Just a dream?

I woke up early this morning because I had a weird dream that I saw Susan, Madeleine, Ed Wilson, and Patty Kramer together. I was standing at the edge of Lake Cherbeek, and the four of them were standing in the middle of the lake, floating on top of the water. They beckoned me toward them, but I had no way to get across. They told me I had to walk across the water, but I told them I couldn't. They said if I really wanted to be with them and believed I could, then I would. And they were right. I took one step, then another, and found that I could walk on the water. However, as I kept walking, the four of them seemed to drift further away. I started running toward them, and then I fell into the water. The lake turned rough, and when I resurfaced, they had disappeared. Then I felt something tugging me underwater. That's when I woke up.

Big messup at work

Shortly after lunch yesterday, we discovered that 20 boxes of jackets were 2 jackets short. Well, we didn't know it was 20 boxes. QC discovered that one of the boxes was 2 jackets short, so just to make certain, we opened all the other boxes and counted them all. I wound up staying at work until 10 pm because of the mess, and I have to go in early today. Mr. Ferguson is rightly upset about the whole thing. The only silver lining is that we found out before those boxes were shipped to our customers.

Some quiet time away

I spent yesterday hiking in the nearby mountains, something Susan and I used to do but I haven't done in years. It was nice to be away from all the people and gossip around town. I'd forgotten how cold it is up there in January, but other than a little chill, it was a refreshing way to spend the day. I would've stayed longer except that, believe it or not, I didn't want to miss church today.

Coming to terms with it

When I first heard about Patty Kramer's disappearance, I was a bit freaked out. I started locking all my windows and doors, jumping at the slightest sound, not wanting to be alone at night, and stuff like that. Then I started thinking, what's the worst that could happen? Some maniac kills me or the end of the world comes? Either way, I'd be that much closer to being with Susan and Madeleine again, right? That's not so bad.

Another one?

I just heard from Sheriff Hansen that Patty Kramer has gone missing, and no one knows what happened to her. John heard her scream right before she disappeared, but so far, Sheriff Hansen hasn't been able to figure out what happened.

I wonder if this has anything to do with what happened on New Year's Eve. Didn't Ed try to say that someone was coming for him? What if the end of the world really is coming, and we're going to be taken one by one?

A quiet week

Things have started to settle down, as far as the whole Ed Wilson story is concerned. People aren't talking about it much anymore.

My daily routine has returned to what it's been the last few weeks -- work, go home and read or do nothing, sleep. Not the most exciting life, but it suits me fine right now.

A wasted day

It was probably a mistake for me to attend church yesterday. Pastor Young's sermon touched upon the events of New Year's Eve and Ed Wilson's death. Many of the people there started crying as a result. I did too, not because of Ed, but rather the memories of my lost family. After church, I came back home and just looked through photos of Madeleine and Susan the rest of the day. I was going to skip dinner, but I forced down some soup because I had already skipped lunch and was starving. The sermon did do one thing -- it caused me to open the Bible again for the first time outside of church since Madeleine's death. It brought little comfort, but it did help me go to sleep.

Two of a kind

Yesterday, Steve said he saw Cindy Wilson at the grocery store, and she looked like a mess. People kept wanting to console her or ask her questions, but she just wanted to get away from everyone and go home. I don't blame her. I remember after Susan passed away, I didn't want to go out or do anything. Also, I still had Madeleine to take care of. But now that Madeleine's gone too....

Let's just say I know how Cindy feels.

Everyone's still stumped

I bumped into Sheriff Hansen at lunch today. I asked him how it was going with the Ed Wilson case, and he said he's still working on it, but things don't make sense. Tell me about it. I told him that I thought Ed set himself on fire intentionally. I don't know what he thought about that, probably just filed it away as another piece of the puzzle. At least the gossip is dying down at work because no one can agree about what really happened.

Which nightmare is better?

Since Madeleine passed away, I had been having dreams about her, and sometimes her and Susan, every night. It was the same way after Susan's death -- I'd always dream about the three of us still being together. The last few nights, though, I've been dreaming about Ed setting himself on fire on New Year's Eve. One time, a horde of demons sprang out of the ground and chased after him until some angels appeared and started fighting with the demons. Weird.

Rethinking events

As expected, the buzz all over town and at work today was Ed Wilson's death. There seems to be some discrepancies about what happened, depending on what you saw or heard. For example, I'm in the minority in thinking he intentionally set himself on fire. Most people think it was an accident. But I was less than ten feet away from him when it happened, and it sure looked like he did it on purpose and he knew what he was doing.

What I didn't know was that Ed had been sick at home the whole day, and Cindy had gone to the New Year's Eve festivities on her own. Was Ed faking his illness? Hard to believe he would do that and miss out on the party. Could his actions have been the result of his illness? Probably. He could've been so feverish he didn't know what he was doing. Maybe he had a nightmare about the end of the world and woke up thinking it was real.

The biggest debate has been about Ed's rantings about the end of the world and needing to save ourselves before it happens. Some people believed him when he said the end's coming, but most guys at work thought he was loony. As for me, I haven't decided yet. Ed sure did look scared, like he thought something bad was going to happen.

What was that about?

I haven't slept all night because I'm still wired from what happened with Ed Wilson. Was he drunk? Why else would he set himself on fire?? All that blabbering about the end of the world and telling us to save ourselves. He must've been really wasted to go on like that. Something always seems to happen on New Year's Eve with people drinking too much and doing something they'll regret later. But this is the first time I can remember someone killing himself as a result.

I feel sorry for Cindy losing her husband, especially the way it happened. Believe me, I know what it feels like to lose someone.