Room Number Three by Julie Xiao

Writing Grade 7-8

The dream always ends with the nurse from the morgue saying, “Room for one more darling.”

Isabelle awakes, gasping for air. Tigger meows from the foot of her bed, staring at her.

“How are we doing today, Miss Holloway?” Doctor Scholl asks.

“I had the dream again. Only I don’t think it’s a dream anymore, it’s real!”

“Don’t be silly. This is a symptom of stress, nightmares and disturbing dreams,” he soothes. 

“Now, you have a visitor today.”

“Really? Who?”

“Your agent, Jimmy.”

A round man walks into the room with a smile like the Cheshire cat’s. Isabelle shrieks and the two quickly fall into a conversation. Near the end of visiting time, they come upon the topic of Isabelle's dream.

“It’s real Jimmy, it’s real!” Isabelle insists.

“Aww, Izzy. You heard the doctor, nightmares and disturbing dreams are symptoms of stress. 

You just relax and get better. Dance is a stressful job, so this was expected.”

“Not you too! I thought you of all people would believe me.”

Jimmy turns to Doctor Scholl and orders, “Tell Izzy that the dream isn’t real.”

“I can prove that your dream isn't real. Here is the nurse from the morgue. Does your nurse look anything like this?” He brought in a petite, blond haired women.

“No. The nurse is tall and has very dark hair.”

“See, your dream is just a dream,” Jimmy says.

 She shakes her head, but lets the subject drop.

As Isabelle falls asleep, her dream starts. 

Tigger looks at Isabelle from the foot of her bed. Suddenly, he leaps and takes her doll, which is lying next to her. Isabelle begs him to give it back, but he will not. He runs towards the door. She gets out of bed and follows him down the stairs. The stairs are hard and cold with little light. She reaches the basement and he drops the doll in front of room number three. As Isabelle picks her doll up, the door in front of her opens.

A nurse says, ‘Room for one more, darling,’ and smiles sadistically. Isabelle screams and runs away.

She wakes up gasping for air and tries to calm down.

“My dream is real!” Isabelle insists.

Doctor Scholl looks thoughtfully at her. ­­

“Your dream always starts with your cat stealing your doll, correct?”

“Correct.”

“So tonight, try not sleeping with your doll, and since your dream is real, there will be no doll for your cat to steal.”

“But-”

“Miss Holloway, I look forward to hearing about your dream tomorrow. Good night.”

Carefully, Isabelle places her doll on the shelf and falls asleep.

She wakes up, breathing hard. She reaches for her doll, but remembers that it is not there. Her cat is at the foot of her bed, staring at her. She remembers what the doctor said, reaches for her purse for a cigarette, and lights it. Her fingers are shaking and she tries to calm down but her shaking hands get worse. The cigarette falls on the bed, catching fire, burning her skin, and the last thing she sees is the number three.

Isabelle screams as she wakes up. Nurses come immediately, soothing her as she begins to cry. Strangely, after that, she no longer has her dream anymore, and is released from the hospital.

           

“Okay, Miss Holloway, you’re all set to go. Better head down, your flight to New York is taking off soon. Flight number three,” says the attendant at the flight desk.

“Flight number three?”

“Yes ma’am. You better get going.”

Dazed, Isabelle reaches out to the wall to steady herself. It is just a coincidence, she says to herself. She takes deep breaths as a couple passes by her.

“Are you  all right, ma’am?” a steward asks.

“Fine, just fine.”

Slowly she makes her way down the runway, clutching her doll. She goes up the stairs and faces towards the stewardess.

“Room for one more, darling,” says the stewardess. She is tall and has dark hair, wearing a pleasant smile.

Isabelle screams and stumbles back towards the waiting room. People come running to aid her and she whimpers, afraid. On board, the stewardess smiles cruelly and pushes a button.

Isabelle watches the plane rise into the air, scolding herself for overreacting, until, the plane explodes into flames. She screams without a sound and chaos ensues around her as she stands there and wonders.