A Stranger to You

Uncanny Encounter

I decided to bunk today. I’ll catch whatever I missed tomorrow and besides I never had trouble catching up with my missed activities and discussions. I never had trouble in academics. Like what my dad said, I got my intelligence from my mom. If I had only met her, dad seems to be so in love with her. I can tell from the way he talks about mom. 

Aside from all the stories that Dad tells me, I know nothing else about my mother. I don't know how old she died or what her name was. Dad never told me, he said it’s better for me to not know her name. It made me curious about who my mother was, especially after knowing that I got my ability from her. I wanted to know more about her but my father forbids me to dig more. Since then, I knew I will never be whole until I find out who she really is.

I sighed and looked up my ceiling. My room is dark making the tiny stars I stuck on the ceiling look majestic and beautiful. It may be weird for some people but darkness always comforted me. Maybe because I’ve always been left behind in the dark by everyone, except my Dad who has always been by my side since I was a kid. 

“I’ve been standing here for minutes now.”

I smiled bitterly after remembering his words. I guess it’s really impossible to bring dreams to reality. 

Dannon Kai. He’s so different from his dreams from reality. In his dreams he’s more friendly and approachable. I never manipulated his dreams, not even once. Among all the dreams I intruded and killed time with, his was my favorite. He’s like my only friend...but he’s not real. Dannon in dreams and Dannon in reality are different. Dannon in his dreams is like my fantasy, only a fictitious character who can never be part of the world I live in. Even though he never really remembers me every time I appeared  in his dreams, I did not mind. That is because he always says the same thing everytime I ask him if he remembers me. 

“Princess?” Dad knocked on my door before opening it. I looked at him with tired eyes and smiled. He gave me a sad face like he always does whenever there’s something that I’ve done that he disapproves. “You skipped school again.” He pouted. How can my Dad be this childish? I chuckled and pushed myself up from my bed. I patted the space next to me telling him to sit down. “Is something wrong?” I shook my head and gave him a hug.

“I love you, Dad.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” He asked. I convinced him with the sweetest smile I can muster. He smiled back and kissed my forehead. “I love you too, my princess.” He rose up from my bed and patted my head. “I’ll leave you so you can take a rest.” As soon as he left my room I let myself fall back to my bed and sighed. I’m tired but I don’t really want to sleep. Sleeping is my way to escape reality because my dreams are always better but it will only make me feel sad about my reality, making me not want to wake up anymore. My father is the only thing that keeps me from living in reality. It makes me feel bad for wanting more than my Dad. I love him so much but I can’t help but think about how my life would be if I had friends and a mother, not just a father.

I grabbed my bolster and hugged it tightly. Oh my Chum-chum, you always encourage me to go to sleep. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to swallow me.

Will I dream of her again?

I thought before I fell into a deep slumber.

“Serenity…”

I opened my eyes and saw her in front me. I felt my forehead crease as I looked at her and then around my room. Am I dreaming?

“Yes, dear.” She answered the question in my head. 

I never had a dream in a similar place before. Most dreams of mine are in an unfamiliar setting but since it’s a dream I wont feel the unfamiliar feeling until I wake up but seeing her glow in my dark room, I guess I really am dreaming. 

I heard her chuckle while looking around my room. I cleared my throat and pushed myself up from my bed. It’s weird how she can read my thoughts. I’m not used to it when someone is doing something to me that I usually do to others. Everytime I intrude in people's dreams I have access to their thoughts and emotions but I can’t control them. I can only control their dreams but not their minds. That’s why I have suspicions that this lady in front of me isn’t just a person who is part of my dreams and imaginations. Besides, I’ve seen her in my dreams many times and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

“Are you really not like me?” I’ve no idea how many times I’ve asked her that question already hoping that it’ll get answered.

“Your room is so dark and gloomy. May I turn on the lights?” She did not wait for my approval and turned on the lights. “Hmm,” her eyebrows quirked up when she saw my all black room. “I guess you love the dark.” I rolled my eyes and stood up.

“You're avoiding the question again.”

“Hmm, I have also wondered why you ask me that question. Why? What are you?” She asked with an innocent smile on her face. It took me seconds before I could answer her.

“I don’t know. My Dad said I’m special. Are you special like me too?” Her innocent smile never left her face and I badly wanted to wipe it away. Asking the same question every time I see her and not get answers is irritating but her smile is making me calm and at ease. It makes me think that I’m so weak.

She walked near me and cupped my left cheek. “Dear, everyone is special.” Her touch feels so warm and comfortable. Her fingers traveled to my eyes and she closed them. “Wake up my princess.”

I opened my eyes and I was back lying in my bed. Dad was beside the door smiling at me. “Aren’t you going to help me make dinner?” I glanced at my bedside table where my alarm clock is, 4:30. 

“Right, what are we having?” I said while getting out of bed. 

“I’m craving for baked pesto chicken tonight.” He smiled. He knew I loved pesto chicken.

“I think we're out of pesto, Dad.” I pouted. A mention of pesto chicken really got my appetite worked out. “But I can run to the store right now.You got me craving for pesto too.” He chuckled.

“Hurry up then.” He said before leaving my room.

Dad and I both share passion for cooking. He told me once that he dreamt of being a chef when he was young. I have no idea why he decided to forget about that dream of his. I pushed and motivated him to continue on pursuing it but he doesn’t want to. Instead he tells me that cooking for me alone is enough for him to feel like the best chef in the world. I smiled at my thoughts. 

I opened my closet to grab my favorite hoodie before going outside my room. My dad thinks that someone needs to knock some fashion sense out of me. All my hoodies are identical and I only wear tshirts as tops and nothing else. I wore my hoodie and ran down stairs. There, I saw Dad wearing an apron while watching television.  “What are you doing?” I asked him. He looked at me with furrowed brows. I pointed at  the apron he’s wearing.

“Oh, I forgot to take it off. My favorite movie is showing on channel thirty.” I rolled my eyes. Fast and the furious,again. He never gets sick of that movie. I just ignored him and went outside. My father and I live on the edge of the city but there’s a produce market only a walking distance from our place and it rarely gets crowded. I prefer buying groceries there but it doesn’t really have all the things I want. 

I pushed myself inside the market and breathed the cool air in. “Woah,” Unexpectedly, this place is crowded and it’s not Christmas.

 Where was the pesto placed again? If my memory’s on my side right now I think the sauces are located on the last aisle...or was it on the third? 

“Serenity?” My head turned my head and saw Mr. Alpin. carrying a grocery basket full of canned goods and instant foods. “I’m not good at the kitchen.” He chuckled. I looked away from his basket, embarrassed that he saw me looking at it.

“Good afternoon, sir.” I greeted and gave him a smile. Mr. Alpin is my social development professor. He has always been friendly with his students. Among all the teachers in the university I study, he’s my favorite. 

“You’re doing the groceries?” He asked.

“Oh, I’m just getting some pestos for dinner.” I smiled. I looked around the aisles and back at Mr. Alpin. “I forgot where they put it.” 

“I saw it on the second to the last aisle.” He pointed at the aisle he was referring to.

“Thank you, sir.” I bowed and went ahead to the second last aisle. I grabbed two pestos and went to the counter to pay for it. I sighed after seeing a long line with people carrying loaded baskets and carts. Yippie. So much for buying two jars of pesto. 

After ages of standing inside the produce market, I’m finally outside stretching my legs and relieved that it’s finally over. I took my phone out my pocket to check the time. 5:56. It took me almost two hours to get this pesto. I’m gonna enjoy it a lot later and I don’t care about getting fat. 1 hour and I don’t want to compute how many minutes of standing and waiting it was exactly, all I know is that it wasn’t easy. 

Everyone who knows me, which isn’t a lot of people, knows that I love the dark, especially the night but not when someone is following me. Right now, my adrenaline is rising. I can feel that someone is following me. I walked faster and so did he. s**t. I turned left and hid behind the trash bins.

I held my breath, afraid that the person who’s following me would hear it. His footsteps are getting louder and louder. God, help me. My eyes widened when I saw Dannon. It was him? I stayed hidden and just watched him. Thanks to my love for darkness my eyes seem to see in the dark well, though it’s still dark but not too dark to hide his face. I saw him close his eyes and open it again. He started looking around. “Is someone there?” He looked confused. As well as I am. Is he expecting me to answer him? 

“Serenity?”

I froze in my place. Did he just...say my name?  I stopped myself from stepping out of my hiding place. I covered my mouth and controlled my breathing. 

“Serenity?” That sounded like a question for himself. Does he remember me? I honestly want to step out from my hiding place or answer him. I mean, I wanted him to remember me. I want my only friend to become real. i want him to be part of my reality. My heart is pounding really fast and loud. I’m afraid that hiding is useless. 

Dannon. I spoke in my mind.

“Meow!” I jumped and hit my back at the trash bin making it fall. Damn it!