Awake

“Awake”
a short story by
Marcus Cox

Sara Jennings woke up not knowing what to think. She had one of the most terrifying nightmares ever. Her best friend, Dave King had been murdered right in front of her eyes. She was sweating. Sara looked over at her clock. “Oh, crap,” she said to herself. She was over twenty minutes late to work.

Sara rushed over to the store she worked at in the mall. Dave was there. “I clocked you in about five minutes ago,” he said.
“Thanks,” Sara said, “Has Fay gotten her yet?” Fay’s the manager at the store.
“Yep,” Dave said, “She got here about ten minutes ago. She’s furious that you’re not here on time. But she went in back so that’s why I clocked you in. You know, not to make you more late.”
“Okay,” Sara said.
The back door opened. Fay walked out. “Sara,” she said, “This is the last time you’re coming in late.
Oh no, Sara thought. She knew what was coming. The manager brought her into the back room. Sara was fired within minutes. She went to the front of the store and clocked out. Dave said bye.

Sara went home. She was rather depressed so she ate. That was her solution to major depression. She watched some TV and then went to sleep.

The next morning Sara woke to her phone ringing. It was Fay. She was wondering where Sara was. “I thought I was fired?” she asked.
“No,” Fay said confused, “Just come in.”
“Okay,” Sara said. She hung up and went to work.

Sara walked in and noticed Dave wasn’t there. He was suppose to be. “Where is Dave?” Sara asked Fay.
“I figured you would have known by now. After I got off the phone with you I called his apartment to see why he was late too. His roommate said he was murdered last night.”
“Oh my god!” she said, “When?”
“Well the police called here and said it was around 7:30 or so last night at the Quest Club,” Fay said.
“Oh my god. I had a dream of that happening a couple nights ago.”
“That’s odd,” Fay said, “Well the police where calling because they want to investigate on it and they want to interview all of the people working here. They will be coming by later.”
“Okay,” Sara said. She couldn’t believe that Dave was gone. She couldn’t believe that she had a dream of it a day before it happened.
The police came by. The conducted the interviews with Fay first. When they got to Sara one of the first questions was about the dream. She explained it was a very vivid dream. It was the same place and time too. She knew that this wasn’t a good thing. Sara could tell by the tone of voice of the officer that they think she may have something to do with it.

After work she went strait home and to sleep.

When Sara woke up the next morning she decided to go to work to check her schedule. When she got there she went into the back room. When the door opened Fay turned around and looked at Sara. “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked.
“Checking my schedule,” Sara said.
“I fired you, remember?” Fay asked.
Sara just got really confused. “Okay,” she said. She turned around and screamed. Dave was standing behind her.
“What?” he asked rather shocked to see her scream.
“You’re, you’re dead!” she said.
“What are you talking about?” Dave asked. “I’m right here. How can I be dead?”
Sara was gasping for air. She was in shock. She ran out of the store. She went home. She didn’t pick up the phone or answer the door for the rest of the day. She was to afraid.

The next morning Sara opened her apartment door and grabbed her newspaper. She read the normal headlines. Out of curiosity she checked the obituaries. It was there. Dave King, deceased at 24. She let out a tear.
Sara was confused. She didn’t understand what was going on. They can’t be dreams, she thought. It’s not possible to have dreams that follow the same idea. And if it was which was real? She was so confused. Was she even awake was a major question in her mind.
Sara wanted to ignore all of this but she didn’t know how. If she was asleep then what happened when she woke up.
She spent the next few hours being paranoid. Paranoid about waking or sleeping. Paranoid about Dave’s condition. Just paranoid.
At 4:30 p.m. there was a nock on her door. She opened the door. “I’m Officer Moreno. We have a warrant for your arrest for the murder of Dave King.” The officer took her to jail.

The next morning Sara almost screamed when she woke up. She was in her bed at home. She got dressed and went out the door.
Sara drove over to Dave’s house. She was hoping that he was still there. She buzzed his apartment. “Hello” said Dave over the intercom.
“It’s Sara,” she said, “Can I come up?”
“Yea,” he said. The door opened. Sara ran up stairs and Dave had the door opened. “So,” Dave said, “what’s up?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Sara started. Dave looked at her strangely. “Okay. A few days ago I had a dream that you were murdered. Then the following night I had a dream that I was questioned about your murder. And last night I had a dream that I was arrested for your murder.”
“You’re insane,” he said.
“Thanks for your confidence. But do you think it’s possible to have dreams that go along with each other? It’s really scaring the hell out of me.”
Dave thought for a moment. “I don’t recall ever having that happen to me. No. I don’t think so. It’s just really odd. Plus I’m not to found of the idea of me being killed.”
“Okay,” Sara said. She paused for a moment. “They were just so real too. It felt like I was there when you were killed. It felt like I was totally in shock to hear that you died. It felt so cold being in that jail cell.”
“But you’re here now. You’re not in jail. How do you feel now?” Dave asked trying to get some reason out of Sara.
“I don’t know. Really confused and afraid,” she replied.
“Afraid of what?”
“Afraid of what I might find out. Those dreams are so vivid that I’m starting to think they may be reality.”
“And what is this?” Dave asked.
“A dream.”
“So you think I’m dead!” Dave yelled. “You think you’re in jail right now dreaming all this. You’re insane.”
“No, I’m not!” Sara said. “I’m confused.”
“You should go home and get some sleep,” Dave said.
“If I go to sleep I’ll wake up in jail.”
“How do you know!? Seriously! How do you know that you wont start up another series of messed up dreams?”
Sara thought for a moment. “There’s only one way out,” she said to her self. She looked up at Dave. “There’s only one way I can find out what is reality.”
“What’s that?” Dave asked.
“Death,” Sara said with a smile on her face. “If I kill myself in one of these realms and wake up in the other that one has to be real right?”
“Now I know you’re insane. You’re on the verge of suicide!”
“It’s the only way I know of to find the truth!”
“And what if you choose wrong!? You’ll die in both realms or whatever the hell you called them!” Dave was furious that his friend was ready to try and take her own life.
“I have to. This is bugging me so much! I can’t live with this much confusion and restless sleep.”
“Well what one do you think is reality?”
“I don’t know.”
“So what are you going to do? Just try killing your self and hope that’s the right one? Have fun with that. I think you should go now” Dave said.
Sara walked out of his apartment. She looked down that stairs. Particularly the center of it. She could jump over the ledge and fall for three floors without hitting anything till she got to the floor. Sara thought before she acted. Either it would kill her or she would be paralyzed. At this point she didn’t care. She jumped head first. Within seconds her head it the ground. She heard a lady scream before she blacked out.

In a jail cell, Sara woke up. She was at piece. And her best friend was dead.