Read From a Dream: Darkly Dreaming Part I for Free Online Page B

most of them already had kids of their own. Her husband had died almost a decade ago, but she refused to move into a retirement home. She insisted she didn’t get lonely as long as she had her bridge games and Angel to keep her company. Whenever my dad teased her about moving into a retirement home, she would straighten up and exclaim, “ That’s no way to live !”
    “Hey, Dad,” I said when he joined me in the kitchen.
    He looked at me blankly, and I waited for that extra second or two for him to snap back to reality.
    “Anything happen in school?” he asked.
    “Nothing too exciting,” I sighed.
    I went to the pantry and poured a scoop of dog food for Darcy before sifting through the refrigerator for a snack. With a plate of crackers and cheese in hand, I went into the living room and settled on the couch. My dad followed after me and poached a few crackers from my plate. It made me wonder what he survived on during the days he didn’t have class.
    “Doesn’t look like it’s raining. You could take Darcy for a run before dinner.”
    I felt a sudden wave of nausea sweep over me, the same way it did when the elevator lurched and didn’t start moving right away at the new doctor’s office.
    “I think I’ll just take him for a walk and then get started on dinner. What time are you picking up Mrs. Hendrix?”
    “Seven-thirty sharp. You’ve got time.”
    I grabbed another cracker before standing and stretching. My dad had settled into his favorite chair with a book. With Darcy at my heels, I headed upstairs and dumped out the books from my bag. From the dresser, I grabbed a T-shirt that read: I’m a runner. What are you? The sentiment made me self-conscious, especially since I hadn’t been running much lately, but I still liked it. My dad had bought it for me when I joined the cross-country team in Irvine. I threw on a sweatshirt over it.
    “Come on, buddy. You want to go for a walk?”
    Darcy eyed me suspiciously from where he had flopped down. Even as I started toward the stairs, Darcy waited stubbornly at the door to my room. I looked back at him, and finally after a long pause, he got up and joined me. Downstairs, I shrugged on my jacket and told my dad I would be back before dark. He waved without looking up. Outside, I wasn’t surprised to find a familiar gray ceiling of clouds above us.
    Darcy dropped his tail pathetically when I put on his leash. He was a well-behaved dog, and I usually let him walk or run beside me without a leash as long as I wasn’t going to be near a lot of traffic or people who might feel intimidated by an eighty-pound German shepherd barreling toward them. Most of the neighbors on our street recognized Darcy—they usually remembered his name before mine. And I had to admit that he could be pretty charming when he thought someone had a dog treat for him. Granted, the treats Mrs. Hendrix carried were poodle-sized.
    Looking up, I saw ominous clouds gathering in the distance, increasing the odds of another rainy night. It hadn’t occurred to me until we moved to Oregon how much rain was required to keep everything in sight so freaking green. The scenery was beautiful, lush and, verdant—and also perpetually soggy. Nothing ever dried around here.
    Our street was deserted, and I contemplated releasing Darcy, but just the idea made my palms feel clammy as my mind flitted to a fuzzy scene where Darcy was running away from me toward the woods. Even if it was only a dream, the memory made me uneasy. When I looked down at him, Darcy ambled calmly next to me, his tail wagging like a metronome. His pink tongue hung off to the side, and it looked like he was smiling. Apparently he was over his mood from earlier.
    At the end of the street, I glanced toward the entrance to the woods before turning quickly in the opposite direction. My pulse slowed as we walked closer to the houses and streetlamps, and I frowned. Maybe Sean and his stories about the woods were getting to me.
    After