‘I hope I didn’t wake him up’ she muttered, before she closed her eyes. She attempted to go back to sleep, rolling around all over her bed, though she was holding her head the whole time. Eventually she pressed the button attached to her bed that calls a nurse over. A nurse shortly arrived, it was the same one who looked after her the previous night.

‘Are you OK, Natalie?’ Natalie shook her head.

‘My head hurts, and I can’t get to sleep’

‘OK, would you like sleeping pills and a painkiller?’

‘Yes please’

‘On a scale of one to ten, how bad would you say the pain is?’

‘About eight. I can’t sleep with it’

‘OK’ the nurse went away 

‘I should probably have said ten’ Natalie muttered, to herself. The nurse later came back with two pills in a very small cup. She filled up a glass of water.

‘We’re giving you tramadol, it’s a powerful painkiller. It should help you with your sleep’

‘OK, thanks’ Natalie immediately swallowed the tablets, laying back down on her bed. Within half an hour she had fallen back to sleep. She woke up face first in a what looked like a temple, a sitar could be heard playing inside, though there was no sign of where exactly it was coming from. A purple woman with very long light blue hair was sitting next to two incense burners, both emitting thin blue flames. She opened her eyes as soon as Natalie got close to her.

‘Welcome’ she greeted, with a voice that sounded very similar to the voice from the sea dragon from the previous dream. ‘Please, sit down’

‘On this concrete floor?’ said Natalie

‘It’s not concrete. It is stone put together on sacred grounds.

‘Oh, OK’ Natalie sat on the floor, with her feet stretched out.

‘Sit as I am’

‘That’s the classic mediation position, am I right?’

‘Indeed you are’ Natalie sat down with her legs crossed and her arms on both her thighs.

‘Close your eyes?’

‘What?’

‘Close them’ Natalie closed her eyes. ‘Pay attention to the music playing the temple, allow your nose to inhale the incense coming from within’ Natalie was doing as she asked ‘Now, focus on your breathing, focus on your sensations as you both inhale and exhale. Put your hands close to your abdomen, feeling each and every breath’ Natalie still followed her instructions. ‘Breath in, and out. In, and out’ the woman continued saying that, Natalie was smiling at this point ‘Let go of any malicious thoughts’ her smile was wiped off of her face. ‘And now, you should be completely relaxed, free from the trauma of the world you are living in’

‘I kind of do feel that way’

‘Good. Please refrain from opening your eyes’ the woman paused for a little while ‘We all have five traditional senses, sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste, though does one not believe we have more than that?’

‘Well, that’s what I’ve been taught’

‘You can only learn so much from schools, if you look deeply, you’ll find we have more senses, senses that guide us without one such as you even knowing. For instance, when you make certain decisions, don’t you make many based off of how you feel?’

‘Well… yeah, I suppose’

‘You do. You do it all the time, whether you are aware if it or not. This sense is precious to us, moulded by years and years of evolution. Everyone has it. Every animal has it. Though a lot of people neglect it’

‘I suppose that’s I would call “common sense”.’

‘Indeed. But what exactly is this “common sense” you speak of?’ Natalie was silent, and later answered:

‘I suppose it’s when you do things because it’s obviously a good idea. Like if someone offered you a drink and you saw them putting a strange looking tablet in it, do you really need someone to explain to you why you shouldn’t drink it?’ the woman was silent. Natalie briefly opened one of her eyes, the woman was smiling.

‘It’s incredible, isn’t it? It’s something you learned through beyond conventional means. It’s what I would call an “extrasensory perception”.’ she was silent again. ‘And what about time itself? Isn’t that a perception, too?’

‘Well, yes, I suppose’

‘It is. Have you noticed that when you’re enjoying something time seems to accelerate? And when you are suffering badly time seems to stand still?’

‘Yes. I’ve noticed both of those things’

‘And what about when you are asleep? What happens to time, then?’

‘It goes faster. I’ve had times when I’ve slept for ten hours yet it only felt like a few minutes'

‘Indeed’

‘Indeed’ Natalie muttered, whilst chuckling. 

‘Save your mockery for later’ the two were silent for a brief period ‘There is one more sense we all have but we are unaware of. Do you know what that might be?’

‘I don’t know’

‘It’s one you are experiencing right now. It’s the sense of visualisation’

‘Oh, right. That’s like imagination, isn’t it?’

‘Yes. Well done’ the woman paused for a moment ‘You may open your eyes’ Natalie did so, the woman’s eyes were still closed.

‘Oh goodness, I thought that was never going to end’

‘You should do that more often when you return to your world. Mediation has proven health benefits. It it can even cause you to lose weight’

‘What, really?!’

‘Yes. Weight is mostly gained through stress, and mediation counteracts that’

‘OK, I’ll… give it a go’

‘You might want to try yoga, too’

‘OK’ Natalie walked around the temple.

‘Have you heard of the seven chakras?’ 

‘Uhhh… no?’

‘They are areas of your body connected to life energy. Think of them as wheels, moving you through different states’ Natalie looked confused.

‘You are me, right?’

‘Yes’

‘How do you know about them? I’ve never even heard of them, how can you-’

‘You know what they are, whether you realise it or not. They exist within every one of us’ the woman remained silent for a little while ‘ I’ll ask you this, do you know what enlightenment is?’ Natalie shook her head. ‘You do, just think deeply, and you’ll find your answer’ Natalie did as she asked, though she ultimately lost her temper.

‘Stop teasing me! What is it?!’

‘It’s when you are at a state when you are free of all suffering, you are in a state of total harmony, serenity and joy. Everyone is pursuing it, whether they realise it or not. But how does one actually achieve it?’ Natalie sighed.

‘You’re asking the wrong person’

‘No, I’am not’ she paused for a moment ‘Have you ever done something when you get a feeling of total joy? When you feel like you’ve accomplished something truly amazing?’ Natalie was obviously thinking.

‘Yes,  I have. Like when I passed my driving test. When I achieved an “A” for the first time at school. When I got my exam results after GSCEs and A Levels, mind you I wasn’t so happy with A Levels, they were a pain. They got me to uni though, but then I met Leon…’

‘Do not allow poisonous people like him to ruin your life’ Natalie sighed.

‘I won’t. I promise. Only nice people now. Though I thought he was a nice guy at first’

‘You were fooled. Your extrasensory perceptions told you otherwise’ Natalie nodded.

‘They did. I’m sorry’ the woman chuckled.

‘To truly forgive someone, you must first forgive yourself’

‘But, you are me, right?’

‘Exactly. We are now in harmony’ Natalie looked at the end of the temple, there was a golden statue of the Buddha. ‘Studying Buddhism and all of its principles will do you a lot of good. It is a religion that has to be updated if anything about it is proven to be false’ Natalie frowned at her.

‘I don’t want to become a Buddhist. Or any other kind of religious nut’

‘You don’t have to be. Nor do you have to be a vegan or a nun. Find what speaks to you. Find what resonates within you. Then you can find true happiness within yourself’

‘OK’ A bell sounded in the temple. The woman stood up.

‘Someone is looking for you’ Natalie looked dismayed ‘Return to your world, and you’ll know what I mean’

‘OK’ the incense near her burned more intensely. As soon as she inhaled the fumes, she fell asleep. Unlike previous times, she gently awoke from her sleep, returning back to the hospital. She firstly looked at her hands, then all of the other surroundings. She got out of bed and looked out of the window, there was still a spiral consuming the world. She turned around, breathing rapidly, looking at the floor, as if that itself were falling apart, too. Eventually, she focused on a flashing light coming from her phone, making her return to her bed. There was a message on it, instead of reading it on the screen presented she opened up the phone and read the message in full. It said: “Thank you, Natalie. I’m always here for you, too. It would be nice to hear from you sometime”.

Natalie instantly texted back: “Can you call me now or are you busy?”. The time on her phone said “07:02”. A few minutes later, her phone rang.

‘Hello Tyrell, is that you?’

‘Yes, Natalie, are you OK?’

‘Aside from the obvious, yes’

‘Good’

‘And you? Going to work?’

‘Nope, I have a day off!’

‘Yes! Good for you!’

‘But it’s Saturday, I get the weekends off’ Natalie groaned.

‘Oh lucky you, I had to work weekends’

‘Oh dear’ there was a brief pause.

‘So, is it OK that you can come and see me today?’ Tyrell was silent, Natalie's face went red and she suddenly looked nervous.

‘Yeah, I’ve got nothing better to do. You’re in hospital, right?’

‘Yes, in… ummmm… I’m sorry, I don’t know whereabouts. Will you be OK if you wait a bit?’

‘Yeah, go ahead’ Natalia put her phone down and walked over to the reception area.

‘Excuse me, what ward is this?’

‘Ward E7’

‘OK, thanks’ Natalie skipped back over to her bed, picking the phone back up ‘Hello?’

‘Yes, I’m still here’

‘I’m in ward E7’

‘OK, I’ll write that down’ the was another pause.

‘If you don’t mind me asking, what happened between you and your girlfriend?’

‘We decided we didn’t want to be together any more. We had felt that way for quite a while, I’m sorry to say’

‘Oh… all right. I’m sorry’

‘For what?’

‘Oh, never mind!’

‘Don’t worry about it, Natalie’

‘But, Tyrell. I care about you, that’s the truth. What caused you to break up?’ Tyrell didn’t have an answer. ‘Is it too personal to you?’

‘No, it’s just…’ Tyrell could be heard sighing on the other end of the phone.

‘Was she abusive?’

‘No! It just didn’t work out, that’s all! Our relationship had been dead in the water for quite a while’

‘That’s not the whole story’ Tyrell sighed again. He didn’t say anything for a while. ‘I know it, Tyrell. You can’t hide it from me!’

‘I guess not. You are very… oh what’s the word? Perceptive?’

‘Indeed. I call it an “extrasensory perception”.’

‘A what?’

‘Tyrell, did you know that we have other senses besides sight, hearing, smell and all that?’

‘Uhhhh… no? Do we?’

‘Yes. How about that feeling when you just know something’s not right? Isn’t that a sense, too?’

‘I suppose so’

‘And what about our imagination? Don’t you think-’

‘Yes! I see where you’re coming from’

‘What about time itself? Don’t you find it slows down when you’re bored to hell?’

‘Yep’

‘See? I’m right!’ Natalie had a smile on her face ‘Anyway, you don’t have to tell me what happened between you and your girlfriend. You can tell me another time, OK?’

‘OK’ Tyrell can be heard sighing again

‘Don’t be like that! Cheer up! Think of those who are here for you, not those who aren’t!’

‘I will, Natalie’

‘Good. Are you still coming to see me?’

‘Yes. What made you think I wasn’t?’

‘Oh, I thought I upset you’

‘No you didn’t!’

‘OK. Anyway, what time will you be here?’

‘At about whatever time I’m allowed to see you. That’ll be nine o’clock, right?’

‘I think so. Oh god I’m glad you said that, I totally forgot!’

‘I’ll be there, don’t worry’

‘OK, thanks Tyrell. I lu- uh, I’ll… see you later! Bye!’ she hung on the phone, her face was completely red at this point.

‘You sounded awfully cheerful there’ said an elderly female patient, who was lying on a bed to Natalie's left.

‘Well, don’t say this once he comes over, but I want to be his girlfriend’

‘Oh, really? Well good luck with that! And don’t worry, my lips will be sealed’

‘OK’