The leaf

The leaf

     Erin had been told that dreaming about muddy water meant something bad was going to happen. Many times in her life, she had dreamt about the muddy water of a flooded river. Or a disturbed creek. Never had the water touched her. One time, the muddy water lapped hungrily toward her toes. Did it want to pull her in? 

     Each close call meant that whatever this disaster was, would pass her by. It might happen and she wouldn’t even know about it. She was amazed at how these wives-tails affected her outlook. Was there any truth to this? Honestly, she didn’t want to find out. 

     The dream last night was weighing heavily on her mind. She perceived that blurry outline was her mom. It was the right shape of the woman she remembered. Her relationship with her mom didn’t exist. Why was she even here? Why was she dreaming about this woman? 

     Erin was down by the creek, not sure why? Looking for something? She moved some leaves to uncover a brick. No, that’s not what she was looking for. Not sure what it was but that brick wasn’t it. She looked up a steep embankment to see her mom talking to a neighbor. A neighbor that had never stopped to chat with her. She felt a ping of disappointment, disgust and a little envy?

     Next she saw herself in the creek. Looking for that thing. The surface of the water was covered with reddish brown leaves. Was the water muddy? Not sure. She perceived that it was through the leaves. One step futher pulled her down into a hole much bigger than she anticipated. Hidden by that blanket of leaves. She screamed for her mom knowing that she wouldn’t be heard from this distance. 

     With open eyes, she stared at the backside of a leaf as she felt her body sank. She knew how to swim. Why couldn’t she move? Cold. She was so cold. Every muscle she had was locked by the cold. No hand reached through the water to safe her. 

     An eerie sense of calm washed over her as she watched the leaf get smaller.