A Witch's Curse Read Online Free PDF Page A

on both roles, an emotional act of high wire balancing described as being anything but effortless.
    “ I had an awful dream last night,” he said in between bites.
    So did she, of course, so it was hard for her to take sympathy in the fact that her father had a nightmare. Deep down she could not help but wonder if it was as bad as having one which detailed being trapped in a hotel which was burning down, to wake up back in the real world. That is to say, at the very center of a graveyard.
    “ What happened in it?”
    “ It was not so much what happened when I was sleeping. When I woke up, I had the searing sensation that someone hit me in the face. That’s not normal, is it?”
    She gave him a look of concern, more for his level of intelligence than predicament.
    “ Don’t worry,” he said. “It wasn’t aggressive, it was more like a dog’s paw scraping against my nose. It was still an odd feeling.”
    “ Maybe it was a ghost trying to come in contact with your dreamscape before you woke up,” Rose said.
    “ Is that supposed to be a joke?”
    “ Kind of.”
    “ Oh. Well. That’s. Funny.” After the two moments of silence which followed had passed, she felt this was an inappropriate comment. “I mean, that’s way weird.”
    Rose ate her cereal, thinking about confessing to Damian everything that had happened. Telling one of the closest people in her life that she was a sleep walker was the worst thing she could think of. Her Dad would not react well to the dysfunction of such an ailment, and would put bars over her windows and a heavy steel lock to keep the entranceway fastened. He would be well intentioned, but that scenario was not something she needed to see come to life.
    Besides, the reasons behind her night promenades were too personal to share with anyone at this point. Even if she could not figure out what they were just yet.
    Her father picked up a newspaper from the center of the table. He had always strived to keep up with current events.
    Though he was one of the most well natured men Rose could ever hope to meet, let alone be fathered by, he had an odd and more or less morbid interest in scientific news reporting the new ways in which humanity could meets its demise.
    He could converse about the likelihood of an ecological collapse as a result of global warming, and combine it with a high dosage of statistical theories describing imminent destruction of the earth’s populace by an asteroid in a few short years from now, and while throwing out these apocalyptic and macabre details, would have no issue with finishing his mashed potatoes.
    “ Look at the name of the idiot running for mayor. Karen Chesterfield.”
    It was then he bowed his head in slight shame. Even though they both had an equal level of contempt for the second parent, there was still that inherent sense of expected admiration men and women, boys and girls of all ages, are supposed to feel for a Mom. Even though they lacked respect for her, most days they at least pretended to try and act as if she was not as contentious as she had been in their past.
    “ At least it’s not Karen Lynch,” Rose said.
    “ Sorry,” he began.
    “ Don’t be.”
    “ Got it,” Rose said, sitting up and taking a hold of her purse. She kissed her Dad on the cheek and made way to the door. “I’ll see you later.”
    “ You forgot one thing.”
    She turned around, and he lifted up an arm. It was a millisecond before she saw him throwing her car keys in the air. She caught them and smiled in thanks. He did not take his eyes off her, nor did he even concentrate on the paper or his breakfast.
    By the look in his eyes, Rose could tell that he was suspecting her of keeping a secret.
     
    She parked in front of the school, making sure to lock her doors after seeing a group of kids who looked as if they had all just escaped from a prison riot passing by her vehicle. She got out and began approaching the building, before finding out she was early. Most