The PureLights of Ohm Totem (3 page)

She wanted to get away from this nightmare as fast as she could, but her body just wouldn't, and couldn't, budge. She felt like she was suffocating, as if someone held her lips together and plugged her nose at the same time. She couldn't breathe! Doing her best to gasp for air, to push away the haunting red eyes staring at her, she frantically struggled against the energy holding her down. She tried to open her eyes, willing her body to move, but nothing. She felt the beat of her heart slow down, pumping heavy, thick beating sounds into her ear. Her eyes started rolling back in her head as she began losing vital life. Her body was being controlled by something, by someone. She wanted to grasp her throat, to do something to get this terrible feeling to go away, but her arms and hands just wouldn’t work.

“You don’t get off that easy, Zoey!” came a low, growling voice, echoing in her mind. “You stay alive until I say otherwise. You are released!” The red eyes faded, making her go from the dream state to grayness, and then to waking up. She opened her eyes, heard herself scream, “No!” as she broke free from the invisible energy that held her down. Her breaths came quickly and heavily, giving life back to her body, relief flooding her senses.

“Huh?” she said as she sat up. She looked to her mom and dad. They were peacefully sleeping as if nothing had happened. Slowing down her breathing, she told herself it was just another nightmare, one that would never come back. Glancing at her parents once again, she shook her head.
So much for their protection.

Coda was asleep in his bed. His head was facing the window and the crook of his right arm rested over his eyes—his favorite sleeping position. He was breathing deeply, as if in a pleasant dream. Suddenly a loud screech, like that of an owl’s, filled his ears. Startled, his right arm slammed against the window. The screeching got louder and louder as he clamped both hands over his ears. Then, like turning off a light, it stopped.

He heard a voice in his mind. “The owl's screech will protect you. It's a warning of approaching attackers. Tomorrow your journey begins.”

“What the heck?” grumbled Coda as he sat up, rubbing his arm. The mid-morning light poured through the window, making him squint to see what was outside making that screeching sound.

He searched the leaf-covered oak trees growing next to his window, but could only see small finches singing and flying from branch to branch. He looked over the street, half-thinking he’d see a kid playing with a blow horn, but saw the usual kids riding bikes or laughing and chasing each other across green lawns. He shook his head, hoping to get the residual ringing out of his ears.

“Zoey?” he called, wondering if she had heard the loud screech or the calm voice that had spoken to him. He leaned over the railing, peering down at an empty bed. The sheets were off, revealing a bare mattress.
Where is she?

Getting out from under his covers and climbing down the ladder, he glanced over at his Lego creation he had made the night before. His stomach lurched when he saw the pieces scattered all over the bedroom floor. Coda scowled and bared his teeth. “Zoey! I told you not to play with my stuff!”

He looked at the Winnie the Pooh painting on the wall as both of his bare feet touched the carpet. It was a picture of Christopher Robin standing next to a tree in Winnie the Pooh’s forest. All of the characters were surrounding Christopher Robin, waiting to hear one of his stories. It was his favorite picture and the forested scene always calmed him down when he looked at it, though he’d never tell a soul.

His door opened. “Stop yelling, please.” His mom stood in the doorway with a serious expression on her face that soon turned into a smile.

“Don’t you look handsome with your hair all sticking out everywhere.” She ran her hands through his brown hair and drew him in for a hug.

Coda’s blue eyes shone with the love he felt for his mother. He wrapped his arms around her waist and sighed. “Mom, why doesn’t she leave my stuff alone?”

Coda’s mom looked at the mess on the floor. “You’ll have to ask her yourself. She’s downstairs eating cereal.”

Coda lifted his arms up in disgust. “She doesn’t even ask.” He rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room, almost dragging his legs in disappointment. He’d spent hours creating the perfect city of houses, buildings, gas stations, and more. It was his best creation yet. Though, in the back of his mind, he always wondered if he was getting too old for this stuff. Maybe this disaster was a good thing…still, she was annoying.

“Be nice to your sister,” his mom chided as she followed him, closely behind.

As he walked down the stairs, he placed his hands on the smooth railings of the old staircase to catch himself just in case the stairs decided to collapse, exposing a bottomless pit below. He knew it would probably never happen, but it could. He always wondered how long he would fall down into that bottomless pit. Forever? He could land on floating bottomless pit islands and have adventures with two-headed monsters, battling the evil sword king, who had a screeching voice that...

The screech!

He stopped in the middle of the staircase and turned around to his mom. “Mom, did you hear that loud sound this morning?”

His mom shook her head and tapped her forehead with her index finger, trying to recall if she heard anything. “Loud sound? I don’t think so. What kind of loud sound? When did you hear it?”

“Um, I don’t know. It woke me up. It was like a scream. A bat scream or something?”

His mom giggled, “I don’t think bats can scream, but I could be wrong.”

“Well, it scared me. Maybe it was…”

“A dream?” asked his mom. She nodded toward the kitchen, gesturing for him to keep walking down the stairs.

Coda opted to walk backwards, looking behind him as he grasped the railings to make sure he wouldn’t fall. Then he continued to walk backwards, even into the kitchen.

“I could still hear it when I was awake,” he continued.

His mom sat down at the table in the small dining room that attached to the kitchen. She glanced worriedly at him for a moment, and then picked up a magazine she had left open on the table. She scanned through the pages, stopped, and silently read something that was obviously the utmost of importance. Her lips moved as she read, and a crease formed across her brow. Her focus on the magazine wasn't a good sign. It meant that his mom really didn't think that the screech was a serious matter, and didn't want to hear any more about it.

Deciding it was probably just a crazy dream, Coda shut his mouth and opened the cupboard next to the refrigerator, and looked at the cereal boxes. The chocolate puffs and fruit flakes looked really enticing.

He grabbed the chocolate puffs and placed them on the counter. He saw Zoey out of the corner of his eye, eating cereal and watching a cartoon in the living room. He casually ignored her.

“So, it wasn’t a dream then?” asked his mom, still nose down in her magazine.

Surprised that his mom still wanted to talk about it, Coda paused, looking to his left as if remembering the sound. “It was like what I said. The sound was loud, but it rang in my ears for a while after I got out of bed. And then I heard a voice in my head tell me not to fear, or something like that, and that my journey will start tomorrow.” He began to feel silly after saying it out loud.

“Oh,” said his mom, giving a flicking motion with her hand, dismissing the topic. “Then I guess you shouldn't worry about it. But,” she looked up with concern, “do you still hear the ringing in your ears?”

Coda shook his head. “Uh-uh.” He opened the fridge and grabbed the milk. “It was so, so loud, though.” He poured the chocolate puffs into a bowl on the counter. He picked up the milk and turned to his mom. “Mom, you sure you didn’t hear it?”

His mom looked up from the article. “I'm sorry that the dream was scary. I've never heard you talk so much about a dream before. It must have been intense.” Her eyes turned back to the article. “And plus, if the dream was correct, you get to go on a journey tomorrow. Wouldn't that be fun?”

Coda knew she was trying to make him feel better, but that just didn't do it.

He took a deep breath and poured the milk into the bowl, grabbing a spoon out of the drawer.
It couldn't be a dream
, he thought.

He sat at the dining room table next to his mom and looked at the clock in the kitchen. "I've slept past eleven?"

"Yup. That's not like you. Zoey has already dressed, been outside, and back again for her second serving of breakfast.” His mom closed the magazine and put it down on the table. “You missed Michael, too. He was looking for you.”

Coda's mom glanced at Zoey sitting on the couch, eating her breakfast and singing to herself, garbling words as she chewed. "She's at least eating in the morning. That’s a relief."

Coda remembered that it was just last year that Zoey had stopped eating breakfast, complaining of stomach aches.
She’s such a faker. Always wanting attention
. He had noticed that since that time she was always looking at her skinny figure in the mirror, checking her backside and stomach. He wanted to tell his parents that she just wanted to be skinny, like the fashion models on TV, but he held his tongue. If she didn't like to eat, that was her problem, not his.

A loud clunk from a shutting door upstairs interrupted Coda's thoughts. "Dad's up," said his mom.

Coda's dad came down the stairs still in his rumpled red boxers, and wiping the sleep from his eyes. He yawned out loud, stopping to scratch his back, looking a little bit like a monkey. Then he looked at Coda and his wife before he took a big stretch, standing on his tiptoes, and reaching his arms toward the ceiling. He smiled at Coda. "Good mornin', buddy!"

"Hey Dad,” replied Coda.

Coda's dad walked through the kitchen to the dining room table. He kissed the top of his wife's head and reached over to ruffle his son's hair. "It looks like a nice day today. You gonna ride your bike or something?"

Coda laughed, pushing his dad’s hand out of his hair. "Well," he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know…can I play on your computer?" Coda asked, hopefully.

His dad scratched his head. "Uh, okay. Only for about an hour, though, then you're outside."

"No, no," said his mom. "Let him go out and enjoy the sun. It doesn't last forever here, you know?"

"Mom!" complained Coda. "I just—"

"Yeah, come out and play with me," Zoey chimed in. Coda saw that Zoey had already finished her cereal and was ready to go.

"Yeah," said Coda’s mom. "Play with your sister for a while. I don't want you playing video games all day."

"Oh, man! Do I have to?" complained Coda. He looked up at the ceiling in distress. "I can play outside by myself or I’ll look for Michael."

Zoey's head drooped in disappointment. With heavy steps, she walked toward the dishwasher to place her dirty bowl. Suddenly she smiled and perked up. "Hey Coda, let's go to the forest and build a fort!"

Coda rolled his eyes. Having a younger sister hanging around him all the time wasn't his kind of fun. He sighed, "You're not good at that."

He glanced at Zoey and saw her expression—like her heart had sunk to the floor.
She's such a brat!

"Oh, alright," Zoey mumbled. Her shoulders hung like she had a heavy weight on them, but Coda knew she was acting out her disappointment worse than it was. "I'll play in my room, I guess." Her mouth barely opened to get the words out, making everyone lean close enough to understand her.

Coda's dad put his arm around her. "Did you say something about your room?"

She looked down. "Yeah, I said I'll just play in my room,
I guess
." It came out almost as a muffled whisper.

"Zoey," her dad bent down on one knee to look at her. He gently pushed his finger up, under her chin, making her lift her head so he could look directly into her eyes. "What did we talk about last night?"

"I don't know," she muttered again, shrugging her shoulders.

Coda saw sadness in her eyes, and like always, he wondered if it was a real sadness, or the actress inside of her.

"We talked about your mumbling problem. We can't hear you when you speak like that, remember?"

"I don't mumble," Zoey protested, her eyes welling up, “and I don’t have a problem!”

Coda could tell his mom was starting to get uncomfortable with the way this was going.

"We're not disciplining you, Zo Zo," she reassured.

She stood up to go and comfort her daughter. "We just want to know how you feel." She put her arm around Zoey, pulling her snugly against her hip. "And we can't understand you when you always have your hand around your mouth when you talk." Coda saw his mom's forehead wrinkle as she added with concern, "We just want to hear you."

Coda took his first bite of cereal. He'd seen this scene play out many times, always with the same ending. The funny thing was that he hardly ever had a problem understanding his sister. He could hear Zoey a mile away if he wanted to, but
wanting
to
was never the case.

Zoey looked down again and crossed her arms with the bowl still held firmly in her hand. A tear fell down her cheek and she started to cry.
Here we go again
, thought Coda.