Jay lays in his bed for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts. “Was it a dream, or was it real?” he says while slowly sitting up. He reaches over and turns on the lamp, the light shines brightly. Jay looks at it, slightly confused. He turns the lamp off, gets out of bed, walks to the bedroom door, and peeks down the hallway. He begins walking down the hallway slowly, looking at the lights every so often as they shine brightly. He eventually approaches the kitchen, then peeks in to examine the ground for the plate. He doesn’t see it anywhere.
He walks in, and over to the cabinet. He opens it, as he is opening it, the cabinet gives off a loud creak that can be heard down the hallway. He looks through the dishes and sees the plate.
Jay slowly steps back, closing the cabinet. “I guess it was a dream, but it felt so real…” He sighs while running his fingers through his hair. While in deep thought, he feels a hand on his shoulder, startling him.
He jumps, quickly turns around, to see his wife standing there. “Honey, are you okay? You’re acting a bit funny, almost distant. Anyway, it’s time to get the kids up and unpack.” Jay nods and walks into the living room, prepared to unpack.
After hours of unpacking, Jay comes upon a box that contains his family portrait. He hangs the portrait on the wall. He stares at it for a bit. Behind him, his wife looks at him, a bit concerned.
His two kids come charging up to him, shoving each other and yelling. “Daddy! Can you take us to the park?” The little girl screams as she shoves the little boy away. Jay shakes his head slowly without saying a word. The boy shoves the girl away and yells, “Dad! Please?” Jay shakes his head a bit faster, showing some frustration. The girl yells, “Dad! Come on!” Jay slowly stands up, “I said…NO!” he yells loudly at the kids. The kids look at him, frightened greatly. The kids run to their rooms, sobbing lightly.
Jay sits down and continues unpacking. The wife stomps in the living room, starring at Jay angrily, “What the Hell is your problem?! They just want to go to the park!” Jay sighs deeply and looks at his wife, “You think it’s easy? Take them up there your damn self then!” His wife looks at him, shocked and angrily. She walks to the kids room without saying a word.
Jay reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a strange note and some pills. “How did these get in my pocket?” He says quietly to himself. He unfolds the note. “Take these and you will sleep,” is written in red ink. He looks at the pills and hesitantly takes them.
He stands up, walks into his bedroom, and lays in his bed. He closes his eyes and slowly drifts into a deep sleep.