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Jack lay in bed struggling for breath, his heart was beating like a drum and his chest felt like a pin cushion. H e was having an asthma attack.
He pulled his duvet over his head; he felt it would protect him. H screamed as loud as he could, he felt the shout echoed in his own ears.
His father raced up to stairs bringing the nebulizer with him, he placed the mask over Jacks sweat-covered head. Jack took big breaths as the steroids came to his aid.
A sigh of relief was clearly evident between father and son.
“You have to stop doing this to me Jack, day after day it’s the same carry on, its your fear that is provoking these attacks, you need to control your fear and stay strong.”
“I can’t dad” Jack replied, “There is something out there, I know it!”
“This is ridiculous, there is nothing else in this house but me and you, its obvious you must have been dreaming now get a grip!” replied his father.
“Mum would believe me!” Jack cried
“She would have had the same opinion as I have”
Bill began to stare at the floor, stuck for words; he began to head for the door slowly with his back to Jack.
“I really miss her Dad, it’s not the same when she is gone” he cried.
“Mum has gone to a better place, a place where no illness can get her. Even though she is not with us in body she is with us in spirit and we need to accept that, we need to remember her for how she was.
Now time for sleep, school tomorrow, Goodnight.
Jack lay in bed thinking about his mother; the way in which she smiled, the fun they had enjoyed together and the smile that she put on his dad’s face, he had not seen that smile in a while and it was painful for him to see.
He wanted to help his father but he couldn’t, nothing he could ever say would make it better. He remembered the day when his father had sat him down and explained to him that mummy wasn’t well. His mother over the next few months had begun to fade away, the ever – present smile that was once there had turned into a complexion of exhaustion and pain, her mind was fully – functional but her body wasn’t and Jack knew all to well that his mother would not be with him any longer.
H e did not see his mother pass away but he sensed it in his mind, as if something had been taken from his mind, by the time his father had made it to him he had already sensed that she had gone.
Jack woke up the next morning after a reasonably good sleep, his father woke him up and got him ready like always and it was of to school for a another day of fun and games.
When he returned from work his father was not in, he had been kept behind at work on a project so Jack was left in alone with his neighbours being the so-called “minders”
He decided to go to his bed early in the hope that he would sleep fully without any disruptances, he read three chapters of his favourite book and drifted of to sleep.
He woke up in the pitch black, he was freezing and began to shiver violently and his head ached badly, remembering his father’s plea to stay strong he battled the frightening emotions drifting into his mind.
Creak…..Creak…..the footsteps had arrived, it was slow simultaneous steps on the elderly wooden floor, he panicked, pulling the duvet over his head he let out a short cry and felt the tears running down his cheeks and onto his knees up against his chest.
He sensed something around him standing right beside him. He felt his breath slip away from him and his lungs tighten, this was truly a nightmare, unfortunately for Jack it was a nightmare which he would have to experience for real.
He began to wheeze and fell into a state of pure agony, he tried to scream but nothing came out.
His eyes faded out and through closed eyes he saw his life flash before his eyes, from the first birthday that he could remember to the first day at school and to the death of his mother.
When Jacks eyes opened he was standing at the doorstep of his house, the door was ajar and the house was filled with an eerie mist that surrounded the rooms. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, his father was no where to be seen.
