Sophia came to the conclusion that she must have done something very, very mean in a previous life. Or somebody really hated her guts. When her thoughts finally surfaced from murky, dreamless sleep, she found herself both in the room that she shared with her mother and with her head feeling like it was about to implode. Or explode, whichever came first. A low keening noise came from her throat as she sat up, hands pressed against her forehead in a futile attempt to ward off the pain. [I][color=silver]Ugh, this is worse than the time Ricky and I drank a bottle of Uncle's scotch.[/color][/I]

Rolling off of the mattress, she blindly stumbled towards the door and made her way upstairs, not noticing the note taped to the door. She immediately decided that the light coming in through the windows was too bright, and secluded herself in the bathroom to find some painkillers. Of course, they hadn't kicked in yet when the impact at the door made her wince. [I][color=silver]That's it. Whoever you are, you are a dead person,[/color][/I] she grumbled to herself. [I][color=silver]I will crush your head in the door, chop you up into little pieces with Uncle's buzzsaw, pile you into a garbage bag and drag it to the-[/color][/I]

She paused when she opened the door, blinking in the sunlight. For a moment she simply stood there, then rubbed her eyes, squinted, then rubbed her eyes again. She could almost swear that she was looking [u]along[/u] Ricky, instead of [u]at[/u] him. 

Slowly, she bent over to the side, until she was looking under him and sweeping her arm through the open air. Nothing blocked her way. [I][color=silver]Okay. I must still be asleep. And dreaming.[/color][/I] Straightening, she reached out and grabbed Ricky by the foot, ignoring his splutterings. [I][color=silver]It feels very real for a dream.[/color][/I] She slowly lifted him by the foot, still ignoring his protests as his entire body moved around as if there was no gravity. [I][color=silver]Weird.[/color][/I] She swung down, catching him by the shoulders as he spun around, then reached out and slapped him. Hard. Looking at her reddening hand, she blearly squinted. [I][color=silver]Okay, so this isn't a dream.[/color][/I]

Turning her head up, she noticed one of their neighbors, old Mrs. Abney, staring at them with her mouth open, garden hose held limply in her hand. Sophia blinked at her, looked at Ricky, down at herself, then sighed and grabbed him by the shirt, dragging him inside. 

Apparently it was going to be one of [u]those[/u] days.