In The Dreaming: Chapter Twenty-One "Weekend Getaway" (Fantasy Y/A Novel)

-I wrote the following novel nearly two decades ago. In the years between then and now I've honed my craft, and my perception of this world; my thoughts and ideas; have changed dramatically. However, I still enjoy the premise and have decided to do an overhaul of revisions and rewrites, though likely not until sometime next year. (Though I'm sure I'll do a little as I post chapters)

For now I hope you will enjoy a glimpse into my book writing beginnings...

They are the closest of friends though they have never met in waking life.

Prologue-PT1 Prologue-PT2 Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16

Chapter 17
Chapter 18 Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty-One

Collin’s eyes opened softly. What had she been about to say? Cornell’s not that…Not that what? Not that…far? Could it be that Cornell wasn’t that far away from her? He closed his eyes again, and sunk into sleep wondering how long he would have to wait to meet her.

Aliyah woke to the phone ringing by her ear. She fumbled to pick it up, managing to push the button she uttered a groggy “Hello?”

“Aliyah!” It was Amy and she sounded like she was going to burst.

“What's up?”

“Oh my gosh, do you think you can come with us to Long Island?”

“What, when?”

“Today! My Aunt Jane called, she’s having this big party, it’s sort of last minute, but my parents had no plans, and anyway I asked if you could come along and they said Sure!”

Excitement bubbled up, then she thought Crap,that means I won’t get to see Dave before school starts. Oh my goodness, that’s stupid, a chance to go to Long Island and the ocean, or seeing a boy I will be able to see all year long, what am I thinking?

“Okay, let me go ask my parents! Wait, what time is it?”

“Um, it’s 7:30.”

“Darn, my dad’s already at work. That’s okay, I’ll go ask mom.” She padded into the kitchen where Ephraim was already seated eating breakfast.

“Nice hair sis.” He snickered.

Ten years old and a big pain in her rumpus, she loved him to pieces.

“Thanks booger head, I was thinking of making it my new style.”

Karen came in from the living room “Well, you’re up awful early, aren’t you?”

“Mom?”

“Oh, I know that tone, what do you want sweetheart?”

“Amy’s on the phone right now, and her family is going to Long Island for Labor Day, and she invited me to go with her, so can I?” The words came out in a rush, than she just stared pleadingly.

“Long Island? When are they leaving?”

“Today.”

“Oh boy, today? Couldn’t they have given you better notice?”

“I guess they hadn’t planned on going until Amy’s Aunt Jane called.”

“How long would you be staying? School starts on Thursday and we still have to pick up a few things.”

Aliyah brought the phone back to her ear, Amy had heard.

“We‘ll be coming back Monday.”

“Until Monday, please mom?”

Mrs. Schuyler sighed with a smile. “Well, I’d have to call your father and make sure it's okay with him.”

Aliyah flung herself at her mom and kissed her, “Thank you momma, I’ll start packing!”

“Wait a minute, I haven’t asked your dad yet!”

Aliyah flung her hand dismissively, her dad was not likely to object.

She put the phone back to her mouth “Did you hear that?”

“Yep, we’ll pick you up in about two hours okay?”

“See you then!”

Aliyah ran around her room picking out outfits for the next several days. She chose some short and some long, figuring it might get chilly in the evenings. She was brimming with excitement. She stopped short with her hand in her underwear drawer because a thought that had been nagging at her popped into view. Wasn’t Dark Eyes from there? She wasn’t quite sure if he had ever said it, but all of a sudden she could hear his voice in her mind and his accent was exactly like Amy’s.

What were the chances she would run into him? Slim to none. Plus she didn’t know if the school he went to was there or not. Still the very idea that she might actually walk somewhere he had walked, or go into a store he had been in….But wait, she was getting silly, Long Island wasn’t a small town, it was hours across. Highly doubtful that she would be in the same area.

She shook her head, it’s not time yet, she thought, and continued to pack.

An hour later the phone rang again, it was Amy.

“Okay, slight change in plans. My dad got called into work, so now mom wants to take the train down. You can still come of course, we’ll pay for your ticket, but dad’s going to take us to the station, and Aunt Jane will pick us up when we get there.”

“Cool, a train, I’ve never been on one!”

“Actually, it is pretty fun, way better than taking a bus, blah.”

“Okay, when do we leave then?”

“Can you be ready in like twenty minutes by any chance?”

“I can if I have to be!”

“See you then!”

She hung up and began hurrying around her room. She finished stuffing her things into her suitcase and darted off to the bathroom to take a lightning quick shower.

“Whoa,” her mom said as she zoomed by, “take it easy, you’ve got plenty of time.”

“Nope, change of plans, we’re taking a train now and they’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”

She stated this as she shut and locked the bathroom door, throwing off her pj’s and jumping into the shower. She washed quickly, jumped back out, towel dried her hair and pulled a brush through it. She sprayed apple scented spray everywhere, dressed quickly and burst out the door out of breath.

Her mom was still standing there. “A train?”

“Yeah, her dad got called in to work so just Amy, her mom and I are going now.”

“Well, talk about a weekend of new experiences.”

“I know, isn’t it awesome?”

Karen Schuyler shook her head in amusement, “Yup, pretty awesome. Okay, here is some money, did you remember to pack underwear and socks?”

“Yes moommm.” She plucked the 50’s out of her mom’s hand, looked at them and said “Oooh, thanks!”

“Okay sweetie, by my estimation they should be here any minute.” She hugged her daughter tightly and covered her face in kisses.

Ephraim came in, “You are so lucky! I want to go to the beach. You better bring me back some sand and seashells.”

She hugged her brother and told him she most definitely would.

She heard a car horn, grabbed her purse and suitcase and flew out the door, yelling I love yous’ over her shoulder.

She threw her suitcase into the open trunk and clambered into the backseat.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry that you had to rush,” Mrs. Hurnard turned around apologetically.

“Oh that’s okay, if I had to wait the initial couple hours I would’ve been pacing the floor.”

Mr. Hurnard smiled at her in the rearview. “You guys are going to have fun, I really wish I could go with you.”

“Oh daddy, we understand.” She turned to Aliyah. “The train is leaving from Springland station, that’s only half an hour from here. Then we’ll probably have to wait another half an hour while everyone boards.”

“Sounds fine to me, we can people watch.”

“Ooh, yeah, train stations are particularly good places for that, there are some serious weirdos. Especially at the Long Island station, we might even see some winos and bums.” She beamed as if she was talking about famous people.

“Amy,” Mrs. Hurnard scolded, “Bum is not a nice term, they are homeless people. Many of them are in that situation due to things beyond their control.”

“Yah, and many of them are in that situation because they’re alcoholics and drug addicts.”

“She has a point dear,” Mr. Hurnard agreed.

“Walt, don’t encourage stereotypes!”

“Sorry honey, but it’s the truth.”

Aliyah and Amy giggled, and Amy mouthed “Bums” causing them to laugh harder.

Mr. and Mrs. Hurnard continued to debate about the less fortunate unemployed of society, and the girls chatted about what they were going to do over the weekend.

They pulled into the train station and trooped over to the gate.

“You folks are just in time,” the gatekeeper told them when they had purchased their tickets. He pointed at the train that was already boarding.

“Oh! No waiting after all! Bye sweetheart,” Mrs. Hurnard kissed her husband, and Amy gave him a hug, then they were off.

They stepped onto the train and located their seats.

“Do we have to sit in them the whole time?” Aliyah asked.

“Oh no, just until we get going, then we can go wherever we want. I’m thinking that the dining car sounds good.”

“Oh my gosh, yes, I’m starving, I forgot to eat breakfast.”

Mrs. Hurnard overheard “Oh no, it’s because I rushed you. We’ll all go and have a proper breakfast.”

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