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Vanessa Smythe 8/17/2017 1:31:29 PM
I never expected dragons to be real. But then I never expected a realm where they still exist. I found out as the story unfolded.
Being unimpressed by her having a good time, they had gone out of their way to make her hate it. Not knowing why she had put the helmet in her room and not in the shed to rot, she wondered if she would ever ride again. The urge had presented itself a couple of times but then she knew that Gavin would stop her. A smile came to her face as she pictured him catching her now, going for a ride.
Down the hallway, the shower was running so she knew that the boys had only just got up to get ready. Her mother and stepfather didn’t get up until late, so it was most likely that they were still asleep. Quietly, she made it into the shed as she went to grab her school shoes but thought better of it. Naturally, having her uniform on meant that she could just get straight onto the bus if she was late coming back. Her dilemma was that if her shoes were damaged there would be hell to pay by her stepfather. She should be grateful that she was even allowed to have Gavin’s old motorbike boots. Thinking of all the branches that she could ride up against, she decided to put on the boots and make sure that she was not late to come back and change into her shoes. Guilt set in as she thought about going out for a ride but there was something about that dream that seemed real to her and she had to find out what it was.
Putting the bike into neutral, she made her way, rolling slowly down the back track of their house that led to the tree. Minutes later, Vanessa was faced with her lighthouse of gold. This beacon had always led her home during the times that her stepbrothers had tried to push her off course so she would be lost out in the woods. Being cautious, she had always stuck to walking on the same tracks. Now, looking for a different track would mean that she would have to concentrate. This might have all been a clever plan for her to get lost. Maybe the boys had learnt how to get into her subconscious mind while she was sleeping and made her see a track that didn’t exist, so she would be lost forever. This did enter her mind but she had to keep looking. As in her dream, the tracks were starting to feel familiar and then to her left, she heard a movement in the long weeds. Looking over to see what was there, she found a path that was overgrown. Dread hit her stomach as she saw the crushed rock lying down before her. This was the track.
Should she follow the path? Would it be a trap? She had to find out. Hesitantly, Vanessa put the bike back into gear and made her way cautiously through the overgrown scrub. She wished now that she had changed into her tracksuit as she thought of the trouble that she would get into if her uniform was damaged. The thick blue jumper protected her arms but the tartan skirt wasn’t practical. Being so preoccupied with looking for the track, she hadn’t thought about her clothes. There was definitely a path leading to somewhere but she was starting to think that it wasn’t a good idea as the weeds were now rubbing up against her legs. There was no choice but to turn the bike around and head for home.
Gavin, William and Richard were waiting at the front gate for the bus. They hadn’t seen her come up the back path on her bike. She wondered why they didn’t care if she was there or not. Curiosity would have got the better of Vanessa if one of the boys were missing. But then, would anyone really notice if she went missing for the day? From behind the shed she could see the school bus coming up the street. Then it struck her that she might have got it right, that the boys had come up with an idea to get rid of her. Should she ride over to tell them that their plan hadn’t worked? A better idea came to her as she watched the boys get on the bus and ride off to school. Vanessa knew that it was the perfect time to go and get changed and try the track again. Putting the stand down on the bike, and leaving her helmet on the handle bar, she tiptoed into the house. Everything was quiet as she knew it would be. Hiding her uniform in the wardrobe, she put on her tracksuit and crept out of the house again. Walking past the kitchen, she realised that she was hungry and grabbed a banana to eat on the way. Shaking her head, Vanessa couldn’t believe that the boys would leave the bench in such a mess. Gavin was the oldest. At seventeen, it was his last year of school and he was supposed to be taking on the responsibility of breakfast for the family. As she looked around at the mess, she knew that he was failing miserably. He obviously didn’t care about the dishes as he knew that Vanessa had the job of washing up at the end of the day. The cereal box was in her hand when she decided that she would leave the mess for his father to see instead.
This morning she had a different mission in mind and gently shut the door behind her before she walked the bike away from the house. The tree was growing larger and she knew that she was a safe distance to kick start the bike. Being a four stroke, it was quiet enough for her to crawl along the track that took her deeper into the forest. Vanessa loved the feeling as she rode along; freedom. At this point in time she didn’t have a care in the world. Motorbike riding is something that her father would never have introduced her to, so this was one good thing that she got from her stepfather.
Years ago she had been horse riding with friends and loved the feeling of galloping through the trees. Riding her motorbike now felt the same. During the week, she had tried to sneak out on her own on the bike to see what it was like in the forest but she was never able to build up the courage to face Gavin. Always hearing the boys riding in the background made her nervous but now that they weren’t there so she was able to feel the freedom rush through her body. A new-found confidence was now coming back to her as she felt like the bike would leave the ground and fly through the tree tops. The forest had become her sanctuary and she wondered if this was the reason that she was feeling so good. She is back at the track now but this time prepared for the overgrown bush.
Cautiously Vanessa looks for snakes in the long grass but knows that the bike would send them on their way. The bike is hard to manoeuvre through the narrow path. The trees seem to be closing in around her as she makes her way further up the track.
It feels like an hour has passed but she can’t be sure. The exhaustion of keeping the bike on the track is getting to her and she is thinking about getting off to walk on foot. Suddenly she notices a clearing up ahead and decides to get off there for a rest. Between the closed in bushes, there stands a meadow of manicured green grass. Standing there mesmerised at the sight before her, Vanessa tries to think of the houses that surround her home. Has she ended up on someone else’s property? A motorbike is coming up from the other side of the field. Panicking as she doesn’t know who it might be, she looks for a place to hide. Dropping the bike, she hides back in the dense bush and spies on the person riding towards her. The bike is bigger and faster than hers. The rider looks like he is floating on air as his bike glides along the top of the grass. Vanessa wonders if one day she will have a better bike but then her thoughts are changed as the bike has hit a log that is lying on the ground. As the bike comes to a sudden halt the rider is thrown into the air and winded as he lands on his back. Her first reaction is to see if he is alright but then she doesn’t know the person and she’s out in the forest alone. Watching through the trees, she can see that he isn’t moving. Against her better judgement, she runs over to help.
‘Are you alright?’ Vanessa asks him as she approaches.
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘Yeah; I’m fine.’
She could hear the sarcasm in his voice. ‘Ok, ok, I’m sorry. Where are you hurt?’ rephrasing the question, as she tries to help him take off his helmet. Their eyes meet as he stops moaning. He pushes his blonde hair back from his face to reveal the most piercing blue eyes Vanessa has ever seen. Taken aback by his looks she is reminded of how her stepbrothers constantly remind her of how ugly she is. Embarrassed by this, she decides to leave her helmet on. He can feel the pounding of her heart running through him as she tries to help him to his feet.
‘Thanks,’ he says, as he struggles to walk over to look at his bike. ‘I can’t believe that I didn’t see that log.’
Vanessa tells him that people have accidents all the time on bikes but wishes that she hadn’t said anything as it takes her back to her father’s accident.
He laughs but the pain is evident on his face. She wants to help him but that would mean taking her helmet off at some point. Instead she offers to get help for him but is relieved that he is able to start his bike and get on it.
‘Good, it’s working.’
Believing that he is going to leave, she turns towards the track. Suddenly, she can feel her heart leap into a frenzy again, as he turns the bike off. Thinking that there might be something wrong, she looks back at him and stops.
He stares into Vanessa’s eyes. ‘I’m Jack Turner. I haven’t seen you before. Are you the new family that moved in about a week ago?’
Nodding, Vanessa introduced herself.
‘Why aren’t you at school?’ he smiled cheekily.
She went to answer but asked him the same.
Laughing he told her. ‘I had a dream about riding last night and when I got up this morning I couldn’t help myself; I had to go for a ride. I was planning on going after school because I’m supposed to be writing an essay right now. So what’s your excuse?’
‘Oddly, the same reason; the dream part anyway,’ she says looking at her boots. ‘But mine wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare.’
‘Why, what happened? Did you meet me?’ He leans over to see her reaction.
‘No, I wish. It was about snakes and my stepbrothers.’ She couldn’t tell him the truth. How would it sound, if she told him that she had a dream about him last night? She still couldn’t believe that he was real but it did concern her; the way that he looked at her.
‘They can’t be that bad,’ he said, still trying to keep the conversation going while he looks into her helmet.
She knows what he’s doing and makes her exit. ‘Yes, they are.’
Walking over to her bike, she knows that he is watching her but she mustn’t look back at him. In the security of the trees, Vanessa watches him look at the thick scrub. Knowing that he can’t see her, it’s only a matter of time before he takes off. Quietly, she hides but he is still sitting on his bike.
Jack can’t believe that he has just met the girl that he dreamt about last night. Dumbfounded, he can’t move. The dream had been too real for him. Waking up in a cold sweat this morning, he had meant to finish his homework. While he had been sitting at his desk, mulling over the writing pad, he found that he couldn’t think of anything as he was too distracted by the girl that he had saved from snakes during the night. Overwhelmingly, he tried to write to get her out of his mind but for reasons unbeknown to him, he had to go out and find her.
For years he had ridden out on the field and there had never been a log to stop him. Something was going on that was beyond his control. He was meant to meet her but he didn’t know why as she wouldn’t even take her helmet off to talk to him. Not that it really mattered as he had seen her anyway, in his dream. Jack wonders why she is hiding in the bushes but decides to leave her alone.
Finally he puts his helmet back on and leaves so she can walk over to her bike that fell to the ground. Trying to start it, is difficult as it is now flooded. Vanessa has to use all her strength to kick start it but to no avail. Deciding to sit on it for a while before trying again, she thinks about the conversation that has just taken place. The boy that she had dreamt about did exist and he had had the exact same dream about riding out here. Obviously she was meant to meet him but she couldn’t figure out why as she knew that there was no way that he would ever be interested in her. In the distance, she can hear Jack’s bike and looks out on to the field in front of her, thinking about the accident she had witnessed only moments ago. This accident had brought her Jack, but not all accidents were good.
Her father’s death is back on her mind again. For some reason, today is a day to remember him. It had been an accident that had killed her father. It had happened, only a couple of years ago. Justin Smythe was a kind man that she missed very much. Happiness was a thing of the past as it had died with him. Thirteen years of bliss with a father that had adored her. Vanessa missed his smiling eyes and the smell of his soft hair when he hugged her. She wondered if her mother had been jealous of the attention that her daughter got. Her mother, Lucinda, didn’t have the same connection with him. Lucinda hadn’t shared a tear when she heard that there had been an accident on the race track and Justin wouldn’t be coming home. Vanessa’s heart had been broken apart by the pain of hearing the news while her mother continued on with her normal routine.
After his death, their home life had changed dramatically. The next eleven months changed what was a family home, filled with happiness and laughter, into a cold and empty house. Lucinda spent more and more time at the gym. At first Vanessa thought that it was a way for her to deal with her husband’s death. But she realised that it was a way to get attention from the other men.
Grieving was left to Vanessa as her mother kept herself busy with her social life. The more time Lucinda spent away, the emptier her daughter felt inside. Mechanically, Vanessa spent her time at home cleaning, as she feared that if she stopped she would collapse in a heap from the loneliness. Neighbourhood friends that used to visit had stopped, as her misery was starting to get to them. Badly, she wanted her mother to comfort her, but Lucinda was too busy.
Vanity had always come first in Lucinda’s life, even when her father was alive. Her days were spent with going to beauty salons and hairdressers to curl her long blonde hair. While Justin was alive she had always looked respectable but, since he had gone, her clothing had become too revealing. This worried Vanessa but her mother was too fragile to hear the truth from her own daughter. The days had gone where her father would pick her up from school to come home to a clean house and a cooked dinner. Vanessa had to take over the role of running the house. It had been a terrible time and she had hoped that if her mother met someone that she would snap out of it but instead things got worse.
