What do you want?” He demanded. He backed up with Joven behind him trying to put more distance between them.

“We can start with her…” One of the boys snickered. “What do ya say dad? Is she as sweet as she looks.” His windbreaker opened suddenly and a black crow bar appeared in his right hand.

“Run to the store room,” Frank screamed at his daughter. He turned and gave her a shove in the right direction. Crying out in pain as fire traveled down his left arm. Forcing himself to stay standing he barely moved fast enough to have the second shot miss him. He used the few seconds to follow his daughter past his office and to the store room.

Joven had just cleared the door when she turned and saw her father take the first blow. Her whole body froze, her mouth wide open in a soundless scream. She told her feet to move, to go help her father, they refused to obey. Her fathers body filled her field of view and she sighed in short lived relief.

He slammed the door shut leaving her alone in the dark. There was a cracking sound, more of a vibration, that snapped her back into her body. She grasped the doorknob and turned it. The door held firm. Throwing her body against the door repeatedly she listened to her father scream again and again.

As quickly as the attack started it seemed to be over. “Daddy,” Joven whispered. No response came back. Tears rolled down her face, “Daddy,” her voice became stronger. No response. Again she tried to open the door.

She struggled frantically, pushing and pulling with all of her strength. Her feet danced under her body looking for a better hold to force the door. She was hazily aware of a soft squeaking sound around her. The more she tried to force the door, the louder the sound harped at her. Without warning her feet slipped out from under her and she fell to the floor.

Trying to push herself standing with her hands she slipped again in something sticky. Snatching for the doorknob with her left hand she swiped violently at the light switch with her right hand. Florescent light hummed in her eyes and she was blinded for a few seconds. Staring at the floor the color red was all she could see. The pool crawled slowly towards her and she retreated screaming, “Daddy,” over and over again.

The next thing to fill her senses was the smell of hot copper pennies. It reached up from the floor in wisp and coils, an invisible snake searching for her. It’s poison turning her stomach without leaving a mark on her body. It was a smell that followed her for weeks after her fathers murder. Tapping on her shoulder to remind her deaths trace had not forgotten her, but instead, was looking for it chance to wrap its coppery hand around her neck and squeeze.

The door creaked open slowly, and Joven sat up to take notice. This is not right, this is not what happened her subconscious mused. The door should be flying open, cops coming in guns drawn, screaming at her to get on the floor, which she had almost found funny considering she was sitting on it. Drenched in the black color of mortality, cracked and dried paths running in reprisal of the life still breathing beneath it. She stared blankly and made no action to move, wishing her breath would leave her body and never come back.

The ending had changed. A dark green forest chirped and hummed with life. Flittering colors crossed behind the leaves, flashes of a life busy within its own world. Through the tree line was a dirt path, lightly traveled, flattened by recent footprints. Stepping onto the trail Joven looked both ways trying to see any hazard that would lunge at her. The lane was empty, covered only in the scent of a fresh rain and wet grass.

She stepped gradually onto the grass, her eyes still inspecting the area. Desolation was her only companion on the course before her and she started walking, listening intently to every sound that washed around her indifferent to her presence. Each step brought her closer to relaxing in her new world. After several minutes she found herself strolling as if the nightmare had never happened.

Abruptly the trail turned to the right and she slowed her stride. She strained her eyes to see what was forming in her field of view. Black curly hair, white skin wisped around and took form, and sea blue eyes stared back at her. Devlin stood before her on the serene path. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing? This is my dream, that makes you the invader.” She laughed. “Not that I mind, its beautiful here. It’s fitting that I share it with you since you brought beauty back into my world.”

He walked over and took her hand. “I have to be honest… this dream started out with me looking through a window into a store of old stuff. You were there… it was bad. Is that the truth behind your grief?”

She stiffened, sorrow covered her face streaked with her tears. “Yes, my goofing off on the phone got my father killed.”

“No, his love for you saved your life. Don’t belittle his commitment to protecting you. I know it doesn’t seem like it from your side, but for him, there was no other choice.” He started walking down the trail, the gravel crunched lightly under his feet blending the chirps and buzzing together.

Joven allowed the sounds of the forest and his voice to smooth the tight muscles in her body. Her stride matched his, “I wish it were that easy. If I had locked the door when asked… if I hadn’t laid down my cell phone… if I wasn’t motionless in the doorway… there were choices there, and I made all the wrong ones.”

“You could have made any of those choices another way, there wouldn’t be a guarantee things would have been any different. Your father wouldn’t want you guessing about what if’s, he wanted you to live.”

She stopped, she had never thought about it from her fathers point of view. It had always been her shortcomings, her mistakes, and the fear her father was disappointed in her for abandoning him in a moment of emergency. Her life had died that night with her father, everything had been put on hold, her friends, her dreams, only the nightmares refused to standstill. They scurried through her unconscious mind at every opportunity, waiting to accuse her of culpability in her fathers execution.

She walked with him for several minutes tasting this new reality. Her real crime had been in not seizing every moment of life. Letting the ones who loved and cared for her fall to the sideline when they had been so ready to support her in her grief. Here was Devlin, offering her a chance to make that right if she could believe the veracity of his words.

She turned to him having no idea what to say. Before the words could form in her mind she was crudely interrupted by a high pitched beeping. Her alarm screamed at her to get moving, and the dream faded into bright sunlight swimming across the hard wood floors towards her bed.

Joven laid in her bed blinking against the flood of emotions and deciding what was the next step in her life. Old memories of a life she had left behind came streaming through the cracks of the shell that had encased her for so long. Slowly, she sat up in bed, tears still streaked her face with just a hint of a smile starting to show.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, all of the dreams of the pervious night swirling around in her head. She wanted to forget the nightmare of her father, but knew it would remain veiled in the dark place of her mind eternally. She felt sick every time she thought about what had transpired that night, and she fought to focus on the dream of a new beginning.

It made her think of Devlin, and she couldn’t understand how he could have such a strong influence on her so quickly. It was a thought that would arise several more times through out the day. Standing up, she went to the bathroom to start her day by permitting the hot water to wash away the remnants of the night before. Getting out of the shower she dried off and wrapped her hair up in a towel, then moved back into her bedroom to dress in blue jean shorts and purple polo top with some white slip on sandals.

Making her way down the short stair case to the second floor she opened the first door she came to and smiled. Her mother had agreed to let her have one of the extra rooms for her office and this was the closest empty room to her own bedroom. Joven had meant the office to be a place to study when she started college, but after last nights dream she had changed her mind. This would be perfect to take up an old hobby, one her father had always been proud of, she just needed to do a bit of redecorating.

There were two windows that faced the front yard with two more windows looking out over the side of the house. The side view of the forest was breath taking to her and she felt a small pang of remorse for removing it from sight. The room was large, and she tried to figure out a trick for blocking off half of it as a darkroom while leaving the splendid view unimpaired to review her work. Building a new wall was out of the question, the cost alone made it impossible not to mention what her mother would say.

The answer came to her suddenly and she giggled out loud. Running back up the stairs to her bedroom she grabbed her keys and purse. Heading down stairs to the kitchen she made herself a quick bacon and scrambled egg sandwich and headed out the front door.

Once in town she headed to the first hardware store she could find. Joven was met at the door by a young man in his mid-twenties. He had light brown slacks with a black polo shirt and black tennis shoes. His skin was a light coffee color that magnified his dark brown eyes and short black hair. At 5’9, his frame was slender but well defined and she had no doubt he worked out on a regular bases. “Welcome to Mac’s Hardware, I’m Jack, can I help you?”

She smiled at him, “yeah, I need a large black tarp, hammer and nails, and step ladder. Also, a stud finder, some black paint, with some paint trays and brushes.”

“Doing some remodeling? Are you sure you want to go with black? If you want to change it later you will have to prime the wall before actually painting it.”

“Its for a bedroom, soon to be a dark room for my photography stuff. So black is really the only option. I will need a standing lamp also.”

He smiled, “yes, we can get you all fixed up. Sounds like you have quite the project planned just getting setup.”

“I have all Saturday long to get it done. With my first riding lessons tomorrow I want to be up and ready to take and develop pictures on Monday. The paint should dry over night, right?”

“We have some quick drying paint that will be ready in a few hours. I recommend you paint first, let it dry, and then finish setting up the room. That way you don’t get paint on any of your equipment.”

She nodded, “good plan, where do we start?” she pulled out a basket from a the cart holder and motioned him to lead the way.

Forty-five minutes later and two hundred and sixty seven dollars poorer Joven had a loaded truck bed. Sliding behind the wheel she headed for home thinking it was going to be a long day but excited to start the hard work.

Pulling into the driveway at the house she parked as close as possible and got out of the truck. Picking up the gallon of black paint and a bag full of brushes and the stud finder she headed to her new work space and sat them down in the middle of the room. Heading back down stairs she pulled the medium sized step ladder out of the bed of the truck and wrestled it into the house and up the stairs. Sitting the ladder up in the middle of the room she snatched the stud finder from the shopping bag and began skimming it across the ceiling. Finding a ceiling beam in the area she wanted to split off from she marked it off with some masking tape. Breaching the paint can, she poured a large amount into a paint tray. Placing the tarp on the floor she started on the ceiling.

Two hours later she had finished painting every nook and cranny on the left side of the room. Standing in the doorway observing her work, the drastic contrast reminded her of how different she was from the day before. Devlin was once again in her mind and she laid down in the middle of the room, her feet on the black and her head on the white side.

She closed her eyes and imagined the room slowly spinning, which each turn it whirled faster and faster. In her minds eye the colors embark on wild trails swirling through each other remaining independent of one another while passing freely to each others area. The mixture prompted her to think of how shadows hide in light leaving a good photographer to pull them out without letting them take over the picture.

Slowly opening her eyes to avoid getting dizzy she stared at the ceiling again. Mentally she arranged her equipment in the room. Her review desk would fit between the two side windows to have the best natural light with the six drawer filing cabinet beside it. The closet would be used to hold excess supplies, cameras, and film. The cutting desk would go on the wall beside the door, leaving the middle of the white side open for movement. The black side would of course be for her chemical work and hanging the pictures up to dry.

The hard part was going to be dragging everything up the stairs. She had no doubt in her mind she would need help with the three metal desk. Devlin was back in her mind, he could help her with the heavy lifting and it was a great excuse to see him a day early. Joven sat up and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pulled up Devlin’s phone number. “You don’t look a bit desperate calling just to see him. God, get over it girl.” Putting the phone into her back pocket she decided to take a break and get something to eat while the paint dried.

Wondering through the kitchen Joven opened the refrigerator and scanned the contents. The easiest thing to do was make a sandwich, add a few chips and a coke, but it didn’t appeal to her stomach. She examined the left over’s of the last few days, a very small piece of steak, two fried chicken legs, a dab of spaghetti, and a salad with the lettuce turning brown on the edges. A random assortment of fruits and some left over vegetables. “This needs to be cleaned out. But not by me, and not today. Choosing the small piece of steak and both chicken legs she dropped them onto a plate. The green beans were from the night before so she added them into the mix and set the microwave for three minutes. Watching the seconds of her life tick by while she waited on nourishment she considered what all she would bring in from the storage shed in the back yard.

Her chemicals had been in storage for a year and there was no telling if any of them would be any good. She would need to take some test pictures just to test the chemicals and see what needed replacing. She was starting to remember how expensive her little hobby was and she did a bit of mental math on her savings account. At best, she had seven hundred dollars left, at worse around six fifty. The timer gave a quite beep, beep, beep and she crossed her fingers in hopes that some of the chemicals would be usable. Pulling a coke from the refrigerator she sat her plate on the counter and ate her lunch quickly.

After lunch, she spent the next several hours digging for boxes, and then digging in the boxes to locate the things she would have to have for the dark room. Hauling everything up to her new work space she began sorting through the pile she had created in the middle of the room. Joven designated a place for each item so she would be able to find it easily. She was so caught up in her private adventure she didn’t hear her mother calling her, and she let out a small cry when her mother walked into the room. “Jo, what are you doing? Or should I ask what have you done?” She was staring at the split colors of the room. “Are you making a dark room?” Linda was thrilled to see her daughter taking up her old habits.

“Yeah, you said I could have an office, I just decided to change it to a darkroom. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, I don’t mind, its nice to see the old Joven. I have missed her. I think I like this Devlin boy, even if I haven’t met him.” Linda smiled. “What do you need help with, it looks like you have a lot of work left to do.”

“Biggest thing, is my old work desks. You know, the big metal ones, as in all three.”

“Of course, the heavy stuff.” She turned away from her daughter and headed for the door while pulling her scrub top off. “Let me change into jeans and we will fight them up here.”

Joven called “thanks mom,” after her and smiled at the half and half room.