Yesterday is Tomorrow

Two pairs of eyes. One fleeing and the other in pursuit. One above, the other below. Crunching leaves and breaking trees turn into dirt and wind. A scuffle. A shrill scream. One looks to the sky, the other to the dirt. Darkness. One pair of eyes stares through the darkness.

I shoot up from my bed in a cold sweat. Moon light leaks through the curtains as I quickly look around my room. It was just a nightmare. A weird blurry one at that, but nightmares are always weird. I shoot up from my bed in a cold sweat. Sunlight leaks through the curtains as I quickly look around my room. It was just a nightmare. A weird blurry one at that, but nightmares are always weird. I look over to my alarm clock and it's about to go off in a few minutes, so I cancel the alarm and get dressed. I am already up so I might as well get ready for school a little earlier.

Just as I pour my cereal one of my moms walks into the kitchen while shuffling through her bag. I say good morning to her and she looks up.

" Good morning Mason. Why are you wearing your blue shirt? Isn't it the one with the hole in it?"

" Oh, yeah. Its ok though, the hole is pretty small, "

" Alright. Also have you seen my keys? "

" They're on the table next to the front door," I say, shoveling a spoonful of cereal into my mouth. She thanks me and gives me a kiss on the head on her way to the door. Just as she leaves my other mom rushes to the fridge and grabs her iced coffee before we exchange good mornings.

" Honey, why are you wearing your red shirt? I thought you didn't like it, " she says while putting on her shoes. "Ah, nevermind I'm going to be late. Have a nice day at school" she says before I can even respond and rushes out the door. I finish the rest of my cereal quickly, grab my backpack and head out the door.

The bus arrives on time like it normally does and once I take my seat I shuffle through my bag to pull out my earbuds. Once I find them I plug them into my phone and start listening to music. I shuffle through my bag to pull out my earbuds but find nothing. Dang it, I left them on my desk. I guess I have to settle for looking out the window. At the next stop a kid listening to music on his phone(lucky)rushes to the bus;being very obviously late; and sits at the back.

After a very boring bus ride I start walking to class when suddenly footsteps start rapidly approaching me.

" Heyyyyyyy Mason! " Jaxx says as he leaps into a brief half hug. Jaxx is a good friend of mine, but I'm a little confused why he's walking to class with me.

" Hey man, good to see you. But don't you usually walk to first period with William? Is he giving you the cold shoulder again? "

" Yeah, you know how he is. Anyways let's get to math class before the teacher yells at us for being late, "

" Heyyyyyyy Mason! " Jaxx says as he leaps into a brief half hug. Jaxx is a good friend of mine, but I'm a little confused why he's walking to class with me.

" Hey man, good to see you. But don't you usually walk to first period with William? Is he giving you the cold shoulder again? "

" Yeah, you know how he is. Anyways let's get to history class before the teacher yells at us for being late, "

The second bell rings and everyone is finishing settling into their seats when the teacher stands at the front of the room, holding a stack of papers.

" Alright class, I've finished grading your tests on the Industrial Revolution. When I call your name, come up and take your test. Remember; no comparing grades and no sharing answers with other classes, " Mr.Birch starts calling names and eventually gets to mine. I stand up to take my test and go back to my seat. Geez, could've done better. Maybe it would be worth studying next time; though, in all honesty I probably won't.

I look up from my paper, but I'm no longer in my classroom. I'm peeking out from behind a wall, eavesdropping on two people talking. It's muffled and my visions a little blurry, but I can just make out what they're saying.

" Pack your things, we are leaving tonight, " an old looking man with fading orange hair says.

" But father! Is it not our duty to look after these people? How could you make us run away like cowards! " argues a young woman with vibrant orange hair.

" My dear, it is too late for this town. We've kept the evil at bay for many years but it appears this time we are too late. If you want to help then you won't be so senseless as to throw away your life for a dying horse, " the young woman sighs and looks in my direction and our eyes meet.

" Mason… Mason…MASON! "

" Wha…huh..? " I'm back in my classroom again.

" Come up and take your test, you're delaying class time, " Mr.Birch says sternly. I come up, take my test and sit back down. Did…didn't I already take this back? What's going on? Suddenly the bell rings and Mr.Birch dismisses us. Didn't class just start? I mean, I dislike school as much as the next guy but this isn't right. Nonetheless, I follow my classmates out the door and we are in a completely different wing. Before I can even think though, a crowd of students push me around the corner of the hallway as they hurry to their next class. By the time everyone has completely dispersed I realize I'm sitting in the cafeteria next to my friends. They're talking about something that happened during a previous class.

"...and Mason said 'I know you are but what am I?' but it had no effect!" Jaxx said.

" What…what are you talking about? That never happened," I say. Jaxx looks at me confused.

"Uhm, yeah, it did. It was during bio, you know, literally last period,"

"What? No. we just had history," Jaxx gives me a weird look, like I've gone insane or something.

"That…was first period. Look, it's fine man, you don't have to act all weird because you came up with a lame comeback," I need to get out of here. Somethings wrong!

I get up from the table and run out of the cafeteria. I think Jaxx is saying something but I can't hear him. There's a swarm of crows and they all rapidly fly past me. Inside turns into outside and back again and buildings appear and disappear. The sky turns into ceiling and ceiling turns into sky.

What the hell. What the hell!

I trip over a stone fountain and when I get back up it's gone. The conversation between the old man and the young woman echo through my head along with incessant whispering.

Shut up! Shut up! Get out of my head!

Everything begins to melt together as the voices get louder and louder.

A sound cuts through the noise. I turn to look and see bright headlights.

Finally. Quiet.