The Dark of the Night

Chapter One – The End of the Beginning

Stepping out of the building, Jennifer looked in awe at her surroundings. The sunlight dazzled her eyes, momentarily obscuring her vision, but still, she felt infinitely happy at the beauty of the world. Blinking several times, the sun-filled sky swam back into sight. How I’ve missed that sight, Jennifer thought. Directly in front of her lay a long stretch of fresh, green grass. Judging by the smell, Jennifer guessed that the grass had been cut only that morning. She took one tentative step forward, found it slightly difficult to step down from the curb surrounding the building she was leaving behind, but nonetheless continued placing one foot in front of each other until she could feel the springy softness of the green grass beneath her feet. Wanting to experience the feeling to its fullest, Jennifer deftly removed her feet from her shoes, immediately revelling in the sensation of the delicate blades of grass between her toes.
Suddenly, Jennifer lost her balance and stumbled, her feet slipping out from beneath her. Her right elbow hit the ground first, sending a not entirely unpleasant wave of shock to both her shoulder and her little finger. Laughing a little, Jennifer found herself askew on the fresh grass, dew immediately soaking into her light summer dress.
‘This is wonderful,’ she sighed. She turned her head to the left, and saw a dull, lifeless parking lot, half filled with similarly dull, lifeless cars. A slight chill ran down Jennifer’s spine, causing her to turn her head to the right instead. This view offered much more rewarding sights – a small coffee shop, dilapidated slightly but charming all the same; a laundrette from which a mother and child were exiting; a quaint shop peculiarly called ‘The Shop on the Straight’. A frown took over Jennifer’s usually serene features as she puzzled over this for a few moments. A fuzzy memory then came to her – the laundrette next to the shop had formally been a corner shop called ‘The Shop on the Corner’. She guessed this was the small town humour that had kept the neighbourhood so tight knit for such a long time. It had been a long time since she had seen this street however, and she shrugged her shoulders. A lot can happen in a long time, let alone a short time, she contemplated.
Jennifer lifted herself to her feet, noting that her arms were weaker since she had been inside. It’s time, she thought, and composing herself, she raised her eyes to the building where she had spent the last year. The red stone and delicate features gave off the wrong impression, she knew. From the outside, the Dream Research Centre looked state of the art yet homely, intellectual yet comforting. However, Jennifer knew different. Now isn’t the time for reminiscing, she reminded herself. You need closure. You need to tell yourself that you won’t end up back here. Never again. She steeled herself, flicked a swift finger up to the front doors – shocking a receptionist who was doing nothing more harmful than exiting the building – turned quickly on her heel, gathered up her shoes and marched away.
What Jennifer didn’t know, however, was that she would be back to this very place, and sooner than the doctors expected. What Jennifer didn’t know, however, wouldn’t hurt her. At least not yet.