"The hell with her!" she hissed bitterly. Then she turned abruptly and left
the house. In the solitude of her beloved Cradle Valley, she gave in to her
pain and anger. She didn't go home until late in the evening with her head
held high. She was feeling better, and she vowed that nothing and no one
would ever break her. She was strong and she would show everyone her
strength!
She seemed completely absent-minded, and while she still went about her
duties conscientiously, it was done in a rather mechanical way. Grief ruled
her existence, and the pain was so deep that even her work, which had meant
everything to her for the last few years, did not bring any distraction. She
would lie awake for hours at night, and when she finally fell into a
restless sleep at dawn she would have bad nightmares.
Laura tossed and turned in her bed for half the night. Something was
wrong! It was extremely unusual that Carolyn wasn't home on Sunday
night. Besides... the atmosphere outside the house... downright
spooky it had been. Yes, that was exactly what she had felt. She
blamed herself for not getting to the bottom of the matter further.
That scraping noise and the flickering light..
After
crying herself out in her friend's arms, she never spoke about the incident
again. But Laura felt that this terrible experience had broken Carolyn's
heart. From that day on she changed, and there was a strain on her mouth
that was unacceptably bitter for her young age.
"Why don't you love me, Mum?" she asked in a sad voice. "How did you
come up with such an absurd idea, Lynn? Of course I love you," Debbie
replied, horrified, even glancing at her. “But you love Carina a lot
more than me. I can feel that very clearly. You always stand by her, no
matter what she does! You always have an excuse for her behavior while
constantly criticizing me. Carina is mean to me and you blame me."
"That's not true at all!" exclaimed the mother indignantly. What are you
accusing me of here? Carina is sometimes a bit thoughtless, not as
reasonable as you." "But why are you always scolding me and never
Carina, when I'm more reasonable and not so thoughtless? I don't
understand!" Carolyn insisted desperately, her eyes filling with tears.
Carolyn could still feel the relief she felt in the dream. She
felt incredibly light and carefree like never before in her
life, freed from a heavy burden! But then she was wracked with
remorse and self-dread. It wasn't her! She would never be
able... Oh my god no...this had been nothing more than a dream,
a disturbing horrible nightmare brought on by ugly thoughts of
revenge that she had to shake off at once!!
