I had a dream.

It was dark in this dream. I didn't see anything. At first I thought I was awake and just couldn't open my eyes, but that wasn't the case. I was scared. I tried to move, and when I felt that I could do it, I relaxed a little. I had a sense of touch, but I couldn't see, as if I were blind.

For a few seconds, I tried to figure out what was going on and whether it was really a dream. But these thoughts instantly flew out of my head as soon as I heard someone's voice.

The voice was muffled, as if it were coming from the next room. As I listened, I realized that he was approaching me. I felt uneasy, and I tried to get up and run away, but I couldn't— I couldn't see anything, and as a result, I hit something.

When the voice was very close, I heard a sound like a door opening. And then a nasty, hoarse voice rang out. He sounded like the speaker was very drunk. Suddenly the voice stopped, and I thought the man had left. But at the same moment, I felt a sharp pain.

The man hit me in the face with something. I heard a crunch in my nose, and tears began to flow from my eyes. I tried to fight back, but realizing that it was useless, I just curled up, covering my head with my hands.

For several minutes, this man beat me, hitting me all over my body: stomach, arms, legs, head. The pain was unbearable. He was muttering something in the process, but I couldn't make out his words—my body was burning with pain.

After finishing his sadistic act, he said:

—Those... days.".. die.

I still couldn't make out most of the words, but the last one sounded clear and distinct. I heard the man move away, pick up something, and start shouting again. There was undisguised hatred in his voice. He didn't stop screaming, and suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I jumped out of bed in pain, screaming and crying.

"Was it a dream?"  I whispered, feeling relieved that this horror was over.

I was breathing heavily, looking at my shaking hands. Sweat was dripping off my face. I usually don't like getting up in the morning, but today I couldn't sleep. It's good that summer is coming and it's warm outside.

I heard footsteps approaching my room. A few seconds later, the door opened and Mom appeared on the threshold. She looked at me with bewilderment and suspicion, looked around the room and asked:

"What was that?" Who was shouting?

"I just had a nightmare,— I replied shortly, without going into details.

"Wash up quickly and go down to breakfast, otherwise you'll be late for school," she said after a short pause.

— good.

Mom went out, closing the door behind her. I flopped down on the bed, and the pungent smell of sweat reminded me that I was all wet. I hate that feeling when you wake up sweaty. And I don't like mornings, especially during school hours — I associate them with apathy and hopelessness.

Then I remembered something and immediately ran to the laptop. My already bad mood got even worse.

In my first year at university, I became interested in reading short stories. I was so taken with it that I thought, "Why don't I write my own?" I'm already in my third year, but none of my works have become popular. And here I thought I could create a story that would delight everyone. But the reality was not as rosy as in my fantasies.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and headed for the bathroom. Washing my face, I often catch myself with stupid thoughts, and today they have not spared me.

I am an anxious person, and this often creates problems in my daily life. I can't sleep because of the flow of thoughts before going to bed, I lose concentration, which makes it difficult to write and read. Often my thoughts fly off in the other direction, and I don't understand what I'm reading or writing, so I have to reread it over and over again. I also have nervous habits: I jerk my leg, bite my lips, and twiddle my fingers.

Most of the time, I'm worried that I haven't achieved anything in my twenties. Every day I spend the same way: studying, working part-time, at home. On weekends, I just sit at home, read and write. The ordinary life of an ordinary guy.

"Sit down quickly, Izumi, or you'll be late for school," his father said.

—Okay, Dad.

There was an omelet for breakfast today, which is how I like it. When I'm eating alone, I usually turn on a video, but I can't do that with my dad - he scolds me and tells me to put my phone away.

At breakfast, I was lost in my thoughts again, trying to come up with a plot for a new story. After several of my novels failed to become popular, I decided that I would not write until I came up with a decent plot. But nothing came to mind.

After finishing breakfast, I went up to my room, changed into my uniform, and started reading. Shirt, trousers, socks — everything is ready, you can go to study. But I don't want to... Maybe I should stay at home, saying that I feel bad? No, that's not an option—I had to show that I was sick at breakfast. It's too late now.

After changing, I went down to the hallway, put on my shoes, and shouted:

"I'm going!"

No one answered, so I just opened the door and went out. On the way to university, I read and corresponded in instant messengers.

When I got to the university, I went into the office and sat in my usual place at the back. At first, I thought that many people would want to take this place, but to my surprise, no one even applied for it. So I could easily do my thing in pairs — reading.

Classes were held at the usual pace. Few people listened to the teachers — many were talking to each other, and some were even asleep. I was on the phone, as usual.

After serving the last couple, I went straight home without stopping — I had to catch up on a part-time job.

The way to work wasn't far enough to take a bus, but it wasn't exactly close either. Besides, my shift started almost immediately after the couples, so I had to move quickly so as not to be late.

When I arrived at the cafe where I worked as a waiter, and put on my uniform, I immediately started working. I must say, this is a job where you can't relax for a second — you have to run from one table to another.

I was so tired, and the employee I was supposed to share the shift with didn't show up — I had to work for him. As a result, I didn't even have time to rest for a minute. But never mind, I'll go home soon and go straight to bed — my eyelids were closing by themselves.

When I got home, I smelled the freshly cooked dinner and immediately went to the kitchen, where my mother was standing.

"I'm back."

"Oh, son, I'm just finishing up with dinner. How was your day

— As usual.

— I see. Go change your clothes, Dad's coming home from work soon, we'll have dinner together.

—Okay, Mom.

I went up to the room and sat on the bed. To stay awake, I took out my phone and started watching videos. But I was too tired, and I didn't even notice how I fell asleep.

In the morning, I heard someone calling me and shaking me with all his might. Barely opening my eyes, I saw my mother leaning over me.

— Get up, it's already lunch! — She said and left the room.

I picked up my phone and read the accumulated chat messages for a couple of minutes while I came to my senses after a long sleep. Ten minutes later, I got up and went to the bathroom. I decided to go for a swim right away, as I didn't have time to study yesterday.

After the bath, the drowsiness went away, and I went downstairs to lunch in a good mood. The parents were already sitting at the table. I sat down, and then the most unpleasant part of the day began.

— Izumi, what do you plan to do after graduation? What specialty did you choose?  My father asked.

—It's started," I thought, trying not to roll my eyes. — No, Dad, I don't know what I want to become yet.

"How do you mean you don't know?" You do realize that in two years you'll have to go to work, right? We sent you to become a programmer, so what happened?

— When I delved into this field, I realized that it was not for me at all. It doesn't bring me any pleasure.

– You do understand that you can't spend your whole life working part-time, you need to look for a stable job in advance, and for this you need to choose the right direction in your studies before it's too late. – in general, these words were correct, but I had already heard them dozens of times and now they caused nothing but irritation.

– You tell me this every day, I am able to sort out my life on my own.

— Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're always sitting at home with your face buried in your phone and computer. Do you have any friends? Are you talking to anyone at all? It looks like you don't care about your future at all.  Mom joined the conversation.

And at that moment, the feelings that had been tormenting me for a long time splashed out in a wide river.

"I mean, I'm just staying at home?" I'm always at school, then at work, and I can only rest on weekends because I get tired during the week. And why do I need friends if I don't even have time to rest? I got this part-time job because you asked, as there were financial problems. And even after that, I hear reproaches that I don't think about the future! — I screamed, tears welled up in my eyes, but I couldn't stop. — I'm a simple student who was supposed to have fun spending my youth with friends, but my days pass the same way: studying, working, sleeping. And even so, I've never complained about life, never asked you for money for something expensive, never caused problems. But every day you scold me, compare me with others, and say, "Look, he's already achieved so much at your age!" Do you think I don't see how other parents give their children expensive gifts? But I've never compared you to them or asked for anything like that. I'm tired of all this! If you don't want me to waste my time at home on my weekends, then fine — I'll go somewhere right now!

Feeling like I was having trouble breathing, I ran out of the house until tears welled up in my eyes. I heard screams behind me.:

—Izumi, come back!"

—Come back now!"

But I didn't listen to them and kept running until I felt short of breath. I leaned against the wall, gasping for air. Taking a deep breath, I looked around and realized that I had run into an unfamiliar place. I ran for a long time without thinking about the direction, and now I didn't know where I was.