A Girl of the Paper Sky Read Online Free PDF

if I was rude to your friends. Maybe I could have handled it better.”
    “They’ll get over it.” I saw that both had made themselves at home at a table of mostly guys. “In fact, it appears they already have.”
    He stared at his tray and I believe he was sorting some things out in his head. “Have we met before, Lori? Have you and I ever met before yesterday?”
    Now he stared at me, and to be honest, I felt a chill come over me.
    “No, I don’t think so,” I said.
    He stared some more. “I had a dream about you last night. Nothing sexy or anything, don’t get the wrong idea.”
    I stared back. “I won’t.”
    “You and I were walking together. We were…” he hesitated, “holding hands. We walked through a field on a sunny day. I think it was in the afternoon, but don’t ask me why.”
    Two students strolled by. He waited until they passed behind him. “It seemed so real, this dream. I remember every word you said to me. You were telling me I must be strong because something bad was going to happen soon. You said it would happen when I went away. And then.” Brian looked around him before he continued. “You told me about what happened to me when I was little, something I’d forgotten about, something no one else knew.”
    “The boy in the box!” I blurted out. “No, wait - it wasn’t a box. It was a refrigerator, and you got him out. I saw it happen. It came back to me in a dream last night. You were that boy, the boy who saved his life.”
    My dream from the night before came to me so vividly that I felt dizzy. “I was with you when you found him, at the edge of the woods at the back of your house. I remember pointing to the old rusty refrigerator lying on its side. I thought I heard a noise from inside it, but you didn’t, you didn’t hear anything.”
    Brian went to say something. I didn’t give him a chance. “I did know you when we were children, you were the Brian who lived up the street, the Brian who played by himself all the time.” I nodded my head with the realization that he was right, we had met before.
    “Lori.”
    “Yes.”
    “Listen to me for a second.”
    “Go on.”
    “Did you dream of us walking together in a field?”
    “No. I don’t think so.”
    “I need for you to be sure. Think about it.”
    I racked my brain. Nothing. I shook my head.
    Brian stood and picked up his tray. “Sorry if things got a little weird just now.” He started walking away.
    “Wait,” I said loud enough to draw a few stares. “We need to talk about when we knew each other, you know, when we were kids.”
    He hesitated and then turned to face me. “Lori, when I asked you if we had ever met, I wasn’t talking about when we were children. I meant at another time.”
    He threw me a weak smile. “I might have been mistaken.”
    “But when we were younger?”
    “Lori.” The weak smile vanished. “I didn’t have many friends back then, especially of the opposite sex. I would have remembered you.”
    “The refrigerator. The boy was locked inside. I know what I saw.”
    The hall bell rang. The distant look came over his eyes once more. “It took to the air. The breeze was strong and it flew. I chased after it, followed it, to the edge of the woods behind my house. An old rusty refrigerator lying on its side. I heard the voice then, faintly, and I pulled open the door. The boy tumbled out. He was younger than me.”
    “And he had red hair,” I added.
    Brian tilted his head. “Do you remember what he said, Lori? Do you?”
    “I remember. He said ‘Don’t tell my mommy. I promise I won’t do it again,’ See, I told you I was there. You weren’t alone. I was with you.”
    “Yes. I was wrong.” The faint smile had returned. “You were with me.”
    I stood, satisfied. “Still, this whole thing is quite strange. I guess we’ve both been having weird dreams lately, huh?”
    “I guess so,” he agreed.
    We were at the doorway to the hall and I had forgotten to ask him something.