The tender streams of first light start pouring into her bedroom and with full consciousness of what needs to get done in the day she decides to wake up. She hops out of bed, turns on her speakers to a peppy and energetic morning tune — her wake up song du moment —, and proceeds to get ready for the day ahead…
“You have been very quiet lately.” Her sister draws her attention back to the little cafe they have been sitting at for the last half hour.
“Have I?” She answers half-knowing her sister speaks the truth.
“Uncharacteristically so.” Reiterates her sister.
“I was daydreaming.”
“You’ve been doing a lot of that too.”
She sighs “I can’t help it. My dreams have been so wonderful lately it’s been hard to wake up.”
“That’s nice. I haven’t had a dream I remember in ages.”
“So how was your audition? I’m sorry I totally spaced out.”
“I noticed. It was good, it felt good. You know how it is, I’ll have to wait to really find out. So, in the meantime, I have decided to feel good about it and just see where it leads me.”
“That’s nice.” She answers.
“What’s up?” Her sister asks suspiciously.
“What do you mean?” She grabs the single page long menu laying untouched on the table in front of her and starts to peruse the items on it.
“You are usually more generous with your words. A lot more generous.”
“It’s been an odd day.” She discontinues that train of thought by asking, “Where is that sushi place we are going to for dinner again?”
“It’s right next door.”
“Oh, great. I have time to get something then.”
“A few minutes. What kind of odd?” Asks her sister hoping to continue that conversation.
“Good odd.” She answers.
“Am I getting details?” Asks her sister.
“As soon as I order.” She sets the menu down on the table. “Although, full disclosure, I am still figuring out some details myself and it may not be half as interesting as you have already imagined.”
“Fair. Go order then, my curiosity is growing.”
She gets up to order. “Patience is a virtue.”
“Not my favorite one.”
Her trip to the counter lasts about two minutes due to the lack of line and the amount of workers present at that time of day. She returns with a to-go cup holding her almond milk matcha latte and a craft bag hosting a French viennoiserie.
“We’ll be eating dinner in less than half an hour,” Chimes her sister.
“Live a little.” She grabs a piece of the pain-au-chocolat from the bag and places the bag in front of her sister. “So it all starts sometime between when I go to bed and dawn.”
“So while you sleep?” Her sister asks sneaking a slight peek at the pain-au-chocolate in front of her. “Is this about a dream?”
“Dreams plural, and that’s the thing, I am dreaming and then I am not so sure I am dreaming anymore.”
She proceeds to tell her sister the general story of the dreams that suddenly became a place of meeting.
“And then?”
“And then what?”
“Well what happens after the dreams?”
“I wake up. What kind of question is that?”
“Do the dreams change you in any way?”
“I wake up more and more in love with someone I don’t know is real.”
“I mean it’s not that hard to fall in love with the literal man of your dreams.” Says her sister reaching out for a corner piece of the pain-au-chocolate.
“Correction, this is not the man of my dreams, it is the man in my dreams. Although, come to think of it he might be both.”
“See? Maybe it’s life’s way off opening your heart again. Getting you excited about love.”
She sighs, secretly hoping there is more to it. “Perhaps… it just feels so very real.”
Her sister pauses to think for a moment and takes a sip from her turmeric latte.“So you are saying you were asleep in these dreams, and somehow you woke up in the dreams, and there was someone else who woke up with you there — in the dreams?” Her sister asks as she takes another minuscule piece of her self-designated corner and proceeds to separate the chocolate from the bread before taking a bite of the chocolate alone.
“We didn’t suddenly wake up. It’s more like we walked into these particular segments of my dreams both awake. Or maybe they were segments of his dreams? Perhaps there is a dream space in between where we just meet? I am unsure at this point.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” She asks
“They were good dreams right?” Asks her sister.
“Always wonderful.” She answers.
“Then that’s great.” Her sister grabs her purse and stands up thinking. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starving, and I am starting to think you might need some real food in your system. Have you been eating well?”
“I am perfectly fine.” She takes a gulp from her matcha latte, grabs the craft bag with what remains of the chocolatine, and follows her sister out of the cafe.
It’s a quick walk across the open hallway that defines that particular avenue to get to the small restaurant in front. Her phone rings when she reaches the door. She looks down at the screen just as someone opens the door for her to pass. Absentmindedly, she thanks them and holds the door with her body until she can free her hand. Answering this text will require some decision making, she decides to to text back later and puts her phone away. A familiar feeling surprises her, a sudden tingling at the back of her neck urges her to look up. She does. She looks around. All she sees is a tall figure turn the corner. She shakes off the feeling and walks in. Her sister — D — is waiting at a table by a corner window, one of her best friends, S is with her. She walks towards them.
The lovely melody on a phone nearby catches her attention. It sounds familiar yet not familiar enough to shake up her recollection...
The lovely melody on a phone nearby catches her attention. It sounds familiar yet not familiar enough to shake up her recollection...
(To be continued...)
