Oh my God! thought Brooke Thompson as she looked around the woods she was standing in. Here I am in the middle of nowhere and I'm naked! What happened to my clothes?
Part of her thought, Relax! This is just a dream! You'll wake up any minute now and then -- Wait! What was that sound? Someone shaking something metal? But what? A jar of coins? A loaded coin purse? A crowded key ring?
Key ring? Yes, that's what Brooke was hearing in her dream. A ring of keys.
But who would be carrying around so many keys in the middle of the woods?
And more importantly, thought Brooke, what did happen to my clothes? Why can't I find them? Did someone steal them? Did I lose them by accident? What?
Brooke kept telling herself it was just a dream like the other dreams she had had that night but so much seemed so real. The breeze that caressed her butt. The mosquitoes that buzzed around her belly-button. The feel of her uncovered breasts as they moved around with no restraint whatsoever. And wait! Was that an ant on her foot?
Then Brooke looked up in time to see a familiar figure emerge from the woods ahead of her. A figure dressed in black leather and carrying a great big knife.
"Hola, chica!" exclaimed the man Brooke knew as Richard Ramirez. "I knew I'd catch up with you sooner or later."
And behind Ramirez was yet another figure. A figure that Brooke thought she recognized but was not quite sure.
Then she heard the jingle of keys behind her and a hand touched her bare shoulder.
At that moment, Brooke screamed.
xxx
"Geez, Major Hottie!" cried Montana as she shook Brooke awake. "It's a good thing for you that you're cute. What is it this time?"
"Just another bad dream," said Brooke. "For some reason, I seem to be having a lot of them tonight."
"I'll say," said Montana. "At this rate, I'll never get any sleep. How about you come sleep with me?"
"Er, no, thanks," said Brooke. "I'll think I'll stay awake out here and wait till dawn."
"Well, whatever," said Montana. "I'm going back to bed -- and this time I'm wearing my headphones."
Brooke watched Montana go to bed without comment.
It was just a dream, Brooke told herself. It was just a dream.
She kept telling herself that until she finally lost consciousness just a few hours before dawn.
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