Jacob's Mother—Chapter 3
Drowning
Jacob’s Mother is a serialized novel. Start with Chapter One.
Chapter 3: Drowning
California—2010
Jacob woke up on the couch, drenched in sweat. Both his hands were grasping at his neck. He had a terrible nightmare about being stuck in some sort of muddy cave that was filling with water. The cave had three circular pools. He was in one of them, drowning, water crushing his chest from the inside and outside. He was flailing his arms and legs, but he couldn’t swim. Just as the water entered his nostrils and his head slipped under for the last time, his mother’s face appeared above the water. She peered down at him, scraggly grey hair hanging in ropes about her shoulders. Her withered hand plunged into the water, and she pulled him out. His lungs screamed for air.
Suddenly, he was immersed in the second pool, drowning again. As the water filled his lungs, a middle age woman reached in and pulled him out. She seemed ethereal somehow. He sensed a strength emanating through her porcelain skin. She glowed. She had green almond shaped eyes and short black hair that was speckled with gray. There was mysterious and terrible power about her. Terrified to be in her presence, he sputtered to catch his breath and was suddenly submerged in a third pool.
A red-headed little girl wearing pajamas with stars all over them reached out to him. He reached for her hand, and their fingers touched, but then he slipped under again, and the little girl’s face dissolved in the light reflecting off of the water. Unable to breathe, he jerked awake, with his hands grasping his neck. He tried closing his eyes and going back to sleep, but he couldn’t escape the dream, unsure if he was waking up or still sleeping.
Finally, after it felt like a lifetime, or a few lifetimes of waking and dreaming, he woke up. He didn’t try to go back to sleep, since his heart was pounding in his chest. Instead he turned his sweaty head towards dawn’s grey light that seeped quietly in through the blinds. He focused on breathing slowly to get his heart rate to come down. He had never had such a terrifying dream. In fact, he didn’t remember the last time he had a dream. He was drenched with cold sweat. The blankets were drenched. Even the couch was drenched.
Jacob stumbled into his bedroom, where his wife was fast asleep. She was sleeping on her side, curled up into the fetal position as if she were protecting herself from something. Jacob peeled off his sweaty shirt and quietly said, “May I come back in bed?”
Hannah grunted, so he slid between the covers which were warm with her body heat.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear.
She didn’t turn around, but Jacob could tell she was awake by her breath.
He waited.
Hannah sat up, hair disheveled, freckled legs crossed, pregnant belly protruding onto her lap.
“I knew something was wrong with your mother,” she said. “I told you, and you just brushed me off. Over and over again. You never take me seriously.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Jacob slipped his arms around his wife.
“Why are you so wet?”
“Just sweaty I guess.” He peeled off his wet T-shirt and crawled into the covers. Hannah’s warmth flowed over his body in waves. However, the black box inside of him was cold and heavy on his heart. Even though he was holding his wife, he had never felt so far away from her. He closed his eyes and tried not to think of his mother in the psych ward or why he was so wet.
Continue to Chapter 4.
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Jacob’s Mother is an original publication by Laura Ellis. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law and fair use.