She Dreams of Fire

4.

Mat

When Mat gets home he realizes that the only number he got today was Jessie’s. Great. Maybe I’ll have to ask for her number in a dream. He sulks into the kitchen and opens his fridge. Realizing it’s been a week and a half since he’s gone grocery shopping, he settles for leftover pizza. He plops himself down in front of the tv, and, after 2 ½ slices, he feels himself drift off.

This part is the most familiar, at this point it’s almost like breathing. A field of purple and orange stars fill his vision. The dreamscape at it’s purest. He can feel himself floating, his body light. Mat imagines this is what astronauts must experience. No gravity, just freedom. 

The stars fade and a city begins to grow before his eyes; a metal and concrete masterpiece creating itself. He recognizes this place, he’s been here before half a dozen times. Cairo. James lives here. 

James was the first person Mat shared the dreams with. When it was all theoretical, he was cool about it. He figured Mat was just lucid dreaming, no big deal. Many people can control their dreams with a little patience and a lot of practice. 

That was until Mat showed up in James’ dreams. At first, it was cute. James thought his uptick in dreaming about Mat was a sign that maybe they were soulmates. But when Mat came to him one morning, continuing a conversation from their shared dream the night before, James didn’t think it was cute anymore. They broke up because he thought sharing dreams was a gross violation of his privacy.

Funny, now that they live 6,000 miles apart, he doesn’t seem to mind. Maybe the dreams aren’t the only reason he left. 

Mat always ends up here when he has a question he can’t find an answer to. He and James have a complicated relationship; they don’t work on the outside. They aren't really friends in any way except in the dreamscape. James is smart, and he makes sure everyone knows. In real life, Mat considers that a turnoff, but no one helps Mat think in abstracts the way James does. Here they can connect on a purely creative level. It is unlike anything else Mat has ever experienced. He just has to suffer through the narcissism long enough to reach a conclusion. 

The sprawling city finally settled. As a dust cloud cleared, he can make out shining domed steeples stacked against thick bricked homes. The bustle of the city breathes new life into his heart; a chaotic birth as warm as the sun itself. Following a row of palm trees, he reaches the park where they usually meet and takes a seat next to James on a concrete bench.

“Ah,” James says, his gaze still settled forward, “I thought I was having too nice a day for it to be real.” 

“Great to see you too, James.”

“What is it you need from me this time?” A grin appears on his face and he finally turns toward Mat, “Need help with a lecture, or that girl you’ve been seeing?”

“Well, if I needed relationship advice I definitely wouldn’t be here.”

A burst of joyous laughter bubbles up through both of them. He missed this.

Mat clears his throat, “And I haven’t been dating Ashley for six months, keep up.”

“What is it then?” James' face lights up with curiosity.

Suddenly they are walking through a library. Beautiful leather-bound novels are stacked up and up on mile-high shelves. Students are studying by candlelight on slabs of oak in dimly-lit corners. Only James seems to notice.

That’s the thing about dreams. Although they’re strange to most dreamers, Mat is familiar with the natural absurdity of this space. A dream will twist and turn with seemingly no direction. A trip to the beach can end up at the Taj Mahal, or with you naked in front of your entire eighth grade class. 

“The thing is, I don’t know.”

James glared at him, “That’s really specific Mat, thank you.”

“Okay, so I met this girl. Not what you’re thinking. I met her in a dream.”

“Okay?” James looks incredulous.

“I met her in a dream first. And then I met her in real life, later that day.”

The dream changes again. The salty air hits him, and the sea breeze picks up enough to make him shiver. He hears seagulls overhead begging the locals for a bite of their beach snacks. Mat almost slips on the stones beneath his feet. James looks around, wide-eyed, trying to take in the new atmosphere. 

“I’ll never get used to that,” James mutters to himself. After a minute of finding his sea legs, he turns his attention back to Mat. “Okay, so you met a girl in a dream,” he dons his usual holier-than-thou demeanor,  “I’m not really seeing the problem here.”

“That’s not how it works. I’ve only ever been to the dreams of people I’ve been close to. This is new, and it’s weird, and it feels different.”

“Maybe this is how it works now,--” 

All sound stops. Mat feels the shift. the tension is palpable. He looks around and all signs of life have disappeared except him and James. The waves lap at the shore, but they’re silent. James is staring, blank expression toward the sea ahead. Slowly he turns his head back to Mat, but his face twists, distorting into something inhuman. 

Mat is ripped from the seaside. A wave of nausea tears through him. He feels dizzy. Enshrouded in darkness, the only light he can make out is a dim flickering in the distance. Disoriented and shaking, he trips over something solid and lands on his knees with a sickening smack. What the f**k? 

It’s not like this, it’s never like this. Trying his hardest not to vomit, Mat makes his way to his feet. He stumbles forward, trying to make his way out of the void and toward something more inviting. When he finally reaches the edge of the nothingness he looks out and sees it. The car. The fire. It’s the same dream as before.

“Melanie,” he chokes out. Everything goes black again. 

Mat gasps awake, clawing around for something to hold onto. He shoots up into a sitting position and the earlier queasiness slams through him again. He promptly throws up on his feet. Jesus, she’s gonna kill me.