Waking in the morning, well rested and absent of any residual pain, for a moment it feels as though I have awoken to my cozy bed in my apartment.

Contrary to the seeming reality, realization dawns. I truly am in the bed of my apartment. I stare unabated at the room around me, not daring to move my body.

That was a dream? Or were my hopes answered? 

“Of course.” Comes the reply.

Jumping upward, I flail my body under the covers frantically but am unable to work my hands out.

“Who the hell are you?!” My voice comes out raw, sparing no control of volume in regards to the strain on my throat.

“Hmm? Why the long face. Hahaha.” The figure in front of me says, laughing to himself as if he is the only one privy to an inside joke of his own imagination. My eyes, finally focusing on him, realize he’s a middle aged man, with an eerily lean muscular build. He reeks of cigarettes and some type of residual smoke, more stickier than that of wood.

“What, they tear your tongue out in the war?” He says, but his face contorts in self disgust as he reflects, “No, you're too young, guess that doesn’t make much sense.” 

“I’m still here asshole, what are you doing in my house?!” I yell out, having now gotten my bearings and escaped from under the covers, standing out of my bed.

“Woah there, kid. Grab the reins, will ya? You sleep good?”

“...”

“Seething today, aren’t we? Well---” He trails off into a sigh. “Look, I know you probably weren’t expecting visitors, but I figured you’d be more comfortable at home.”

“More comfortable at home, what the hell…” I begin saying but find myself speechless.

With the snap of his fingers, I am put back into the dream. 

Wait, is this the dream, or was that the dream? What the hell is going on? No, that’s not the point!

“Alright, I guess this would be less confusing for you, but damn, you have such a horrible taste of atmosphere for these types of things. You probably suck with girls.” He jokes from behind me. “Look, I hate you’re guts but you’re ignorance is fucking killing me so I figured I’d pay you a visit.”

“What are you talking about?” I say, turning around to face him.

“Man, playing dumb are we?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Yep, certifiably stupid. Look, those visions? You think something like that is just a headache? Take a couple pills? Are you stupid? Man, I thought I was slow to catch on, but do you have no sense of your soul?”

“I---”

“You’re ignoring it and you know it, you knew it wasn’t just a headache but you’re so worthless you can’t find the courage to involve yourself.”

“...”

“You knew it wasn’t normal when you came out here. Hell, whole world got flipped on its head and all you did was act like the dog got put down.” He says, taking in a full breath seemingly to keep the momentum of the onslaught going but seems to change his mind and lets out a long sigh.

“I don’t know what’s going on.” The boy says. 

“To hell with you.” The ashy middle aged man says in disgust, but continues nonetheless under his breath, “What does she see in this kid?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask meekly.

“Whatever, I’ll leave you with this.”

He snaps his fingers again, another reality crosses my vision, one of a white, detailess figure descending from the sky. 

“No one, no matter how dense, can ignore that.”

“I don’t---” He begins to protest, but the boy isn’t that resilient to things of this nature yet. She smittens him instantly, unknowingly taking him under her thrawl. She satisfies all his desires at even a glance. She makes the boy feel as though he has a home. A family. A lover. 

His mind swirls into the enlightened as he stares at the figure in front of him. All but a silhouette, but its ethereal aura captures him instantly. The dashing demon of Heaven. A no good god from the shadows, unknown to any other. 

As if descending from Heaven, the light behind her is so strong it cancels out all her features as she gravitates closer towards him.

My body suddenly feeling light as if enlightened with glee, I take a look at my hands to observe the feeling but notice the perfect black around me. Just in front of me it mixes into a gradient of grey as it blends with holy light in the background, and my eyes become attached to her figure.

I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful being.

She gravitates closer, and the closer she gets, the harder my heart pounds and the closer I get to pure bliss. I feel every mortal weight torn off my chest in her presence. Even within arms distance, the light behind her blinds her features into a blur, yet are somehow comfortable to the eye, unlike staring into the sun. 

Her hand reaches out to the boy’s face, touching it gently, and his heart stops for 1 second. 2--- 3--- 4--- 5---... 10 seconds pass.