(Un)wise Read Online Free PDF Page B

school.  Exams were in a few weeks.  I’d skipped so much school my grades were in the gutters.  I had enough credits to graduate at semester if I passed my current class load.  If I went back now and asked for help, I could still do it.  Maybe.  I’d probably still end up in a padded room for a while.  But, the details of the dreams, and my ability to recall everything—touch, taste, smell—bothered me.  It seemed so real.  What if all those feelings were memories?  If I went back home, would I be setting myself up for another non-choice...where I sacrificed myself?
    With a sigh, I flipped back the covers and got out of bed.  No matter what I chose, I needed to get dressed first.  Padding across the carpet, I stepped into the bathroom to check my clothes.  Dry, but stiff.
    Dressing slowly, I mulled over my options.  Home called to me.  I had very little money left and nowhere to go.  But I needed to be sure.  I didn’t want to go back and bring trouble with me.  This was a big enough town.  I could find a job and wait out a few weeks.  See if the dreams got better.
    Gripping my jeans to pull them up, I felt a crinkle in the front pocket.  Odd.  I hadn’t felt anything when I washed them.  Something dug into my hip when I tugged them up the rest of the way.
    I reached into the pocket, and my fingers brushed something. Hard plastic.  I dug deeper. Paper.  A chill swept through me as I wrapped my hand around the items and pulled them out.  I stared at the five neatly folded hundred dollar bills, a note, and a cell phone lying in my open palm for a moment before I instinctively dropped them on the tan bathroom tile.  Nothing was mine.
    The hand wiping the tear from my face...
    Icy fear pierced my stomach, and I sat heavily on the toilet seat.  With shaking fingers, I tentatively picked up the note.  Each crackle as I unfolded the hotel stationary sent a shiver down my spine.  The paper had nothing on it but a phone number.  No.  No way!  How had he found me again?  Could it be the same guy?  I crumpled the paper and threw it in the garbage along with the phone.
    The dreams.  People chasing me.  It wasn’t in my head.  I stared at the solid proof that it was real.  I couldn’t go back home.  I needed to keep running.  Move.  I eyed the money.  I wasn’t about to use the phone to call that number, but the money...I’ll be taking that, thank-you-very-much!
    Wasting no time, I gathered my things.  At least, I’d showered and slept.  Looking around to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything, I spotted stationary on the bedside table.  The pen lay beside it.  Lifting the pad to the light, I saw the indentations of the phone number that had been in my pocket.  Of course, I already knew someone had been in my room but seeing the used pad of paper gave me the shakes again.
    Run!
    I didn’t look back.

Chapter Three
    When I stepped outside the hotel, the chilled air slapped some sense into me; and I schooled my terror-filled expression.  I couldn’t doubt myself any longer. Not even slightly.  The dreams had continued after my discovery for a reason.  I had lifetimes of wisdom in me.  I just needed to remember it all.  Remembering would help me survive.  But to remember, I needed a safe place to sleep...I needed a lot of it.  Where though?  A public place would be good.  A place where moaning in my sleep wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary.  Somewhere low cost.  A homeless shelter?  I’d never been to one in real life and hoped they offered beds like in the movies.
    Decided, I hailed a cab.  The driver let me know about an overflow shelter where I’d have the best luck in winter months.  After showing the cabbie I could pay, he took me there but dropped me off a few blocks away.  I didn’t think it would look good if I arrived there in a taxi.
    I managed two nights before I admitted to myself I’d made the wrong decision.  All of the dreams—each