Bottle of Dreams

She tapped softly on the door, "Angie? Are you in here?"

Gently pushing the door open, she was suddenly blinded by the darkness.
As her eyes adjusted, Dawn looked around the room. Clothes were
everywhere, delicate ornaments shattered, and in the corner, wrapped in
a blanket, was Angie.

Sunlight filtered through a crack in the curtains, highlighting Angie's
sunken cheeks and the dark rings under her glassy eyes that stared
blankly through the window into the busy street below.
"Angie?" Dawn carefully made her way across the bedroom, stepping over
tangled sheets and blankets that had been thrown off fitfully during
the night and clothes that had been torn off in frustration and
turmoil.

"Angie? What's wrong?" she asked, getting down on her haunches next to
the silent girl in the corner, "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone, I
promise you," she probed gently.

"Nothing's wrong, why on earth would something be wrong?" Angie said
tonelessly, without even looking at her sister.

"You didn't come home until very late last night, Angie, I was worried
about you," Dawn told her, "What happened last night, Angie?"

"Nothing,"

"Come on, Angie! Don't give me this bull!" Dawn snapped, "I hate it
when you do this to me! You make me so worried, you never tell me where
you've been all night and it hurts that you can't tell me these things!
I'm your sister, Angie, and I care about you," Tears were pricking at
her eyelids and she was angry with herself for letting her emotions get
out of control.

"You shouldn't worry about me, I'm fine," Angie replied in
monotones,

"Damn it, Angie! You know you're not fine!" her sister shouted, feeling
more frustrated than she ever had before, "Just please tell me what's
going on!"

"Okay." The blanket was pulled with thick fingers around the skeletal
body.

"What?" said Dawn, feeling a bit confused, but relieved at the same
time,

"Okay," whispered Angie,

"Well, what then?"

"Dawn, I had this dream," Angie whispered, all of a sudden looking
frightened&;#8230;frightened and small like a child in a strange
place, "And I was walking down this street. It was a dark street and it
was cold and it was raining. I was shivering and I was walking fast
'cos I wanted to get inside somewhere, somewhere warm where the rain
and the cold couldn't get me, somewhere where nobody could get
me&;#8230;
And then, in my dream, there was a man. He was tall and he was wearing
black. He told me that he could take me somewhere where it never rained
and it was always sunny and warm. He told me that no one could hurt me
there, Dawn," for the first time since Dawn had entered the room, Angie
turned her head to look at her.
A single tear had made it's way down her cheek, leaving a track in the
dirt on her face, "I believed him, Dawn," she said softly, "I believed
him."

"What else happened in your dream, Angie?" Dawn said cautiously.

"In my dream, this man gave me a little bottle. Dawn, inside this
bottle, it was wonderful! Everything bad just went away, and I was so
happy. It's been a long time since I was happy&;#8230; Then my
dream, it turned into a nightmare. And I was afraid. The man wanted me
to pay for my happiness, but I had nothing, Dawn, I had nothing to give
him. But this man, he was kind to me. He told me that I didn't have to
give him anything; all I had to do was give him pleasure, Dawn. He told
me that he didn't need my money, that all he needed was my body."

In an instant Dawn realised what her sister was telling her, and the
horror hit her hard, like a blow to her stomach, leaving her feeling
breathless and almost hollow inside, "Did you do what the man in your
dream asked you to, Angie?" Dawn said, her voice shaking with disbelief
and terror.

"Yes," said Angie

Dawn had never felt so alone and afraid since the trouble with their
stepfather, her little sister was using drugs and selling herself to
pay for them.
When the words of the thought actually formed in her mind, she tried to
banish it, she tried to make herself believe that it wasn't true. There
was no way it could be true, could it? Why?

"No," Dawn gasped,

"Yes, and do you know what the worst part of my nightmare is, Dawn?"
Angie hung her head, and her tears were caught in the shaft of sunshine
and glittered like crystals of grief.

"Tell me," her sister said, her own tears streaming down her
face.

"The worst part is, Dawn, that I haven't woken up yet.".........