Soul Veil

Illuminated obscurity

Illuminated obscurity

After hurriedly changing out of my dress, gratefully kicking off my high heels and changing into what felt like the most comfortable pajamas on earth, I flopped straight down onto my bed.

I set the lamp’s light setting onto low, casting out a nice, soft ambience, and let my mind rest in the quiet environment. Amid the low glow from the lamp, I could still see into the kitchen from my open door, and I could make out the shape of a rectangular package sitting on the counter top. A parcel had arrived via courier today from Gerral, delivered here at home rather than at Exquizit. And even though I hadn’t opened it, I knew it was Abe’s new bracelet, now complete with all the pieces of it fit together. I sighed happily with new elation in anticipation of giving this to him, and then started to snuggle into the soft top blanket nearly giving in to sleep there.

It took a bit more pushing to make myself muster up enough strength to actually climb under the blankets, and then I slipped straight into a dream-like state.

I needed to rest but I knew that a heavy dream, a certain one, was awaiting my reluctant, uncontrollable, all-consuming dreaming attention.

I was there again, but was this dream taunting my usual dreams, like an invading nightmare? I suddenly guessed. Or was there more to the repetition of the dream that was signalling that I needed to understand something of importance?

Time passed, in a dream sequence of reality…

I wanted it to be dark.

I blended into the surrounding, opaque, painted-looking scene I was in, like I felt comfortable with this feeling of blackness. I was sure I was in this dream, but didn’t know if it really was a normal dream. I was fully conscious of my thoughts, feelings, being able to feel the ground under my feet as if I was right here. Maybe it was a nightmare?

This dream, if it was one in its essence, was so very tangible. The most real-seeming dream ever, and I could almost sense my breathing as I became more submerged into its surroundings. It felt like something was being communicated to me and I wondered if it could be that whatever or whoever it was, wanted me as a part of this dream?

I peered into the darkness to find out where I was and recognized that I was somewhere in the mountains.

I saw the moon above turn and cast a dim reflection over a view I instantly recognized as the place where Abe and I visited in the Santa Monica mountain ranges. I cautiously walked around and took in the setting of where we had hung out before, in what was usually such a romantic place… But I now knew this wasn’t a nice dream somehow, as everything I saw became withered, as if the greenery and everything I could see, and even the dull-looking sky was without life. I looked out to the ‘view’ but it was deserted, and I could only look at a flower before it shriveled and crumpled in dryness right before my eyes.

Everything was so wilted and dusty, and colours were fading to browns and greys and so, so dry-looking. I wondered if even just a little drop of water would make a difference?

Somehow the scene then rapidly changed — and I was now standing outside Rox café, but it was deserted too. I walked in to see only a couple of pieces of paper floating around on the dry dusty floor. I picked up a piece of paper that seemingly looked blank, but then saw on the top in small letters were the words Dark Company.

Had I been in this place before?

Without light there is no life. All of a sudden I was reading a text message that came through on my phone. I didn’t remember hearing a message alert tone and I couldn’t be dreaming if I was getting a text message, surely?

Now, it was as if I was listening out too intently for sounds, and I jumped as I heard something that made me think of the sound of a rattling of dry bones…

Then I felt like I was fading out, but I gasped as I woke up with a start and sat upright like a bolt of lightning had just ran through me. Yet this was something I was getting used to as I woke from my dreams lately — as I changed from the intensity of my dreams as if I was right there, to then being awake again in reality. Even though my reality now wasn’t that pale in comparison to my dreams I was having these days, with everything supernatural that I was seeing in real life too.

I couldn’t bear to be awake anymore either at this small hour of the night, so I pulled my blanket closer around my shoulders and nestled as much as I could into my pillow... I was only too happy to go back to sleep with the relief of not feeling like I was drifting back into a dream, but rather to a place of reenergizing that was much needed.