Dreams of Raindrops on the Window

My dreams have been seeming rather normal lately; dreams of friends, family, memories past, school, mixtures of the four, regular things. Though, lately I've been having strange-feeling dreams. Not strange dreams, strange-feeling dreams. One dream in particular is a dream that is sort of recurring dream.

I lay in my bed during a winter night. I'm wrapped up in a warm bundle under two layers of blankets. I can hear rain trickling onto my bedroom window, which's curtains are closed. It's soothing, calm, peaceful. A few seconds go by, all is well, I'm about to fall asleep, when suddenly, there's a tapping at my window.

Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap.

My head flings to the right, looking at the window. It sounds like some sort of bird is tapping the glass. Silence. Then again.

Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap.

My heart falls into my stomach. It's not just some bird tapping the window; the tapping is ensuing.

Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap.

I slowly get out of bed, folding the covers over my legs and pulling my legs from under the covers. I step out of bed and make my way towards the window.

Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap.

I start to pass my bed.

Tap.

I stop dead in my tracks.

Just one tap? That didn't seem to fit.

No other taps come after that. I wake up soon after a few seconds of silence.

This dream has been recurring for the past week. I get a little closer to that window each time.

Better brings worse.

I've been sleeping better than I have in the last few months lately. Sure I have a nightmare here or there, but otherwise my sleep has been tremendous. I've also made a lot of new friends through video game club. They seem to want to see me more than my old friends.

My attempts to get my friends to speak to me haven't been too successful. I've been finding them at school during lunch, calling them, even going to their houses. They were virtually silent during lunch, they never answered the phone, and they were never home. I was only successful with one friend on the phone, Tyler. Here's a little transcript of the call:

(phones rings 5 times when Tyler finally answers)

Tyler: (silence)

Me: Hello?

Tyler: Hi.

Me: Hey! Is this Tyler?

Tyler: Yes.

Me: This is Garrett Silvano. What's up?

Tyler: Nothing.

(silence)

Me: Oh. Okay. Uh, how have things been?

Tyler: Fine. Different.

Me: Different how?

Tyler: Different.

Me: Oh, haha, alright. Uh, how are you feeling?

Tyler: Fine.

Me: Fine-good? Or fine-bad?

Tyler: Fine.

Me: I guess that means somewhere in the middle?

Tyler: Why did you call me?

Me: Well, I just figured that we could get the ball rolling with the rest of the gang again, you know? Hangin' out like we used to? Beach days? Video games? Riding around town in Mike's car?

Tyler: I have more important business.

Me: What do you mean?

Tyler: I have more. Important. Business.

Me: Are you okay?

Tyler: What are you typing on the computer?

Me: Oh, I, uh--

Tyler: Are you recording this call?

Me: What? No, I--

Tyler: Delete whatever you're typing.

Me: Wait, why? I'm just--

Tyler: Nevermind. I'm sorry for that.

Me: It's oka--

Tyler: I have to go.

Me: Oh, okay, see you la--

(Tyler hangs up in the middle of my sentence.)

Tyler was extremely monotoned until he questioned the typing. I don't know what was wrong with Tyler, but I'm going to have to confront him again.

Three months later.

Things are... almost the same as before.

I've been doing well in school; the year's winding down a bit, caught up with some old friends, the lot. I've started taking some extra-curricular activities, like video game club at school. Who would have thought that some of these kids at my school still play games from the 90's and back? Oh, the countless rounds of Shaq-Fu that we played.

Through all of this, two things have struck my curiosity:

For one, I've noticed the initials Q.Z. to be recurring. I first saw these initials on the butterfly knife that was lying next to me in the sewer, and I've seen it written in several places around my school, including the single-stall bathrooms, lightly written in pencil and in very minuscule areas. I'm holding onto that knife just in case.

Secondly, I've noticed my friends are a bit more distant from me since I've come home. Maybe they're just feeling a bit weird having me just pop back into their lives after nearly a year with no explanation as to what had happened to me? I don't know. It just feels like they're not around as much anymore.

I will update this blog with more details of what things happen around here that are worth documenting. But for now, I need to get back to homework.

Sincerely,
Garrett