The receiver dangled helplessly from its cord, swaying from side to side. Her life hung at the end of that cord, threatening to snap with every swing. Inches beneath sat the recipient of the horrendous news; her head leaned back against the wall. She clutched her knees to her chest, trying without success to hide her shaking hands as her entire body shook.

*This isn't real... This isn't real...This isn't real... I'll wake up soon, yes I will. Soon Mark will wake me up because it's all just a nightmare and he'll hold me and kiss me because I'm still asleep. Yes, that's all it is. A dream, a dream, wake up Julie, wake up... This isn't real... This isn't real...This isn't real...*

"Who was that, Julie?" her grandmother called from the kitchen.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her stomach was in knots, churning with every force fed reassurance. Nausea rose in her throat with each denial, threatening to purge her of her false hope and her breakfast. Still fought the reality as she hugged her knees to her chest.

*What if this isn't a dream? What if I really did get up and shower this morning? Did I really have breakfast with Mark in the kitchen? Is his empty bowel of cereal still in the sink? No, this can't be real.*

"Julie? Is everything alright?"

*Maybe I did hand Mark that ratty old backpack he carries every day... I did kiss him goodbye before he left for work. And maybe I really did go about my business-I didn't have a care!- talking with Gran while she had breakfast, too. I even found time to do a little needlepoint! No, no, no! No I didn't! It's my routine, and I'm just dreaming it. That's all it is. That's all it is! Wake up, Julie, damnit, WAKE UP!*

"Julie?" Gran's head peered around the corner. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of her granddaughter. "Julie! Baby, what's wrong?"

She hadn't even realized she had started to cry. Tears had flooded her face. She hugged her legs even tighter to her trembling chest. Her lower lip quivered as Gran knelt down in front of her with eyes full of concern and worry. Gran took Julie's hands into her own. "Sweetie, please, you're scaring Gran," she begged, talking to Julie as though she were six years old again. "What happened?"

Julie bowed her head in grief as she bit her lip. This wasn't a dream. The call was real. What had happened was real. She wasn't going to wake up to her semi-perfect existence. This was her real life and now she had to face the truth.

"He's dead, Gran," she said, her voice cracking and unrecognizable. "Oh my God, Gran, Mark is dead!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I promise, this will get better. This is just the mandatory chapter to kick things off with and it will start livening up in the next chapter, which I am currently working on.

This will be a rather short story, or so I'm guessing. I don't know how long it will turn out to be. Please don't flame and tell me this is cliché until you read later chapters.