Page 29 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster

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“Get your head out of the gutter.” I smiled. “Food. Real food. The Pippi buffet isn’t open ‘til later.”

“Shame.” His eyes skimmed my body. “Where do you wanna go for dinner?”

I shrugged. “I was looking at the menus earlier, and we’ve got bar food and uh,morebar food.”

“Bar food it is then.”

He strode forward, swooped my hair over my shoulder, and dragged his teeth lightly over the curve of my neck. “It’s gonna be anamazingweek.” He drew back, gave my ass a not-so-gentle swat, and turned away. “Let’s go get this bar food over with. I’m already hankering for my dessert.”

I still dream.

My sleep isn’t the same as it once was. It’s not as…complete.

No. That is not the word.

Or perhaps it is?

But I think there’s another I want, for the sleep I once had. When I’d lie down and become unaware of everything around me.

Now my rest isincomplete. I am always aware of the waters’ movements. The way they cool and roughen as they prepare for a storm.

A stormiscoming.

I don’t know when, but the waters do. And I will see when it arrives, even if I remain in my sleep.

I am never fully asleep. And yet, I can still dream.

Those dreams take me to faraway places, filled with light and color.

I see things I once knew but have long forgotten, like the great orb in the sky—the feeling of its light warming my skin.

There are faces too—familiarfaces. Seeing them makes me…hurt.

No…

This is not the word I want either.

There’s afeelingin my chest, and although itcauseshurt, it has a differentword.

But it’s one of the many that have slipped away.

And the hurt deepens whenherface appears in the dream.

Indigo.

I see her smiling, full of light. Ofjoy.It soothes me, as much as it hurts me.

Until the dream changes. And italwayschanges.

Her smiling face crumples in pain.

Moisture fills her eyes.

She screams for me. Reaches for me. Pleads for me to help her.

And I can’t.

I want,more than anything, to save her. To guard her from the force that will rip her apart.

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