Chapter 6

If you don't remember how the story starts here are the links to the previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1 , Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5. Now here is Chapter 6:

Kaleigh started climbing the stairs, she stopped halfway up. She just stopped and stood there looking at her feet. No one was in sight, Kaleigh was all alone, time stretched on slowly, but in Kaleigh’s mind there was no time, everything was just there, and Kaleigh was just there alone. She clutched the stair railing tightly as if it were the only thing keeping her standing. A tear hit the railing and slid down leaving a little trail behind it. Angry with herself for letting a tear escape her Kaleigh ran up the stairs.
Kaleigh reached floor 6 and looked down the hall to where her room was, standing in front of her door she sighed, she wasn’t ready to go to bed yet. She turned and walked past her room. Walking down the hall Kaleigh spotted a window, it didn’t seem to fit in with the décor of the hallway. The rest of the hall was dusty, dreary, worn down and in need of repair. This window was open and welcoming, it was built out from the building a bit so that when you sat on the window seat and looked out you were looking down at the street instead of the sidewalk. The window seat was made of soft, dark blue velvet. Kaleigh sat down with her back against the wall and her legs curled up next to her as she looked out the window. The sun was set, but there was still a bit of light on the horizon, stars speckled the sky, but they were faint because of all the lights. The window had a beautiful view of Central Park. Kaleigh watched people walk by, there were some children with their parents heading home from a night out, some couples out on dates snuggled close as they walked, and a few homeless people curling up on benches holding out cracked mugs for change. Kaleigh wished she had change to put in the mugs, and she wished that she were with someone who loved her, a friend or a parent that would hold her close when she needed a hug.
Kaleigh stayed on the window seat until she was drifting off to sleep, realizing her exhaustion Kaleigh stood up to head towards her room. Turning around to take a last glance at the window she spotted a plaque that she had not noticed before. Taking a few steps back towards the window she bent in closer to read the inscription:

In Commemoration of a Dreamer:
Colista
Always looking for the best.
She found it in her dreams.

Kaleigh read the plaque twice. Who was Colista she wondered. She found it odd that the plaque only listed a first name. Curious as ever but still tired Kaleigh decided she would investigate this mystery another time. Kaleigh walked down to her room, turned the doorknob, and found she was the only one in the room. Without even undressing Kaleigh lay down on her bed, glancing at the clock she saw that it was 9:30, knowing that the other girls would be there soon she didn’t bother getting back up to turn off the lights. Closing her eyes it didn’t take long for Kaleigh to fall into a dreamless sort of sleep.

An hour away a little baby girl was not sleeping so soundly. Little Tiffany was tossing and turning as much as her little body could without dislodging the IV in her arm, nurses were gathering around the basinet, watching the child struggle in her dreams. The nurses eyed each other fretfully. All the child’s monitors showed that her breathing was normal; her heartbeat was perfect, or at least as perfect as anyone would expect of such a small baby. The nurses had to assume it was just a distressful dream. To anyone looking at the small child it would seem that the child was only having a nightmare. No one would suspect that possibly something else was going on.

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