A Dream Within a Dream

Chapter 31

Upon opening my eyes, I am back in the hospital. My parents look over me in a concerned fashion. My mother is patting my head and placing a towel rag over it. 

"Sweetheart, are you okay?"

"You were screaming in your sleep." She pushes my hair back and continues to wipe the sweat off. I take a moment to reestablish solidarity with my surroundings. I begin to realize I am safe, the dream is truly over, and let out a sigh of relief. 

My parents continue to study me cautiously before my father looks off into the distance. My mother looks over to him, as if to acknowledge that she already knows what he's thinking. She looks back over to me and continues to pat my head.

"You've been like this since you were a child." My mother explains. My father continues to look off into the distance, he seems serious and worried. 

"What did you dream about my love?" Embarrassed, I do my best to back track.

"Uh, I don't remember." They don't seem convinced. My mother looks down in a disappointed fashion before continuing. 

"As expected. You stopped telling us your dreams since that really bad nightmare you had a few years back."

I do my best to remember what she's talking about. She notices my strain. 

"You don't remember? Well, maybe it's for the best."

I look around, a bit dazed and confused. An awkward tension fills the air before my mother turns back to my father. 

"Babe. Breakfast?" My father nods in agreement, still deep in thought. 

Feeling guilty, I withdraw and do my best to remain in the background as my parents gather their things. My father is the first once ready, he kisses my cheek and heads out the door without a word. I put my head down in shame. My mother looks back at her and crosses her arms, before looking back towards me with traces of sorrow. 

She unfolds one arm and begins to pat my hair back once more. It's almost as if she's whispering at this point.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to hide a thing from me. I am your mother. I will always try to understand you."

I look away as tears fill my eyes. Tears begin to fill her eyes too.

"There is nothing in this world that can change my love for you."

I focus my attention on the window. My mother stands by me for a bit longer, as if she doesn't want to leave. Impatient, my father calls out to her. 

"Babe?"

She pauses before responding. There's hesitancy in her voice.

"Coming."

As she proceeds to grab the last bit of her belongings and step out the door, a black crow reappears before the window. This time, cawing as it looks around. I attempt to study the bird when a house sparrow slams against the window and slides down slowly. Remnants of blood are left in the window. The crow maintains its position on the window sill and watches the house sparrow fall to the ground. It turns back towards me before flying away. 

I hop up to check on the house sparrow, it is still dark out. I can barely see where it's managed to fall being that the moonlight is still out. 

I walk back to the bed to check my phone. "It's only 5:00am."Frustrated, I brush my hair back and cover my mouth in shock. Remnants of the dream begin to pop up in my mind. It begins to feel as if I'm disassociating from the world around me. I sit in complete silence and stare at a random spot on the wall for a moment. A ping sounds off unexpectedly. Upon checking my phone, I notice another message that was sent out by the same empty profile.

"Diana?" I study the conversation for a bit before closing the window out defensively. 

I attempt to tuck myself back into bed and force myself back to sleep, but my mind races. I see flashes of the House Sparrow slamming against the window again. I shiver and fold my arms. 

"This is not gonna work." Impulsively, I turn to YouTube in search for some ASMR. A recommended video titled "Binaural Beats, Angelic Sleep Meditation" pops up. Curious, I click on it. The sound is immediately soothing. I close my eyes and begin to relax into a meditative state. Everything begins to fade away. And within a few moments, I am back asleep. For some reason, however, my environment doesn't change. I am aware that I've fallen asleep, but cannot understand why my environment hasn't changed. I look around and everything looks very much the same. I attempt to speak but cannot. All I am able to do is look around. For a moment, all is well. Everything is perfectly silent. Suddenly, the crow from the window appears again. This time, it sits in the room with me, near the ledge holding up the TV. I stare at it as it stared back. I am unsure what to think. The crow continues to stare to the point where I am intimidated. After a while, the crow  begins to spread its wings, and it transforms itself into what appears to be a humanoid with wings. The figure floats down until it is on ground level with me. It is beautiful. Its eyes are intense. It doesn't utter so much as a word. It stands before me completely nude and inches towards me slowly. 

I try to back away, but soon realize my body is frozen. The figure continues to walk towards me until it is near the side of my bed. I cannot turn my head to see it, so I do my best to focus my eyes in its direction. I can see its navel. Its skin perfectly smooth and sculpted. The figure is so handsome, I am almost embarrassed to be sitting beside it in this hospital gown. In my head, I attempt to speak.

"Who are you?" I think to myself. It is silent for a moment. The figure stands perfectly still beside me before vanishing. By the time it disappears, I jolt my eyes open. My parents are still gone. I search for my phone to  gauge the time. It's only 6:30am. I lean back into the bed mortified, but unsure what to do. Sitting in the silence until I grow bored seems to be the only logical response. Eventually, sleep takes over me once more and I am back in dreamland. However, this time, I cannot make out the dream. Instead, I am surrounded by blackness.