Middle of the Night Call

Her smile was big and wide as she looked down into her daughter's face. Her long reed hair was blowing in the breeze as the convertible drove down the twisting, turning road on top of the seaside bluff. She was wearing sunglasses that hid her bright green eyes, the most striking feature of her appearance, from the world. Her daughter, Moira was laughing and smiling back at her mother, Kelley, as they enjoyed the drive along the road. At age six Moira was feeling like she was flying on top of the world, the road passing by her and her mother at a speed close to take off, their red hair flying and flipping in the wind. The only thought on her little mind was how much she loved being with her mom and the driving that they did. She never wanted this drive on the seaside highway to end, she wanted it to go on and on forever and ever.

Kelley looked back up at the road and saw open space, not one other car was anywhere near them. She reached down and grabbed Moira's hand and held it in hers, making a tangle of fair, freckled skin of almost identical hands, only one bigger than the other. "Are you ready to fly Darlin' ?" she asked her carbon copy sitting next to her.

"YES!!!!!" Moira respopnded with such enthusiasim and passion Kelley couldn't help but widen her smile even more. She looked around once more before she stepped on the gas pedal and made the engine roar, Moira thought that her mommy had a lion under the hood of her car, and the car sped up. Faster and faster the car went down the road, slowing down just enough to take the turns and not lose control.

"Get your arms ready Baby, we have reached cruising altitude!" Moira remembered her Daddy saying those exact words to her when he took her on an airplane ride last year. She raised her arms up and out to her side, she threw her head back and let the wind rush past her face, twisting her hair even more than before, her mouth opened even more because of the fun she was having with her Mom, "I'm READY MOMMIE!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Take off Moira! Reach the clouds Baby, go for the stars!" Kelley said this every time she took her special little girl on this road, the road where she met her little girl's father fifteen years ago. She smiled and laughed as she watched her little spit fire in the seat next to her raise her arms up and down very fast as if she were a bird flapping its wings. Kelley freeze framed the way that her daughter looked just then, she wanted to hold onto that image to remind her of the innocence and fun of being a child. Just then something flashed in the rear view mirror that made Kelley return her attention to the road in front of her.

Her smile went away very fast and her concentration was fully on the road, Moira was next to her flapping her arms up and down trying desperately to fly out of her seat and into the clouds. She wanted so much to be able to touch one of them so she could tell Mommy how soft it was. She noticed that the car was starting to slow down just a little then and she looked around at Mommy to see her smile gone and her eyes on the road in front of them. "What's wrong Mommy? Why are you so mad?"

Kelley always tried her best to stay happy and smiling around Moira, the little girl seemed to have been born with a hyperactive sense of empathy. She could always tell when Kelley was sad, sometimes it seemed before Kelley even knew she was. As always she tried her best to hide her sadness from her daughter, "Nothing Baby, I thought I saw something in the road." She slowed the car down and kept driving forward.

Moira was looking at the cliffs as they climbed up the hill next to them as they drove, she could see the ocean over the ledge of the road on her moms side of the car. Little white caps were stretching along the top of the water as the waves they belonged to rolled endlessly towards the shore. Even though Moira knew it was impossible to hear from here, if she closed her eyes she could almost hear the sound of the waves as they crashed onto the sandy beach in front of her. She opened her eyes again and this time she could see a car in the side view mirror behind them approaching, very fast. The car had lights flashing on top of it and Moira could hear the sound of the siren as it approached their car.

Before she could stop herself from saying it Kelley said loudly, through clenched teeth, "Shit!"

Moira spun to see her Mommy's face then because she was not used to hearing her say such naughty language, as her mommy called it. She was a little afraid of what she saw in her mommy's eyes and on her face. Her cheeks had turned red and it was spreading to the rest of her face and neck, her eyes were wide open and they seemed to be trembling in their sockets. Moira reached out and touched her mommy's arm and tried to send her happy thoughts to take away that scary look on her face, she asked her with her little girl voice full of innocence, "Is everything ok Mommy?"

"It will be Baby, just sit back, it won't take long at all." Kelley brought the car to a full stop on the shoulder of the road, Moira could hear the crunch of the dirt and pebbles under the tire, she could smell the dust as they came to a stop. She looked in her mirror again and saw the police car stop right behind them. She could see the car move as the driver got out of the car and left the passenger inside the car. She saw her mom reach into her purse and grab her license and insurance card and had them waiting for the policeman.

Moira heard his feet crunch on the dirt as he came towards the window and her mommy, she could hear him whistling a song from TV. She was not sure what the name of the song or TV show was, but when she heard him whistling it she immediately thought of a little boy and his dad walking down a dirt road with fishing poles in their hands, the picture was in black and white. She looked over at her mommy's side of the car and could see the policeman's fingers resting on the window sill. He was wearing black leather gloves, Moira heard them creak as he tensed his fingers.

As the phone rang in the back ground a young woman sits straight up in bed holding the satin sheets against her fair skin. Her long dark hair is a tangled mess around her neck and face, pieces of it are moving in and out as her breath is ragged and fast. She has a sheen of sweat on her forehead, her eyes are being held closed so tight she has lines around her sockets. She opens them as the phone continues to ring, on the fifth ring she leans over the bed and reaches for the receiver. "Hello?" she croaks into the mouthpiece, her voice heavy and full of sleep.

"Kelly?", the voice on the other end asks, almost as if it is laughing. She recognized the voice right away as her friend Pat, hearing his voice always made her release some of her stress.

She did not want him to know that she just had a dream that made her sit up scared, so she pretended that the phone scared her. "Pat? Why are you are you calling me at ," she looked over at her clock then, "three in the morning?"

"No reason, I....I just needed to call you." Right when he heard her voice he immediately felt like the stupidest person ever born. Why would he be calling his best friend at three in the morning, of course she would not be awake and his phone call would scare the living hell out of her. He was cursing himself in his head now because of how much more stupid he sounded by telling her "no reason".

The tone of voice that he was using was different then his normally sedate, calming, relaxed tone. Right then his voice sounded almost scared, shaky, almost child-like. Kelley was at first and that the phone woke her up, but once she heard his voice she turned into the care giver. "Patrick what's the matter? Are you ok? Is everything alright?"

"I think so. Yea...Yea they are, I just...I..God I feel stupid. I shouldn't have called you I'll let you get back to sleep. I am so sorry Kelley," he was trying desperately to get off of the phone because of how stupid he was feeling.

"You are going to call and scare the hell out of me at three in the morning and then tell me that you called for no reason? Do you really think I'm stupid Patrick?" She was very concerned for him now and she tried to use a plying tone, however at three in the morning how plying can one be?

He knew that he was going to scare her now and hearing her say that he did made it even worse than it really was. He spoke very fast, and used the tone that she was familiar with, "Kelley, I'm sorry that I scared you. I over reacted to a dream that I had, I just wanted to make sure that you were ok. I am sorry that I scared you. If you can go back to sleep please do and I will talk to you in the afternoon at work. God I am so sorry."

She could sense real embarrassment in his voice for making her scared, and she found it rather touching that he would think that way. She knew that she would not be able to go to sleep, not because of the phone call, but because of the dream she was just woken out of. She also knew that Patrick was a night-owl and would also not be able to go to sleep, so she went out on a limb and decided to ask him, 'Did you want to meet somewhere for coffee Patrick? I know that I will not be able to go back to sleep." After she said that she knew how it sounded, and for what ever reason, she was angry at herself for sounding like she was blaming him.

His response was quick, almost like it came out before he could process what he was saying, "God yes I would."

Hearing the way that he answered she could tell that he did not think she was blaming him for her being awake, yet she also made a note to apologize to him once she saw him. "Meet me at Matt's in about, twenty?"

"I will see you there Kelley. Thank you, I really need to see you."

After that he hung up, rather abruptly. Kelley was set back for just a minute by that, he never said anything like that before and he never just hung up without saying goodbye. She could tell that something was on his mind, something was eating away at him.