DREAM ME

Dream Me: Chapter 5 -Temptation

Sleep became a dangerous thing.

Every night now, the moment I closed my eyes, she was waiting. Sometimes in a meadow lit by a thousand stars. Sometimes on a train that never stopped, windows opening onto endless skies. Sometimes in the version of my apartment that was cleaner, warmer, softer, like it belonged to someone who wasn’t exhausted all the time.

But she was always there.

Tonight, she had set a table for two in the middle of a dreamscape that looked like a ballroom made of glass. Chandeliers floated above us, their light fractured into rainbow shards. The floor shimmered as though we stood on frozen water.

I hesitated at the edge. “Why does it look like this?”

She smiled, pulling out a chair for me. “Because this is how you imagine freedom looks.”

I sat down slowly. The chair didn’t creak, didn’t resist. Everything in this world bent to me as though I belonged here.

“You’ve been carrying guilt, shame, disappointment,” she said, leaning forward, her face soft but her eyes sharp. “You’ve built your waking life out of chains. But here…” She gestured to the ballroom, to the endless expanse of dream. “Here you’re weightless. Here you can be what you were meant to be.”

I swallowed hard. “This isn’t real.”

She tilted her head, considering. “What does real mean? Is it pain? Obligation? Paying bills, answering emails, shrinking yourself just to fit into a world that doesn’t care if you vanish?” She leaned closer, her voice a whisper that slid under my skin. “If that’s real, then why cling to it?”

My hands shook in my lap. “Because if I give this up, then what am I?”

Her smile was almost triumphant. “Exactly what you long to be. Free.”

The ballroom lights flared, brighter than fire. Suddenly I wasn’t sitting anymore, I was flying. My feet left the ground, the air rushing through my hair, laughter breaking out of me unbidden.

Dream Me soared beside me, radiant. “See? No fear. No weight. Just you.”

It felt too good. Terrifyingly good.

And then, just as suddenly, the scene shifted. I was back in my real apartment. The air smelled of burnt coffee and dust. My phone buzzed with unread messages. My body ached from another day of work.

Dream Me stood by the window, her expression unreadable. “All you have to do,” she said softly, “is choose. Stay in the dream. Stay with me. And you never have to wake up again.”

My mouth went dry.

“What happens if I do?”

Her eyes gleamed. “Then you’ll never hurt again.”

My heart thundered. Because I wanted it. I wanted it more than I wanted to admit.

But somewhere in the shadows of my mind, another thought whispered: And what do I lose if I say yes?

The question hung heavy between us, unanswered.