“Dad! We’ve been walking for a long time. Can I open my eyes now?” I asked with a huff.

 

“Not yet, Cyren. Just keep walking forward.”, my father said in a giddy voice.

 

We kept walking until he stalled me and said, “Don’t peek, ok?”, and left my side to go stand somewhere not too far from me.

 

“Ok. Open!” he said in a big bellowing voice. As I opened my eyes, I had to adjust them to the light peeking through the trees. My vision was blurry, but soon cleared and what i saw evoked a squeal from me.

 

“Oh my gosh! Is that a treehouse?!”

 

He just nodded his head with a smile that stretched from ear to ear, and eyes that sparkled with amusement. I ran to give him a hug out of sheer happiness.

 

“Happy Birthday Cyren. Now go take a look!” he suggested with a slight nod of his head.

 

I could hardly contain my excitement as I bolted for the ladder and climbed up. It was enormous and painted the prettiest shade of pink I had ever seen.

 

“Well, go on! Check out the inside!” he yelled from the ground.

“Are you not going to come up?”

“You go on ahead. I’ll stay down here.” he inquired.

 

The door of the tree house bore my name in silver, swirl letters and had a doorknob to match. When i pushed open the door, I saw that it was more than anything i could have ever dreamed of. I had always wanted a treehouse, and had been begging for one every Christmas. Now it’s finally here and I couldn't be happier. I went to go look out over the railing at the edge of the treehouse to tell him what i thought, but whenever i looked over I couldn’t see him.

 

“Dad?” I called. No response. “Dad?” I called louder, but the only thing I heard was the sound of the woods. Worry started to fill my head. I had always been a worry-wart, and get scared way too easily for my own good. I went down the ladder to get a better look and still didn’t catch a glimpse of him. I continued calling out for him and began searching deeper in the woods.

 

“Dad! Dad! Where are you?... You know I don’t like when you try to scare me! Dad!” I yelled and hollered for him, but no sound of his voice came back.

“Da-” I seized my yelling when i spotted him. He was facing away from me looking off into the woods.

“You scared me. I thought i had lost you.” I explained while coming around to his side to see what he was looking at, until I saw her.

 

It was my mother. It can’t be, yet there she was standing not even thirty feet away. She looks just like the pictures i had seen of her. Long brown hair, crazed with curls and she had on her favorite white sundress that my dad had told me about many times before. She looked so warm and welcoming.

 

I gazed up at my father’s eyes, and saw him, his face glimmering with silent tears and a look of disbelief.

“Lily… I can’t believe it’s you. It’s been so long, but how are you still alive? Where have you been all this time?” he questioned. My mother never spoke a word. She just stood there looking at him. That is until she looked down, and then back up mouthing something that looked like “I’m sorry” accompanied by a tear cascading down her face. Then with her guilt ridden face, she slowly turned away and started walking, running even.

 

“NO! Lily, I won’t lose you again!” my father exasperated and then broke into a sprint leaving me behind, confused. Then that’s when i saw it. It looked as if someone had poked their finger into a still water, or like when the sun flashes off a reflective surface. There was a ripple moving across the trees, almost bubble-like.

 

“Dad, don’t it’s not mom! She died remember?! It’s tricking you, she isn’t there!” I yelled in panic. I ran after him and tried to grab the back of his shirt. My father is a big, burly man towering at six foot four. There was no way i would be able to stop him. If anything he may just pull me in as well. I tried to catch up with him, but my feet got caught by a raised root. I looked up to see if my father had regained his senses, but all i saw were the empty woods.

 

******************

    

    I awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat.

“...this is the eighty third consecutive day that the actress Kate Miller, disappeared after the barrier took her May four-”, I silenced my alarm which read 7:32am, and put my head in my hands. I’m late. Again.

I slip out of bed and started the shower. Might as well not rush, seeing as I’m already late. I peel the sweat-ridden cloth off my body and step in under the hot water.

 

I was eleven when the barrier took my father, and I have been having that same nightmare for the past seven years. It’s always the same. The same memory replayed over and over again. The same raised tree root. I was too young to have done anything to prevent it. Even in school they would teach us about the barrier and what harm it does. We even kept a pamphlet over the signs if you ever encounter the barrier on the kitchen counter. A glossy appearance. You’re susceptible to think of nothing but rainbows and lollipops, everything's just peachy blah blah blah. I should’ve known right when i saw her face, but i let it trap me in her fake gaze until it was too late.

 

My thoughts were interrupted when i heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“You know you may catch hypothermia if you stay in there any longer. The water is bound to be cold with how long you’ve been standing underneath it.” a muffled voice spoke through the door.

 

“Alright Mark, I’m getting out.”

 

I pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the shower only to discover that i forgot my clothes.

“Mark, get out of my room for a minute.” I announced as i peeked my head around the door.

 

“As you wish your majesty.” he left with an exaggerated bow and closed the door. I sauntered out of the bathroom and headed towards the closet with a roll of my eyes. My eyes could’ve fallen out of my head with how much I’ve rolled them throughout my life. I grabbed a blue dress amongst the dozens of other dresses I own and threw it on, then sat at my vanity next to the door.

 

“You can come in now.”

“Finally. I thought you were gonna keep me out in the hallway for forever.” he claimed as he jumped onto my bed.

“Oh believe me, I thought about it and when did you have time to dye your hair? I just saw you yesterday.” I said as i glanced through the mirror at him while applying my foundation. He had brown hair now and it really suited him. He also left his hair down which was a change. A change that i like, but i would never tell him so. The boy has an ego that could go on for a lifetime. He wore jeans and a black fitted t shirt with his signature smirk.  

 

“Got it done yesterday. I needed something new. The blonde was getting old.” he proclaimed.

“But let's get back to you. How have you been doing lately?” he asked.

 

Today is my birthday. Also the anniversary of the day my mother died and my father's disappearance into the barrier. I looked down and played with the makeup brush i had in my hands and replayed the memory from seven years ago.

“What about if we skip school and go to the movies? My treat!” Mark suggested as he came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“...Can I put the ranch powder on the popcorn this time?” I asked.

 

Mark let out a heavy sigh and tilted his head up towards the ceiling thinking about my question. He hates that seasoning powder. Every time we go to the movies, he will avoid getting popcorn all together and just opt out for candy instead.

“I suppose i could bare it this time.” he said and i did what one would call a “happy dance” which really just ended up with Mark on the floor crying from laughing so hard.

 

********************

“IT WAS NOT THAT FUNNY!” I stomped as i glanced at him from the passenger seat of his white camaro.

“Oh please, you looked like a chicken who was having a seizure!” Mark yelled over the music blaring through the speakers. Clearly my happy dance needs some work if what he said was in fact true.

 

We ended up watching some scary movie at the theatre, much to my protest, and now we are heading out to some secret location that Mark has prepared without my knowledge. Every year on my birthday Mark would always plan something for me. He has known me for as long as i can remember. We have been best friends since we were in diapers because our parents were close friends. Although, Mark is actually a year older than me, and never lets me live it down when it comes to decisions about where we would eat when his parents were away on their business trips. His father is the CEO of a popular chain restaurant here in Los Angeles, and when the barrier took my father seven years ago I was taken in by Mark’s family. For about five months after the incident, I would never leave my room. Mark’s dad, Mr. Tuan, would always attempt to cheer me up with gifts. When those didn’t work he tried talking to me, but eventually gave up. The only time i would come out of my room was whenever everyone was asleep to go to Mark’s room across the hall. We would stay up all night making forts, sneaking snacks from the kitchen, and even going outside to the treehouse that Mr. Tuan moved from my house to theirs in an effort to cheer me up. I always went to Mark’s room at night because I could never go to sleep. I was always afraid of the nightmare that would recur every night. The nightmare that I still have to this day.

 

My train of thought was broken when the car came to a stop. I looked out of the window and saw Mark’s house.

“I thought you said that you had a surprise?”

 

Mark got out of the car without a word and nodded his head towards the house. I got out of his camaro and followed. We walked straight through the house to the backyard. Their backyard was huge, and even huge was an understatement. We kept walking past the pool and garden, out into the trail that goes through the woods. The trail that leads to my old treehouse.

“How come we are going to the treehouse?”

He didn’t answer, just kept walking towards the treehouse. We stopped going to the treehouse when I was 13, and have never been back here since.

 

Finally we had reached the treehouse, and Mark started to climb up.

“Come on! Your surprise is up here.” he said with a wave of his hand beckoning me up. When i reached the top I gave Mark a questioning look, but he just nodded his head towards the door. I walked to the door and just stood there looking at it. The paint had chipped away on the door, and the pink wasn’t really pink anymore. I cast a look down at the doorknob which was now covered in rust.

 

“Well go on, check out the inside!” he said with a smile. Well go on, check out the Finside…

“You’re not coming in?”

“You go on ahead. I’ll stay here.” he said, again with the brightest smile. You go on ahead… I’ll stay here…

 

Those words resonated in my head again and again, until my head was pounding. The nightmare flashed before my eyes, and before I realized it everything went black.