THE CRYSTAL CUP - Chapter Twenty Four

 THE CRYSTAL CUP

Chapter Twenty Four

She was alone. Shrunken, hidden, frozen. Dread gripped her. What was she afraid of? She couldn't have, that's for sure. But whatever it was, it was terrifying. The mere rustling of its leaves made him shiver. The howling of the wind through the trees was frightening... a noise... a branch breaking... the hooting of an owl, in the distance... a shadow cast by the glare of the moon... everything was ghostly, everything it increased her dread, her feeling of abandonment... it was an irrational fear... but she had no way of controlling it... so, suddenly, in a rush, she ran into the woods, not worrying about stones , twigs, thorns...

During the run, Helena ended up tripping over a protruding root of a tree and fell to the ground, her face bruised by the foliage and stones scattered all over the ground... the acidic taste of wet earth and still warm blood spread through her mouth. She couldn't control herself and some tears of despair rolled down her face. But she managed to pull herself together quickly. She sat under the canopy of the tree where she'd stumbled and tried to listen for a sound, from anywhere... and all she got in return was deafening silence. No noise characteristic of the forest could be heard... just nothing... it was night, but still he couldn't hear the so desired night sounds... his heart seemed to want to jump out of his mouth, and to calm himself down, he began to hit the folds of her skirt with your fingertips. Her skirt was dirty, crumpled, Helena could see it even in the dim light. Her knee was hurt, her pulse was racing...she leaned back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes, trying to relax...even at night, Helena could sense the wild beauty of the place. If it weren't for the situation she was going through, she would have felt like she was in the true Paradise on Earth... she massaged her injured knee and couldn't contain the moan that escaped her lips. She tried to listen to the forest, and only that unsettling silence manifested itself... she did everything to calm down, she needed to calm down, because certain things do not exist, cannot exist. When you are a child, when you are five, six years old, everything is normal, the world is magical. But a grown woman, twenty-five years old, can't let herself be carried away by fantasies... but nevertheless, she was sure of what she saw... she knew she was in the middle of a nightmare, but the sensations were so vivid... the imaginary monsters of childhood shouldn't have the power to attack her, and yet...

Helena tried to get up, leaning on the tree, trying to regain her balance. She took a step, her foot hurt horribly, her knee was throbbing. But she knew she had to get out of there, because she heard a noise that didn't please her at all... at first it was just a weak noise, but it was increasing in intensity. She couldn't tell if it was fear that made her feel this way, but suddenly the night became darker, heavier.... her pulse began to accelerate again, a bad, bitter taste took over her mouth. Despite the pain she felt in her leg, she started to run, trying to escape what terrified her so much...

Her skirt caught on a branch, she yanked it violently and continued her escape. Her heel broke, causing her to fall to the ground again. She leapt to her feet in a flash, kicked off her shoes, threw them into the woods, and continued to run. The stones and sticks hurt her feet, but she kept on her escape... so...

A hideous creature appeared in front of her... eyes as red as embers stared at her... a semblance of laughter appeared in what would be the creature's face, and it extended its claws towards Helena... who jumped out of bed and he fell to the floor... sweat was pouring down his body... the girl was simply terrified...

Helena looks at the clock... three o'clock in the morning! Always the same time... always the same dream... she finds herself lost in a forest, a monster is chasing her... and she barely manages to carry out her intention... she always wakes up at the moment of the attack In the end... what would she have to do to get a peaceful night's sleep? Could her mother help her? No, that would be crazy... if she told her mother about her nightmares, she would surely end up being taken to a church and having to participate in all the novenas she thought necessary for Helena to regain her peace of mind... no, it was better talk to a psychiatrist... and then he decided that, as soon as daylight came, he would make an appointment...

As she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again... not while the fear of the nightmare was present in her soul... Helena went to the kitchen to prepare a lemon balm tea... she learned the recipe from her mother, because whenever she was nervous, afraid of something, I gave him this tea. She made it sweet, because that's how she liked it. She took a cup, began to slowly sip the drink, her eyes lost in infinity. Gradually he calmed down, but not enough to go back to bed. She decided that she would watch a movie, preferably one that had the gift of putting her back to sleep. He went to his bookshelf and chose the film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon"... the story of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare... and he knew that his sleep was assured, as he never spent more than fifteen minutes in front of TV screen when I decided to watch this story... there were other movies just as good, of course... "E La Nave Va" would be another option...

Helena settled on the sofa and covered herself with her favorite blanket... red, all decorated with flowers... this blanket had been with her since she was a little girl, from what her mother told her, it had belonged to her father when he was a child. , too... He put the teapot where the tea was on the coffee table and poured himself another drink. The film started to run and sleep came softly, little by little... He put the cup on the table, next to the teapot, covered himself completely and little by little his eyes were closing, and when he realized it, it was already gone. eight o'clock in the morning... My God, it was eight or eighty... or I woke up very early... and three o'clock really was very early... or I wasted time, waking up almost an hour after the store opened... .and she was one of the salespeople who did the opening... anyway, be patient... she would have to face the disapproving look of the manager... if only he let her work, since the delay would be long... she decided that it wouldn't do any good to dwell on it, so she called the store and explained the situation... as she had predicted, the manager had dismissed her from work... it wasn't any kindness since she was commissioned and if she didn't sell, she simply he wouldn't have a salary... Since those who don't have medicine are remedied, he decided not to cry over spilled milk and tried to call several psychologists, trying to schedule an appointment. It took a bit of work, but Helena finally got her booked, and best of all, her appointment was that afternoon anyway....