Here's a story for you involving the paranormal I think you might like. It will be a series within this series so you can read it on the go. It's called
See You In The Morning.
The
sound of rain pelting the glass of the bedroom windows can bring the sleeper to
the edge of consciousness without actually awakening him. It insinuates itself into the dream. In this case, David was dreaming that he was
in the intensive care unit of Tulane University Hospital standing next to the
bed of his comatose lover, Charles. The rhythm
of the rain became the beeping of the various monitors and life support
machines.
“Charles
Dupres, if you leave me now―” he was whispering in his sleep as he became aware
of the rain. Instead of rousing him to
check open windows, Charles only snuggled into his bed more deeply and pulled
the covers tighter under his chin. As he
reached across the bed for Charles there was the crash of french doors either
blowing open in the wind or slamming shut.
He didn’t know which, but the sound combined with Charles’ absence to
shock David awake with a shout, “Charles!”
as he sat straight up.
“I’m
right here, Babe. The storm blew the
doors open and I got up to close them.
It’s alright, but I had thought these doors were locked. Anyway, it’s time to get up and get
moving. We still have a lot of packing
to do.”
David
only laid back down and murmured, “Ten more minutes. Come back to bed,” and started to dose off.
“There’s
no time for that now, David. Don’t you
know it’s already noon?” Charles asked impatiently.
“It
can’t be that late. It’s still dark
outside, so come back to bed,” David pleaded. Listen,
Sleeping Beauty, do you hear that? It’s
rain. There’s a storm outside. That’s why it’s dark. Now c’mon. You slept through breakfast and
nearly through brunch. It’s your turn to
cook and I’m starving,” Charles complained.
‘You’re
always hungry, Charles. Come back to
bed. If I’m Sleeping Beauty then you
must be the Prince who kisses me awake,” David counters. Then in a voice that a parent would use to
entice a child or a puppy into doing something he added, “ I have something for
you to nibble on right here and it won’t make you fat.”
“Only
because I’m not a girl,” Charles retorted.
“Otherwise, you’d use that thing to keep me barefoot, chained to a stove
and getting bigger by the day! Now get
up and get dressed so we can pack up the rest of the things going to the new
house. This was all your idea, so get
moving. Pronto!”
“You’re
not coming back to bed, are you?” David pouted.
“Wow,
David! We should get you on Jeopardy! You’d win a bloody fortune! No, I’m not coming to bed and you’re not
staying in it,” Charles reiterated as he pulled all the covers completely off
the bed and tossed them into a laundry
basket.
“Oh,
alright,” David moaned as he turned over onto his back revealing his reason for
wanting Charles to lay with him for a while.
“You see what you’re missing, don’t you?”
“Yeah,
yeah, yeah, one note Johnny. I see
it. Take a cold shower and the swelling
will go down and you’ll be right as rain.
We don’t have time for that. We
have things to do, and you have somewhere to go.”
“Alright! I’m up; I’m up! You’re missing out on the chance of a
lifetime.”
“Work
first, play later. Isn’t that what you
always told me?”
“At
times like this, Charles Dupres, I could really hate you. Can you at least make some coffee?”
“You
know I can’t to that, David.”
“Why
not?”
“Because
you gave Ella the day off, remember?”
“What
does that have to do with you making
coffee?”
“Ella
is how I’ve always done it. If you want
coffee, you’ll have to make a phone call somewhere that has someone to bring us
some.”
“Oh,
you want coffee now, too?” David asked with an edge of feigned irritation.
“Well,
if you’re going to ask someone to bring some over, we might as well make it
worth the trip, don’t you think? But, if
you want to have someone go to all the trouble of fetching a single cup of
coffee, then I’ll be content to take a sip of yours.”
David
pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and started to walk out of the
room. When Charles asked him where he
was going, David replied, “Well, one of us has to brew some coffee, so I guess
that means I’m going to the kitchen.
Anything else, m’lord?” he asked with a flourish and a bow.
Charles
grinned and said, “I don’t suppose there might be some Eggs Benedict to be had,
would there?”
The
look on David’s face told Charles to not hold his breath. Coffee and maybe some toast was all the
kitchen would provide this morning.
David made his way through boxes and rolls of bubble wrap, wardrobe
cartons and piles of clothing and stuff and turned back to look at Charles when
he reached the doorway. “Since I’m
playing Ella, why don’t you snap your fingers like Mary Poppins and make all
this stuff disappear into their proper containers while I’m gone.
“This
is all yours, Dear Heart. I’ll help of
course, but you have to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.”
“No,
this can’t possibly be all mine! You’re
the fashionista in the house.”
“Well,
it all came out of your closet.”
“Exactly
which closet would that be, Lover Boy?”
“The
one right there,” Charles stated as he pointed to the walk-in closet in the
bedroom they shared.
“Honey,
you moved me into the guest room closet years ago. These things are all yours.”
“David,
let’s not get petty, dividing things up as mine or yours. What’s the difference? We wear the same size and we both wore it
all,” Charles explained and then paused to survey the mess. “Why did you ever allow me to buy all this?”
David’s
jaw dropped in utter amazement. “Let
you?” he inquired. “Honey, I love you,
but no one says no to you. Besides,
Camille, you were simply going to die if you didn’t have it. So it made my life easier―”
Charles
cut him off saying, “You make me sound like some spoiled little monster!”
David
smiled and put his arm across his boyfriend’s shoulders. “I’m all about making you happy, Honey. I never called you a little monster.”
Charles’
hands flew to his hips, “Oh, so you think I’m spoiled? After all this time, truth raises its ugly―”
“My
God, you are the drama queen! The only way I have ever said no to you was
with a gasp of astonishment.”
“What’s
that suppose to mean?” Charles
pressed.
“Okay,
for example: you come home from work in a foul mood. I ask how
was your day? You respond by saying
something like, ‘You’ll never believe what that bitch had me do today!’ And then you proceed to relive it. I respond by gasping ‘No!’”
Charles
laughs and replies, “The Emmy for Best Ham Actor goes to―”
David
jumped in exclaiming, “Emmy? I was
better than anything on television. I
want a Tony!”
Charles
condescendingly agrees, “Of course you were better than television, Darling,
until we got deluxe cable!”
David
picked up a Waterford vase and holding it like an award statuette, “In that
case, I’d like to thank all my adoring fans.
All of the little people out there―”
“Oh,
my God, Norma Desmond lives!” Charles declares.
“Be
quiet, you! It’s my award and I get to
give my speech. Now where was I? Oh, yes.
I was about to thank all of you out there in television-land sitting in
the dark, though I don’t know why you wouldn't turn on a light. That’s hard on your eyes, people. I’d especially like to thank my partner,
Charles, without whom I wouldn't be sorting through all this shit!”
“There
you go again, Ricky Ricardo, blaming me for every little thing that went a
little off plan. Do you really blame me
for―?”
“Shut
up about that!” David snapped. “Just
shut up about that. I don’t blame you for everything and
certainly not about that!” He paused to look at his lover’s hurt facial
expression. “I’m sorry, my love. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I’m sorry if you thought I held you
responsible for everything, for anything at all. Certainly, you have suffered enough without
me adding to it.”
“Thank
you, David. I will rest in peace
tonight,” Charles joked as he spotted a really garish dress and held it up to
Charles. “You surely don’t expect me to
believe this is part of my trousseau, do you?”
“What
is it? Let me see what you’re talking
about.” David examined the garment in
question and a broad smile rolled across his face. “Yes, that is yours. It’s what you were wearing the night we
met. I’m hurt you don’t remember it.”
“David,
we already handed out all the awards.”
“Don’t
you remember, really? That’s your
Jeanette MacDonald drag. Our first
Halloween party together? We met at
Boops’ costume party! I was dressed like
Nelson Eddy as a Royal Canadian Mountie.
That rig has got to be here somewhere.”
David
disappears into the walk-in closet and emerges with the costume, offering it to
Charles for inspection. “Remember
now? Boops introduced us that night.”
