Concern

"Juri, honestly," her mother said matter-of-factly, whirling on her feet with a bowl of eggs in one hand and a spatula in the other, "I don't know why I even bother."

"You don't need to, mom," Juri answered non-committedly.

She wasn't exactly sure what her mother didn't know why she was bothering with, but she wasn't asking.

Some questions were better left unanswered. She glanced up at her mother, as if to confirm what she already knew to be true, and saw her mom's eyes deepening with concern.

"Oh, honey, again?" She asked, most of the scolding in her voice replaced with concern.

"Yeah, I guess," Juri sighed, "it's okay. Not that big of a deal."

"But it is, baby. It is a very big deal. I think you should see a doctor."

"And tell him what? That I'm having nightmares? He'll tell me to drink a glass of warm milk and send me on my way," Juri shot back, really struggling now to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"No, Juri," her mother answered with exasperation, "you don't just tell him that you're having nightmares. Tell the good doctor that you're awake all of the time. You tell him that it's every single night."

"But it's not every night," Juri said.

Rather defensively, too, although if pressed she couldn't have said why. It wasn't like her mother was accusing her of anything, or if she was, it was nothing that wasn't true.

Her mom, who didn't need to be told this, rolled her eyes. Her level of exasperation raised right along with Juri's level of obstinacy.

If she was being objective, Juri could understand why. Her mom was very loving, and her father, too, but most parents didn't love having their grown daughter come back to live with them once they were finally empty nesters.

For a visit or two, sure; that was something most sets of parents craved. But to live? To come back home and stay after already moving out, and seemingly for good? Nuh-uh. Not so much. It wasn't like she was enamored with the idea, either. She'd had a life before.

It might not have been much, not anything for other people to envy, but it had been hers. There had at least been a place she could call her own, even if the little studio apartment had only been a rental.

At least she'd had space that, while the rent check got delivered on time, she could do pretty much whatever she wanted. But that was all before the dreams. Before the dreams started and then got too bad to bear.

"It is, Juri," her mom said quietly. Completely unaware of Juri's mental trip down memory lane, "It's every night. You forget a person can hear everything in this house. Your father and I can hear the sounds of your troubled sleeping, and we hear you when you wake up."

"Gee, that's not creepy at all," Juri laughed, trying to lighten the mood a little. All it took was a glance at her mom's face, however, to see that the effort was pointless. Her Mom could be a bit like a Pitbull when she got onto a subject and Juri, and her well-being was one of the topics that triggered her the most.

Juri could see the range of emotions her mother went through while she lowered herself into one of the kitchen chairs and slid her a cup of tea.

As far as Juri was concerned a heaping pot of coffee would have been exponentially better than even the best kind of tea but beggars couldn't be choosers. She brought the tea up to her lips, blowing across its hot surface.

Relishing the anticipation of the first sip sliding merrily down her throat. When she caught a look at her mother watching her, she set the cup straight down again.

"What is it, mom? Why are you looking at me that way?" She asked.

Her mom countered. "You're just such a lovely girl, Juri. Do you know that?" She paused then continued. "Don't you know how beautiful you are?"

Juri shifted uncomfortably at her mom's words. This was another one of those conversations the two of them had had time and time again, and she was no more okay with it now than she had been the first time.

Mrs. Davis wasn't the sort of a woman to pay false compliments. She would never tell Juri her looks were anything to talk about if she didn't think it was true. Objectively speaking, Juri supposed her mother was right.

Juri hovered right around the perfectly ordinary height of five foot four, but her height was the only thing average about her. Her skin was clear and the pristine color of milk. Her wide, tawny gold eyes peered out at the world from beneath the fringe of dark bangs, which sat at the crown of a head full of thick brunette hair cascading down her slim back.

She was beautiful and in the beginning, back when she was still a little girl, her mother had talked to anyone who would listen about how many suitors her beautiful daughter would have.

By the time Juri reached middle school, though, the comments dwindled, and by now they were completely non-existent. She might have been beautiful, but Juri was what kind people liked to refer to as an oddball. Less kind people had called her much less friendly names.

She had been careful to keep her almost debilitating dreams to herself, but she knew that they only made her seem stranger. That was part of why it was so important that the day went well. A recluse was one thing Juri had no interest whatsoever in becoming.

"Tell me, Juri," her mother broke in once again, "tell me that you won't be going today."

"Are you kidding?" Juri asked, genuinely surprised by the question.

"Well, no, of course, I'm not kidding. With so little sleep you can't possibly think it's a good idea. What kind of impression are you going to make at a job interview when you look the way you do?" responded Juri's mom.

Her mom was working herself up with every word delivered, and yet it took Juri a minute to find a way to make herself speak. The prospect of her mom blasting off into the orbit of her anxiety was what finally got her to speak up for herself.

"It's not an interview, mom. It's a training thing. Like, an orientation, I think," Juri said as patiently as she could manage.

For all of the interest shown in her life, Juri's mom seemed to have a mighty difficult time listening to the details of her daughter's life.

Juri would have thought her mom would be happy at the prospect of her momentarily stalled daughter getting back into the job market.

Instead, she was acting like she wanted to keep going right along with their new version of normal.

Well, nuts to that. Juri wasn't going to get used to it, and she didn't want to. She didn't want to go back to the way things had been before the dreams started ruining her life, either.

She wanted to craft for herself a life that looked completely new, and she was convinced, utterly convinced, that the job on the cruise ship was the first step in achieving that goal.

"Honey, really," her mom went on, unable to see the conviction building in Juri's heart, "I'm not sure it's best. You look so tired, baby. Maybe you should just take a little bit more time and store up on your rest."

"I appreciate the concern, Mom. I do."

"Good," her mom said quickly, the relief in her voice impossible to miss, "it's settled, then."

"It is. I'm going. I'm going, and I'll tell you all about it when I get home."