Chapter 1 - Awareness

Chapter 1

Awareness

Matt opened his eyes panting. It took him a few seconds to steady his breath before he could see the clock on the cabinet beside his bed. The clock showed 2:38am. Taking another deep breath, Matt rubbed his eyes and got out of his bed. He strolled towards the window to see what was going on outside. Very few people dwelled in the sidewalks in that part of the city. A man and a woman walked across the street holding hands. The man was dressed in a fine dark tuxedo suit while a bright red turtle-neck sweater along with a close-fitting black skirt adorned the body of the lady beside him. The quiet neighborhood allowed Matt to hear the stamping of the lady's high heels, who seemed far from being capable of walking a straight line. Just fifty feet behind them, Matt saw a homeless man sleeping under a street lamp.

As Matt fell asleep again, his forehead suddenly touched the cold window glass. He shook his head instantly and stepped away from the window. After a while, when he regained his composure, he paced around the room, going back and forth from the window to the closet. Every time he faced the window, he could see the reflection of his messy hair and unshaved face. When he felt awake, he sat beside his desk and gazed at the white wall in front of him.

Matt saw his father climbing a ladder up to the roof. The boiler had broken down and Peter Greene couldn't bear hiring a professional. A man with golden hands like his must be the one to fix the boiler. Years of working as a carpenter made his hands not only golden, but also firm and gentle as one.

"Can you throw me a screwdriver?" Mr. Greene shouted down to his middle son.

"Which one, Dad?"

"The biggest you can find."

Matt grabbed a ten-inch screwdriver and sent it up to his father.

"I know you like to help your father fixing stuff around the house, Matthew," Mrs. Greene called from the kitchen's window wearing her pink baking apron. "But you have to do your homework."

"I'll do it later, Mom," Matt tried to wave her off.

"Finish your homework and I'll let you eat some of the cookies I've just baked."

Matt looked up at his father, then at his mother in the kitchen and back up again at his father on the roof. He sat on the ground waiting for further instructions from his father. They didn't come late.

"Son, I need you to bring me a towel from the bathroom. Quick. There is a major leak here."

Matt got up and ran inside. When he got to the bathroom he snatched the first towel he saw and went back outside. The sweet smell of his mother's cinnamon cookies dazzled him as he passed by the kitchen. I'll definitely do my homework later, he convinced himself.

Matt stood next to the ladder and rolled the towel into something that resembled a ball, at least in his mind. He tossed the towel up to his father, hoping he would catch it on his first shot. The second attempt was much more successful.

"What happened, son?" Mr. Greene asked all of a sudden as he was wiping the wet roof.

"Nothing Dad. Why?" the boy wondered.

"Oh, I thought that you'd brought me a blue towel because you feel that way."

Matt grinned. "Don't you ever get tired of these old, worn out things?"

"I guess not," Mr. Greene replied. "I don't get tired of myself, do I?"

The young boy laughed. "By the way, to make things clear, I took the first towel I saw in the bathroom."

"Okay. If you say so, I believe you."

Matt sat again on the ground with elbows on his thighs holding his head.

"Alright pal, tell Mom I finished fixing the boiler and all I have left is cleaning up the roof."

"Don't you need more help?"

"I can see what you're trying to do and it won't work," Mr. Greene understood his child's intentions. "You'll have to do your homework sooner or later."

"Darn," Matt showed his disappointment.

As Mr. Greene started bringing the roof back to its original shape, Matt took his time getting up and dragging his feet back into the house. His gloomy face made it clear that his battle was lost.

The moment Matt set his left foot inside the house, he heard a thump sound from outside. He ran back to the yard and saw his father lying motionless on the ground.

"Dad! Dad!" Matt shouted at his father, but his father stayed static on the ground. "Dad!" he tried once more before turning to someone else for help.

*

"Matt, wake up!" Brian called on his roommate. "Matt, you're having a nightmare, wake up."

Matt opened his jade eyes and kept mumbling. "What happened?" he asked, after Brian calmed him down.

"You were having a nightmare."

"That's the second one I had tonight. I don’t know..."

"Don’t worry," Brian cut him trying to cheer him up. "It doesn't mean anything. Sometimes people have several bad dreams in one night. Take it easy. I don't take my dreams too seriously, and so should you."

"But it came back to me how my dad fell of the roof fourteen years ago. It must mean something that I have it now."

"Have you thought about your father recently?"

"Not in particular. I remember that tonight I walked to the window after the first nightmare and the last thing I did before I saw my dad was staring at that tiny spot on the wall."

"Listen, Matt, I think it is better that you go back to sleep now," Brian tried to make Matt forget about his dream. "We'll talk about it in the morning."

Matt nodded.

"By the way, you slept with your desk light on all night."