Lana's Secret Journal

CHAPTER 1 Lana woke up for a third time in a week drenched in sweat and choking. She'd had the same nightmare each time. She couldn't remember how it started, but the ending was permanently imbedded in her mind. Her oldest daughter Freya who was five years old lie dead in her arms while her youngest Amara who was four lie dead in her husband Liam's arms. Looking around, Lana saw nothing but buildings crumbling around her. Smoke, dust and debris were filling her lungs and she didn't have the strength to fight anymore now that her baby girls were gone. She took one last look at Liam and said "I'm sorry!" then let the smoke, dust and debris suffocate her hoping she would die and be reunited with her babies in heaven. That's why she woke up choking and drenched in sweat. This nightmare felt SO REAL! She couldn't help but feel like it was more than just a nightmare. She'd had nightmares before a couple of times growing up but none of them ever felt this REAL. Lana's never believed in fortune tellers, seers, or people who claimed to have prophetic dreams. She always laughed and brushed it off as a load of bull saying that they were just people trying to make a quick buck from desperate people. Now though, she started to wonder if there really were people who could see into the future because every cell in her body was telling her that this was going to happen if she didn't do something to change it. Liam was a heavy sleeper so he didn't wake up when Lana had her nightmare. She looked over at the other side of the bed at him and decided not to wake him up to tell him that she'd had the nightmare again. Instead she got out of bed and checked on her girls who were still asleep in their beds. When she was done making sure they were ok she decided to take a shower and get ready for work. It was 5am and she had to be to work by 5:30 so her shower was quick and she brushed her teeth while showering to save time. Lana worked in a very popular restaurant called The Tavern in a small town called Widow Falls. There were two other restaurants in town but they couldn't compete with The Tavern. As she was just about to open the door to leave her boss texted her reminding her that she didn't have to come in today or tomorrow because they were going to start remodeling the kitchen that afternoon. Her boss noticed that she had seemed really distracted lately and knew she would forget about the remodel. She messaged back thanking him for the reminder and went back to her room. While she was getting back into her pajamas her oldest daughter Freya walked into the room rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Mommy can I have some cereal?" she asked as she looks up with the same chocolate brown eyes as her. Lana looked at her daughter with a big smile and said, "Yes baby. Let me finish putting my PJs on and I'll make you some cereal." "Okay mommy." Freya turned around and headed for the kitchen to pick out the cereal she wanted her mother to pour for her and sat at the table and patiently waited. An hour later Amara woke up and Lana poured her some cereal too and then went back to her room to try and relax. Liam had the day off so he slept in till 10. When he finally woke up he took a shower, got dressed and had cereal too. When he was finished he walked up behind Lana who was doing the dishes and wrapped his arms around her. "What's the plan for today since you have the next two days off babe?" he asked. She leaned into him and said, "I honestly don't know. I was thinking of maybe having a lazy day today and worry about chores and everything else tomorrow." He smiled. "That sounds like a perfect plan to me." he said as he kissed her on the neck. "Daddy, daddy! Can we go to the park?" Amara excitedly asked. She looked up at him with the same bright blue eyes as him, "Please!" She had a huge smile on her face. That's Liam's weakness when it comes to the girls. If they flash those big smiles at him he always caves. He got down to eye level with Amara "Yeah baby. Let mommy and daddy clean up the kitchen and then we can go okay." he said as both Amara and Freya jumped up and down with joy clapping their hands. "Yaaaaaay!" they squealed. When they arrived at the park the girls ran to the playground. Lana and Liam sat on one of the benches and watched. As the girls were trying to climb up the slide, Liam gets a notification of an all points bulletin from his best friend Mick who he served with in the military. Liam reads through the bulletin and when he's finished he hunches over and puts his hands behind his head. With a loud sigh he quietly mumbles "f**k!" Lana hears this and diverts her attention from her girls to Liam. "What's going on?" she asks hesitantly. Liam hesitates to answer which immediately sets off warning bells in Lana's mind. "Liam what the hell is going on?" Liam looks up at her with his teary blue eyes. As he blinks vigorously to avoid man crying, he mumbles "Baby I've got to go! I've got 48 hours!" She never thought she would hear those words come out of his mouth ever again. She slowly walks over to him, Liam thinking she was going to console him starts to reach for her. In that moment Lana slaps him in the face as she sobs, "You bastard! You promised us! You swore you were done!" Liam slowly looks back to face her "I know baby but I just got a bulletin from Mick. Every able bodied man and woman is being drafted regardless of health issues or criminal backgrounds. It basically says that if you are able to shoot a gun you will be drafted. The only way out is if you have a physical handicap or are a single parent with children. If you are married with children one spouse will be drafted. Because I am ex military that would be me." He paused to let Lana digest what he had just said. He looked up at her and gently took her hand in his and said, "I'm sorry babe I have no choice." she struggled to compose herself. Her reaction to this was to turn away from him and gather up their girls. "Hey girls we're gunna go get some ice cream okay!" "YAAAAY ICE CREAM!" the girls cheered. Liam stood up and took Amara's hand while Lana took Freya's and they went to go have ice cream at their favorite place one last time as a family. They arrived at the Double Dip ice cream shop and the girls ran straight to the ice cream display picking out their favorite flavors. Amara's favorite flavor is double dipped chocolate banana bubble gum with sprinkles on top and Freya's favorite flavor is double dipped chocolate peanut butter and jelly with sprinkles on top. Liam is lactose intolerant but being that it's their last time as a family for who knows how long he decides to get a triple dipped chocolate on chocolate with pistachios. He may regret it later but it will be worth it. Lana went with a double dipped chocolate on chocolate with marshmallows and graham crackers sprinkled on top. The girls licked their ice cream with such excitement and huge smiles on their faces. Lana and Liam however were very quiet, thinking about what lies ahead and what that means for their family.