Dreams and Prophecy

[Anita]

Coming into the dream always felt weird. It felt like waking up when you really weren’t. Anita was aware she was still asleep. She had crashed almost immediately after she had hit the bed. Anita sighed when she realized where she was. This was the last place she needed to be. She needed real rest and being in the dream wouldn’t help that. 

Anita didn’t leave right away. Here she could think a bit. Then she’d leave and get some real sleep. Her mind was on Penny. Quillion had gotten her warm and pulled her out of hypothermia. She would be okay - physically anyways. She had also experienced some pretty heavy trauma. That would leave scars. 

Anita felt pressure build behind her eyes, a feeling that always accompanied one of her prophetic visions. As she turned she saw Penny in front of her, kneeling on the ground and body shaking with sobs. Anita didn’t have to think to know that Penny was hurting on the inside. The girl tried to make herself as small as possible. She looked thinner and paler. Pain was clearly etched on her face. This situation would tear Penny up on the inside. 

Poor girl Anita thought. 

Anita’s gaze turned as she saw a man approach Penny. Anita didn’t recognize him, but he was dressed in quality clothing even if it was simple. Penny didn’t notice him until he knelt in front of her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and he pulled her gently into a hug. Penny sobbed into the man’s shoulder for a moment before he released the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes. He then stood and offered Penny his hand to help her stand. The pain didn’t disappear from Penny’s face, but it diminished greatly. A soft smile came to her lips as she took the man’s hand, stood, and allowed him to lead her away. Another man appeared in front of Anita, his back turned towards her. Penny looked over her shoulder at him, and then back at the man she now walked with, a look of uncertainty on her face. 

Anita “woke up” again as the vision vanished. She was lying on the ground now. The visions always seemed to knock her unconscious for a bit. She sat up and thought about what she saw. Prophetic visions were always strange, but Anita was getting better at interpreting them - at least she thought she was. This one seemed straight forward though. Penny was going to struggle for awhile - and struggle hard. But she was going to get adopted, and was going to heal. The adoption would cause a conflict though. Penny would wonder if she should keep looking for her dad or not. 

The thing that sucked was Anita couldn’t tell Penny this. A wise muppet once said “always in motion is the future.” Telling Penny she would get adopted might help her immediate pain, but it might also remove the catalyst that got her adopted in the first place. Anita shook her head. Sometimes prophecy was a pain. But hopefully she could find a way to still help the poor girl. Hopefully.

[Anita]

Anita let herself consider for a moment before she stood up. Penny’s father, her real father, was alive. But Penny was going to be adopted. Anita didn’t know what, if anything, she was supposed to do about this. Anita thought about Penny and what she had learned about the teenager since they had met. She had only recently grown curious about her birth father. He had never been a part of her life, but the curiosity was only natural. What had really been taken away from Penny was family and her soon to be adoptive father offered that. Penny had seemed happy with him, even if she did wonder about her birth father in the vision. Penny’s happiness and stability was what was important and that is what her adoptive father would offer. Anita decided to play it by ear.

The pressure built behind her eyes again and Anita was thrown into another vision. Penny’s father was there again, his back once again turned towards her. In front of him were several shadowy figures. They were almost completely obscured, but Anita noticed some things - a metal arm, a motorcycle jacket, a uniform of some sort, and one looked around at the others as if trying to get a read on them. The only clear one was Penny. One of the obscured figures stood behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the figure, smiled and squeezed his hand before turning her gaze back to her father. Above the group was another shadow, large and with hands stretched over the group. In its hands it held the controls for marionette puppets. Anita looked down and Penny’s father shifted, beginning to turn around. Anita gasped in anticipation and…

The vision ended. Anita was once more on the ground and her head pounded in pain. ”Fuck me!” she said, making an attempt to stand. The world spun and she ended up back on her back again. She had never had two visions right after another before. She wasn’t a fan.

Anita didn’t try to rise again. She felt dizzy and another attempt might make her vomit. Her head continued to pound. Her breath came in gasps and Anita focused on calming her breathing. This vision was less clear, but it told Anita several things. Penny’s father had more children and therefore, Penny had half brothers and sisters. One had touched Penny - that meant something too, but Anita had no idea what. But most importantly, someone else was involved. Someone was manipulating situations surrounding these people, but who and why?

And at the crux of it was Penny’s father. ”You could have at least showed me his face!” Anita said out loud to nobody in particular. She had been so close to seeing it and Anita was sure if she knew who that man was, things would make more sense.

It did clarify something for Anita. She could use this. For now, she would let things proceed. Penny would be adopted. Anita would try to figure out what she could. If someone was manipulating things, it gave a reason why Penny’s mother hadn’t told Penny of her father. Perhaps to keep her safe, perhaps for another reason. It wasn’t clear. Anita didn’t think Penny was in any immediate danger, but after the adoption, she could touch base with Penny’s adoptive father. Maybe warn him - maybe by then she would have more, but for now, she needed more data.