Alice lie sprawled out across her bed. She woke with a blood-curdling scream. This was the first time she had a nightmare since her fourteen-year-old twin sister got beaten up at school and didn’t come home for a week.
This dream wasn’t like her normal dreams were she knows that she was sleeping, this dream felt real.
In her nightmare all she heard was the loud screech of car brakes. She saw the three dead bodies the dead bodies of her father, her twin sister Kate, and one body that she didn’t recognize. Then her dream just ended.
Alice was still realizing that it was a dream when suddenly someone turned on the lights and momentarily blinded her. When she could see again she saw three faces leaning over her. The two concerned faces of her father and her sister and the face of her stepmother who looked annoyed.
“Are you all right?” asked her father and sister in unison, both sounding concerned.
“Um…………yeah I’m fine,” lied Alice. She was not fine she was confused. She still thought the dream was real but she could see her father and her sister looking at her. “You guys can go back to sleep,” Her sister didn’t look like she believed Alice but she crossed the room and got back into her bed.
Her stepmother and father left too, turning off the lights as they left. As soon as the door was completely shut Alice heard the squeaking of the floorboards in their room.
“What do you want Kate?” Alice asked impatiently.
“I just wanted to know what your dream was about because you screamed pretty loudly,” replied Kate as she sat down on Alice’s creaky bed.
“It was horrible!!!!!!! I thought it was real. You, father and someone else were in the car and…” Alice stopped talking and started to silently cry.
“What happened?” asked Kate sounding concerned.
“You all died!!!! You, Father and a boy who I didn’t recognize you all died,” Alice continued to sob. She was so grateful that her parents’ bedroom was one floor below their room so that they couldn’t hear her crying.
“Oh Alice you really thought that was real,” Kate
said trying to sound reassuring.
“Yeah I know it’s silly for me to think that was real,” Alice admitted.
“Yeah,” agreed Kate “Do you want me to tell you a funny story?”
“That would be cool,” said Alice desperately trying not to burst into tears again.
Kate told Alice stories all night. By the time it was morning Alice almost, but not completely forgot about her dream.
Alice and Kate walked down the stairs giggling. At the bottom of the stairs Alice could see her parents eating cereal at the kitchen table.
“Hey girls!! It looks like you had a goodnight sleep. I’m going to the grocery store do you guys want to come?” asked their father.
Kate was the first to respond,
“If Mike can come I’ll go” Kate nearly shouted with joy. There was not a lot of times were Kate could do something with her boyfriend, Mike, even if it was something as small as going to the grocery store.
“Sure, he can go. We’ll pick him up on our way to the grocery store. After we get the groceries we’ll go to Starbucks to get something,” suggested their father, Mr. Witmound.
“Cool” said Kate “Are you going to come Alice?”
“Sure” replied Alice
“Ok let’s go,” said their father as he pushed his chair back and got up. He walked to the trashcan and dumped the remains of his cereal in it.
Alice smiled to herself. Even though Kate and Alice were twins there were not a lot of things they had in common. There was one thing that they both hated that was, breakfast food. Neither of them liked having breakfast. Their father knew that so he didn’t even bother asking them if they wanted anything.
Kate and her father already had their coats on and were walking out the door when Kate asked interrupting Alice’s thoughts; “Are you coming you slowpoke?”
“Um…”it took Alice a while to get her mind straight “yeah I’m coming” Alice said, picking up her coat and putting it on even though it was April it was still cold outside. Kate waited by the door for Alice to get ready.
When Alice was ready they went outside. Their father was already in the car when they got there. Alice decided to sit in the back of her father’s black minivan. Kate slid in to the middle row and they both buckled their seatbelts.
Mike only lived four blocks away so it was a short ride to his house. When the car was parked Kate jumped out of the car and was back in matter of minuets, dragging Mike behind her.
Alice always thought that Mike and Kate were prefect for each other. Mike has short brown hair, tan skin and milk chocolate colored eyes. He is the funniest boy that Alice knows.
Kate has dark brown hair that reaches the middle of her back, olive toned skin, and hazel eyes. She is a very high-spirited person who is hardly ever in a bad mood.
Alice has always thought her sister was much more beautiful then herself. Alice has shoulder length, brown hair, olive toned skin (just like Kate), and dark brown eyes.
Alice wasn’t paying much attention to were they were, or what Alice and Mike were talking about in front of her. Suddenly someone said her name.
“Right Alice,” said Kate.
“What?” Alice asked sounding confused.

“You had a weird dream last night…right?” Kate repeated sounding a little annoyed.

“Yeah, I had a weird dream last night” replied Alice lamely.


“We’re here kids” announced Mr. Witmound.

Everyone got out of the car. They walked in silence. When they went into the store Mr. Witmound told them what they had to buy.

“We need to get a gallon of milk, some strawberries, and paper towels,” announced Mr. Witmound.

“Well get the paper towels” Kate announced, referring to Mike and herself.

“I’ll get the milk,” Alice volunteered
“That means that I am going to get the strawberries” Said Mr. Witmound.
They split up to find the groceries that they needed to get.
“When we have our groceries well meet up at the check out,” suggested Mr. Witmound.
“That’s fine,” they all said together.
Alice walked to the back of the store to get the gallon of milk. She looked through the clear glass looking for skim milk. When she got a gallon of milk and walked back to the checkout Mike, Kate and her father were waiting for her with their groceries.
“Come on Alice your so slow!!!!!!! Maybe we should have gone to Starbucks first so you could have gotten some coffee,” shouted Kate jokingly.
“I’m coming,” Alice replied.
When Alice reached Mike and her family her father took the gallon of milk and handed her ten dollars.
“Can you do me a favor and get a container of whip cream please? Well pick you up in front of the store,” said Mr. Witmound.
“Sure” Alice said as she took the ten dollars and walked towards the whip cream aisle.
She got a container whip cream and walked towards the cash registers. When she got to the cash registers there was only one lady open.
Alice walked over to her and handed her the whip cream.
“How are you today?” the cashier asked in an unusual friendly voice.
“I’m fine” Alice grumbled. She hated these cashiers they were always so talkative.
“Here is your change,” said the very talkative cashier
“Thanks” Alice mumbled barley audible. She grabbed the change with one hand and the grocery bag in her other hand. She walked out of the store and started to walk across the street to the parking lot.
She stopped, suddenly in the middle of the street. She heard the familiar sound of car brakes then she saw her dad’s black
mini-van coming towards her. Suddenly she realized the third body in her dream, it was Mike.
“Oh my god, Alice get out of the street!!!!!!!” shouted someone behind her, Alice didn’t look at them but it sounded like Mike.
Alice was frozen to the middle of the street as she remembered what happened in her dream, everyone in the car dies.
The car seemed to be moving in slow motion but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t move. When the car was only six feet away she felt something or someone pushing her out of the way.
Alice hit the pavement and something hard and heavy hit the back of her leg.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Alice screamed in agony. Then she heard a loud snap coming from her leg and a loud crash and she knew that was the car.
Alice tried to sit up but someone pushed her down. She was about to protest but the pain in her leg changed her mind. Slowly she lay back down and closed her eyes.
The next thing Alice knew she was staring at a white ceiling in an uncomfortable lumpy hospital bed.
She tried to sit up but the pain in her leg made her stop. Someone was sitting next to her bed in a hospital chair. She couldn’t make out who it was but it looked like Mike.
“Mike?” Alice managed to choke out in a weak voice.
“Yeah, Alice I’m right here” Mike responded. Alice tried to sit up again but this time it wasn’t the pain that stopped her it was Mike’s strong hands on her shoulders. He was trying to be careful and Alice could tell. She always wondered how Mike could be so strong, he was three years older then her and A LOT stronger.
“What happened? I don’t remember,” Alice said in a quiet voice.
“Um……………” Mike hesitated “your father was about to hit you so I knocked you out of the way. Oh, yeah about that I’m really sorry about that, the doctor said that you have a broken leg and you have multiple scratches and bruises and you have to stay in the hospital for awhile”
“But what happened after that?”
“Well…” Mike seemed reluctant to say what happened.
“Just spit it out” Alice demanded in the loudest voice she could manage, which was a little louder than a whisper.
“Your father was driving the car and he lost control”
“Does that mean they are in the hospital?” Alice asked starting to cry. It was hard for her to imagine her father and her sister in the hospital.
“Not exactly” Mike said. Then Alice looked closer at his face, there were red tear marks running down his face.
“Did they…………survive?” Alice asked.
“Your father hit the side of the store, and neither of them were wearing their seatbelts…” Mike started crying again.
“Does that mean they…didn’t survive?” Alice asked tears welling up in her eyes.
“They will be happy together” Mike said, witch was another way to say that they died.
Alice burst out crying, it was hard to imagine her dad and sister in the hospital but it was impossible to imagine them dead.
“I thought it wasn’t true…it can’t be true” Alice mumbled to herself. “NO!!!!!!!!! This can’t be true!!!” Alice was shocked. She continued to mumble things to herself for the next week. Most of the things she said didn’t make sense to anyone but her.
When she was finally feeling normal again she had so many questions to ask.
“Hey Alice you are looking better and the doctors said that you can go home in three days.” Mike said one day when he came to visit. “Your dad didn’t leave any money for anyone but he left you this necklace” Mike said holding out a silver chain with a heart pendent. “I said that I would give it to you when you were…conscience again”
“Thank you” Alice said taking the necklace.
“This past week you’ve been talking to yourself, you’ve been saying ‘No, no this can’t be happening’ what are you talking about?”
“I had this dream before we went to the grocery store…” Alice said.
“What was it?” Mike Asked.
“My dream was exactly what actually happened except you were in the car too and”
“Whoa!!!!” Mike interrupted “You knew what was going to happen?!”
“Yeah I guess” Alice replied.
“WOW…” Mike said. Alice yawned and stretched her arms.
“This bed is really uncomfortable” Alice said. Mike laughed.
“You look tired, maybe you should rest” Mike suggested.
“Yeah, I am kind of tired” Alice admitted.
“I’m going home now but I’ll be back tomorrow morning” Mike said sounding like he really meant it.
“Ok” Alice said as Mike walked towards the door. She waited until the door closed then she burst out in tears. She was feeling better but she was still shocked. Alice cried herself to sleep that night; she didn’t sleep very well either. She tossed and turned and had another dream.
This dream was much different then her last one. The scenery was much different, it was a big city and it looked like Chicago but she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that it wasn’t the small town in Tennessee were she lived.
Her dream was mostly normal; she was going shopping
with three people. They were probably her friends. They were all brunettes two of them had green eyes and one had blue eyes. Alice didn’t know their names in the dream but they were talking about normal stuff to talk about, they talked about school, guys and clothes.
Then all of a sudden it was dark and they were lost, they wandered the streets trying to find their way to the mall. They spent so much time talking that they lost track of time.
They passed four men leaning against a building and one of the men shouted to them.
“Hey it looks like you’re lost. Do you need a ride somewhere?” he asked.
“Yeah, we are lost. Could you take us to the nearest train station?” asked one of Alice’s friends
“Sure” said another man and he walked to a car that was parked on the street.
No one followed the man but then he took out a gun and pointed it at the friends.
Alice woke breathing heavily, she looked around the room, there was no one that she could see but then a man stepped out of the shadows.
“Are you ok? You didn’t seem to be sleeping very well.” He observed.
“Yeah I’m fine. But who are you?” Alice asked.
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Mr. Goodwin I am Mike’s father” he replied.
“It’s nice to meet you but why are you here?” Alice asked.
“Mike asked me to tell you that he cannot visit today but he will be back to visit tomorrow” he replied
“Ok thank you” said Alice as Mr. Goodwin walked out the door.
The day seemed to drag along. She ate hospital food for lunch and cried the whole day. Alice didn’t go to sleep for fear of having another nightmare. She stayed up all day and all night until Mike came to the hospital the next day.
“Hey, it doesn’t look like you slept at all since last time I saw you” Mike observed as he sat down in one of the hospital chairs.
“You’re right” Alice said yawning. Mike chuckled
“Why didn’t you sleep at all?” Mike asked.
“I had a nightmare,” Alice admitted.
“Tell me about it” Mike said.
“It’s a long story,” Alice said.
“Were going to be here for awhile so we have time and it will keep you busy” Mike said.
“Well………ok” Alice agreed reluctantly. She sat up in her hospital bed and told Mike about her dreams and what happened.
Mike didn’t interrupt once but when Alice was done explaining he asked one question.
“What town was your dream in?” he asked.
“Well…I’m not exactly sure” Alice admitted “It looked a lot like Chicago but I’m not sure”
“You’re getting out of the hospital tomorrow” Mike said.
“Yay!!!” Alice shouted “I hate this hospital” Mike frowned “What’s wrong?” Alice asked sounding concerned.
“Your stepmother was found in your attic today…she shot herself,” Mike said sadly.
“Why?!” Alice shouted. She hated her stepmother but now she had no one to live with. “And who will I be living with?”
“She shot herself because your father didn’t leave her any money. You will be living with your aunt in Chicago” Mike said.
“That’s were my dream was” Alice said.
It seemed to take forever for her the next day to come but finally she was able to leave the hospital. The doctors took her wristband and sent the medical bill to her aunt.
“Well…we’d better get you to the airport before your plane leaves” Mike said and he walked to his fathers car which was parked in front of the hospital. “We could come and visit you in Chicago sometime”
“That would be cool” Alice said as she followed Mike to the car.
He opened the door for her and they got in the car.
“Wait…where’s my bag?” Alice asked.
“Oh it’s in the back…we packed it for you” Mike said looking a little guilty.
“Ok” Alice was scared to see what Mike packed in her bag.
“And when we went to your house to pack there was a letter in the envelope addressed to you so we put it in your bag” Mike said.
“Oh thanks” Alice said.
The rest of the drive was mostly silent, occasionally

Mr. Goodwin would start a conversation but it wouldn’t last for long.
When they got to the airport Alice had an hour to get to her plane. Mr. Goodwin and Mike followed Alice through the airport. The lines were long and it took Alice forty-five minutes to get through the lines and security. When she got to her plane it was running late so she had twenty minuets until takeoff. Alice walked around, found a small store and bought jellybeans for the plane ride. When she got back she found Mr. Goodwin waiting for her, sitting in one of the waiting seats.
Finally they announced her flight and she got up, thanked Mr. Goodwin, gave Mike a hug and lined up by the plane she was about to board.
Once Alice was on the plane she decided to sit in the back. She closed the sliding window cover and leaned back in the plane seats.
She tried to fight against the sleep that threatened to wipe over her, but she lost.
The next thing she knew she was waking up to the pilot on the intercom.
“Good evening I hope you have enjoyed your flight you will be landing in ten minuets”
Alice was very anxious and worried. She had never seen her aunt before.
“I wonder if she’ll like me…I wonder what Chicago is like” Alice thought to herself. She has heard a lot of things about Chicago, she has heard about the big building and the Sears tower. Now she would actually be able to see these things. Alice was so busy thinking that she didn’t notice when passengers started getting off the plane.
“Excuse me miss but are you going to got off now?” asked a flight attendant sounding annoyed.
“Oh yes. I’m sorry” replied Alice as she got out of her seat. She walked off the plane and followed the signs that said baggage claim.
Her bag wasn’t very hard to find, it was hot pink and had electric blue polka dots on it. She found her bag after five minutes of searching.
When she found her bag there was a white paper sticking out of it.
This is probably the envelope that Mike put in my bag, she thought to herself. She opened the envelope and found a letter written in beautiful hand righting and a piece of paper with an address on it.




Dear Alice,
We are delighted to have you staying with us. You will be staying in our extra bedroom.
We have applied you for a local middle school where Gina goes and we hope you meet many new friends.
In the envelope there is also a piece of paper with our address on it.

Hope to see you soon,
Aunt Julia,
Uncle Scott,
Cousin Gina


Alice sighed and walked outside. It was raining and cold outside. She hailed a cab and gave the driver the address.
After a long ride the cab the driver announced that they were at her aunt’s house.
“Thank you” Alice said as she handed the driver twenty dollars.
She opened the cab door. Though it was dark outside she could still see four houses in front of her. There was a brick house, a blue Victorian house, and two apartment buildings.
She looked at all the buildings and next to the blue Victorian houses door there was her aunt’s address.
She walked up the stairs and was about to knock on the door when it flew open.
“Why do I have to get the mail?” someone complained and ran into Alice.
“Um hi, I’m Alice” Alice said.
“Yeah I kind of figured that. Im Gina, your cousin” Gina introduced herself as she grabbed the mail. “Come on in”
“Thanks” Alice said as she walked through the doors.
“You will be going to school with me tomorrow; they had an open spot so we got you in the school. I can introduce you to my friends” Gina said.
“Thanks” Alice said, grateful that she might have some friends in Chicago.
Alice went inside to meet her aunt and uncle.
“Hello Alice it is nice to have you living with us” Alice’s aunt said in a welcoming voice.
“It will be wonderful for you to be living with us” Alice’s uncle agreed.
“Will you show Alice her room please” Alice’s aunt said to Gina.
“Sure. Follow me” Gina said.
Alice followed Gina up Two flights of stairs and down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway Gina stopped.
“This is your room” Gina said, opening the door. “I’ll let you unpack and get settled in”
“Thanks” Alice said walking into her room.
Alice looked around her room, it was a very pretty room. She turned back to the door to thank Gina again, but she wasn’t there.
“Oh well” Alice thought to herself.
Alice looked around her room again; the walls were painted navy-blue. There were black curtains hanging over her windows. There was a queen-size bed next to the windows with a wooden dresser at the foot of the bed.
Alice took her bag, walked to the dresser and started to unpack her things.
After she unpacked her things she walked to the bed and lied across it.
That night Alice didn’t have any dream. In the morning there was a knock at her door.
“Alice?” Someone asked, but Alice didn’t reply “Alice….wake up” They said again then they opened the door. Alice realized her right away, it was Gina.
“Alice It’s time to get ready for school” She said she was already dressed. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“I don’t eat breakfast” Alice replied.
“Oh…well I do. So you can get ready while I eat breakfast” Gina said. Then she closed the door and Alice could hear her walking down the stairs.
Alice got up and got dressed. She didn’t want to wear anything special so she wore jeans and a hot-pink shirt that said Michigan on the front.
When Alice was dressed she walked down the stairs and found Gina eating the last bite of her bagel. She got up and walked over to Alice.
“Let’s get to school so we won’t be late” Gina said.
They walked to the door and Gina explained how to get to the school. When they got to the school they were early and there were groups of friends gathered around the school.
“Hey Gina” yelled a girl from one of the little groups.
“Hey Anna” Gina yelled back, and then she started running towards her. It was hard for Alice to keep up with Gina. When they reached the group of girls Alice was out of breath.
“Hey Anna this is my cousin Alice” Gina said introducing Alice to the big group.
“Hey Alice” said the girl named Anna. “I think we have math class together”
“Alice these are my friends, Anna, Katherine and Mellissa” Gina said, each girl waved as she said their name.
“Hi” Alice said nervously. Just then the school bell rang and everyone started walking to class.
“I’ll show you your first class” Anna offered politely.
“It’s ok I’ll take her” Gina answered for Alice.
Gina took her to her first class and showed her around the school. At lunch Anna and Katherine got to know Alice better.
By the next day they were practically best friends. Months passed without any dreams. She was doing well in school, she had new friends, and she was getting along with Gina. Almost everything was perfect but her dream was still bothering her.
Alice was getting ready for school one day when Gina knocked on the door and shouted,
“Alice!!! Its time to wake up”
“I’m up” Alice replied, she opened the door and saw Gina who looked very excited.
“I’m going to tryouts for a local play today after school” Gina said, that was probably why she was so happy.
“That’s cool” Alice said. They walked to school and Gina was happy the whole way.
During lunch Alice planned a shopping trip with Anna and Katherine. Gina had the tryouts so she couldn’t come.
When school was over they wished Gina good luck then they walked to the mall.
They spent so much time talking and trying clothes on that they lost track of time. When they were done it was 11:00 P.M they were lost and it was dark out.
Anna saw a group of five men leaning against a nearby building; they looked to be about twenty years old.
“Let’s ask them if they know where the nearest train station is” Anna said then she walked up to them.
“NO” Katherine and Alice said together, but it was too late. Anna had already walked up too the men and had their attention.
“Do you know were the nearest train station is?” Anna asked.
“Of Corse we do” said one of the men, probably the leader of the group. “We can take you to it” he said as he walked towards the one car parked in front of the building. Anna didn’t follow him, she could tell something wasn’t right.
“Come on” The man said sounding annoyed.
“No thanks” Anna said.
The man pulled a gun and pointed it at her, she gasped.
“If you don’t get in the car I’ll shoot the girl” he said pointing at Anna.
They followed the man to the car and got in, just like he instructed. The other men followed also.
“If you try to escape we’ll kill you” He said.
Alice took her cell phone out of her purse and dilled 911. One of the men heard.
“What are you doing?!” He shouted. He pulled the gun out again and held out his free hand.
“Give me the cell phone or I’ll shoot you” Alice was scared so she handed over her cell phone. “Oh well. Sorry but your still going to die” the man said chuckling to himself.
He put the gun to Alice’s head and was about to pull the trigger when Alice saw a flash of white light. Then she found herself sitting up in a bed she didn’t recognize.
“Come on Mabel its time to wake up. You and your sister are going to be late for school” said someone from the doorframe she sounded and looked a lot like her real mother.
“My name isn’t Mabel and I don’t have a sister anymore...she died.”