Something in the wind

She didn't know if it was okay to dance with the wind. The way it teased her hair and whispered softly into her ears made her uncomfortable with it.

Source
"Lucy? Hey, wake up"

She opened her heavy eyelids staring at the pair of deep brown eyes that was looking with concern into her face.

"Hey, Jacob." She pushed his chest with her palm making him give her some space so she could sit up.

"Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?"

Lucy rubbed her eyes

"It's the same dream, Jacob. I keep seeing myself dance with… the wind."
Jacob circled her shoulders with his muscled arm.

"Listen, babe, it's probably a movie you saw or just a figment of your imagination…okay?"

"But what if this is a warning about Pickletown? I mean there are a hundred and one places to go for a weekend getaway, why that abandoned cabin?"

"Because…." He took her hands into his, running his thumb lightly over her smooth, milk-white skin. "It's the perfect place for a getaway."

Lucy sighed and got out of bed to have a glass of warm milk. Her marriage was failing. She knew they agreed to talk about it during the getaway but with each day that passed, each minute, she felt disconnected from him.

She gulped the first glass, refilled and padded barefoot across the wooden floor to prepare some toast. Just before they were married there were date nights and boxes of chocolates delivered to her office. Her ears would be heavy and tingling from receiving calls from everyone in the world who had used their gaming software and encountered one issue or the other either while downloading the app or while playing but she was certain that once the clock hit 8 pm and she had taken the last call for the day, there would be an awesome surprise waiting to relieve her of stress.

Now, it just seemed like she had a male roommate instead of a husband. As the toast popped out, she grabbed it, spread a healthy portion of jam, and took a big bite.

When she had complained incessantly about the deaf ears each time she tried to whine about her day, the indifference when she felt upset, the casual responses to issues she felt were important, he had said they needed more time together.

"Look, you're busy with work and I'm busy with the club. We don't really have time like other couples do, so let's take a weekend off."

It sounded like an amazing idea until he came home two days later, announced the venue and dates, crawled into bed, and slept off without asking for her opinion.
No wonder she was having nightmares already.

"It's because you're worried" her best friend Louisa told her "You know the wind doesn't dance right? It may even be a good sign. You know…"

But the eerie feeling she got when she woke up, the way her heart pounded in her chest and her hands trembled made her insist it was something wrong. There was nothing she could do now, they were leaving the next day.

Pickletown was a beautiful place.

The scenery held such grandeur, water falling from crevices in rocks and forming a small body with tiny, colorful fishes just beneath it. As they arrived at his uncle's cabin, she saw flowers planted and pruned to form 'welcome'.

"Awwwn this is so beautiful"

Jacob lifted a corner of his lips.

"Told you so".

She was out of the car and running to pluck some of those flowers immediately he stopped.

"I'll go dust up the bedroom, join me when you can!" Jacob called out. Lucy was fascinated by the smooth stones she saw in one of those water pools. As she bent to pick one, her golden brown hair moved gently with the wind and settled behind her right ear. Almost immediately, she heard a faint "Luce…". She dropped the stone, looked around, and ran into the house.

"Hey, what's wrong? You're drained of color"

She couldn't speak for a couple of seconds so Jacob handed her a glass of water.
"I...I was...I picked a smooth stone from the brook and, something tucked my hair behind my ear and whispered Luce…only Louisa calls me Luce…" Tears had formed in her eyes now and she was trembling almost uncontrollably.

"This is more serious than I thought, first thing in the morning we're going to see a doctor"

"Jacob you have to believe me, something creepy is out there, we're not safe here".

"Okay, that's enough!" Jacob slammed his fist into the wall and ran his hands through the black mass on his head "You whine about everything just because they don't go your way, Lucy. You never wanted to come here so you're playing games just to have your way like you've always done. But this time, I'm in charge!"

Lucy's mouth hung open as the first tear dropped on her soft cheeks. She picked up her phone and jacket and went out for a walk to clear her head. What if Jacob was right? She went on Google immediately and began typing "Can stress cause hallucinations?" She was going through the articles when she felt a sharp gust of wind go past her. She turned around immediately but there was nothing. When she turned back to keep going, she saw it.

It was there but as faint as if it wasn't; like a silhouette etched into the wind, she couldn't make out the form but it was definitely not a person. A curve appeared from somewhere within it and she knew it was smiling, then suddenly it wasn't there anymore. Her phone clattered to the ground as the realization dawned on her, there was…something in the wind.