This Must Be A Dream…

"Hey…" the gentle voice whispers to me. I can feel the small hands grasping my shoulder, shaking my slightly.

"Hey," it continues. I blink a few times until my eyes open completely, staring into the mossy eyes of Sapphire Williams.

I must be dreaming. I just woke up to the most beautiful, intelligent girl on the planet.

But I'm not. Slowly, I remember the events that occurred yesterday. Everything from Vicky and I breaking up to me dashing out to sea to save Sapphire to boarding up the windows of the old shack. That must be where I am now.

Sapphire smiles sweetly when my eyes open. "You're awake. Finally."

I nod weakly and sit up. I must've drifted off against that TV stand. I have no idea how I could fall asleep with the nosy storm rampaging just outside.

Just now I notice how incredibly dark it is in the room. Sapphire is visible since she's so close, but everything else is utter darkness.

"How long was I out?" I ask.

Sapphire shrugs and says, "It must be around 11 now."

"11?"

She nods. "PM."

I shake my head. Is she serious? No way could I have slept for over eleven hours! But she must be telling the truth. Outside is completely dark with the clouds overhead, even darker than earlier.

"How'd I stay asleep that long?"

Sapphire laughs and says, "You know, swimming is the most demanding type of exercise. It requires you to get your entire body moving. Your little rescue mission must not have been easy this morning. Your body needed a serious rest."

I can't help my goofy grin as I say, "Well, aren't you a little smarty pants?"

She smiles back and says, "I do a lot of reading."

I glance around the room, but I can't make anything out except a few streams of light pouring in from the holes of the boarded up window. My stomach growls a little, but I'm not hungry enough to want to waste the little food supply we have.

"Thanks for that, by the way."

"Thanks for what?"

"Saving my life. If you hadn't followed me, I would've drowned out there."

I smile a cocky smile. "I guess that makes me your hero."

Sapphire bursts out laughing. Whether it's because my line worked or because I'm a complete idiot is beyond me. But still, it's nice to see her laugh.

With the help of Sapphire, I stand and try to feel my way around the room. I was trying to save it's battery, but I decide I'll need my phone's light to maneuver around. I pull it out of my still soaked jeans and slide my finger across the touch screen. I go into the 'settings' menu and turn the brightness up to full blast.

A small gasp comes from Sapphire. I whirl around to face her, thinking something's wrong. "What is it?" I ask.

"Nothing… it's just… your phone still works?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, this thing cost my parents a fortune. It better be waterproof."

Sapphire nods, showing that she understands, but she approaches me. "Oh yeah, your that rich kid, right?"

I finally remember that we haven't officially met. Idiot, I think.

Outstretching my hand, I say, "Blake Cunning. Nice to finally introduce myself."

"Sapphire Williams." She shakes my hand.

I nod and shine my phone around the room. I finally find the corner that houses the various packed boxes. I've only checked one of them.

"Let's see if we can find a flashlight," I say. Sapphire agrees and follows me over to the boxes. I kneel down and wave my light over the box I already searched for the hammer. I push aside some of the kids' toys until an idea comes to me.

I press random buttons on random toys until one of them gives off a faint light. I scoop it up. The light doesn't radiate much, but it'll do.

"Here," I say, handing Sapphire the toy. "Go search the kitchen drawers."

"Alright."

She holds out the toy in front of her and starts feeling her way to the kitchen.

I continue to rummage through the box until I realize there's really nothing in it. I pull out the blanket, thinking it might come in handy at some point. The rest of the stuff in there is toys, so I shove that aside and grab the next box. This one is much heavier.

There's a loud BANG from behind me. I'm about to run over and investigate when Sapphire says, "I'm okay!" She probably ran into something.

It's hard to see, even with my phone, but I manage to see some of the things in the box. Most of them are wrapped in newspaper. The few that aren't wrapped look like old knick-knacks.

Just before I decide that the box is useless, my hand touches something smooth. I pull it out and examine it. It looks like those old fashioned battery-powered radios.

"I wonder…"

I hit the power button, but nothing happens. Figures. I find the battery slot and pop the lid off. I pat it against my hand until two batteries fall out, completely out of juice.

Still, the radio could come in handy. I put all the knick-knacks back in the box and shove it next to the kids' toys.

"Found some!" Sapphire shouts delightfully. I hear her scurry back into the room. There's another loud bang and she says "Ow. Still okay."

She finds her way back to me and shows me her loot. One medium-sized flashlight with no batteries and one tiny one that's connected to a keychain. The keychain one works for some strange reason.

"I'll take that one," I say. I hook the keychain onto my belt loop.

"This one's out of batteries though," Sapphire says.

"No problem."

I grab the toy that Sapphire used as a light and find that there are two batteries in it. "Score!" I say. We both grin as I pop them into the flashlight and it turns on, giving off such a bright light, I have to cover my eyes.

"Save it for later," I say. "We don't want to waste the power."

We turn off all our light sources. I guess sitting in the darkness for a few hours won't be so bad.

We both crawl around on the floor like idiots before finding the couch. I sit down first, followed by Sapphire. I tap my foot and mess with my thumbs nervously. What do I do now?

"I guess we don't really know each other yet, huh?" I ask.

"Not really."

"Alright then, let's play the question game!" I suggest.

I can't see her, but I assume Sapphire looks confused. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's really easy. I ask you a question and you have to answer, but end with another question."

"Ok, sounds easy enough. You go first."

I think for a second. What do I ask without sounding like a creeper? "What do you like to do?"

"Easy," she says. "I like to read. I like things like history, but world history, not American. Our country is so boring. Um… I like to run a lot too. And that's it."

"You have to end with a question."

"Oh! Right. Uh, what do you like to do?"

"Well, I play basketball and hockey. I like science and math, but English is pointless to me. I mean, we al know how to read and write! So, are you into sports?"

"Me? Well, they're fun to watch, but I'm really clumsy, if you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed."

"Right. What's your home like?"

I fidget awkwardly. I never like talking about my home, especially how rich I am. I'd rather just be… you know, average. Everyone's always asking me for stuff.

"It's nice. Big house, lot's of stuff. Nice parents. What about you?"

"Oh, you know, there's always a lot of kids around… What's your favorite color?"

I can't help but notice how she changed the topic that quickly. I shake it of and say, "Green. It stands out. You?"

"Blue. It reminds me of the ocean. Do you like the ocean?"

"Well, I like to swim if that's what you mean. You like to swim?"

"I can't."

"Really?"

"Yeah, no one's ever bothered to teach me."

"Well maybe I could teach you sometime."

"That'd be nice."

"Whose turn was it?'

"I can't remember…"

We both laugh and decide to just end the game there. Despite my long slumber, I'm still tired. Sapphire must've been right about swimming taking away all your energy. I let out a long yawn and say, "Maybe we should get some more rest."

"Alright," Sapphire says. "I'll see you in the morning. Well, you know, hopefully then I'll actually be able to see you."

"Night." I say.

"Night."

I rest my head on my end of the couch's armrest and Sapphire does the same. The storm outside is still extremely loud, but I manage to fall asleep.

This time, I'm the first to wake up. Light is pouring steadily through the cracks in the boarded windows and I can actually make out the furniture in the room. I pull out my phone and see that it's 8 in the morning. Man, I can really sleep when I want to.

I hardly even notice that Sapphire has her head rested on my chest. I grin. Can this really be happening? I've been crushing on this girl forever, and now she's sleeping with me?

Oh God. She's sleeping with me. Is that wrong? I'm a teenager!

Somehow I must've woken her up because her cute green eyes flutter open and she stares at me with a smile on her face. But the smile quickly fades.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to… I mean, I must've shifted in my sleep or something."

She sits up straight, but I say "Oh, uh, it's fine."

We sit awkwardly for another minute or so. I scan the room again. The storm outside seems to e settling down a little, but it's still loud as ever. Thankfully, my clothes are pretty much dry from our little swim yesterday.

The radio sitting in the corner catches my eye.

"Oh!" I exclaim. "I almost forgot!"

"What?" Sapphire asks as I stand and rush over to the radio. "Wait, you found a radio and didn't tell me?"

"Sorry, it slipped my mind. Hand me your flashlight."

We switch out the batteries from the flashlight and put them in the radio. Thankfully, it still works. I get a lot of static when I try adjusting the station, but Sapphire takes it and quickly finds one that's covering the damage in the U.S.

After an hour of listening to the conditions of the country, which aren't good, the broadcaster gets to the topic of Florida.

"Florida is getting hammered here," the man on the radio says. "Storms have been rampaging throughout the entire state. A few deaths are already confirmed and several people are missing. We ask everyone to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary. Here's a list of missing people followed by their ages."

Sapphire and I glance at each other, then focus our attention back to the radio. They seem to be going from youngest to oldest since the first person missing is a four-year-old boy.

We wait patiently to hear our names, even though we know we are technically missing. A lot of people are on the list, some of them probably dead. The man finally gets to the teenagers and I listen closely. A few names I recognize, but none of them are close to me.

"Blake Cunning, fifteen," the man says. For some reason, I'm relieved the man said my name. It reminds me that I'm still a part of the outside world.

Strangely, the list moves right along to sixteen-year-olds, skipping Sapphire. It continues climbing the age ladder until it stops at a woman who's sixty-four.

"Your name wasn't on there," I say as I turn off the radio, preserving battery power.

Sapphire does nothing else but shrug. "I guess no one cared enough to file a report."

"What? How could someone-"

"I live in an orphanage, Blake," she says, looking at the floor. "My parents died while I was a small child."

Call my an idiot, but I press her on. "How?"

"They drowned."

Drowned. She can't mean… I think about how she was so determined to get to the beach we're on now. Why had it been so important to her? Why did she have to risk her life to get here?

She senses what I'm feeling and takes a deep breath.

"Yeah, my parents drowned in these waters."

:'( Poor Sapphire. It's so sad… Alright, so remember to review! :D