Chapter One

Isabella had that same dream again, she struggled earnestly on the bed trying to force herself out of her sleep.

The rain poured down heavily that night, it was also accompanied by a strong wind. The whole streets were empty, and the doors of every house were shut. No one was seen walking along the street.

Isabella found herself standing in the middle of the road, she stood confused trying to figure out how she got to where she was. In the process of trying to remember what brought her to where she was, a truck ran past her with great speed. She found herself running after the truck when she saw it run over a young man.

"Stop, stop." Her voice was shallow and shaky. She tried calling out to the driver but her voice was too low to be heard.

"Isabel, Isabel." She jerked out of bed on hearing the familiar voice.

"Steve," She hugged her younger brother tightly. She was happy he was able to get her out of the dream but was disappointed she didn't see the face of the young man. "It was a dream, I thought it wasn't." She looked at her brother who was staring at her confusedly.

"I know this would happen, I am going to tell Mom you went out partying last night," He frowned at her. "You disobeyed mom again right?" He questioned her like an elder brother would do to his younger sister. Isabella was ten years older than Steve, he was fifteen and she was twenty-five.

"Don't speak rudely to me next time Steve," she frowned at him. "Am way older than you young man and just so you know I didn't go to the club yesterday."

"Am sorry I thought you were having a hangover." He murmured

"Hangover?" She sighed. "Of course not, a hangover can't cause you a bad dream."

"Ok, Mom said you should come out for breakfast."

"Okay, go, I will follow shortly." Steve walked out of her room reluctantly.

Isabella got out of her bed and walked towards her window, she opened it and rested her hands on the edge.

"Good morning, Miss Susan." Isabella greeted.

"Good morning Isa." Susan replied.

She was used to being called Isa instead of Isabella in her neighborhood. It was a very small town in New York. She lived with her parents and brother, they were a family of designers. But Isabella wanted more than just being a mere fashion designer, she always dreamt of being a well-known and prestigious fashion designer.

"Isabella." The voice brought her back to reality.

"Mom"

"What have you been doing in your room?" She frowned at her placing both hands on her waist.

"I don't feel like eating."

Mrs Stone approached her daughter, ushering her to sit on the bed. She placed her hands on Isabella who was already sobbing.

"What is bothering you, Isabel?" Her voice was shaky.

"Everything Mom," she burst into tears. "Am so tired of the whole thing mom, nothing is working out for me, for us." She began to sob again.

"Isa, I know things are hard for your dad and me but I promise you, you and your brother will never go to bed hungry." She allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks freely.

Isabella noticed her mother was already crying, she became more sad. "Mom, it's going to be fine, everything is gonna be alright." She nodded her head looking at her daughter with a smile that quickly faded away.

"Let's go and have breakfast with your father and brother."

"Ok, mom." They both walked out of the room and headed straight to the dining room.

"Isabel, what took you both so long to come for breakfast?" Mr Stone asked

"Good morning Dad." She sat down beside him. "Mom and I just had a quick mother-and-daughter discussion." She forced a smile.

"Dad, you and I should also have a father and son discussion," Steve said and they all laughed heartily.

"It's ok, let's eat before the food gets cold." Mrs Stone interrupted dishing out the food to them.

After breakfast, they began their house chores and other daily activities before going to the shop. Isabella was always in charge of sweeping the house while Steve did the dishes.

Isabella leaned on the wall, she was deeply engrossed in her thoughts. The dream she had kept her thinking, she was amazed to have the same dream twice. She was so deeply lost in thought that she didn't even notice the presence of her father.

"Isabel." He finally spoke to her after he noticed she didn't even feel his presence.

She jerked out of her thoughts and turned to look at the owner of the voice. "Dad, what are you doing here and how long have you been standing here?"

"Long enough to know that you are overthinking something." He took a step closer to her. "What is bothering you, Isabel?" He rested a hand on her shoulder.

"It's nothing serious Dad, just a dream I had."

"What was it about?"

"In the dream Dad, it was raining heavily and I was standing in the middle of the road. Suddenly a truck ran past me at great speed, I was still trying to get the whole thing right when I saw a man lying dead on the road." She paused and stared at her father.

"Who did you see?"

"I never got to see the face of the man."

"You shouldn't think about it too much, it's gonna be okay with us." He took her hands and squeezed them. "Hurry up or you're gonna be late for work." He turned and walked away from her, Isabella watched as he made his way upstairs slowly.

Hurriedly she cleaned up and was done with her house chores, she glanced at the wall clock screaming when she discovered she was already late for work.

"What happened?" Mrs Stone asked on hearing her scream.

"Nothing Mom, just that I am late already." She screamed back running to her room to prepare.