Read Online Pieces of Hope by Carolyn Carter - Free Book Online Page A

glass just as several
travelers passed straight through it. I was so excited I could hardly breathe.
I was going to see Ethan! I—But how?
    “All you
have to do is get in line, wait your turn—no butting,” she reminded me, as if I
would do such a thing. “After you walk up the steps of the bus, drop your coin
in the slot, then walk straight down the aisle.”
    “And
then what?” I was fixated on the tiny wings fluttering above the open door of
the very shiny and silver, flat-nosed bus.  
    “Think
of Ethan. You’ll enter directly into his dream.”
    My
stomach drew up into a knot. “And I’ll be Ethan? Or myself?”
    Creesie frowned, then smiled. “Why yourself, of course,”
she said, still smiling. “Why would you ask?”
    “Just
nervous,” I told her. And I was. Every worst-case scenario I could imagine came
to mind. There had to be a catch. There was always a catch. “What if I take a
wrong turn and end up on Mars?” I groaned.
    Creesie chuckled. “Just watch with me a minute.”
    Sure
enough, it was just as she had said. Passengers walked through the open door of
the idle bus, up the three steps, down the aisle—and vanished!
    “Oh,
there is one little thing . . .” Creesie’s smile
drifted, her pleasant tone turning somber. “Remember that while you have
separated from your body, the same isn’t true for Ethan. Almost no harm can
come to you. But for the visited, that isn’t the case.”
    Ethan
and harm and visited swirled in my head. Though I tried to look calm, my heart
was pounding out a new rhythm. I could hear it thumping wildly in my chest.
    Creesie took a deep breath, and though I hadn’t any idea of
what she was about to say, the hair on the back of my neck rose in
anticipation. “When we visit, the living are actually closer to the place where
we dwell—that is to say, a bit closer to the Station—rather than the world
where they dwell. That said, I would caution you to take care that nothing
happens to Ethan during your visit. If it did . . .”
    Her
voice trailed off, but I heard the rest of the sentence in my head.
    “There
would be repercussions when he woke?” I winced. Just the idea of causing Ethan
pain gave me a physical reaction. “But won’t he just be dreaming? Surely, no
one can be harmed from a dream!”
    “Not
from your average dream, no.” Creesie took my hands
in hers. It slowed my pounding heart. “But this isn’t merely a dream, Hope.
It’s a soul-to-soul visit.”
    I shook
my head. This couldn’t be happening. Here was the dreaded catch.
    “Because
you’ve physically separated from your body, your soul will be visiting Ethan’s
soul. Unlike dreams, a soul-to-soul visit will make perfect sense. It’s
sequential and highly detailed—the colors, the scents, the sounds—the way it
makes you feel. It’s so vivid that the dreamer will believe it’s real.” She
smiled, edging into my thoughts. “And that’s because it is real. We may reside on another plane of existence a dimension or
two outside of the living realm, but without question, this world is real . . .
As real as love or hope or joy. As real as you or me . . .”
    Great!
Other than getting there and back, I now had a million other worries. What
exactly was this world’s definition of harmful? If Ethan were injured during my
visit, what would be the consequences when he awoke? Other possibilities loomed
in my mind—and I cringed. Could he die? Was that possible? Then again, as Creesie had made abundantly clear, nearly anything was
possible here.   
    More
questions than answers collided in my thoughts, but before I could ask any of
them, a pair of small but strong hands shoved me through the glass. “Your
mother was right about one thing,” Creesie said
cheerily from the other side. “You worry too much!”
    She was
talking about life and death—Ethan’s! Of course, I was worried!
    Creesie shooed me with her hands. Her effervescent smile
returned. “Go on now! And try to have a