In the Blood by Steve Robinson Page B

knew the dream well enough by now, only this time she knew she was dreaming.
    The first part she liked...
    She could see Gabriel out on the river in his little red boat.   It was a beautiful day and he looked so happy.   Amy was home at the cottage, upstairs in their bedroom - no work for her today.   She couldn’t recall why.   She waved to Gabriel and he waved back, smiling the kind of smile that made her want to hold him and pull him home to her; to the bed that was still warm.
    Amy knew it was a dream because she was aware that Gabriel was too far away to be able to see him so clearly.   But she didn’t mind.   She liked to see him again.   She felt light on her toes as she stood at the window, watching.   She felt comfortable again - complete.   But she knew all that was about to change.
    It always did...
    The first crack of thunder in the bright and vacant sky always heralded the onset.   The house shook, rattling the window in its frame.   She became suddenly panicked and knew she had to warn Gabriel that the storm was coming.   She waved frantically and slapped at the glass panes, calling him, over and over.   Gabriel kept smiling and just waved back, completely unaware.
    She thought to run to him.   She turned away, reaching for the door.   The brass doorknob was ice cold in her palm, but she held on, turning and turning at the knob that just kept spinning round and round in her hand.   She tried to pull the door open but it was stuck.   She knew it would be.
    Without thinking, she knew exactly what to do next.   She would open the window and drop down; it wasn’t that far to fall.   Then she could run out to the edge of the river and warn him.   There was still time.   She turned back to the window, only now there was no latch and the window was suddenly barred.   Her bedroom had become her asylum.   She gripped the bars and pulled at them, shaking herself as another crash of thunder rocked the sky and stirring shadows reached in across the room.
    Towards the mouth of the river a contusion of black and green cloud quickly stained the sky.   It began to froth over itself, rushing into the river mouth like a pyroclastic flow.   Coming for him; coming for Gabriel.   Amy shook at the bars again, screaming now for Gabriel to turn back to safety - back to her.   But she knew it was too late.   Trees began to bend in the gale outside and the light had all but faded to blackness beneath a heavy sky that was now full and bleeding.
    Gabriel was no longer smiling.
    Amy watched as lightning ruptured the cloud around him and his little red boat began to pitch on the uneasy water, lit by strobing white flashes.   She grabbed a chair from beside the window, thinking to smash the glass.   Maybe she could squeeze through the bars once the glass had broken away.   She rammed the chair legs between the bars as the wind howled at the house and the shutters slapped shut against the impact.  
    The glass would not break.
    The shutters banged open again as she drew back for another go.   She knew it was useless, knew that the shutters would close every time, but she had to keep trying.   She made several pitiful attempts.   Then she stopped.
    Gabriel’s boat was empty.
    The dream was nearly over now and she was calm again, staring out through the bars towards the river, looking for Gabriel until guilt began to rise like poison from deep within her.   Why didn’t I go with him?   The bars became soft to her touch, melting.   Why couldn’t I save him?   The questions tormented her.   Then the bars were gone and the storm cleared as suddenly as it arrived.
    When it left, Amy was her incomplete self again.
     
    As she sat now with her thoughts, looking out across the quiet water from her elevated position above the ferry pickup at Helford Point, the images of that dream remained fresh in her mind, constantly reminding her that she was so very alone.   Soon she would take the ferry, not on its usual