Cast & Fall by Janice Hadden Page B

the humid air.
I could smell everything—the rain, the leaves, the mud, the
dread that continued to spread through me. The small hard rocks on
the ground grazed my feet. I stared at the decaying leaves that
looked like they had been there for quite some time, hiding whatever
little creatures that crawled on the ground. I was barefoot, my feet
curled as I realized the feeling of rough wet leaves, sharp tiny
rocks, old roots and creatures underneath my feet.
    But
I quickly dismissed my disgust when I realized my predicament. I saw
a shadow hiding in a fog. I couldn’t quite see what it was. As
I came closer, a dark form emerged, it turned around, though I
couldn‘t make out the shapes clearer. As if something was
blocking my vision.
    Suddenly,
The silhouette was inches from my face. Then my eyes flickered
sending the shadow farther away. He was a man. My breathing
accelerated. I tried to run after him for no clear reason but my body
wouldn’t move. I was frozen solid. The shadow stared at me from
a far, and though, I tried to clear my eyes, the haze blurred
everything in front of me. I gasped at the thought of the dream
ending before it was over. I chased it with exhaustion in my mind,
not wanting to wake up for the first time and just stay in the dream.
I didn‘t feel afraid. But despite my unimaginable effort, my
eyes automatically opened to my bedroom—my reality.
    I wasn’t sure how I got to school that day. I was extremely tired
from the dreams and nightmares that kept me waking up in the middle
of the night.
    “ Did
you find a partner yet?” a familiar, husky voice spoke, jarring
me from my thoughts. I turned my head halfway to look at him. I was a
bit anxious remembering that I didn’t have a lab partner yet.
It was Brody. Brody is our class clown as well as our student body
president. He was tall with dark hair, and as always, he was wearing
a friendly smile.
    “ No…actually,
I need to find one,” I said, realizing that he came to ask for
us to pair up. “I’ll be your partner then,” he
volunteered. I was glad and very lucky. Brody is so much fun to be
around, not to mention studious.
    The
instructor came in and wrote lab. Room # 124 on the white board
without saying a word. Everyone gathered their things and slowly made
their way out. We both got up. I yanked my shoulder bag from the
floor as Brody gestured his hand forward letting me pass first. We
walked side by side two doors down to Rm. 124.
    The
room was bright, looked clean and completely white. Coming in I could
smell formaldehyde everywhere. I was used to the strong odor, but
smelling it always reminded me of clean dead animals. Although the
word clean didn’t make much sense when I think of the word
‘dead’ in the same sentence.
    I
picked a seat on the third row on the corner left, while Brody
followed and sat next to me. Placing my bag on a long, marble-like,
rectangular slab of a table, I noticed the glasses, jars, beakers and
the packet of paper for that day’s lab. Each section had two
seats and its own sink and faucet work station.
    As
I was wiping our work table with a disinfectant, Tristan entered my
mind again and the thoughts of the night before. I began to feel
bothered by my own curiosity. There was no reason for me to think of
him, no reason to care at all except for the fact that he hated me
intensely and that I should feel the same way.
    I
decided to brush off my sudden interest I had for him once again and
replaced it with disgust for the way he made me feel the night before
and decided to give myself a stern warning. ‘ Are
you following me? ’ why
should he accuse me of that? He
was rude, out of line and clearly psychotic, and I need to stir clear
of him.
    I
grabbed the lab packet. Brody and I read the instructions. We started
pouring and mixing. Occasionally we’d giggle whenever Brody
would crack a joke. Brody and I had finished right on time and handed
our papers and placed them at the instructor’s table. Brody