Glimpse: The Broken by Nicholas Martellacci (book club recommendations txt) 📕

She leaned into him, as the couch continued to burn bright, sending black smoke into the air. “You know…” began Luna. “I don’t understand you.” Maxwell looked down into the dark eyes of the gorgeous girl. “What do you mean by that?” Maxwell asked. She breathed deeply, relaxation filling her. “Jaxon was saying the other day, he learns something new about you everyday. Why don’t you show other people that side? Why don’t you let other people in?” Luna’s voice asked over the crackle of fire.

 

 

He still gazed into Luna’s eyes, the firelight dancing in intricate patterns in her irises. She never looked more beautiful to the young man. He couldn’t help but smirk, “Look Luna, you don’t get it,” Maxwell began explaining. “If I told people everything about me, they would think I should be sent to an asylum somewhere,” he said as he crossed his feet, and looked to the flame once again. “Wow, I can’t believe the lug was right,” chuckled Luna. “Oh? Who is that?” Maxwell asked her. “Jaxon… he said you and I have more in common than we realize. You’re not the only one with secrets sir, and you’re certainly not the only one people would think is a victim of dementia,” Luna exclaimed.

 

 

Maxwell lifted Luna’s chin and stared into her eyes, scanning hers for any sign of intoxication. He wasn’t about to make this girl pour anything out of her soul that she might later regret. Nothing was apparent, she looked slightly blushed in the face, but otherwise sober, and he could probably equate that to the cold weather anyway. “Well moon child,” Maxwell began, poking fun at Luna’s name, “I would believe anything you tell me, and whatever you say, stays locked in this puzzle until my grave.” Maxwell said pointing to his head.

 

 

“You show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” she joked back. Maxwell laughed, “That’s not how this game is played, remember, you brought it up first miss,” he replied. “It’s a deal then,” Luna stated. “I’ll start, you tell me yours after.” She told him the story of the woods, the hide and seek game which led to Luna seeing something she couldn’t believe. “Interesting…” Maxwell said when the girl finally finished her story. “Definitely strange, but I don’t think you are crazy,” he added on. “But you don’t believe that I actually saw that, you think that I bumped my head and my mind was playing tricks on me,” Luna responded with a sullen expression. “I didn’t say that,” Maxwell uttered defensively. “I just think that the mind can be one’s own worst enemy at times. I have seen things in my dreams that would scare the hell out of some of the most grizzled veterans,” Maxwell declared with a shudder.

 

 

Luna leaned over his body, her head now laying in his lap as she looked up into his eyes. The couch’s flame dwindled, growing smaller and smaller. “Like what?” she asked. “Horrible things,” Maxwell replied somberly. His gaze staring more so through the girl more than at her. “Look if you weren’t going to tell me the whole thing you shouldn’t have let me tell you mine,” Luna said angrily. Maxwell sighed. “Listen Luna, I will tell you, but remember, Jaxon is the only other soul in the world who knows this. I never even told Antonio,” Maxwell declared pragmatically. “This oughta be good,” Luna stated, wiggling her body with excitement and nuzzling deeper into his lap.

 

 

“I used to have these weird dreams when I was a little kid, only three of them actually. But each one was a mortifying experience, and each time it got worse and worse. If I ever have another one, I am nervous I would lose my mind. The first one I had I just assumed was a one time thing due to too much chocolate before bed or a memory from a scary movie or something, but it felt so… real. So… vivid.” Luna stared at him intently, her stern face impossible to read. “Like lucid dreaming?” Luna asked. Maxwell shook his head. “Much more, I had… marks on me when I woke up. Luna are you sure you really want to hear this?” He asked her. Luna smiled wistfully, “Maxwell, if you confide in me and tell me this, I will not judge you for it.” She replied. “I won’t get scared and I won’t push you away. I promise.”

 

 

“The first dream was when I was hardly more than a baby. All I can remember is the burning. I was trapped in a volcanic wasteland, the smoke and ash blurred my vision. I remember the heat, stinging my entire body. There were erupting volcanoes in the distance, and the entire land shook violently as magma exploded out of them. Lava was running amok, and Luna… I could actually FEEL the heat off of it. I remember, the sweat dripping off my nose and sizzling on the rock.” 

 

Luna’s eyes lit up as he continued the storytelling. Maxwell took a deep breath, calming himself, as he continued telling her of the dream, ever mindful of how crazy he sounded. “A giant lizard creature went soaring through the air casting plumes of flame from it’s throat over the landscape. This was like nowhere I have heard of on earth, this was hell,” Maxwell said unemotionally.

 

 

“Oh, my god,” Luna gasped, shocked. She leaned up on her one arm and looked at Maxwell, “What happened when you woke up,” the girl asked. “Nothing really,” Maxwell replied. “I woke covered in sweat, and couldn’t go back to sleep for the rest of the night. The next day I had a terrible fever.” Luna nodded, “Well that makes sense, many kids have weird dreams like that when they have fevers,” she explained.

Maxwell shook his head, “Then came the second dream. I remember this one being even more vivid, I was a toddler at this point. The fever could have explained the first one, but this one has no such explanation. I remember waking up in a frozen tundra, snow falling in sheets all around me. I was laying in a bed of straw and twigs at the base of a cave. The pristine snow had to be four or more feet deep. I was able to climb up a hillside and look off into the distance, as the blustering wind stung at my face, feeling as if it pierced right through me.

 

 

I remember hearing a great bellow from the cave. It was a roar of unimaginable magnitude, and naturally I got frightened and ran away. I ran as fast as my little feet could go, the wind blowing all around me, completely chilling my existence to the bone. I could feel the water in my eyeballs icing over, causing my eyes to freeze open. As I stared off into the distance I could make out a tribe of these weird, blue people with clubs roasting giant hairy mammoths around a campfire. Then I remember waking up.

 

 

“What happened when you woke up that time?” inquired Luna. Maxwell could tell that she was actually listening to the dreams as her mouth was parted slightly and her eyes danced across his face. That was one thing he loved about her, she wore her emotions on the outside. If Luna liked you… or didn’t, you knew it. “Well, I remember feeling cold, hypothermic even. I felt as though my toes were frostbitten and lost feeling in them for a couple days, I actually took off school for it as I could hardly walk.” Maxwell explained.

 

 

“What was the last dream like?” Luna asked. Maxwell looked away before he spoke, his mind a racing fog. “Are you sure you want to hear about this one, Luna?” Maxwell asked. “This one isn’t exactly like the others. It’s much more… disturbing. I think I was four or so at the time.” Maxwell said, as he looked down to the dark haired girl. Luna looked deep into Maxwell’s eyes, her light brown eyes twinkling with the ashes from the smoldering couch. “I am glad you confide in me Maxwell, and if you are willing to tell me I absolutely want to hear it. I feel bad that my story wasn’t as good. You definitely have me beaten on the maniac scale.” Luna said somberly.

 

 

“And you didn’t even get me anything for my birthday,” Maxwell said with a snicker. “I have no idea what you would want!” Luna said, flustered. “You are a man of mystery birthday boy,” she laughed. Her eyes playing around Maxwell’s face trying to read his expression. “I am not so complicat-” Maxwell was cut off as Luna pushed her finger to his lips. They looked at each other whimsically.

 

 

Maxwell was not sure whether it was reality or alcohol fueled wishes, but he could feel her warm body shift as if she was about to lean up to kiss him. His heart pounded, as she slowly lifted her weight from his lap. Fireworks were being lit in Maxwell’s head, butterflies swarming to his stomach. She began to lean up, and removed her finger from his lips. She looked to his eyes, then down to his mouth. She bit her lip and began to lean into him. So much happened as once, Maxwell could even hear sirens in his ears.

 

 

“Do you hear that?” Luna asked, inches from his face. She pulled back, and just like that their moment was gone, and his senses flooded back to him. His blood stopped pounding in his ears, and his heart started beating faster to catch up for missing a beat or two. There were sirens, tons of them, coming in their direction. Maxwell and Luna startled upright immediately. Luna went to coax Faelynn awake, gently shaking her back to her senses. “Faelynn you gotta get up, firefighters are coming, they know we burned the couch,” Luna whispered tenderly. “Get up sasquatch!” Maxwell said as he tackled Jaxon’s body, knocking the empty bottle out of his hand. Maxwell stood and forcibly drug Jaxon to his feet.

 

 

“Wha-, where, what the hell is going on,” Jaxon managed to utter, still visibly drunk. “We got company coming, and quick. Get your shit and let’s roll, jackass!” Maxwell said angrily. All four of them ran through the woods toward the highway to see the direction the firetrucks were coming from. As they almost reached the highway the emergency vehicle’s sirens grew louder and louder… then began to quiet as they passed them. “Thank god, they can’t pinpoint the direction,” Jaxon stated. “Oh I think they did,” Faelynn exclaimed, pointing in the distance. There was a gigantic plume of smoke in the air off on the distant horizon.

 

 

“Well come on guys let’s go!” Jaxon said excitedly. “Fine, but I drive,” was Maxwell’s response. Jaxon tossed Maxwell his keys and the group of friends piled into Jaxon’s car. As they drove closer the air filled with the acrid stench of burning lumber and household objects. “Poor folks, I hope they got out alright,” Luna said visibly shaken. “I am getting a bad premonition from this, guys...” Faelynn said, mouth agape and eyes filled with horror. “Uh-oh,” Jaxon said.

 

 

“We won’t know until we know folks,” Maxwell suggested. As they got closer to the neighborhood with the house in question, he started to get a sick feeling to his stomach for two reasons. One, the smell of burning in the air caused his half buzzed, half hungover stomach to lurch and turn. And two, he grew up around this neighborhood. Whomever owned the burning house was going to be someone he knew, and he dreadfully hoped that they got out in time.

 

 

They pulled closer, and rounded about into a culdesac, all four of the friends stared out the driver’s side windows, slack-jawed. Maxwell’s mothers house was on fire. The inferno engulfed the entire premises, causing everything to crack and splinter. The smell of all his childhood burning before him. Maxwell burst into tears as he ran towards