Plagued
by Ceara Comeau
Chapter 1
Weird Dreams
The sky was dark and threatening and the pine trees were hovering over Loretta Sanborne. She looked around her and wondered where she was. Suddenly, at the corner of her eye, a white figure dashed behind a tree.
Loretta shrugged it off and walked a little farther watching her feet, making sure she didn’t step on anything other than the ground. When she looked up, she stopped dead in her tracks. A little girl in an old-fashioned dress stood in front of her. The little girl looked pale and had huge black eyes, and she was holding a small flag in her hand. It was all white with a black square in the middle. The girl looked at Loretta, then started walking toward her and sang:
“Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down”
The little girl suddenly appeared directly in front of Loretta and said, "Loretta, Loretta." Loretta woke up with a start and found her little brother on her bed.
“Come on, Loretta! Mommy says you have to go to school.”
“Robbie, tell Mom I’ll be down in a minute.”
Robbie ran out of the room to tell his mom and Loretta got changed. She ran downstairs to find her mom making coffee and her dad eating breakfast. “Hey, honey!” her dad said.
He stopped before continuing as he had noticed the grim look that crossed her face, "What's wrong...Uh oh, did you have another dream again?”
Loretta nodded and said, “Dad, I’ve been having these dreams for eight days now.”
Loretta’s parents looked at her with worried expressions. Loretta acknowledged that and said, “Well, at least I’m still doing good in school.”
Her parents nodded.
“Oh, look at the time! I gotta go!”
Loretta dashed out the door and ran to school. When she got there she saw her boyfriend Jason and yelled, “Hey, Jay!”
Jason came over and said, “Hi Loretta! What’s up?”
Loretta pulled Jason aside and she told him her dream.
“Wow! That’s intense! Why don’t you go see a specialist?”
“Jay! It’s not that bad! It will go away. Let’s go, we’re late for history. Jason and Loretta sat down next to each other and their teacher came in. Loretta suddenly felt sleepy. Her eyes were getting heavier and heavier. She closed her eyes for a moment thinking she’d open them in a minute.
Loretta was standing on a dock and she saw several
people get on board, including the little girl in the woods. The little girl appeared to be screaming. “Mommy! Mommy!” the little girl screamed.
“Isabella, you must go on the ship!” cried her mother.
“Mommy, why can’t you come too?!”
“It’s hard to explain, dear.”
Before Isabella could say anymore a guard grabbed her and pulled her toward the ship.
Isabella turned toward Loretta and cried, “Loretta! Loretta please…!”
Loretta woke up to find her boyfriend’s worried face staring at her.
"Loretta? You know very well not to sleep in class!" scolded her teacher.
“I’m sorry,” she replied.
“Well, don’t let it happen again!” said her teacher.
The bell rang for lunch and everyone piled out the door. Jason and Loretta sat at an empty table.
“So what happened to you?” asked Jason.
“I don’t know. All I know is I had another weird dream, only this time it was different, much different. I was at a dock and there were people getting on a ship and some were staying on land. One of the people getting on the ship was the little girl. She was yelling to her mom. Her mom had to stay on land but the little girl, whose name was Isabella,
had to go on the ship. Then Isabella turned toward me and called me. I think she needs my help!” Jason looked scared and worried.
“I know what will get your mind off of this,” said Jason.
“What?” asked Loretta.
“How about a walk in the woods?” replied Jason
To find out how the story ends click the link below and buy the book "Adventures of the Young and Curious"
Copyright © 2008 Ceara Comeau
