The daisies grow at a faster rate, so fast that Lisa feels like they may be trying to trip her. She feels scratches and cuts against her skin, and she yelps. Looking down, she notices the daisies have morphed into blood red roses with thorns, except that the rose petals are razor sharp. Gasping, she tries to run again, and the roses slice at her feet and ankles. The atmosphere begins to darken and the sky turns dark gray. The clouds shift and morph into thick sheets of darkness that cover the sky. She runs towards the oak trees on her right for shelter. The harder she runs, the further away they seem to get.
She comes to an abrupt stop when her feet sink into the ground. She pulls and struggles, but she can’t free herself. She feels something tighten around her ankles as it pulls her deeper into the ground. She tries to scream, but nothing comes out. It pulls against her again, harder, and she’s sunk up to her waist now. Desperately struggling, she falls forward on her palms, her fingers grabbing a hold of the earth. She digs her fingers deep, pulling and trying to kick against whatever is tugging at her body. Tears stream down her cheeks and the sound of a sob escapes, but she cannot scream.
A warm feeling touches her back and a light shines down on her. Looking up, she sees a hole in the clouds with a bright, golden light shining through. The light shines on the rope-like vines that have wrapped themselves around her legs. Letting out a hiss, they retreat from her body, back into the ground. Panting, Lisa pulls herself free of the earth and hurriedly crawls across the ground. The light grows brighter as it expands, as if hands were pulling away at the clouds, piece by piece. Getting to her feet, Lisa backs up and tumbles against something on the ground. Just as she’s about to fall, she wakes up with a start.
Panting slightly, she looks at her ceiling, grateful to be lying in bed, she rubs her fists against her eyes. Sitting up, she places her feet on the floor. To humor herself, she looks down. A part of her is relieved to find her feet clean of dirt and without rope burns. Raising her brows, she pulls the sheets up and looks down, breathing a sigh of relief that the sheets are also clean. Standing up, she makes her way towards the bathroom. Stepping inside, thoughts of the man in the mirror come to mind and fear licks at her subconscious. Yesterday seems like forever ago.
Swallowing hard, she shakes her head, feeling foolish over something that’s probably nothing. “What am I? Twelve?” Facing her fear, she walks into the bathroom to clean up for the day. Wanting to look in the mirror as little as possible, she steps into the shower. The steam begins to fog the mirror…and the man with the red eyes appears. His eyes glow, distorted from the fog. As he stares into the fog-covered mirror, the letters L I S A start to appear, then he’s gone.
Turning off the water, Lisa steps out and begins to dry off. She flips her hair over and towel dries it. Throwing her hair back, her eyes do a double-take as she sees her name written in the mirror. Screaming, Lisa runs into the bedroom. Her heart is beating so fast that she feels she may collapse. Panting, her hand raises to her chest and she leans against the bed. Swallowing hard, she takes a deep breath and slowly walks towards the bathroom. Anxious, she leans in and peeks at the mirror. Her name is gone. She closes her eyes and sighs with relief. Just then, the phone rings, making Lisa scream again.
Catching herself as she grabs the wall, she closes her eyes and curses under her breath for being afraid. Looking at her mirror again, she notices the steam has cleared and there’s nothing there, nothing but the reflection of the room. Shaking her head as the phone continues to ring, Lisa heads towards her nightstand to fetch her phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Taking the steps down to the mailroom, Lisa notices it’s empty. Sighing, she reaches into her purse, moving her hand around until she finds the familiar ball on her key ring. She recalls asking her mother as a child, “Why do you carry such large purses?” Lisa shakes her head realizing that, in some ways, she’s become her mother. Pulling her keys out, she thumbs through them until she finds her mailbox key. Slipping it into her mailbox, she turns the key, opening the door.
Flipping through her bills and the junk mail, she hears footsteps coming down the stairs. Looking up, the most beautiful man she’s ever seen walks into the room. Her lips part as sensuous sky blue eyes, radiating like pure diamonds, pierce her mind; his hair is blond and short, but messy; his firm body reminds Lisa of a knight waiting to rescue his lady; his cheeks are chiseled like a finely-carved Michelangelo statue; his nose is perfectly symmetrical; his lips are slightly full, the kind that end in a cute little smirk at the corners. His eyes meet hers and, for a moment, she forgets to breathe. His lips pull into a smile and he nods to her.