Part 1
A piercing scream rippled through Thornhill which, although once had been a common occurrence, lately seemed a distant memory. Until now.
Cheryl and Toni jumped out of bed, bypassing their robes and slippers to scurry after the sound that they were sure to be their daughter.
After a quick run down the hall they opened the door to find their 16 year old, Olivia, doubled over, wracking with sobs.
The couple paused, quickly sharing a look, before splitting. Cheryl going to towards the right, and Toni, to the left side of the bed where they sat upon each edge to envelope Olivia between the two of them.
“What’s wrong, Honey? What happened?” Cheryl asked while pulling her head into her chest and peppering the top with kisses.
On the other side Toni continued to soothe, grabbing hold of her hand, giving it a kiss, and then soothingly rubbing her thumb over the palm.
Olivia coughed and choked, trying to catch her breath.
“I-I-it was so real,” she barley spoke out.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Toni, her Mama followed up.
Olivia simply nodded, all that her body would let her do as she continued to shake impulsively.
Her Mother’s squeezed her harder, trying to give all their love and comfort. They had never seen their daughter so distraught like this.
It seemed like it had been forever when her breathing finally settled down and sobs became soft whimpers.
After a moment of silence, Toni spoke up.
“Sometimes-,” she began while brushing her daughters hair back.
“-talking about it helps, like when you say it out loud you realize how silly it is.”
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and continued to try and calm her harsh breathing while putting her thoughts together. Her Moms waited patiently, arms still draped around her.
“We-we were at La Bon Nuit, um, some party or something…”
She looked up hesitantly catching her Moms eye. Cheryl nodded reassuringly.
“Everyone was there,” she went on,
“Aunt Ronnie, Uncle Archie, Aunt Betty, Uncle Jughead, Chloe, Annie, a-and a bunch of other people. I-I s-saw this m-man, I’d never seen him before, and-and he gave me this weird look and then ran off. I followed him, he went to that emergency exit. He went to climb the ladder but he stopped and looked back at me and then, a-a bomb went off-“
She began to choke up again at her words and leaned back into Toni.
“-and I-I felt it. I felt the hot air burning all over my face as I woke up.”
“Oh baby,-“ Cheryl began, wiping some tears away with her thumb.
“it’s was just a dream, nothing bad is gonna happen,”
“-to you, or anyone,” Toni finished before pressing her lips to her daughters forehead.
The three sat in silence while Olivia slowly calmed down once again.
“Here, why don’t we lay with you until you fall back to sleep,” Cheryl said while shuffling around the blankets and pillows to make them all more comfortable.
“Okay,” Olivia sighed out, knowing she would not be able to get back to sleep tonight.
The three girls laid down, Olivia in the middle with her head on her Moms chest. Mama holding her from behind with an arm draped over both her waist and Cheryl’s. Both Moms turned a bit to give their daughter a final cuddle before drifting off to sleep.
-
An hour or so later Cheryl and Toni sweetly and silently untangled themselves from their daughter, returning to their own room when they were sure she was asleep.
Although she was only pretending. Olivia would not get another second of sleep that night. And for many after.