WINTER SHOT out of her dreams choking.

She self consciously brought her hand up to her exposed throat and rubbed at her burning lungs with trembling fingers. Her mind raced faster than the wind as she imagined of the sharp tip of the sword from her dream slashing furiously across her neck, the blood from her wound raining down on her and her masked swordsman in thousands of microscopic pelts.

Her stomach suddenly lurched. She rolled over to the side of her bed and heaved, but nothing came out but desperate gags. This was all too much. She knew she was getting worked up over nothing. Thinking about her mom, and that day... It stirred something terrible inside of her that didnt want to be remembered. She didn't want to reminisce about her dead mother. Dreaming about her would not make her come back. Wishing that she was still here, no matter how badly she did it, would not make her come back. She had to stop putting herself through this. This wasn't the first night thoughts of her mother plauged her dreams, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. But she was so tired of it. She was tired of feeling like this.

Winter flung herself backwards on her bed and burrowed her head under deep into her pillows. She tried to imagine something to take her mind off of her frantic heart. She fantasized about food- about her dad being kind enough to make her and Spice breakfast. There would be her favorite breakfast foods: pancakes, eggs, and toast. She would see everything and smile at her father, pleased that he had finally came out of his... whatever he was experiencing since her mom passed, and finally act like her dad again. Like her rock. Her fearless, loving dad who always made everything better. Who always chased away the scary monsters in her closet and in her head.

Her mind then flew to Kristopher, his warm smile burning a hole in her brain the more she imagined it. He was something special. Never in a million years would Winter have thought that she would make a friend like him. Growing up, she hadn't had the opportunity to make many. No one wanted to be friends with the girl who didn't have a mom. The girl who's mom was sick and died in a car crash. Girls would often stay away from her, like she had the plague, or they would stare at her rudely until she forced herself to turn away so that she wouldn't have to see them. In sixth grade, years after her mothers passing, one girl even had the nerve to come up to her and say, quite obnoxiously: "You really don't got no mama?"

Winter had stared at her, disbelief clear on her face. The girl blew a large gum bubble and than popped it.

"What? You got cotton stuffed in your ears or somethin'? I said, you really don't got no mama?"

This had made her mad. With a huff, Winter turned her back on the girl and tried not to let her emotions get the best of her, just like her dad told her to do when someone tried to give her a hard time.

"That ain't none of your business."

The girl was not pleased with this answer. " I just heard that your mama died. I heard that she got in a car crash with Abby's mama, Mrs. Perkins. But Abby's mama is ok, and yours died. Is that true? How come your mama died, but not Abby's? Abby said that its because your mama was full of sin. Was your mama full of sin?"

Winters mouth had flew open. She turned back to the girl, angry and upset and disbelieving. "Who even are you? Stop asking me about my mama. Its none of your business."

The girl popped her gum again. "I'm just asking... is it true that your mama was a witch?"

"What?" Winter shrieked.

"I heard that she was a witch. Abby said that she had big red hair, and her car was full of potions and witch stuff. Sounds like a witch to me."

"My mama was not a witch! Who is Abby? I don't know any Abby."

The girl shrugged. "It was just a question, jeez."

She popped her gum again. Winter wanted to reach into the girls mouth, steal her gum, and slam it on the floor.

She then pointed to a girl all the way across the room, who, Winter realized, was watching the whole interaction with an amused expression on her face. Her shiny black hair framed her face, and her small lips were quirked into the shape of a smirk. She was pleased by this- she was happy by Winter looking so flustered.

Winter stomped over to her, taking note of the strange way the girl studied her. Her eyes were black, her pupils practically nonexistent. Her hair was straight and ran down her back playfully, locks of it slipped onto her face, which she smoothed back every so often. Her smirk grew as she stared at Winter.

"Why are you spreading lies about my mama?" Winter demanded. The girl who had confronted her stood behind Winter, silently chewing her gum.

Abby feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! You said that my mama is a witch!"

Abby stood up, her eyes never leaving Winters. Her stare made Winter feel odd, her gaze trained on her made her cheeks redden.

Abby didnt respond. Instead, she leaned over, her face level with Winters, and she... she kissed her.

Winter pushed away her thoughts. She didn't want to think about Abby right now, or what happened in the months after she shared her first kiss with the girl who spread lies about her mother. She didn't want to think about anything that involved her past life. Not the years she could remember before her mother died, nor the brief years after she passed. It was like pouring salt on an old wound: It didn't help anything at all.

Rolling over to her stomach, Winter sighed. Nothing could ever go the way she planned, and nothing she ever planned made her very happy. She was not in a winning situation, no matter which way she tried to look at everything.

Maybe she was just destined to not have a good life. Maybe she was destined to remain trapped in her own mind, without any hope of escape.

.....

The following morning, Winter woke up late. The sunlight beat down from her window and into her room, bathing it in a warm yellow light. It chased away any lingering shadows on her face, and brought her up from her comfortable sleep bubble... into reality. Harsh reality. She awoke with a frown, her full dainty lips curved downward in unpleasantness.

With a huff, she rolled out of bed and yawned. She took in the sweet silence of the house, pondering for a moment of if her dad was awake, but didn't want to say anything or let her and Spice know that he was up. Spice was no doubt still snoozing in bed. Him awake before noon on a Saturday morning was highly unlikely. He was probably still bunched up in a blanket, pillow over head, drool laying in a puddle on his mattress. She wished that she could stay asleep for so long, but knew that she wouldn't be able to. She had too much to do, too much on her mind. Her thought always managed to chase her awake, one way or another.

After brushing her teeth and scrubbing her face until it turned red, Winter raced downstairs to an empty kitchen. She grabbed the cereal box from over top of the fridge, the milk out of the refrigerator, and a bowl from the cabinet. She ate in silence. Saturday mornings were always silent.

She washed her dish and hummed to herself, trying to take her mind to a happy place. She thought of calling Kristopher and inviting him over, or going out to see a movie. Something, anything.

Something, anything?

What a rude thought. shouldn't she want to hang out with her best friend? He was worth more than a 'something anything'.

She took a seat and tried not to think. She was tired of trying not to think. She was tired of thinking. She was...tired. With a sigh, she picked up her cellphone off the table and pulled up Kristophers number. She only heard one ring before his cheery voice crackled to life in her ear.

"Good morning, Sweet girl."

She laughed. " Good morning, silly." she paused. "Plans for today?"

"Nope. Free as a bird."

She mentally thanked God he was available. If he would have said yes, she knew for certain that her day would be going from bad to worse.

"Want to do something?"

She heard the jingle of his car keys in the background. "I'm already on the way."

Hello all! Im really sorry about this long overdue update! Ive had a really bad case of writers block, but lm ready to move forward with my story and im more than motivated to continue Winter's tale. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Lots of love,

Essence