Running Up That Hill

chapter four

The noise started to get more frequent and louder. "What's that sound?."

"It's Cindy, she's in my room." Andrea answers. "She's sleeping walking again."

Roger exhales through his nose and continues up the steps, skipping two at a time passing his daughter. He heads off to Andrea's bedroom.

He sees Cindy in the state of her sleep running into Andrea's oak closet. It wasn't rough but just enough to make that thumping sound.

"I've never seen her do this before." Andrea says once she's by her dad's side. Roger slowly walks up to Cindy putting his hand between her forehead and the closet doors she's banging her head against and slowly stopping her. "I know you told me not to wake her up if she gets like this."

"No, no, it's okay, just put her back to bed when it happens." Roger gets Cindy to stop and maneuvering her towards the door.

"Go back to bed, goodnight." Roger says softly whispering to Andrea leaving the room with Cindy.

Andrea closed her bedroom door once her dad and sister left leaving her stand there finding it weird of what just happened.

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"She's sleeping walking again?." Carolyn asks her husband.

The sound of the shower running as she was taking a quick rinse talking to Roger would was brushing his teeth.

"She hasn't done that for awhile." Carolyn shuts off the water and grabbing the towel wrapping it around herself as she gets out.

"She ended up in Andrea's room so it kind of freaked her out."

Roger notices another bruise on Carolyn but this time it's on her back, the one on her leg was purple and blue but now this one was brown and had a bit of a yellowish hue to it near her shoulder blade.

"Honey, you got another bruise here." Roger fingers brushed against her skin. "Does that hurt?."

Carolyn goes to the bathroom mirror looking to see the bruise. "That's weird." She checked the rest of her body for anymore. "Can you do me a favor and go see a doctor for that?."

"Yeah, I will, drive safe." Carolyn kisses Rogers lips as she bids him farewell.

Rogers grabs his gear to head for his semi truck, once out the door he notices a bird fly directly into the house like it was trying to kill itself.

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Carolyn sees her oldest daughters off to the school bus that picks them up right at the end of their driveway.

"Bye mom!."

"Love you!!."

The day was warm for it being autumn, Carolyn heads back inside to find her youngest, April. She didn't see her downstairs or anywhere until she her the faintness of her daughter talking upstairs.

Carolyn walks up the stairs heading to April's room and it sounds like April is talking to someone.

"Yes I do, I miss Sadie a lot."

"She was my best friend."

Carolyn slowly opens the door seeing her daughter talking to nothing but thin air. "Who you talking to sweetie.?"