Chapter Five

Chapter Five

*I*

Peter drove home in silence. He could feel his mother’s burning stare. Peter was thinking about the last three days, and how much they changed his life. His eyes were red from crying, and his head hurt from lack of sleep. His mother looked the same.
His mother, Linda Stuart, was worried about Ryan, of course. But she was more worried about Peter. He had finally found a great guy friend and he was so excited. She didn’t want him to lose it. She didn’t understand how his friend just had changed so quickly. One second he was fine and the next he was screaming at the radio.
Peter was thinking of the radio incident as well, but a little differently. Peter had heard Ryan being sad before. But the sound in his voice sounded like it had just came out of Hell, and was stopping for a visit, knowing it would return in just a moment. His voice was the most depressing thing he had ever heard. He didn’t understand why the song had set him off. Yeah, it’s a depressing song, but still, it doesn’t make the typical person scream at the radio.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Linda could no longer hold it in. She needed to break the eerie silence that was settling in the car, and was getting just a little too comfortable.
“Well, I suppose I could call him. Yeah that’s what I’ll do.”
“That’s an excellent idea, let him know you care.” Linda was making this stuff up as she went. She just wanted to let Peter know he could talk. He had never been through anything like this. Even though Peter wasn’t saying it, he felt like the whole thing was his fault, and his mother knew that’s exactly how he felt.
Ryan sat in his basement staring at the wall. He decided to put in a movie. His mother let him stay home from school, and he was glad. He looked through his library of movies, and decided on Signs. He was in for a good scare. He heard his mother vacuuming above him. It drowned out the noise of the movie, and he felt his consciousness float off into a distant land, know as dream land. He slowly felt his eyelids shut, and his mind turned off. He fell into a deep sleep, but unfortunately it didn’t last long.
Chris was glaring at him. He was glaring at him, glaring strait through him.
“You haven’t gotten prepared at all, you are a miserable creature. Attempted suicide, failure, what next. We’re not going to spoon feed you all the answers Ryan. You have to get off your butt and search for yourself. All 30 people count on it, and possibly 31 people count on it. I understand that you have gone through a lot, but you said you would give your life to prevent the past. Well you can do something, and suicide does not count as giving your life.”
“I, I, I, I’m… I’m sorry. I just have one question, why when I you know, breathed in, why was Maggie crying?”
“Well Ryan, why do you think? Why do you think she was smiling? She was trying to make you feel better. And when she was crying, well she was sad that you had given up. She thought that you were stronger than that. But I guess she was wrong.”
“I will improve, I promise. I’ll get myself prepared. I just don’t know what to get prepared for.”
“Well think about all of your dreams. What did they show you? What did they mean to you? What did each individual dream stand for? That is what you need to prepare for.”
“OK, I will try, but you are here for me right? You aren’t going to give up on me too? I can trust you…”
“Well haven’t I been here for you all along. Aren’t I the one who is giving you the second chance?”
“Yes, yes, I guess your right. I’m ready.” Ryan watched as Chris’s glare softened into a smile, not a large smile, but still a smile.
He woke, but this time more peacefully. He noticed the credits were rolling on the movie, and his mind was already thinking of how to prepare. First he remembered the first dream. He remembered it perfectly. He knew what he needed to do.
“Mom, can we go to Target, I need to get a few things.”
“Sure, I guess, let me take a shower first,” his mom replied. She was wondering why he was so ready to go out into the world again. For over a month he wouldn’t leave his room and now he couldn’t wait to leave. She kept these thoughts to herself.
While Ryan’s mom was getting ready he ran upstairs into his room. He began to make a list. He began to make a list of items to obtain.


Picture frame for Lindsey’s picture
Folder for the “klutz”
A thank you card for Jerry
An explanation for the note

That was it, he had forgotten the note. He knew exactly what pair of pants he had worn the day of the crash. He had gone home, cleaned up, and thrown them in the corner of his room, not bothering to wash them. He ran over to them, and started flipping out the pockets. A yellow piece of paper fell out of the last pocket he turned out. He unfolded it, his hands shaking. He read the note aloud to himself. It read;
Dear Ryan,
I’ve been holding something in for the longest time. I can’t hold it in any longer. In fact, I DON’T want to hold it in any longer. I know that I’m just a pretty face to you, just makeup and bouncy hair. Well to me, you are my king, my hero. I have never felt so passionate about a person, ever. If you don’t feel the same way about me it’s fine. I will MOVE on. I love you…
Yours truly,
Maggie Lucida

The note was incredible. He finally had proof that she loved him. But the thing that was really getting to him was why 2 specific words stuck out to him; don’t and move. Together it makes Don’t Move…
He heard his mother call for him. His heart was pounding and his hands were clammy. Don’t Move, wow that was a great help. It just didn’t make sense, no sense at all, just like the rest of this whole thing. He stood up with his legs shaking, heart pounding. He managed to make his way out of the room.
“What’s wrong Ryan?” she asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It’s, it’s nothing. I just had this weird feeling come over me, that’s all.”
They pulled into the Target parking lot, and Ryan was relieved to get out of the car. It had been a silent ride, and he felt like is mom’s stare was burning hole into the side of his head. He stepped out of the car and felt the cold air come in contact to his skin. He felt a raindrop hit his forehead, and his mom asked for him to get the umbrella. He followed her instructions, and climbed back into the car to get it. He was having difficulties trying to reach it, but after several tries he was triumphant, and followed his mom into the store.
Ryan kept his list hidden from his mom. He told her she could go look at what she wanted, and that he would meet her at the car. She thought that this idea was strange, but went ahead and followed it. After losing his mom Ryan began to collect the items. He quickly found all of the items, and ran to the register.
“Hi, thank you for choosing Target,” the clerk said unenthusiastically. He continued, “Why, you have quite a collection of items. What do you need these for?”
“Um, well, uh, I had to get some family members presents.” He felt the clerk’s eyes staring at him through his glasses. The excuse wasn’t very convincing.
He walked outside to the car, and it was poring rain. He saw his mom gesturing to him to hurry up, but Ryan took his time, trying to absorb the water. He couldn’t wait to get home. He was going to go play in the rain, like a four year old.
The car bumped over the curb into his driveway, and the rain had begun to pick up. His mom was stressing out, but a grin was forming on his face. He ran inside, set his stuff down, and ran out the back door.
“Where are you…?” She was cut off by the slamming of the door.
Ryan ran further and further, all the way to the woods. The rain was cold, but Ryan didn’t care. His smile was what showed his feeling. He felt the rain pounding down on him, and began to spin around. He looked straight up into the never-ending sky. It was gray, and he could see the drops for miles up. He thought of how much one raindrop went though before it actually hit the ground. He had to blink several times to get the droplets out of his eyes, and he ran on.
He finally reached his destination; the climbing tree. He flung himself onto the braches, climbing faster than he ever had. The wind was picking up, and his sopping hair began to fly in the wind. The joy inside of him was building up, and tears began to fall from his eyes. He kept climbing, higher and higher, until he was almost at the top. He had never been this high before, and he did not know the branches. He reached up to grab one and it was sturdy. He lifted his leg and heard an unforgiving sound; the crack of a tree branch. One second he was leaping upwards, and the next he was falling down. He tried to grab a branch, but he was unsuccessful. He hit the ground, and heard a funny sound, and then nothing. He began to lose feeling of the drops on his face, and his world began to get blurry. Soon he lost sight, and was unable to talk.

*II*

When Peter was informed that he had a phone call he had no idea who it was from. He was literally shocked. He hardly ever used the phone, and part of the reason was because he hated to talk on it. He only used it on his birthday, and that was when he was talking to his grandparents.
“It’s for you Sweetie.” Peter took the phone and looked at it like it was a foreign object.
“Hello?” There was a pause. “Ok, I’ll try to make it. Bye.” He hung up the phone. His mother asked who it was.
“It was Julie, Ryan’s mom. She wants someone to talk to at the hospital.”
“Oh Lord, don’t tell me that Ryan is in the hospital again. What happened now?”
“Yesterday he fell out of a tree when it was raining. He landed funny. He still hasn’t woken up.”
“I guess we can go.”
Julie Corsiva was pacing back and forth in her son’s hospital room. The room was bare; no pictures on the wall, just white paint. On top of the empty feeling the room gave her, it was cold. There were Goosebumps forming on her arms. She was exhausted. She hadn’t slept but two hours the night before. She was worried sick.
She tried not to remember what happened, but the task was becoming increasingly difficult. If he had just came back in when she called him. He wouldn’t have fallen out of the tree. Thank God he didn’t get struck by lightning. She glanced over to her son. He lay there, still and peaceful. His breathing had slowed, and his heartbeat relaxed. She heard a rapping out the door.
“Come in,” she said, trying to sound loud, but failed to do so. The door opened and she saw Linda and Peter walk in. She was relieved to see them. She was worried she was going to go crazy sitting in that room alone much longer.
“Hi, how are you doing?” asked Linda.
“I could be better. I haven’t slept much at all the past night. I’m exhausted. I haven’t showered either, I’m a mess!”
“Don’t be silly you look fine,” said Peter. He felt stupid saying it, but he felt he needed to say something. He felt like he was naked, in the middle of a crowded room. In reality he was well dressed, and only with 2 other people. He too noticed that the room was dull, white. It was like a box, closing in on you from all sides. You got a sense of insanity when you were standing there.
“How polite of you Peter. I just don’t know what to do. I really would like to go home and shower, but I don’t want to leave Ryan here all alone. And on top of all that, I just want company.”
“We can watch him why you shower if you’d like,” Linda offered.
“Would you really? That is so kind. I feel like a jerk doing this to you; dragging you out here to baby sit.”
“Don’t feel bad, that’s why we came. You just head on home, get yourself cleaned up, and come on back. We won’t leave, I promise. Julie followed the advice and went home. She felt terrible when doing it, but she assumed it would be for the better.