A Dream

 

I awoke a few nights back, it was hours before sunrise. I found myself in my home, twisted by the darkness, and nigh unrecognizable. I could have turned on the lights, but I felt I could see well enough in the darkness.

I heard noises in my house.

I went to look about. I feared that someone had broken in, so I stepped out of my room, and into my kitchen, to get something to protect myself with. Soon thereafter, armed with a knife, I stepped out, and looked about.

I searched everywhere. The livingroom, the bathroom, the hall, and yet I could find nobody there. Yet the noises persisted.

In my bedroom, finally, upon my entry, I found her. A lady was perched upon my bed. She looked young, in her twenties, yet she looked wisened beyond her years. I asked her how she got into my room.

”I live here. In your bed.”

I asked her her name.

”I am a dream.”

I asked her many questions. She told me so many strange things. She said where she came from, anything one could think of could happen, sometimes beyond your control. One day, it could be a beautiful land, filled with joyous people and lovely animals, another day a land of monsters and horrors beyond comprehension. And yet others, it could be a mere dark room, where one could only sit with ones own thoughts.

”I know you quite well”, she said. ”After all, I have known you all my life.”

I laughed her off. She was clearly exaggerating, but no. She insisted.

”I have too. When I first opened my eyes, there you were, your eyes shut, lying down here. It didn’t take too long for you to open your eyes, and begin wandering about this house. You act as though I’m a stranger, but to me, you’re all I know. And all I will know.”

I finally asked her how old she was.

”I was born tonight. Tonight, too, I shall die.”

I was shocked, and sat up in my bed. It was morning, bright and early. I had dreamt the whole thing.

Last night, I awoke again in my bed in the middle of the night. I looked about, and found the young girl again in my room, sat beside my bed.

”Hello”, she said to me. I said it’s good to see her again, and she looked confused.

”I’ve never met you before. I’m a dream. But then, I have known you all my life.”

She could not fathom why I cried. When I awoke, I found the pillow under my cheeks damp.