Consciousness broke over Jacob in waves. First it came as pain; all encompassing and filling his entire being with rhythmic pounding pain that quickly placed him back into the comforting embrace of sleep. The second wave brought with it the realization that he was not made of pain as it localized around what he vaguely remembered as a head, but this was short lived as something cold touched this “head” thing and Jacob immediately fell back into sleep. It was only with the greatest of effort that upon the third wave he managed to hold onto the waking world even through the pounding in the back of his skull.Groaning with the effort of movement, the sheet covering him partly slid down Jacob’s bare chest as he tried to prop himself up on his elbows. He winced with the pain as his arms came out from under him and his head landed back on the pillow.
“Finally awake I see,” came a woman’s voice from another room. “I guess I should be grateful you did not die,” the snide voice started getting closer and Jacob could hear footsteps getting closer to the bed. “At least now I do not have to explain where the outsider’s body came from. All I have to do now is explain how you found my house, how I could have left the door open, and why they should not banish me on top of the shunning I am already under!” The woman’s tone became increasingly irritated until she abruptly slammed what sounded like a pot down on something next to the bed.
“Please,” Jacob winced, “not so loud.” He tried once more to sit up, but was taken by a wave of vertigo that told him to lay back down before whatever was in his stomach decided to evacuate forcefully.
“Do not move too much,” the woman said, “I do not want you dieing on me.”
“There’s nothing I want less,” Jacob whispered, “just turn the volume down before I make the vomit.”
She began pacing. “If you would not have been standing on my bed, none of this would have happened. What kind of person would walk around on someone’s bed,” she asked as she slopped some thick liquid from the pot into a bowl and pushed it towards him. “Here, eat this.”
“If I wouldn’t? Look here, if you wouldn’t have turned the snow I was standing on into your bed I never would have fallen!” Jacob snatched the bowl from her outstretched hand. “I can’t believe what I’m saying, ‘you turned.’ This is nuts. It defies all natural laws. A grotto of snow in the middle of a city park does NOT turn into a girl’s room!”
He took a sip from the bowl. The warm liquid filled him slightly and helped to stave off the chill that suddenly entered the room. “I must have slipped on a patch of ice, hit my head, and now I’m dreaming. If I don’t wake up soon I’m going to be so late getting to work that Carl will get his wish and finally be able to fire me!” Panic began to rise in Jacob’s voice.
“I have to leave,” he said, trying to sit up. “Where are my clothes? Never mind, I forgot I’m only dreaming and my clothes are still on.” Pushing the bowl back at the girl, Jacob finally managed to wrestle himself to a sitting position, and after a few moments with his eyes closed as he fought the vertigo that protested his rising, he heard the woman’s voice again.
