Dream lovers

III

Well, apparently, I had gotten into a sort of dream lapse where I would stay in this dream. Apparently, the lad before me was always at this end waiting for me.

“You’re trapped here?” I asked the first question that came to my head.

The boyish lad took out an apple and started munching on it, and he nodded.

“Do you know who you are?”

He shook his head, and continued to munch on his apple, “But, that doesn’t really bother me. I figured it must have been some sort of reflex. Isn’t that how most stories pan out? ‘Guy falls into a coma due to some traumatic experience and he meets the love of his life’,” he said with somewhat of a mild amusement.

I nearly choked on my tea, “Well they got the first half right I supposed.”

He shook his head and move towards me. I scooted away nicely without spilling my tea. He sighed, “I should have gotten used to this, really.”

It was almost a whisper but I heard it and sighed before placing my cup on the table. It mustn’t be that nice being stuck here, not remembering who you are, or what you’re supposed to do.

“How long have I been appearing here?”

He lifted his hand and started counting, my eyes nearly fell when he lifted 5 fingers, “5… months?”

He looked at me as though I wasn’t too smart. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know it should be 5 years, but that seemed too long and miserable.

“5 years.”

“When did I start warming up to you?” I asked carefully and he thought for a while, before smiling with amusement, “Well, you ignored my presence the 1st year, it was only when you got sick of eating fruits that you chose to finally talk to me to demand that I cook for you, really, a request would have sufficed– that’s the 2nd year, and let’s see, 3rd year, you started asking me tons of questions about myself. Here, there’s a journal book,” the lad lifted a book from the cupboard, “I didn’t peep.” He assured me and my tightly wounded spirit took the journal from him tentatively.

“Fourth year, I started asking questions about you and hey, just last month, you finally decided that it was okay for us to be together.”

I looked at him. That sounded exactly like what I would do on a regular basis. I usually held people at arm’s length due to a bad incident and whatever he had just shared, sounded exactly like what I would do.

“You know what? I’ll leave you to read your writings. I’ll just… whip up a meal for us,” he said before scooting to the kitchen.

I took the tea and sat on the couch gingerly.

Why couldn’t I recall anything?

I opened the book and started reading.

Okay, you’re me. I’m you. Fret not, you’re not going insane. Although I kinda wished we did, because it truly is pretty ludicrous, isn’t it? 5 years. Stuck in a dream. And you can’t even remember a single thing once you’ve woken up.

You know you, being you, or I being I, am the sort who doesn’t take such things lying down. We’re the kind who would go looking for a solution, and I think I did. Which explains why I’m writing all this. I sensed that I’m, or you’re beginning to be able to recall things from the dream, even when you wake up.

When you do, it’s our only opportunity to unravel this cycle and deal with the reality of things. I would say, no matter how tough it is, let’s not give up on… Him, shall we?

I closed the book. There were still too many questions obviously. However, I wasn’t in the mood to think about it further as I was attracted by the awesome smell of…

“Pancakes?”

And I was also amazed that I could still activate my sense of smell in dreams.

“I’m not too much of a fan of sweet stuff, but apparently, I’m a really good cook,” the lad uttered in slight wonder, “I guess I must be some sort of genius.”

I nearly wanted to throw the book in his direction, but I resisted, “And definitely not a humble pie.”

“Why be a pie?” He smiled widely as he offered the pancakes to me. I dug in and was somewhat amazed that my neurological senses were able to pick up the taste. I’m sure this isn’t even about that anymore.

“This isn’t a bad place; you know that Ale? 5 years has been the most that anyone could ever ask for,” he uttered and I looked at him puzzled.

“You’re beginning to remember the truth,” he said and sighed before taking the plate away from me and I looked at him, there were tears forming in my eyes, “No, don’t go.”

His lips lifted without meeting his eyes, as he looked at me, “You’ll have to end this.”