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"I-- I saw him die!" blurted Charlie.
"There, there," comforted Vera. "You just had a bad dream. Calm down,
and you'll feel better."
"But, I SAW it!" cried Charlie.
"With all this Wallace Shipley business," reasoned Vera, "it's no
wonder you're having nightmares."
By now, Charlie had calmed down enough to realize that she had, indeed, been dreaming.
"It was the most vivid dream I've ever had," said Charlie, still trembling.
"Those kinds of dreams happen," replied Vera. "I remember a dream
I once had about Arnold-- it was something about chickens," she said, her voice
trailing off, sleepily. "Are you going to be all right? Do you want to come
and sleep in bed with me?" asked Vera.
Charlie declined. After Vera was satisfied that she was all right, the old woman
returned to her bedroom.
The teenager climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on
her face. Before leaving, she caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her pale
face betrayed the greatness of the shock she had just been through.
"What an awful dream!" she thought.
The next day, when Adam called on the satellite phone, Charlie was on purpose NOT
to tell Adam of her nightmare. She didn't want to frighten him, for he had enough
things to deal with right now. But, at the end of the conversation, Adam made mention
of a private jet. The hair on the back of Charlie's neck stood on end.
"Bill says we're going to need the freedom a private jet can afford," Adam
was explaining. "To be able to take a flight at whatever time, at whatever airport
you need, is a great convenience that Bill and Gary thinks we'll greatly need. Besides,
it will mean I can land at the small Twin Yucca Airport, instead of commuting to
and from LAX every time I come back."
"Adam," began Charlie, apprehensively, "I had the most vivd dream
that I've ever had in my entire life last night. I wasn't going to tell you about
it, but when you mentioned the private jet, I knew I had to."
"What are you talking about?" asked Adam.
She related the dream, and waited for his response.
"I admit, it's a coincidence that we chartered the jet on the same night you
had the dream, but maybe that's all it is-- a coincidence," said Adam. "You
saw me on TV, at an airport, so you had an airplane dream," explained Adam.
"There was a lot of thunder," continued Charlie, trying to convince him
of the realness of the dream, "even though it was daytime."
"I'm afraid I agree with Vera," replied Adam. "You simply had a bad
dream. I've had nightmares before, but that didn't mean they came true."
Before Charlie could argue any further, Adam had to hang up. Maybe he was right.
Just because she had one bad dream, it didn't mean that it had to come to
pass.
Charlie slept through the next two nights without incident. However, just as she
was beginning to put it all behind her, the dream returned on the third night, more
vivid than before.
Again, Vera came running from her room, for Charlie had screamed her heart out.
"Grandma," cried Charlie, "this time I KNOW it was real! God is trying
to warn me about Adam! I've got to call him, right now!"
Vera looked at the time while Charlie dialed Adam on the satellite phone. It was
ten minutes after four a.m. in Twin Yucca, but in Chicago, it was after six o' clock
in the morning.
"I think his satellite phone isn't charged!" cried Charlie, trying the
number again. "I'm going to call Lisa, and see if she can warn Adam for me!"
"Yes," confirmed Lisa, Bill's secretary, "their chartered jet took
off at six o' clock, from Chicago Rex Field Airport. I was told that they're on their
way back to Twin Yucca, and should be there sometime today, after a refueling stop
in Arizona."
"Lisa," explained Charlie, "do you know for sure that Adam is on that
plane?"
"Not absolutely," replied Lisa, "but he's supposed to be." |
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