Concrete House -- Part 12: The Woman In The White Robe -screen_writer-

Now, with everything that had gone on that morning, Dawn still had to call the church and check on Reverend Thompson. It was just too much – first the phone call saying that her mother was sick, then the disappearance of Reverend Thompson, then the disappearance of BB; the toaster being out of place, and the silverware drawer being pulled out; Brian talking to an imaginary friend while wearing a suit she didn’t even know he owned, and now, the cellar doors were open, and Roy acted like he had seen a ghost when he looked at Brian.

“Mama, why did that man look at me like that?” Brian asked.

Dawn gave her son a worried look, “I don’t know. Why don’t you sit down and watch your cartoons. I’ll make us up some breakfast.” She considered asking Brian whether he had seen BB, but didn’t. She was sure he would have said something if he knew anything, and if she asked he would worry. Then she thought about asking him about Jacob, and the suit, but also decided against that. He seemed fine now; ‘Jacob was just an imaginary friend, that’s all there was to it; I’ll ask him about it later… after BB is found’, and with those thoughts she walked into the kitchen. The fact of the matter was – what Dawn didn’t want to admit to herself - was that, for a reasons she couldn’t explain, she was dreadfully scared of whatever ‘Jacob’ was. That was the real motive for not bringing up that name to her son.

Just when she thought that things could not get any more abnormal, Dawn, standing on the threshold of the kitchen, saw a woman wearing a white robe at the kitchen sink. A second later this woman was gone; vanishing before Dawn’s eyes. A small yell escaped her mouth. With a sigh, Dawn rubbed her temples, inside of her head she was contemplating what she just saw, finally coming to the conclusion that it was nothing; the vision came and went so fast she was sure that she didn’t see anything; it was just stress brought on by the events of the previous night and the morning. Besides, even if there was a ghostly woman, after a second of thinking about it; it seemed not even to matter compared with everything else that was going on. “What harm is a ghost going to cause” she muttered with an uneasy laugh, then said, “There’s no such things as ghosts Dawn, don’t start scaring yourself.”

“What mama?” Brian yelled from the living room.

“Nothing baby, watch your cartoons.”

Instead of calling the church, Dawn first took a moment to get some aspirin from the kitchen cabinet. She felt a pretty bad headache coming on. After that, she began breakfast, the church could wait another half an hour, Brian, and BB were her main concerns at the moment.

And the whole time she was cooking breakfast she thought about BB, and where he could be… and why the cellar door was open. Under usual circumstances Roy Freemont telling Dawn that the cellar doors were open wouldn’t concern her in the least, but these weren’t usual circumstances. Moreover, there was something in the back of Dawn’s mind – something that she hadn’t even discovered yet, like a premonition – that told her that the cellar door had something to do with his disappearance.

All of these worries and fears were making Dawn’s headache worse. The time had come to stop all of the worries. It was time to think of rational explanations. So then she thought ‘it’s still early, maybe BB went down the street for a walk or something.’ But that wasn’t like him. Her thoughts quickly turned back towards the worst.

Down in Freemont’s Grocery Store, Roy was frantically seeking through his collection of old black and white photos. He had hundreds of old photos. Many of his favorites were displayed on the walls of the grocery store, but others he had under the counter of the store, and every once in a while he would display them and sell them; five for a dollar. He knew the picture he was looking for, and hoping with every flip of another picture that he hadn’t sold it.

Finally, he found it. He picked the picture up, staring at it intently, “I knew it… I just knew it. A perfect match.” His tone was a mixture of raspy fear, excitement, and longing for the past. He set the photo down, and said to the empty store, “What in God’s name is going on here?”

To Be Continued…

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