The Tomorrow Tunnel

 

Cover Image of The Tomorrow Tunnel

 

Thistledown Press, 1999.
ISBN 1-895449-90-1 (paper)

Awards

2000 CLA Book of the Year nominee

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On Saturday morning, Ashleigh Cunningham's biggest problem is her bossy older sister, Dana. But by Saturday night, that is the least of her worries. Without realizing it, Ashleigh has developed the ability to see into her future. She begins having dreams that predict events in her life before she's lived them. Her insights never last long, and they don't reveal a great deal, but they are enough to frighten Ashleigh and make her wonder if she is losing her mind.

 


 

(Excerpt from Chapter 7)

Her latest trip into the future hadn't caused Ashleigh any harm, but it had still scared her, and she found it impossible to settle her brain or her emotions. So that night, she reverted once more to The Tomorrow Tunnel for help, and again she fell asleep while reading.

Sometime during the night, Ashleigh was startled awake. She heard herself gasp as she sprang upright. The novel tumbled to the floor. Her heart was racing, and she was light-headed. She was afraid, but she wasn't sure why. Her thoughts were fuzzy, and she felt cold all over. Was she awake or asleep? Ashleigh wasn't sure.

The room was in blackness. Who had turned off the light? Ashleigh fumbled for the lamp switch. Click. But nothing happened. The bulb must have burned out. Panic began to take her. No longer cold, Ashleigh felt a wave of heat rush through her body, and she began to sweat. Suddenly the darkness was sucking away all the air, and she couldn't breathe.

Ashleigh threw off the covers and ran to the wall switch by the door. Yellow light flooded the room, washing away her fears. Squinting against the sudden brightness, she lowered herself onto her desk chair and sat there for a couple of minutes, giving her body a chance to recover. Finally her breathing became more even and her heart ceased its wild tattoo. She stopped sweating too.

Ashleigh frowned, trying to remember what had awakened her with such a start. She'd been dreaming. She knew that. Dana had been in her dream -- her and Dana. They had been walking somewhere. And they had been arguing. That was certainly nothing new.

Ashleigh shut her eyes and played the dream back in her mind. Little by little, one scene at a time, it became clear, slipping into focus like a warm slide in a projector -- until at last she could see it all.

A scream rose in Ashleigh's throat, and she clapped her hands over her mouth to hold it back. No! It was just a dream, she told herself. It wasn't real. It wasn't going to happen. It couldn't happen!

But in her heart, Ashleigh knew it was going to happen. She had that same certainty she'd had those other times she'd predicted the future. It was going to happen, unless -- She shut her eyes again and saw Dana step off the curb. Then she saw the car speeding towards her.

... unless Ashleigh could stop it.


Caught in a dream world she doesn't understand, Ashleigh must find a way out.