Only The Dreams Know Him

Chapter 3: The Girl at the Store

By afternoon, the house felt too quiet.

I tried working for a while, but the numbers on my laptop refused to hold my attention. Every few minutes my thoughts drifted back to the dream… the knife… the body lying on the floor in pieces.

Eventually, I shut the laptop.

Staying inside was making it worse.

I grabbed my jacket and stepped outside.

The air was cool, carrying the distant sounds of the neighborhood—cars passing slowly, a dog barking somewhere far away. Normal life moving on around me.

I walked to the small grocery store a few blocks away.

Inside, the lights buzzed faintly above the aisles. The place smelled like coffee and old cardboard. I grabbed a basket and started picking up a few things—bread, milk, coffee.

Nothing special.

Just things I needed.

I turned into another aisle and almost walked straight into someone.

Our shoulders bumped lightly.

A sudden chill ran through me the moment it happened.

“Sorry,” the girl said quickly.

I looked up.

She looked around twenty-four, maybe. Dark hair falling around her shoulders, her eyes meeting mine for just a moment longer than most strangers would.

“It’s fine,” I said.

For a second we both just stood there.

Then she smiled.

It wasn’t a wide smile—just small and quiet, like something amused her.

For some reason, my chest tightened slightly.

“Didn’t see you there,” she added casually.

“Yeah… same,” I replied.

She nodded once and stepped past me, continuing down the aisle.

I turned slightly, watching her walk away before she disappeared around the corner.

Something about that moment lingered in my mind.

It was nothing.

Just a stranger in a grocery store.

Still, when our shoulders touched, something about the feeling had been strange. A faint chill running down my spine for no clear reason.

I shook my head and continued shopping.

By the time I reached the register, I had almost forgotten about it.

Almost.

But somewhere in the back of my mind, the feeling remained.

Like I had just crossed paths with someone important…

And didn’t know why.