The Awakening Of The Phoenix

March 22nd, 2007 Phoenix gripped her teddy bear as she took short steps to her parent’s bedroom. Her Auburn hair was tied in two ponytails and her freckles were prominent under the fluorescent light.           “Mummy?” her tiny voice called out as she pushed the door open. Thankfully, her mother was still on her laptop when she walked in. Julie quickly kept her laptop to the side and scooped her daughter in her arms.      “What is wrong with my love? Another nightmare?” she asked, and Phoenix nodded. Julie took a deep breath and shook her husband, waking him from sleep. He sat up and looked at his two girls before realizing that something was up, again.    “Mummy, I saw our neighbor floating in his pool and he was not moving,” Phoenix explained, her lower lip quivering. Julie sighed and held her daughter closer.    “It's just a bad dream. Nothing is going to happen to Mr Goldberg.” Spencer said, trying to console his daughter. Phoenix felt reassured and slowly, her eyes began to drop before she knew it, she was off to sleep.     A scream erupted, followed by chaos and the distant sound of the ambulance. The couple looked at each other and realized that once again, their daughter's vision was right. Their neighbor was found dead in his pool. ***  April 12th, 2012     Phoenix walked back home with a bunch of friends. They all joked around and played catch with a small ball. As they laughed happily, Phoenix suddenly fell into a trance and she stared as one of her friends ran after the ball into the busy traffic. She screamed as a car hit her friend and she saw the friend in a pool of his blood.    “Phoenix! Are you there?” one of her friends called, bringing her back to reality. She nodded quickly before rushing towards her friend who she saw in the vision. The boy was about to catch the ball when it slipped between his hands and fell into the road. He was mindlessly about to run after the ball when Phoenix dragged him back by his collar.      A sports car zoomed past them immediately and Phoenix recognized it as the car that was supposed to hit the boy. The boy realized what had happened and began to shake.    “You saved my life, Phoenix,” he breathed.    “Woah, Phoenix is like a superhero.” one of her friends said, and the others applauded her.     Across the road, not visible to human eyes, stood a grim reaper who watched the whole scene with his jaw hanging out. He looked at the card in his hand and the name of the boy, whose soul he was supposed to escort, vanished. How did she know something was going to happen?      Ever since that happened, Phoenix had realized that all the visions she got were not nightmares or daydreams as her parents concluded. Those dreams and nightmares become reality. The whole thing was too much for her ten-year-old brain, so when she got home, she went straight to her mum and laid on her body.     Julie slowly stroked her hair and hummed her daughter's favorite song. After a few minutes, Phoenix sat up and narrated what happened to her mother. She sighed when she was done and her mother was frozen to a spot.    “I'm sure it's not a dream this time mummy. I saw the exact car that was supposed to hit Tom. If I hadn't pulled him away, everything would have gone exactly as I saw it in my head.”    “It's going to be fine honey. We'll go see a doctor tomorrow and will know what's happening.” Julie said, hugging her daughter. She tried not to show the fear in her eyes or her shaky hands.    “I'm not crazy, right?” Phoenix asked as she hugged her mother closer.     “Never, don't say that. You're perfectly normal.” Julie kissed the top of her head and she felt her daughter calm down. Julie prayed in her heart that there was a medical explanation for what was going on because she did not know where to start by trying to explain it to Phoenix.  ***    Phoenix sat in a corner of the doctor's office playing scrabbles while her mother talked to the doctor. Julie bit her lip as she absorbed what the doctor said.    “There is no explanation for what's happening to your daughter. I even tried consulting my friends from other hospitals but the result is the same,” the doctor explained.     “So there is nothing that can be done?” Julie asked as her lips quivered. The doctor sighed before adjusting his glasses.     “We can resort to hypnosis could but chances are that.”    Julie zoned out from what the doctor was saying as she stared at her little girl. She didn't want to put Phoenix through all that. She just wanted her baby to have a normal life and that was it.   After talking with the doctor, Julie took her daughter to Starbucks for a treat.    “What did the doctor say?” Phoenix asked as she took a sip of her drink. Julie gave her a reassuring smile while holding her hand.    “He said you're fine and..” Julie said playfully, she looked around and gestured for Phoenix to come closer. Phoenix quickly shifted her drink aside and leaned closer to her mother. “He said you're gifted. You're a special child, so you don't have to feel bad.”    “So they're not nightmares?” Phoenix asked, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and her mother nodded. Phoenix sat down properly with a huge smile on her face. She turned to see the waitress heading back to the counter and quickly called her.    “You want something else?” her mother asked in confusion and Phoenix shook her head before whispering.    “She was going to slip into a puddle and hit her head on the table.”