| A Dream Within a Dream! By Sharon Holtz Chapter One |
As Vincent walked through the tunnels in the direction of his Chamber, he passed Ronald,who was so preoccupied, he did not even see him!
And so Vincent stopped, at the spot where they had passed one another, assuming Ronald would stop and turn to him in return!
However, Ronald instead just kept walking! And because his friend seemed to be in another world, Vincent smiled and with an oblique turn of his head, amusingly said, “Ronald?”
Upon hearing Vincent's voice, Ronald was startled out of his thoughts, and looked back exclaiming, “Vincent! I didn’t hear you come up behind me!”
To which Vincent amusedly looked downward as he informed him, “The reason for that is because I was not coming from behind…but rather we only just seconds ago passed one another.”
With a friendly demeanor, Vincent stepped up to a red-faced Ronald, who stood shaking his head, not believing he could have done such a thing! And so Ronald unbelievably said, “I didn’t even see you!”
Humorously, in reply, Vincent said, “Apparently, there is something on your mind.”
With disbelief, Ronald heaved a sigh, and said, “Yes! You know I’m not sure what just happened!”
With a far away look, Ronald appeared to be retracing his steps in his mind, in a manner as if he had just misplaced something.
Ronald then scrupulously told Vincent, “I just left Jenny! I went to see her, you know to check on her…and the next thing I knew, I couldn’t help myself…I asked if I could kiss her goodnight!”
Curiously, Vincent prodded further and asked, “And…”
To which Ronald helplessly admitted, “And well…she said yes and I did! The odd thing is Vincent, I don’t feel guilty for having kissed her. I have tried dating in the past, but I had always ended up cutting the evening short…I could never carry it through. But with Jenny, I don’t know, the guilt is gone! Now it is different. I’m not sure I know how to act shedding all those old familiar feelings.”
As Vincent and Ronald started walking, Vincent said, “Yes sometimes changes, even though they are for the betterment of the soul…take time to feel like a part of us. Give yourself time Ronald.”
Vincent then told Ronald, he was a little confused, by saying, “Ronald the way you and Lisa have been together, I assumed, perhaps wrongly so, that it would have been Lisa you would be telling me about. Not Jenn…”
To which Ronald interrupted, as he said astonishingly, “I know, me too! But suddenly tonight, as I heard Lisa going on and on about the Ballet, and although I was interested in it because of her successful audition, all I could do was to think about Jenny! I was worried about her, because she was upset by your and Catherine’s disagreement.”
Ronald then disapprovingly informed Vincent, “You made her cry earlier, when you stormed off like that, you know. Jennifer felt responsible.”
With regret, Vincent pledged, “Then I must apologize to her when next I see her.”
Thinking that Vincent should, Ronald raised his brow, as he inserted, “Yeah that would be nice if you would.”
Feeling badly about making Jennifer cry, Vincent looked downward, feeling badly he had upset Catherine too.
As Ronald saw Vincent’s downhearted look, he thought that maybe he was a little too hard on him, and so he said, “Well, Jenny’s all right now Vincent. I believe she understands. I didn’t mean to make you feel like such a heel!”
As Vincent took a breath, he said, “I am concerned for Jennifer of course, however my thoughts are now on the fact, I didn't handle the situation well, Seems I am always making amends. Catherine and I have talked things out, and are fine. But I won't see Jennifer for a while now, because in the early morning, Catherine and Jennifer are both going above. Funny, but I miss Catherine already.”
Ronald sighed, and said, “Yes, I know separations from Catherine are always hard on you Vincent, but you will make it through.”
Creatively, Ronald began thinking, a productive activity, would help his friend
pass the time! And so he suggested, “Hey, maybe tomorrow would be a good day to work on Peter's chamber. I heard him talking to Mary, and Rebecca about it tonight, and it sounds as if he is anxious to start moving some of his things down here.”
Thinking this was a great idea, Vincent nodded in agreement, and said, “Yes, I will help.”
And then Ronald teasingly added, “That is, if we can get the Foreman to let us off the scheduled detail that is.”
Vincent smiled thinking of Mouse being a Foreman, and said, “Let us see what we can do in the area of persuading him, shall we? In fact I am heading his way now. He has something to show me.”
Vincent then said goodnight to Ronald, at the crux of the tunnels, where Ronald headed for his chamber.
Just then, Mouse came up to meet Vincent, and said, “Ready? Come on and see this new gadget!”
As Vincent put his arm around his friend, he said, “Yes, I am most anxious. Shall we?”
Meanwhile, Jennifer had over heard Vincent, and Mouse talking as they passed by her chamber. And so she excitedly thought, “Hmm, since Vincent isn’t with Catherine, I could go tell her about Ronald!”
And so Jennifer slipped her robe back on, and ran quickly through the tunnels to Catherine’s chamber.
Catherine had just snuggled into bed, when she heard Jennifer whisper, “Cath…are you still awake?”
In reply, Catherine squealed, “Jenny, what are you doing wandering all around? Remember what Vincent told us about the possibility of Paracelsus being near by! You should not go anywhere by yourself!”
Thinking it is silly to worry, Jennifer waved off Catherine’s words of caution, and said, “Oh who cares about Paraseltzers, I have got to tell you something before I burst!”
Realizing it was useless warning Jennifer, Catherine shook her head, and as she pulled her quilt back, she said, “Well climb in here and tell me! You are shivering!”
As Jennifer dove in, she excitedly said, “Well what I have to tell you is...Ronald stopped by and saw me tonight! And he kissed me!”
To which Catherine happily asked, “He did?”
In reply, Jennifer swooned as she said, “Yes! And it was like bright red cotton candy, decadently sweet!”
Jennifer then gleefully added, “And for the first time I did not make a fool out of myself! I didn’t have a curler in my hair, or Nair on my upper lip! I was so totally cool as a cucumber!”
to which Catherine noted, “Oh good! Then the underwear clinging to the front of your robe wasn’t there earlier?”
As Jennifer looked down and saw the underwear, she was horrified, and screamed, “What? Oh no…@#$# that Static Cling!”
Jennifer cried out loud, as she lamented, “I was out of fabric softener, and without it, everything clings to this chenille robe!”
Embarrassingly, she hid her face in the pillow, and cried, “I knew it was too good to
be true! I can never be cool…not ever!”
Catherine comforted her friend, and said, “Oh maybe he didn’t even notice! And if he did he must not have minded, he kissed you anyway didn't he?”
Mercilessly, Catherine started laughing as she noted, “At least they are a cute pair of underwear. The little purple butterflies on them are really sweet!”
To which Jennifer yelled in reply, “Now stop it! It’s not funny!”
Apologetically, Catherine soothed Jennifer, by saying, “I know, I’m sorry.”
As Jennifer wiped her eyes, she said, “Well, I better head on back to the guest chamber.”
Insistantly, Catherine in a motherly tone, said, “You just settle in here with me for the night. You are not going to go back out there wandering through the tunnels alone!”
In reply, Jennifer insisted, “I have to! What if Ronald comes back to talk or something?”
In an attempt to hold back her laughter, Catherine looked back at Jennifer, and all of the sudden she couldn't help it! She burst out laughing, and she could not stop, thinking about her poor friends luck.
As Jennifer looked suspiciously at her friend, and asked what was so funny, to which Catherine said, "I'm sorry Jen, I can't stop thinking about that pair of underwear clinging to the front of your robe!"
Although Jennifer was annoyed at first, she too started to laugh at herself, as she said, “Only me uh? These things could only happen to me!”
Jennifer then with determination, climbed out of the bed, and said, “Anyway, I am heading back to my bed. I will be fine. Don’t be such a worrywart Cath."
Thinking there was no way, she was going to let Jennifer walk around alone, Catherine resignedly got up too, and as she slipped on her robe, she said, “If you must go back, then I am walking with you. Come on Jen!”
But then suddenly, Catherine halted as she alarmingly asked, “Oh no wait! First tell me something Jen.”
To which Jennifer worriedly asked, “What? What is it Cath?”
With a dramatic flair, Catherine turned around in her robe, and asked, “Do I have any underwear clinging to my robe?”
As she caught onto Catherine's joke, Jennifer irritatingly sighed, “ha ha ha…very funny!”
As the two girls walked through the tunnels of the new expansion area, they couldn’t know they were being observed by prying eyes!
Behind the rock/bricked walls in this old end of the tunnels, were some hidden paths, by which one could travel, and not be detected. Installed were some removable bricks Paracelsus once used, decades ago for security measures, and since the renovation, they were once again put into use, by the drones of this diabolical man, who periodically plagues the peaceful life in the Tunnels.
By the time Catherine headed back to her own chamber, she nervously hopped back into bed, because she for some inexplicable reason she could not define…had a case of the heebie-jeebies!
Meanwhile, Mouse looked at Vincent, and worriedly asked, “What is it Vincent? Is something wrong?”
But because Vincent sensing Catherine was now at ease, he heaved a thankful sigh, and said to his friend, “No Mouse…happily nothing is wrong.”
Meanwhile, as morning came, Catherine and Jennifer climbed the ladder back up into the other existence they knew in the world above, and headed down the sidewalk to the police station to give their depos.
To be continued
Chapter Two
| Catherine and Vincent are not the only love birds in the tunnels finding their way, as Ronald and Jennifer become closer. Will Lisa come between them too? Perhaps an incident involving Jennifer's safety will help him decide, and teach him to listen to his wounded heart once more. Will the truth surrounding Anna's death come to light? And will Catherine be successful in her endeavor to contribute to the Tunnel Community? |
