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Description
Lucy awakens with a start once again.

For the second night in a row , she has had the newest version of a recurring nightmare which has been a feature of her sleep ever since the accident that changed her life two years ago.

This time, however, as her eyes snap open, she sees that it is morning. Waking soon after such an awful experience has still shaken her, but not being in complete darkness helps to soften the shock she is feeling.

"Cherry... ?" she says to herself out loud, shaking her head in disbelief as she recalls the new addition to the dream in which her best friend is now laughing at her. "Why? You wouldn't do that in real life, would you? Would you?" She frowns and brings to mind some of the amazing times they both spent together out in the large expanses of natural beauty found in Hanfort. "No. No, you wouldn't, I know you wouldn't."

She pulls herself up using the various aids around her bed and shuffles her way onto her wheelchair. Once she has arranged her legs properly, lifting them up and placing them on the supports so she is comfortable, she rolls the short distance to where her laptop is.

She picks it up and places it on her lap, opening the lid and powering it on.

When the machine is ready for use, she goes to her email account and opens a new message. This is the most direct way she can contact Cherry these days, being miles away and neither girl having a mobile phone of her own. In Cherry's case, it is because the situation at home is such that a personal phone would be one expense too many on top of an already stretched monthly budget. In Lucy's case, it is parental control. Or, rather, maternal control, as she is now realizing. A few mentions have been made of a smart phone being given when she starts her new school in September but Lucy knows how fragile her mother's promises can be. And anyway... those few mentions may have simply been something said in the moment to appease another of Lucy's requests she have a phone of her own.

She enters Cherry's email address and types into the subject line: I MISS U ALOT!!!

She pauses and looks at the words she has written, and she feels a tear forming at the painful truth displayed there. She does miss Cherry. She misses her other friends, too.
And Hanfort.
And her old school.
And the wonderful life she had once been living, even during the past two years confined to a wheelchair. That time was still better than being stuck here in this strange new town, no friends, no way to get out and about on her own yet, and the scary prospect of a completely new school to look forward to.

She wipes her eyes, sighs, and places her fingers on the keyboard to begin writing in an uninterrupted stream of consciousness, broken only when she takes a second to decide which emoji to use:

cherry,
i've just had another one of my nightmares like what i told u about before 😯 but this time its diffrent like the last one i had. u see before i was dreaming i was in the village with u guys and then something bad happens but like i dont know what it is, like how it isin dreams, u know? 🤔 well so this bad thing is happend and i cant move and its horrible and ppl are helping me and telling me i will okey if only they can get me to a hostipal quick like. 🤕
but in this new dream its the same only i know that u are there watching it happen and then u laugh at me becaus i cant move or anything and u wont stop laughing at me and in my dream i am hating u for this but how? 🤔😢 we're bffs right? 😎 i cant hate u cherrybomb, i just cant but i am doing this in my dream and i hate it so much its like i am betreying our friendship 😫 why are you lauhing at me like that? it hurts me alot, u know, and i wish i knew why it is happning like this.
i wish i could talk to u proply like face to face, u knw? 👭 why does my parents hate u and the others? its so unfair and i hate them for doing this 😪
ok, i hope u will reply soon and tell me what ace things u guys are doing in the village right now 😃 i can see myself and the rest of you guys sitting outside near the tor in the sun and the weather is awesome and we are listening to the birds whissling 😎
o yeh! i read about the river in mettelham and how in the breeding season sometimes theres this type of curlew what comes up the river from the coast but u can only see it for a few weeks. imma ask dad if he can drive me out there when its the right time and i will take pics fro u. how ace will that be yeh?
anyway i have to ring for mum so she can come n put my pjs on. i went straight from bed to writing this msg as soon asthe nightmare woke me up so im sitting here in my undies then its time for brekky. i can smell mum burning the toast again!
seeya soon
i hope,
and give lots of hugs to the others form me ok?
love
looloo

She hits SEND and sits back, wondering when (or, indeed, if) Cherry will get to read it and reply. Primarily, she hopes for an answer to her question of why her friend is now laughing at her in her dream but the more rational side to Lucy's mind knows that the real Cherry is not responsible for what the dream Cherry does nor has any insight into her dream-counterpart's behaviour. She thinks back to the new therapist she will now be seeing every two weeks here in Mettleham. She mentioned the change in her recurring dream and he suggested that she take a few moments to think about what her friendship with Cherry means to her right now, at this very minute, and not coloured by nostalgia or the softening effect of memory. Has she done so? No, not yet. Truth be told, Lucy is fearful what she might conclude if she were to do so. She knows she might have to face the fact that, until she is an adult and not legally bound to the care of her parents, she might never see Cherry face-to-face again.

She ponders her situation for a few minutes until she hears a tapping on her door. "Lucinda? Breakfast's almost ready, dearest," her mother's voice comes through the door to her. "Do you need help getting into your chair?"

"No, Mummy, I'm fine," Lucy responds and closes her laptop. "But wait a sec, please." She places the computer back on her desk and spins herself around so that she can approach her wardrobe to pick out a pair of pyjama bottoms. "I'm sitting here in my knickers so I'll need some help getting my jammies on, if you don't mind," she says.

Marianne Barnes opens the bedroom door and smiles at her daughter after a quick glance from head to toe and back up to Lucy's face again. Her eyes stray briefly to the dishevelled hair, and any assumptions Marianne reaches about Lucy's sleep and the dreams she may have had remain unspoken. "These ones this morning?" she says as she takes the pyjama bottoms Lucy is holding out. "Okay, let's get you decent and presentable, young lady..." Marianne says and begins the process of dressing Lucy.

As her mother sets about the task at hand, Lucy cannot help feeling a little guilty for writing that she hates her parents. She wishes she could recall the email and remove that part. How can she truly hate people who have made so many sacrifices in their lives to accommodate her disability and are willing to get on with whatever it takes each day for her to have as close to a normal life as it possible to have in these circumstances?

(Posed and rendered in Poser 12, clothes created in Marvelous Designer 9.5, postwork in PSP 2023.)
Lucy's parents discuss something >>>
Lucy Comes To Mettleham
More of Kate's Exciting Life

Description
Lucy awakens with a start once again.

For the second night in a row , she has had the newest version of a recurring nightmare which has been a feature of her sleep ever since the accident that changed her life two years ago.

This time, however, as her eyes snap open, she sees that it is morning. Waking soon after such an awful experience has still shaken her, but not being in complete darkness helps to soften the shock she is feeling.

"Cherry... ?" she says to herself out loud, shaking her head in disbelief as she recalls the new addition to the dream in which her best friend is now laughing at her. "Why? You wouldn't do that in real life, would you? Would you?" She frowns and brings to mind some of the amazing times they both spent together out in the large expanses of natural beauty found in Hanfort. "No. No, you wouldn't, I know you wouldn't."

She pulls herself up using the various aids around her bed and shuffles her way onto her wheelchair. Once she has arranged her legs properly, lifting them up and placing them on the supports so she is comfortable, she rolls the short distance to where her laptop is.

She picks it up and places it on her lap, opening the lid and powering it on.

When the machine is ready for use, she goes to her email account and opens a new message. This is the most direct way she can contact Cherry these days, being miles away and neither girl having a mobile phone of her own. In Cherry's case, it is because the situation at home is such that a personal phone would be one expense too many on top of an already stretched monthly budget. In Lucy's case, it is parental control. Or, rather, maternal control, as she is now realizing. A few mentions have been made of a smart phone being given when she starts her new school in September but Lucy knows how fragile her mother's promises can be. And anyway... those few mentions may have simply been something said in the moment to appease another of Lucy's requests she have a phone of her own.

She enters Cherry's email address and types into the subject line: I MISS U ALOT!!!

She pauses and looks at the words she has written, and she feels a tear forming at the painful truth displayed there. She does miss Cherry. She misses her other friends, too.
And Hanfort.
And her old school.
And the wonderful life she had once been living, even during the past two years confined to a wheelchair. That time was still better than being stuck here in this strange new town, no friends, no way to get out and about on her own yet, and the scary prospect of a completely new school to look forward to.

She wipes her eyes, sighs, and places her fingers on the keyboard to begin writing in an uninterrupted stream of consciousness, broken only when she takes a second to decide which emoji to use:

cherry,
i've just had another one of my nightmares like what i told u about before 😯 but this time its diffrent like the last one i had. u see before i was dreaming i was in the village with u guys and then something bad happens but like i dont know what it is, like how it isin dreams, u know? 🤔 well so this bad thing is happend and i cant move and its horrible and ppl are helping me and telling me i will okey if only they can get me to a hostipal quick like. 🤕
but in this new dream its the same only i know that u are there watching it happen and then u laugh at me becaus i cant move or anything and u wont stop laughing at me and in my dream i am hating u for this but how? 🤔😢 we're bffs right? 😎 i cant hate u cherrybomb, i just cant but i am doing this in my dream and i hate it so much its like i am betreying our friendship 😫 why are you lauhing at me like that? it hurts me alot, u know, and i wish i knew why it is happning like this.
i wish i could talk to u proply like face to face, u knw? 👭 why does my parents hate u and the others? its so unfair and i hate them for doing this 😪
ok, i hope u will reply soon and tell me what ace things u guys are doing in the village right now 😃 i can see myself and the rest of you guys sitting outside near the tor in the sun and the weather is awesome and we are listening to the birds whissling 😎
o yeh! i read about the river in mettelham and how in the breeding season sometimes theres this type of curlew what comes up the river from the coast but u can only see it for a few weeks. imma ask dad if he can drive me out there when its the right time and i will take pics fro u. how ace will that be yeh?
anyway i have to ring for mum so she can come n put my pjs on. i went straight from bed to writing this msg as soon asthe nightmare woke me up so im sitting here in my undies then its time for brekky. i can smell mum burning the toast again!
seeya soon
i hope,
and give lots of hugs to the others form me ok?
love
looloo

She hits SEND and sits back, wondering when (or, indeed, if) Cherry will get to read it and reply. Primarily, she hopes for an answer to her question of why her friend is now laughing at her in her dream but the more rational side to Lucy's mind knows that the real Cherry is not responsible for what the dream Cherry does nor has any insight into her dream-counterpart's behaviour. She thinks back to the new therapist she will now be seeing every two weeks here in Mettleham. She mentioned the change in her recurring dream and he suggested that she take a few moments to think about what her friendship with Cherry means to her right now, at this very minute, and not coloured by nostalgia or the softening effect of memory. Has she done so? No, not yet. Truth be told, Lucy is fearful what she might conclude if she were to do so. She knows she might have to face the fact that, until she is an adult and not legally bound to the care of her parents, she might never see Cherry face-to-face again.

She ponders her situation for a few minutes until she hears a tapping on her door. "Lucinda? Breakfast's almost ready, dearest," her mother's voice comes through the door to her. "Do you need help getting into your chair?"

"No, Mummy, I'm fine," Lucy responds and closes her laptop. "But wait a sec, please." She places the computer back on her desk and spins herself around so that she can approach her wardrobe to pick out a pair of pyjama bottoms. "I'm sitting here in my knickers so I'll need some help getting my jammies on, if you don't mind," she says.

Marianne Barnes opens the bedroom door and smiles at her daughter after a quick glance from head to toe and back up to Lucy's face again. Her eyes stray briefly to the dishevelled hair, and any assumptions Marianne reaches about Lucy's sleep and the dreams she may have had remain unspoken. "These ones this morning?" she says as she takes the pyjama bottoms Lucy is holding out. "Okay, let's get you decent and presentable, young lady..." Marianne says and begins the process of dressing Lucy.

As her mother sets about the task at hand, Lucy cannot help feeling a little guilty for writing that she hates her parents. She wishes she could recall the email and remove that part. How can she truly hate people who have made so many sacrifices in their lives to accommodate her disability and are willing to get on with whatever it takes each day for her to have as close to a normal life as it possible to have in these circumstances?

(Posed and rendered in Poser 12, clothes created in Marvelous Designer 9.5, postwork in PSP 2023.)
Lucy's parents discuss something >>>
Lucy Comes To Mettleham
More of Kate's Exciting Life