A Dream Forgotten

I originally wrote the first draft of this about a year ago. I've thought about it and reread it at various times. I've been meaning to go through and edit for a while... tonight, I finally did. I've not reread this second version yet so if there are glaring mistakes... sorry.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Laughter echoed through the dark hallway, dancing along the dark, moldy green walls. The yellow lights flickered a few times before coming to rest at a half glow. Grime rested among the cracks and creases of the walls. The ceiling had been corroded by water damage over the years, watermarks spreading along the floor where the endless dripping had never been stopped.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

The laughter continued from the room at the end of the long, windowless hall. A little child’s laugh? In such a hellhole as this? What could bring a child happiness with the living conditions as they were, so full of despair? Many called the large house home, though none of them were welcome according law; trespassers, some would call them. The house’s owners, however, had left years ago never to return. Yes, the residents were illegal, but it was winter, and what little warmth could be found inside the rickety, wooden walls was far better than the snowy streets outside. However, the heating unit was long out of commission and it was likely that many of the people trying to survive would not succeed. They all knew it. Sickness had crept into their midst. Nearly every day, another person joined the orchestra of coughs. They had no money, and the outside world was oblivious to their sorrow. And still, the laughter continued.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

That night was the coldest yet. The people huddled together, trying to gain warmth. Still, the child, standing apart from the crowd, laughed. “Why do you laugh?” one of the old men asked.

“It’s the laughter of madness, Jack,” the man’s wife whispered to him. “That child’s gone insane.”

“Stop laughing!” Jack shouted, angrily. “There’s nothing funny here!”

The child smiled and continued to laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” Jack asked again, his patience diminishing.

“Laughing at nothing, Jack,” his wife told him. “I tell you, that child is insane. It’s the cold and the sickness. The child’s marbles are off gallivanting around someplace else!” Jack’s wife cackled. She considered her comment extraordinarily humorous. Her cackle filled the room, until it broke into a cough and wheeze.

Jack trembled and put his arm around his wife. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice cracking.

“I’m okay, Jack,” his wife replied. “Laughing just clogged up the windpipe for a moment.”

“You see?” Jack said, turning back to the child. “You see what laughter does?”

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” the child laughed.

After a moment’s glare, Jack asked, “Where are your parents?”

“That child’s parents died weeks ago, do you not remember?” Jack’s wife asked.

“Oh, yes. I do,” Jack said. For a moment, he was silent, eying the child. After considering the child’s loss, Jack turned back to the wife, “So, why’s the kid still here? Not welcome here. Not welcome at all.”

“Pay no mind to Jack,” Jack’s wife told the child. “You’re welcome here as much as any of us.”

And the child just laughed. And the laughing didn’t cease.

After a time, Jack spoke again. “It’s eerie. That laughter. How can someone laugh when it’s so cold? And when the conditions are so miserable? None of us are very likely to live much longer. I don’t see what’s funny. And the damn parents dead! Nothing funny at all!”

“Stop it, Jack,” his wife told him, slapping his shoulder lightly. “Don’t scare the child.”

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Minutes passed. The minutes became hours. The laughing never stopped. Jack and his wife simply stared at the child for a while. Then, as the night’s darkness truly took over, they left the room at the end of the dismal hallway. They went upstairs to the room where most of the people slept. They lay down together, doing their best to keep warm. The entire time, they were aware of the quiet laughter echoing up from the room at the end of the hallway.

Jack’s wife was asleep within minutes. Jack, however, could not sleep. “Damn kid,” he muttered. “Damn laughing. Damn cold.”

The old man slowly pulled himself out from under his wife’s arms. He quietly left the room, going back down the stairs. He walked through the dark hallway and back into the room where many of the others were still huddled.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” the child laughed.

“Kid, come here,” Jack said to the child commandingly.

The child ignored him, continuing to laugh. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you to respect your elders?” Jack sneered. “I said come here, damn it!” The child continued to ignore him. Jack stepped forward, reaching down to grab the kid. “What the hell?” Jack muttered, fearfully. His hand had made no contact with the child.

The child laughed. Jack tried again, but he could not touch the child. Jack’s eyes widened. He turned around frantically. “Did any of you see that?” he gasped out to the people huddled around the room.

Nobody seemed to hear him. And the child laughed.

“Did any of you see that?!” he asked again, more loudly. Still, nobody responded. Jack approached the closest of the people in the huddle. He reached out to grab the man’s arm, to get his attention.

Jack let out a yell when his hand moved through the apparition. He ran to his wife as fast as his old, weak legs would carry him. He shook her to wake her up. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Jack told her.

“What? Why-” she started, but Jack interrupted, “This place is haunted or something. I don’t know what’s going on!”

“What are you talking about?” his wife asked. “Calm down, Jack. God, what time is it?”

“I-I don’t know,” Jack replied. “It doesn’t matter! Come on, we’ve got to get out of here!”

Before she could respond, Jack was running back down the stairs. His wife sighed and got up, glanced at the clock, and followed Jack down the carpeted steps. She watched with confusion as he ran out the front door. Standing on the porch, she called out to him. “Jack, come back. Jack! Come on. Enough of these games. It’s nearly midnight. Come back to bed.”

“I can’t!” Jack yelled. “Not with them inside!”

“Who?” his wife asked. “We’re the only ones here, Jack. The kids have been gone for years.”

“Kids?” Jack asked. He gasped and his eyes widened once again, as he stared at the house in front of him.

The black shingles glistened across the roof, only a light layer of snow spread across them. The house was red brick, standing two stories tall. A beautiful oak stood in front of the house, a tire swing swaying under one of its branches. The windows were decorated with icicle lights, glowing in the darkness. Similar lights covered the mantle and the overhang of the roof. The house glittered continuously.

“Come inside, Jack,” his wife said to him. “It’s freezing out here, and it’s Christmas Eve!”

Jack slowly walked forward, reentering the house. His eyes darted around the place. Deep scarlet wallpaper with a golden trim majestically covered the walls. The hallway was almost sparkling, as the pictures of young children across the wall reflected the light that came from the room on the far end. Slowly, Jack approached the distant room. As he stepped into it, he saw the fully decorated Christmas tree. Gold and silver ornaments glistened as the yellow-white lights illuminated the tree. Boxes of various shapes and sizes were around the base. Jack stared, understanding he’d just had a dream. He turned to his wife, who had followed him into the room. There were tears in his eyes.

“Jack,” she said to him, “what’s wrong with you?”

“It’s Christmas Eve,” he said quietly. “It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re happy and warm.”

His wife just shook her head. “I’m going back to bed,” she said. “Don’t go outside again. You’ll catch your death doing something like that.” She left Jack alone.

Jack stood for a time, simply staring at the tree and at the gifts. Finally, he sighed and turned to follow his wife back to bed. Before he made it to the hall, he heard a familiar sound.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

The old man turned back towards the tree quickly. A small envelope was sitting on top of one of the boxes. Jack hadn’t seen it before. He broke the golden seal. Inside, he found pictures of the people from his dream. He flipped through them until he found a picture of the child. He turned it over in his hand, seeing the note on the back as he did so. He read it vocally and a tear crept across his left cheek. “Each of these people did live once, but they are gone now. You could’ve been one of them, but you got lucky. Don’t forget them. They’ve not forgotten you.” The clock struck midnight and Jack muttered the note’s final words, “Merry Christmas.”